Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1)

by Olivia Jaymes

  He wasn’t going to allow that to happen which was why they were here hiding in a closet. Damian had been on the run, living a lie for over twenty years and no one close to him seemed to have any idea where he currently was. The best plan they could come up with was to lure him here. If he wanted in the house and he wanted Brinley dead, logic dictated he would eventually show up to take care of what he considered loose ends.

  West pressed the button on his ear piece. “Report.”

  His brother kept his voice low although there were only the three of them in the darkened house, along with Logan and Brinley in the garage and several cops hidden in a circle around the perimeter. If Barnes showed up they’d be ready for him.

  “I’ve got a car coming down Alder Avenue slowly.”

  Jason didn’t know which of West’s men was reporting but finally something might be happening. He hadn’t realized he lived in one of the most boring neighborhoods in the entire world until he’d sat back to watch it all night.

  “It’s parked and a man is getting out. Wait…now he’s disappeared in between the houses.”

  Jason’s heart sped up in his chest and he had to force himself to sit, quiet and controlled. He’d been in this situation enough times to know the drill but then there had never been so much hanging in the balance.

  “Okay, this is it. No talking.” West nodded to Jason. “Here we go.”

  There was silence except for the sound of the wind chimes on Brinley’s patio moving softly in the slight evening breeze. Jason waited impatiently, his fingers finding the handle of the handgun tucked into his shoulder holster. There was a good chance Barnes was armed. They already knew he was dangerous. He’d killed two people and made attempts on two more. Jason had no expectation that the man would come quietly.

  They’d left the front door locked but the large windows in the living room wide open as if Brinley wanted the night air to cool the house. Jason heard a clip-clip sound – possibly Barnes snipping the screens – and then a tall man shrouded in shadow stood in the middle of the room, holding what looked like a gun in one hand and a crowbar in the other. There was just enough moonlight coming through the sheer drapes to highlight the outline but none of his features.

  Every muscle in Jason’s body was coiled and ready to spring, the tension in his gut churning up acid into his throat. He waited, never taking his eyes from the figure who simply stood there for the longest time. Perhaps waiting to see if he had woken the lady of the house?

  Finally the figure crept up the stairs where Jared was crouched in the hall closet. Jason’s phone lit up with an incoming text.

  Went into bedrm.

  Jason held his breath, waiting to see what the intruder would do. Once he found Brinley’s bed empty would he leave or would he do what Jason was counting on?

  Checkg othr bedrm.

  Hopefully Barnes wouldn’t find Jared, although the closet was deep and piled high with boxes. They’d made sure of that. If someone opened the door all they’d see was clutter, not a fully trained and armed ex-lawman.

  Comng dwnstrs.

  This was the moment he’d been waiting for. Barnes was standing at the bottom of the stairs, paused as if not sure what to do next. He’d come for Brinley but she wasn’t there.

  Come on. Come on. Look for it. You know it’s here. This is your chance.

  Jason was frozen in place but his heart was beating so loudly he was shocked that it couldn’t be heard blocks away. Sweat had begun to trickle down his back, the lack of air in the small space almost stifling. The seconds stretched and time seemed to stand still as he waited. And waited.

  Finally the figure slowly crept into the dining room before shining a small flashlight on the floorboards near the entrance to the kitchen. Jason slowly expelled the breath he’d been holding, relief and exultation flooding him all at the same time. Barnes was kneeling now, using the crowbar to pull up the floorboards. Jason could see him reaching down and then another long pause before the crowbar pulled up a few more boards.

  It had been too long since the last time he’d caught a criminal red-handed. But he remembered the rush as if it was only yesterday. How long had it been? Months and months and all because he’d been playing it safe. He’d been doing it with Brinley too, trying to protect himself from being hurt.

  He was done with that, here and now. No more tip-toeing through life, half-assing everything. As of this moment he was back and it felt more than good. It felt like the part of him that had been missing for so long. He was finally someone that not only he could respect but that he could ask Brinley to love.

