by Dale Mayer
“And then you’ll take them in, I suppose,” Flynn said with a knowing smile.
“That’s what I’m here for,” she said. “Maybe with some of that money, I can afford to get an assistant. Someone to help.”
“I’m sure you can,” he said. “How many animals can you actually take here?”
“With the new pens that I have yet to use, I could probably take in close to forty dogs. The problem is finding homes for them. But they all go eventually. It’s just a matter of time. People are always more easily suckered in if they see the animal at events. Those who call me are the ones who have been out looking. I do have a website obviously, and that takes a bit of work too. But now I get to update it, let them know that both little dogs have a new home.” She reached up and kissed him briefly on the cheek. “I’ll do that right now.” And she bolted into the office.
*
Like an idiot, Flynn stood in the hallway, a hand to his cheek. It was the first sign of affection she’d actually shown him since his return. And he was loving it. Obviously, today was one of the highlights of the week, if not the whole month, for her. A sizable check, two animals adopted and she was safe, so far. Plus, the police were done and gone, taking whatever mess they were dealing with. Now if only they could figure out where the hell Brendan was and put a stop to any shenanigans he was up to.
While she was in the office, he pulled out his phone. “Levi, any update?”
“No, I’m still tracking down Brendan’s whereabouts. His brother swears he’s been at his place for the last two days, but he has a small cottage in the back where Brendan’s been staying. So he can’t actually confirm that he’s been there—in fact he’s hardly seen him for several weeks.”
“I can pretty well damn confirm that he hasn’t, but was at Jonas’s place,” Flynn said shortly. “It just feels like he’s planning something, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t want him to target the animals here either.”
“No, none of us do.”
After ending the call, he walked to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was brewing in the atmosphere. If he looked at this as Brendan wanting payback, what he had done so far wasn’t enough.
Just as the coffee finished dripping, he heard a knock on the front door. He opened it to two policemen standing on the porch. He nodded. “Good evening. What can we do to help you?”
The first officer introduced himself. “I’m Detective Baker. I believe you are Flynn Kilpatrick, correct?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“We need you to come down to the station to answer some questions.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Is there any reason I can’t answer them here?”
The two men stepped slightly backward to allow him to step out onto the porch. Baker said, “We would like to see you at the station.”
Flynn didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“Let me grab my jacket and tell Anna.” He didn’t give them a chance to refuse.
He turned and walked into the kitchen, grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and headed to the office.
Anna was working on the computer. She looked up with a big smile. “Hey, do I smell coffee?”
“Yeah, but you’ll be drinking alone. The police are here, and they want me at the station for questioning.”
Her gaze widened. “What?” She bounded to her feet and raced to the front door. “What do you want with Flynn?” she asked the detectives.
“We just have some questions to ask him.”
“Then why the station? You could come in and ask what you need.”
Both men shook their heads. “We are requesting his presence at the station.”
She crossed her arms and jutted out her chin.
Flynn grabbed her by the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll go with them. I don’t have anything to hide.”
“That might be,” she said, “but you’re not going alone. I’m coming too. I’ll drive and follow you.” She glared at the two cops. “Make sure you keep him safe. He’s already been shot at once. And there better not be one damn bruise on him by the time I see him at the station.”
Flynn laughed. “They can’t beat me up, sweetie.” He bent down and dropped a kiss on her temple. “But it’s a good idea for you to follow me there. I don’t want you alone here.”
She raced into the kitchen and was back out with her keys, jacket, and purse. Turning to lock the front door, she headed to the car as he got into the backseat of the cruiser.
As he sat inside, he watched her follow them down the street. He smiled. He really didn’t like this development; it made her worry about him. Well, something was good about that. At least it proved she cared. He quickly texted Levi and gave him an update.
Then he phoned Logan. “Interesting development.”
Logan answered, “No worries. We’ll send a lawyer over.”
“Don’t need one,” Flynn said comfortably. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, but somebody’s out to get you, so the more support you have at the onset, the less chance you have of anybody pushing your buttons.”
“I’m just not sure how much to tell them about Brendan.”
“Another reason for the lawyer. We’ll meet you there.”
Flynn ended the call and stared at his phone. He might have had a crappy time this past year, but he never doubted his friends. It had taken a long time to get to this point with his position at Legendary Security and to where he was with Anna at present. He had no intention of blowing it now. No matter what Brendan might have planned, they’d have to go on without Flynn. Because he and Anna had a future, and it didn’t include jail time.
Chapter 11
“You can take a seat on the side, ma’am.” The detective was polite.
She gave him a hard glance and said, “I’d rather sit with Flynn.”
“He’s just answering questions. You can wait until he comes back out again.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man on the other side of the desk. “I know you’re just doing your job,” she said.
“Good,” he barked. “Then let us do it. If there’s no reason to keep him, then we won’t.”
She glared at him again until a soft laugh came from behind her. She turned to see Logan. “There you are. You’re getting him out of here, right?”
