First to Fight Box Set: Books 1-5

by Nicole Blanchard

  I follow her gaze to Logan who’s on the porch now, though he pulled on shorts, and is tossing a ball to Rocky. “What is it?”

  “I’m happily married, but damn, that’s one sexy ass man.”

  My neck swivels to keep him in my line of sight as she finishes backing out of the driveway. He’s got his shirt off, baring his deep tan to the sunlight.

  When I turn back around as the trees along the roadside block him from sight, I find Chloe studying me.

  “What?”

  “I’ve just never seen you like this. You were literally staring at him with a smile on your face.”

  “Then let’s not jinx it, okay?”

  She turns onto the main road and risks a glance back at me. “Fine, but I want all the dirty details over lunch.”

  “I don’t think so,” I say with a laugh.

  “I told you everything when I started dating Gabe!” Chloe shoots me a meaningful look.

  I swallow back a laugh. “One thing at a time, okay?”

  For the next few hours, Chloe directs the car through the winding streets of Nassau. It’s a small town, so it shouldn’t take long, but Chloe ends up chatting about her family, who’ve always lived here. Then she moves on to her husband Gabe and her step-daughter Emily.

  As she talks, I relax into the cool leather seats and let her voice wash over me. Much as I try to admit otherwise, I’ve missed talking to her, and am a little sad when we pull into a small restaurant’s parking lot.

  “I didn’t realize how much I missed this place,” she says as she tilts her face to the blue sky and takes a deep breath.

  “You don’t come back here often?” I follow her into the restaurant.

  “Not as much as I’d like. Ever since this little guy made his presence known, I haven’t had much energy. A large table, please,” she says to the hostess behind a stand. “We have some friends joining us.”

  “We do?” I say with raised brows.

  “Well, I haven’t seen Livvie or Sofie in a while and since you’re all friends now, I thought we could have a girls’ day. That’s okay with you, right?”

  We follow the hostess back to a lengthy table with a beautiful view of the clear sky and bustling city center. I help Chloe into a chair and take one next to her.

  We both order drinks from the waiter who appears and disappears a few seconds later.

  I sip my ice water as Chloe peruses the menu. “How is the business going?”

  Chloe pauses her search, nibbling on her bottom lip. “The business? Oh, it’s going great.” She hesitates and then comes to a decision. “I never thanked you properly for what you did for me.”

  “You don’t have to thank me.” I wave away her comment.

  Her dark curls swing around her face as she shakes her head. “No, I really do. The travel agency was your baby.”

  “Then, I left my baby in very capable hands.”

  “You know you can always come back.” Chloe sets her menu to the side and gives me her full attention. “Since you’re back in Florida and everything. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to keep you away from it.”

  The waiter comes back and takes our order. Chloe gets two appetizers, an entrée, and orders the dessert ahead of time without batting an eye.

  When she catches my amused look she smiles, unrepentant. “Eating for two.”

  I shake my head, biting back a laugh. “Convenient. I don’t seem to remember any excuses when you ate like this in Jacksonville.”

  “I have a great metabolism.”

  As the light mood fades I clear my throat. “I know you aren’t keeping the business from me. I don’t want it, honestly, and I know you’re the only one who will love it as much as I do, but I’m happy here.”

  Chloe nods and nibbles a piece of fresh bread from a basket on the center of the table. “I understand. I don’t know if I told you how much I appreciate it, especially when you let me uproot it to live near Gabe.”

  “That’s what friends are for.” I try to keep my tone light.

  “Are you ever going to tell me what made you leave Jacksonville? I don’t mean to butt in, but I’ve wondered.”

  “Well, I told you about my sister.” Chloe puts her hand on mine and I continue, “Well afterwards, there was a reporter who liked to find me once I settled in one place for an extended period of time. For a while, I thought I lost him, but after my ex won his appeal, he found me in Jacksonville. I just couldn’t stay and risk my ex finding me again.”

  “God, Piper, if I would have known we could have done something to help you. You could have stayed with Gabe and me.”