  Jason quietly stood and reached around the door, flipping on the overhead lights while West and Jared, who had snuck down the stairs, pointed their guns at the intruder. Bright light filled the room and Jason blinked several times as he directed the muzzle of his handgun right at the surprised man’s chest.

  It would soon be all over.

  *

  “Waiting sucks.”

  Brinley practically yawned the whispered words as she and Logan sat in the darkened garage on a couple of chaise lawn chairs. This is where she’d spent the last two nights, unwilling to be sequestered in Jason’s house with Logan as her bodyguard. She might not be useful during a stakeout but she wasn’t going to be pushed aside completely. It was her life on the line and she needed to see the man that had tried to kill her face to face. She wanted to find out if evil looked the same as everyone else or if there was something different about a person who was willing to kill a fellow human being.

  “It won’t be long now if someone is darting in and out of the houses around here. But if you’re bored I could take you back to Jason’s house so you could get some sleep,” Logan offered with a quiet laugh. He was lying back as if he didn’t have a care in the world but she’d learned enough about him to know he was constantly at the ready. His gun was safely in his shoulder holster but the entire garage was tricked out with motion sensors. If anyone’s shadow even darkened the door loud sirens were going to go off, bringing several officers with them. “I don’t think this is what the doctor had in mind when he sent you home. It can’t be too easy to sleep on a lawn chair, even one as nice as this.”

  “I dozed off and on last night. I’m too jumpy to sleep unless I take my pills. Besides, I got a good nap in this afternoon.”

  She could hear Logan’s low chuckle in the dim light although she couldn’t see him smile. “Only because Jason carried you up the stairs. You’re a stubborn one, Ms. Snow.”

  “He is too.”

  “What a pair you are then.” Logan sat up and in a flash was by the one side window that looked out at the house. “The lights are blazing. They must have their man.”

  Brinley hopped to her feet and then winced as she landed wrong on her still tender ankle. She was battered but much better than she had been a few days ago. She didn’t even wear the wrap on her ankle or wrist any longer, although the bruises were turning an ugly shade of green.

  Logan turned and placed a hand on her shoulder, pressing her firmly back into the chair and putting his body between her and the door. “Sit down until I hear the all clear. It’s not safe yet.”

  She was damn tired of all of this. Being protected might sound romantic or interesting in the movies, but mostly it was a pain in the ass. Her independent nature rebelled at the invisible chains and walls that Jason had placed around her. It was the right thing to do but it didn’t mean she had to enjoy it.

  A few raps at the door and a young police officer stuck his head in. “We got him. I turned off the alarm and you’re free to move around.”

  “Is it Damian Barnes?” she asked, standing more gingerly this time.

  The cop gave her an apologetic smile. “I don’t know, ma’am. I haven’t heard. They’ll know inside.”

  The officer disappeared and Logan held up his hand when she would have rushed out of the garage. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You’ll see who it is soon enough as you’ll probabl
y have to testify if he doesn’t confess or plead out.”

  “I can’t explain it but I just need to see him.” Brinley shrugged helplessly. “I know that sounds lame but this man tried to run me over with a car. I need him to not be some faceless bogeyman that haunts my nightmares. This way he’s just an asshole.”

  “Actually that sums it up pretty well. Just remember that when we go in there you need to stay out of the way. They’ll be reading him his rights and so forth.”

  Brinley nodded, taking a fortifying breath. “I will. Let’s do this.”

  With Logan by her side Brinley climbed the back porch stairs and entered her kitchen. She could see Jason, West, Jared, and several police officers milling around in her dining room along with a handcuffed man with his back to her. She moved through the doorway and closer to Jason as the man turned around, giving her a full view of his face.

  “Greg! What are you doing here?” Brinley grabbed Jason’s arm in panic. “This isn’t Damian Barnes—this is Greg Henry. That guy that cancelled dinner and who wouldn’t leave me alone.”