“With you on his defense team?” Logan asked with a chuckle. “I doubt they’ll charge him with anything. Because if they did, they’d have to face you. And believe me, that’s not what any of them want.”
The detective behind the desk muttered, “You got that right.”
Logan led her to one of the long benches against the wall. “Let’s just sit here and relax.”
“How can I possibly do that when they took him in for questioning?”
“Did they say what it was about?” he asked.
“No, but what else could it be other than Jonas’s murder?” She let her breath out in a heavy sigh, running her hands through her hair. “The guy makes me nuts. You know that, right?”
Logan laughed. “He has that effect on a lot of people.”
She smiled. “But he’s a good guy.”
“Glad you noticed.”
It was the emphasis on the word noticed in his voice that had her glaring at him in suspicion. “What do you mean by that?”
His grin widened. “Flynn likes you too.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Was it that obvious?”
He laughed out loud. “Your defense of him says a lot.”
“You’ve got to remember I defend the underdogs,” she told him.
“That’s true. But Flynn really doesn’t need anybody to stand up for him.”
“I’m afraid he does now. I don’t know what the hell that friend of his is up to, but he won’t be happy until Flynn suffers for some reason.”
“Well, he’s not a friend any longer,” Logan said. “I’m not sure they eve
r really were. But they were in the same unit. And when things go bad, they tend to go really bad. Nobody in the military has a weak character, they don’t breed them that way. When they find strengths, they hone and sharpen them. So when two military types get on opposite sides of the same bar, it can get ugly.”
“He has to really hate Flynn in order to want him to suffer like this.”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he isn’t planning to kill him.”
“Oh, my God,” she cried. “Really?”
Logan grabbed her hands, already twisted into knots, her nails digging into her soft flesh. “I shouldn’t have said that. Just take it easy. We really don’t know anything yet.”
“No, you’re wrong there. We know somebody’s setting him up. And with that much hate inside, there’s really no way to know when they’ll stop. If they’re gonna stop. I think you’re right. The endgame is to take Flynn out.”
“Even if it is, Flynn is not anybody’s easy endgame.”
“And he’s not alone, right?” She stared at Logan as if willing him to give her the answer she needed.
Logan nodded his head. “He has all of Levi’s company, me, and my father. And that’s considerable. If we have to, we can pull Bullard’s team into this.”
“Who’s Bullard?”
Logan shook his head. “I forgot you don’t know who he is. Another guy running a company like Levi’s, but they’re over in Africa.”
“Sounds as if I’d like him if he’d step up and help Flynn out. I don’t think Flynn’s had so many people stand by him lately.”
“No, he hasn’t. He doesn’t have any family. But I’ve been his best friend for as long as I can remember.”
She nodded. “He’s got a chip on his shoulder. That I-don’t-need-anybody-in-my-life-because-I’m-doing-just-fine chip.”
At that Logan laughed out loud. “I see you do know him, and obviously very well.”
His tone held a bit of suggestiveness. She flushed. “Not that way.”
“But soon,” he teased.
She flushed an even brighter red and glared at him. “Not likely. The last thing I need to do is spend my evenings sitting inside the police station, waiting for him to come out.”
“Especially when you can be doing something so much more fun.” And he chuckled again.
He obviously knew Flynn very well too. Maybe too well, from the looks he was giving her. “How long have you known him?” she asked abruptly.
“Decades,” he said cheerfully. “We had a few years apart where we didn’t have anything to do with each other but hooked up again in the military. That was awesome.”
She shook her head. “So you know all about his history with women then.”
“Of course I do. Doesn’t mean I know the details or about all of them. But I know about you.”
She nodded. “Figures.”
“Why?”
“Because I have no intention of being yet another little notch on Flynn’s bedpost.”
“Now that is not something Flynn ever did. He had some short-term romances, but when he’s with a girl, he’s in 100 percent. That didn’t mean it always worked out obviously, as he’s never been married. But his relationships always lasted six months or longer.”
She turned to look at him. “For real?”
He nodded. “SEALs get a bad reputation. Hell, all military men get a bad name for being more into the wild and crazy one-night stands and weekends,” he said. “And I doubt any of us can say that we haven’t done something that makes us look back and cringe. But Flynn was much more circumspect. He wasn’t into one-night stands—he was into relationships. I give him credit. I thought he was gonna make it with a couple of them. But it’s tough being married to a SEAL.”
“It’s tough being married to any military man,” she said. “There is always danger around you. Not knowing if you’ll ever come back from the latest mission.”
“True enough. And you gotta realize Flynn’s doing the same kind of work. Maybe not quite as dangerous. Hell, maybe it’s more so. I’m fairly new with Levi myself. But it’s the kind of work we used to do. And some of it’s hazardous.”
“Aren’t you the one who looks after the rich and famous?”
Logan gave her a flat stare. “No. I might’ve done a job or two like that, but that’s definitely not where my aptitude lies.”