  I shake my head. “No, I couldn’t put the two of you out like that. Besides, you helped me out by smoothing the way with Diane and letting me start over here. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”

  “I’m glad you’re settling in here. You seem happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.”

  When I smile again, it’s sincere. “I am. This place is exactly what I needed. It’s beautiful here. I don’t know how you left.”

  Before she can respond, there’s a flurry of activity at the front door and two beautiful women enter. One with deep auburn hair holds the hand of a little boy. The other, a sloe-eyed brunette, is flanked by two teenage boys with identical coloring and wide, toothy smiles. Beside me, Chloe raises a hand and waves them over. Sofie and Livvie wave back and start to head our way. Chloe pushes back her chair to greet the two women.

  Two waiters appear out of nowhere to push another table against ours and rearrange the chairs to make room for the new additions. I take a deep gulp of my water, wishing I was something stronger. It was easier making friends when Logan was by my side.

  The women take seats, one on either side of Chloe, and their children next to them leaving me between one of the teenagers and the younger boy.

  “I’m Donnie,” the teenager says as he gets to his seat. “We didn’t get to meet since these two,” he jerks his thumb at the older boy who must be Rafe, and the younger who must be Cole, “kept me running around when we did pumpkins.”

  “Piper.”

  Both teenagers give me identical smiles and this time my own smile is genuine.

  “Nice to meet you all.”

  Livvie drops her purse next to her chair and fluffs her hair. “I’m so glad you called. I needed to get out of the house.”

  Chloe laughs, one hand on her belly. “My cousin driving you crazy?”

  “Always,” Livvie says, but she’s grinning good-naturedly. “Logan got a new motorcycle a couple months ago, so naturally he and Ben have been mooning over it. Ben’s trying to convince me he needs a new one.”

  “Really?” The other teenager sits up a little straighter in his seat.

  Sofie shoots him a stern look. “Don’t even think about it, Rafe.”

  Rafe slumps back in his seat with a commiserating look from his brother.

  Chloe grins at the pair of them, then says to Livvie, “Piper had Logan over this morning. Early this morning.”

  I groan inwardly as all eyes at the table shift to me, pinning me to my chair. All I can think to do is nod because my throat closes up.

  “I’m so glad,” Sofie says with a rush of enthusiasm.

  My mouth drops open. “I’m sorry, what?”

  Sofie shares a significant look with Livvie as Chloe’s eyes brighten, and she nibbles on another piece of bread. “I’ve been telling Livvie for forever we should fix Logan up with someone, but he beat us to it.”

  “Because you’re so nosey.” Rafe elbows Sofie.

  Sofie simply shrugs. “Hey, they were the ones talking loud enough for the rest of the world to overhear. Plus, it’s not often Logan of all people talks about a woman.” She looks across the table to Livvie. “I don’t think he’s even dated since he and his wife split years ago.”

  As the conversation shifts to trash talking his ex-wife, I turn my eyes to my lap. Try as I might, I can’t direct my attention anywhere else a
nd my ears strain to listen as they continue.

  “Yeah, Piper has been working at the bed and breakfast,” Chloe says, once they finish raking Logan’s ex over the coals.

  “Ohhhh,” Livvie sends a longing glance toward me. “I love that place. Ben took me there for our anniversary. The views are spectacular. I’ll have to come for lunch sometime. I remember the food is amazing.”

  There is a pause where all eyes turn to me. For a second, the words stick in my throat. Then I swallow and push through. “I’d like that.”

  The three women beam at me, and I relax into my seat.

  “Do you ever get to eat there?” Sofie asks as she sips from a glass of wine.

  I nod. “Diane practically forces me to take leftovers after dinner.”

  Livvie groans. “Now she’s just being mean.”

  I surprise myself by laughing. Chloe glances over and beams at me, and I have to admit . . . I needed this more than I realized.

  The next morning, I wake up before my four thirty alarm, and I’m still smiling as I wake Logan up so he can go to his place to get ready for work. It doesn’t even damage my good mood when I find out I’ve run out of coffee.