  Brinley was stiff with shock at the thought that some guy she’d had coffee with had broken into her house. Greg must have lost his mind entirely to do something that stupid.

  Jason’s brow shot up and his head swiveled to Greg and then back to her. “This is Damian Barnes, Brinley. I saw a picture of him in his office.”

  Logan came to stand next to her, his arms crossed over his chest as her muddled brain tried to process Jason’s statement. “And he’s also Greg. I saw him the day he came visiting here, trying to get in the house. Want to tell us about that, Barnes?”

  Damian Barnes or Greg or whatever the hell is name was appeared to not be a happy man. His normally handsome features were twisted into something ugly and angry, although not near as menacing as she’d imagined a killer could be.

  It turned out evil looked just like everyone else.

  What a frightening fact.

  Damian Barnes pressed his lips together as if talking was the very last thing on his mind, but then his skin flushed a darker red and he jerked his arm away from the uniformed cop that had been standing next to him.

  “I asked you out so I could get into the house. I didn’t want you. I wanted to get in here to get the gun and the jewelry. That’s why I brought you the coffee and the wine I’d drugged. I wanted you to fall asleep so I could retrieve my stuff. The gun and jewelry were safely tucked away under the floor until you moved here. Where are they?”

  Barnes took a step toward her and she hastily retreated still stiff with shock at finding out Greg was Damian and Damian was Greg. Jason easily blocked the handcuffed man’s path, his wide shoulders and back filling her view. “You mean the gun and jewels I found three days ago when I figured out it was you that killed your stepmother? They’re in the crime lab and the gun is covered in fingerprints. I’m guessing they’re yours.”

  The angry man’s mouth fell open. “How–how did you find them? How did you know they were there?”

  A smile played around Jason’s mouth and Brinley was sure she’d never seen him look as calm and confident as he did in this moment. Solving a crime looked very good on him indeed.

  “I can thank my time in captivity for that, actually. Sitting in a cell alone for weeks heightens your sense of hearing. I walked over that spot on the floor and knew something wasn’t right.”

  West shook his head at Barnes who appeared to still be in shock. All this time the killer had been right there in front of her eyes and no one had known. She was elated that she’d never fallen for his bullshit line and charm act.

  West was jotting notes in a notebook. “So you snuck out of the movie theatre and came back to the house to shoot your stepmother? How did you know your father wouldn’t be home?”

  “They were arguing when I left. It was pretty much their pattern that they fought and then Dad went for a long drive and was gone most of the night. I knew I’d have plenty of time.”

  “So you shot her and hid the gun and jewelry?” Jason asked. “Why jewelry? Were you trying to make it look like a robbery?”

  Damian’s jaw jutted out and his eyes were cold. “Those belonged to my mother, not Linda. Dad would have let her keep them but that wasn’t right.”

  “Why did you kill her?” Brinley heard herself asking before she could stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth. “And why did you kill Roger Gaines?”

  “She was spending all of Dad’s money. Money that was supposed to belong to me. It wasn’t fair. The way she was going through it there would have been nothing left by the time my father died.”

  “And Roger?” West held the pencil poised on the paper. “You were the one he was meeting at the hotel, right?”

  Shrugging, Damian shook his head. “He called me wanting to talk about the murder. I couldn’t have him or that other girl digging up the past.”

  Jason’s mouth was a grim line. “And Brinley? Why did you try and kill her? If you were worried about being investigated why didn’t you try to kill me or West?”

  “I didn’t try. At first.” The man moved restlessly on his feet. “I just wanted in the house. My plan wasn’t to kill her but drug her so she’d be asleep while I did what I needed to do. But then I saw that flooring van and I knew I couldn’t wait. I had to stop her from pulling up the floors.”

  “I wasn’t going to do that. I was just going to refinish them.” Brinley glanced at the gaping hole in her dining room floor. “Of course now I’ll have to have that patched.”