“You sure? You look like the one who prefers to have some of those gorgeous women throw themselves all over you.”
Logan chuckled. “Those gorgeous women throw themselves all over me whether I’m looking after them or not.”
“Maybe you lost your heart to one of those fancy ladies you were guarding.”
She couldn’t help teasing him, but she knew that chances were none of it was even true. Until she saw a flush rise up his neck. It was her turn to give him a flat stare and say, “Come on, Logan. Give me the details. Who was she?”
He glared at her. “No one.”
She snickered. “Wait until I tell Flynn about this.”
He narrowed his gaze, shoved his face a little closer to hers and said in a mock-threatening voice, “You won’t say a word to him.”
She shoved her face right back into his until her nose was almost touching his. “Yeah, you wanna bet?”
*
Flynn watched the two spit at each other. He couldn’t stop grinning. His friends were great. He stood in front of them for a long moment, waiting for them to notice him. When they didn’t, he cleared his throat.
Both turned to look up at Flynn, his arms crossed over his chest, a big smirk on his face. “How nice you two are getting to know each other.”
“I’m sure she has a crush on you,” Logan said with a big smirk. “I told her that she should find somebody else because you’re a busy man with the ladies these days.”
Flynn’s eyebrows shot up.
“That’s okay. You don’t understand why’s he’s being mean and lying. Logan is missing his sweetheart,” Anna said, her voice supersweet. “That’s what happens when you’re dumped by someone prettier than you.” She turned to glare at Logan.
Flynn broke into raucous laughter. “Oh, my God. Seeing you two like this is perfect.” He grabbed an arm on each of them, pulled them to their feet and said, “Shall we leave now?”
Anna turned and stopped. “Can you leave? Oh, that’s wonderful.” She threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. “I was so worried about you.”
“I told you there was no need. It’s all fine.”
She stepped back a bit and glared at him. “In my world, there’s no all fine. But I sure as hell would like to get out of here.” She turned to look at Logan, saying in a half-grudging voice, “You’re welcome to come back to my place for a drink—coffee or something—if you want.”
Logan’s grin flashed. “Only as long as you don’t bring up any more of our girlfriend or boyfriend issues.”
She thrust her chin forward. “As long as you don’t either.”
Flynn snagged each of them by the arm once again and directed them toward the front door. “Damn it, that must’ve been some conversation while you were waiting for me.” They walked outside. “I’m sorry I missed it.”
“I could’ve missed it easily.” Anna rolled her eyes. But she was just so damn happy Flynn was allowed to go and there appeared to be no repercussions from the police visit. “What did they actually want?”
They were headed across the parking lot where their vehicles waited. She walked to her car and waited for him to answer.
“Someone sent them a letter stating I killed Jonas.”
Her jaw dropped.
Logan exploded with, “Are you serious?”
Flynn nodded. “But apparently the autopsy confirmed Jonas was killed while I was flying home. He was shot by a small caliber handgun. The slices on his arm were inflicted with my knife and more for show than anything else. More forensic evidence to nail my coffin closed. But I wasn’t here so the plan didn’t work. The
same thing for the rifle. Jonas was shot with it postmortem. But it wasn’t the murder weapon. They are looking for a handgun for that. And of course, they found a partial print of mine on the rifle.” He glanced at Logan and said, “Thank God I went on that trip with you and Harrison.”
“Jesus.” Logan stared off in the distance, then shook his head. “Somebody has it in for you.”
“Not somebody, it’s Brendan. I’m pretty damn sure.”
“So sure you’ll exclude everybody else in that equation?” Anna asked. “Making assumptions is not the best idea.”
“No, it’s not, but nobody else in my world really hates me like that. And I told the police that this time.”
“I think one of the things about it is that we don’t often recognize who it is that hates us. The world is full of lies and liars.”
“True enough. But most of those liars aren’t willing to go through with murder to make a point.”
“Aren’t the police looking for Brendan? Why aren’t they asking him where he was on the weekend Jonas was killed?”
“They are looking for him. And as soon as they track him down, they will ask him just that,” Flynn said. “But it appears Brendan is hiding out, and nobody knows where he is right now, including his brother.”
“That sucks. We need to find him ourselves.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Flynn said. “We need to track his credit cards. He has to be paying his way somehow. However, if he was living at his brother’s house or Jonas’s, that’s a different story. So when was his ATM last hit for cash? Does he have a credit card? When was it last used?”
“I believe Ice is getting those answers.”
“When we go home, I’ll see if I can get more.” He glanced at the two of them and asked, “Are you coming to Anna’s place?”
Logan nodded. “I’ll follow you.”
Anna unlocked and opened the car, standing on the pavement, waiting. She turned back to Flynn and asked, “You want to drive, or are you okay if I do?”
“I wouldn’t mind driving,” he said amiably. “But if it’s an issue for you, go ahead.”