  The sun is just brightening the sky as I lock and re-lock my front door. Dew sparkles on the patch of grass between my house and Logan’s. The sound of a door opening draws my eyes up as Logan exits his own front door. He gives me a grin that warms me from the inside out as he climbs in his truck.

  I tear myself away from watching him and keep my gaze on my feet as I go down the steps and cross the front yard to the sidewalk leading to the B&B.

  Even though I tell myself not to do it, I glance back before crossing the street, and I find Logan watching me. Surprise and then heat, flares and I duck my head back down as I cross the street with a hidden smile. His eyes follow me until I open the kitchen door and close it behind me.

  Leaning heavily against the wood, I focus on catching my breath and calming my racing heart. Once blood isn’t thundering in my ears, I push off the door and hang up my purse in the closet just off the kitchen. Work will help me push him from my mind. After the whirlwind lunch with the girls, I could use the monotony of cleaning the now empty guest rooms in preparation for the next occupants.

  Before I get started with the cleaning, I make a pot of coffee for Rose and Diane, who normally rise mid-morning to start the light brunch for the early rising guests. Once it’s ready, I fill a cup for myself and sip it while I greet the morning sun through the kitchen window as it rises over the deep, calming blue of the lake. Once finished, I rinse out my cup and set it on the drain by the sink. Rocky waits patiently by the back door for his walk. I decide I’d better take him before I get distracted by work. Rose and Diane have taken to Rocky like he’s their own child and don’t mind if he spends his days being lazy on the porch.

  Tonight’s the night, I decide as Rocky winds around me on our normal route through the trees to the rocky edge of the water. I’ll make him a romantic dinner, and we’ll see what happens.

  Because he’s right. What’s the point of being alive if you don’t live?

  Lightness suffuses my being, and I whistle to Rocky, who has disappeared over a small hill leading to the lake. It’s too early for the straggling vacationers who like to fish or dip their toes in the cooling water, but it’s become my favorite time of day.

  “Rocky, you silly boy, c’mon. We’ve got work to do.” His urgent barks answer me, and I speed up.

  When I crest the hill, I wish I hadn’t. The smell hits me first, and then I recognize the bloody heap below me. Initially, all I can see is Paige. A few panic-stricken seconds pass before I can blink away her face. I can’t be sure as she’s been badly beaten, but I’m almost positive the dead woman in front of me is the sweet baker I met a few nights ago.

  Lena.

  My legs threaten to give out, and I stumble back against a tree for balance. As my brain trips over itself to understand the sight in front of me, I put a hand to my mouth to keep from vomiting my breakfast.

  When I manage to still my roiling stomach, I run back to the B&B and grab my phone. As I wait for Logan to answer, I press my fingers to my eyes, trying to separate my memories of the past from the terrifying reality of the present.

  Logan

  I don’t make it five miles down the road before my cell phone buzzes in the cup holder next to me. Glancing down, I find Piper’s name on the caller I.D. and automatically smile. Replacing the thermos of coffee she fixed special for me before we both went to work with the phone, I answer, “Mornin’, honey. Miss me already?”

  When she doesn’t answer right away the warmth from the coffee cools into lead in my stomach. “Baby, are you there?”

  Her sob sounds over the line and I’d rather face a dozen armed men than ever hear the heart-wrenching sound again.

  “Piper? Honey, answer me. Are you hurt? Where are you?”

  “This can’t be happening again,” she whispers. “I can’t—I don’t think I can do this again.”

  I swerve through lanes of traffic at the first intersection, the blare of horns following me as I make an illegal U-turn. “I’m coming back. I’m on my way. Are you at work? Is it Grandma Rose, is she okay?”

  Piper sucks in a long breath over the line and it whooshes through the connection. “No they—they’re fine.” Then her voice gets more urgent. “Don’t let them come outside, Logan. They shouldn’t see this. They shouldn’t see her like this.”

  I’ve been in terrible, fucked up situations before, but I’ve never felt fear like this. A terror so consuming I find my hands trembling as they grip the phone. “Who, baby? Who is it?”