  “The truck said they did new floors. I couldn’t take any chances. If you were dead the renovations would stop.”

  Logan had been silent the entire time but he was shaking his head and scowling. “Why in the hell didn’t you buy the house in the first place when it was for sale and save yourself all the fuss of trying to get in and worrying about the damn floors?”

  “I tried,” Barnes declared, a tad too loudly. “But by the time I heard Aunt Gail had put the house on the market it had been sold. She never would have sold to me anyway. Bitch.”

  It was all suddenly too much for Brinley. She fell into one of her dining room chairs with a soft groan of frustration. So many people dead or injured because of one man’s greed.

  “So you killed your stepmother for money, right? Then you killed Roger Gaines and tried to kill Anita Hazlitt because you thought they were closing in on you. And finally you tried to kill me for a gun and some jewelry and to stop any renovations on the house. Do I have all this clear?”

  Damian said something she couldn’t quite make out but it sounded like a few rude words. Jason had obviously had enough because he grabbed Damian’s arm, and with West on the other side they escorted Barnes to a waiting squad car.

  “What happens now?” Brinley slumped in the chair and watched as the police officers slowly dispersed.

  Logan nodded toward the front door. “West will take Barnes to the station and book him. They’ll hold him there until he can be arraigned. They’ll also question him and get a full statement for the record. I doubt he’ll get bail, having admitted to a double murder and two other attempted murders. In fact, if I were him I’d take a deep breath of fresh air right now because I don’t think he’ll be seeing freedom for a long time—if ever.”

  A thought wouldn’t leave her alone. “Do you think his father knew?”

  “Hell, that’s a good question. Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t. Or maybe he knew on some level but couldn’t allow himself to say it out loud.”

  Jared stepped forward and placed his hand lightly under her elbow. She’d just met him a few days ago but already she liked him as much as Logan, although he had a very different personality. Quieter. More cerebral where Logan was loud but intense.

  “Brinley? Why don’t I take you back to Jason’s house and we can let Logan lock up over here when the cops are done? You look like you could use a stiff shot of whiskey.”

  “Wrong. I need at least two. Let’s go.”


  She let Jared escort her out of her dream home that had turned into a nightmare, through the side yard, and straight into the home of her dream man. If she had to choose between the two, she’d choose her man every single time.

  Chapter Thirty

  ‡

  Brinley had finished her first shot of whiskey when Jason joined her in his kitchen. He pulled down a highball glass and poured himself a generous dollop of the single malt scotch before knocking it back in one gulp.

  “West took him to the station and they’ll get his statement.” Jason refilled his glass and held out the bottle to Brinley and Jared but they both shook their heads. It turned out Brinley didn’t like the taste of whiskey in the least.

  Jared patted her hand and then stood from the table. “Unless you need me I’m going to get on the road to the airport. I can get a flight out and be back home to Misty and Lizzie Rose mid-morning.”

  Jason held out his hand to Jared. “I couldn’t have done this without you. I promised you no dangerous assignments when you partnered with me and I guess I lied. I pulled you away from your computer and into field work.”

  Jared’s rich laughter filled the room as he slapped his hat on his head. “I was never in any danger. Just this young lady.” He gave Brinley a smile. “And she handled it like a champ. She’s a keeper, Anderson.”

  Brinley giggled and shook her finger at Jason. “That’s right. I’m a keeper.”

  Jason rolled his eyes and took another drink from the glass. “I’m well aware, honey. Believe me.” He turned back to Jared, who was fishing his keys out of a bowl on the kitchen counter. “What about Logan? Is he leaving with you?”

  “I’m heading next door right now to help him lock up. Then he’s driving me to the airport before getting on the road back home. With any luck he’ll be eating pancakes with Ava and the twins in the morning. And we should all get a good night’s sleep in our own homes.” Jared slapped Jason on the back and grinned. “I think we’ve all earned it.”