  “Lena Thompson,” she says, “she was a baker. God, she’s dead.”

  “Can you walk back to the B&B for me? I don’t want you out there alone. Is the dog with you? Keep him with you.” I hear him bark as she calls softly to him. “Go back up there and get inside and stay there.”

  “I am, I’m going now.”

  “Good, that’s good. I’m on my way now. I’ll be there in a few minutes, but I need to call this in. Can you tell me what happened?”

  She sniffles. “I took Rocky for a walk by the lake before work and found her. God, Logan, she was such a sweet woman and she’s dead. For a second . . . for a second I thought she was P-Paige and I blacked out. I couldn’t think. When I realized who it was, I called you. I just—I need you here.”

  The sirens I flipped on nearly drown out my words, but I know she needs to hear them. “I’m comin’, baby. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Stay here with me on the line while I call this in.”

  My fingers slip on the radio as I press the button. “187 at the Nassau Bed & Breakfast on McCormick Lake. Officer Blackwell responding and requesting backup.” I have to wipe at the sudden cold sweat that breaks out on my forehead.

  “10-4, Officer Blackwell. Backup en route,” is the immediate response.

  To my phone, I say, “Piper, you there, baby? I’m pulling in the drive now. I’m here.” But I don’t need to because the second I put the truck in park, she’s throwing the front doors open and rushing down the steps. She hits my chest like a bullet and I wrap my arms around her shaking form. I tuck her under my chin and lean back against the grill of the truck, needing to provide the comfort as much as she needs to receive it.

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” she says against my shirt.

  “You did the right thing. There are more officers coming. We’re going to figure out what’s going on.”

  She nods against me, but her arms don’t release.

  When her shivering subsides somewhat, I glance up and find Aunt Diane and Grandma Rose hovering on the porch, identical looks of worry on their face. Aunt Diane comes down the porch steps first, still wearing the apron she dons on occasion to make breakfast.

  “What on earth is going on?” Aunt Diane says as she lays a hand on Piper’s back. “She ran through the house like the devil himself was on her tail. Scare
d the life out of me.”

  Piper manages to pull away, her face unnaturally white. Concerned, I say, “Why don’t you go wait in the truck. As soon as the others get here, I can take you home.”

  She shakes her head. “No, I’ll stay.” With a deep breath, she turns to Aunt Diane. “Ms. Lena, the woman in the Lily Suite? I was walking Rocky down by the lake and I—I found her.”

  Aunt Diane looks to me for confirmation as words fail Piper.

  “We’ve had a rash of assaults here lately,” I start, but the rest of my explanation is drowned out as the emergency responders arrive in a blaze of sirens. “Why don’t the three of you go back inside while I deal with this.” I catch Aunt Diane’s eye and flick my eyes to Piper.

  Aunt Diane nods her understanding. “C’mon, Piper. I could use your help reassuring the guests if you’re sure you don’t want to go on home.”

  Piper moves to follow my aunt and grandma inside, but I find myself reluctant to let her go. She glances back at me and her eyes flick over my face. “Logan?”

  Shaking off the sense of foreboding, I force my hands to release their hold. As I watch her walk up the steps, Colson arrives in his customary cowboy hat, his expression grim.

  “Well, shit,” he says.

  As we walk around the B&B to the crime scene already swarming with officers and crime scene techs, I fill him in on the call from Piper, the interview she gave the day before, and my suspicions.

  “Elizabeth Gallagher and the assault victim before Ms. Thompson got lucky. A man like this doesn’t go from murdering multiple women to assault. He must have been interrupted with them. According to the Miami file, he liked to take his time. Draw it out.” With a cool focus borne of years of training, I study the scene, trying and failing, for the first time to separate my own anger from my observations. All I see is Piper running toward me, the fear of God in her eyes.

  Colson crouches by the victim’s body and tips his hat up. As he studies her, I take in the scene. The chill in the air kept most of the tourists from any early morning walks, but there are lake houses and business all along the lake. Anyone could have seen him.