by Lori Foster
When Jason met Nathan’s gaze, his friend gave a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.
What the hell?
He didn’t want to alarm anyone else, but he realized Nathan had just positioned himself to face Honor’s house. The urge to look over his shoulder, to see if anything was happening there, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
It didn’t help when Diesel gave another low growl.
Casual as you please, Nathan stood. “Anyone else need anything while I’m up?”
Violet wanted another cola, but everyone else declined.
The thing Jason noticed was that Nathan bypassed the door at the back of his house and instead walked around the side yard—between his house and Honor’s.
Pretending an interest in the fire, Jason strode to the far side and added more kindling. He could see Honor’s house, so the second the security light blinked on at the far side, he stilled. Nathan checking on things? Or something else?
The light didn’t go out.
With a feral growl, Diesel lunged to his feet.
Screw it. Saying, “Colt, stay here with Honor and Violet,” Jason started around the back of the house.
Everyone else came to attention. Alarmed, Honor called his name. He didn’t reply. He’d have to trust her to stay put.
“Kill the music,” Hogan said, then jogged over to join Jason, no questions asked.
Before they’d reached the side of her house, pandemonium broke out. Shouts, curses, the sounds of a scuffle.
Jason broke into a run—and damn near collided with a rangy kid in his early twenties coming around to the back of the house. They stared at each other. The guy was dressed all in black and wore a black stocking cap.
Son of a bitch.
When the idiot made to run past him, Jason decked him.
One solid shot, right to the chin.
No way in hell would he let him anywhere near the women or Colt.
The guy reeled, went flat to his back, but he didn’t stay there, so Jason was forced to put him down...and keep him down.
As pissed as he was, he almost enjoyed the fight, not that the brief scuffle could really be called that. He was bigger, stronger and more mature than the young man throwing ineffectual punches.
Once he had the guy facedown in the dew-wet grass, his knee digging into his back, Jason became aware of Hogan struggling to hold on to Diesel. The dog, snarling and barking, badly wanted a piece of the action.
“Diesel, down,” Jason said, and showing that he did indeed have some training, Diesel obeyed.
“Jesus,” Hogan said. “This dog is a beast and hard as hell to control. But I was afraid if I turned him loose, you’d get bit in the confusion.”
“Thanks,” Jason said. He didn’t want to risk the dog getting hurt. Hell, he’d rather reward the animal. After all, it was Diesel who had alerted Nathan that something wasn’t right.
That made Jason think of his friend and he lifted his head, searching the yard. “Nathan!”
“I’m fine.” Disheveled, his hair mussed, a bruise on his cheek but with his gun still in the holster, Nathan appeared from the side of the house. In his right hand he gripped the back of the shirt on a second man. In his left he carried a tire iron and a knit hat. Clearly irate, he pushed the two men together and barked, “Sit.”
Diesel plopped his butt down but kept his attention on the men.
Nathan did a double take, then shook his head with irony. “I didn’t mean you, Diesel, but good dog.”
Diesel thumped his tail, growled at the men again, then looked behind him.
Jason followed his gaze and found the wide-eyed concern of Violet, Colt and Honor. They were all still in his yard, Colt in front with the women held behind him.
Jason’s heart swelled. The last thing Honor needed the night before the funeral was this kind of upset. But with any luck, the two yahoos they’d just nabbed were the same who’d broken into her house before, and later cut the cord on her floodlights.
Nathan roughly checked both men for weapons, made them lie on their stomachs, then put in a call.
Minutes later, a deputy showed up with blue lights flashing over the quiet street. Once Nathan had his backup, Jason left him to it.
Colt still stood in front of ladies. It was as if the three of them were frozen.
“Thank you,” he told Colt.
Relaxing his broad, tensed shoulders, Colt said, “You need to talk to Honor.”
“Oh?” Jason glanced at her and saw the paleness of her skin, the sheen in her eyes. “What did you do, honey?”
“He’s younger.” She wrung her hands together. “He shouldn’t have been trying to shield us.”
“I’m twice your size,” Colt muttered meanly.
“And still underage.” Voice softer, Honor said, “I care for you.”
Exasperated, Colt threw up his arms. “You see?”
Yeah, Jason understood exactly what had happened—and knowing he loved them both, he almost smiled.
Colt turned on Honor. “Ditto that, lady.” Thumb to his chest, he leaned into her space. “I care, too. Get used to it.” Stomping, he headed off to join his father.
Since Honor looked dumbfounded, Jason decided to give her a minute to absorb all that. He smiled at Violet. “This is the quietest I’ve ever seen you.”
“Color me stunned,” she said in her heavy drawl. “You’re a regular badass and I never knew it.”
Jason snorted. “Because I took down a punk half my size?”
“You know, I think it was more about that killer look in your eyes and in-control posture.” She shivered. “Delicious.” In a ridiculous stage whisper, she told him, “Your lady was worried.” With a wink she, too, went off to join the excitement.
When Jason finally looked at her, Honor swallowed. “You were worried?”
“Of course.”
Still not touching her, he asked, “Are you my lady?”
Tremulous breaths made her voice unsteady. “I guess I’m closer to it than anyone else here tonight.” Her worry scoured over him. “God, Jason, are you okay?”
“Sure.” Needing to feel her, he stepped closer, caught her hips and pulled her in against his body. With his forehead to hers, he asked, “You?”
One small hand fisted against his chest. “I’m not the one who was just in a fight.”
“That wasn’t a fight.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “What would you call it?”
“A bother?” Downplaying the whole thing, he kissed the end of her nose. “I think you insulted Colt’s machismo.”
“He’s a kid.”
“Who is almost a man. That’s a touchy time for a guy.”
“I didn’t want to take a chance on him getting hurt.”
Jason cupped her face. “Can’t you accept that he feels the same? I see how important you’ve become to him.” Jason smoothed back her tawny hair. “He lost his mom, he lost his home and everything familiar. But he’s opened up to you. That much trust comes with some responsibilities.”
“Meaning I have to let him do his thing?”
He liked how she put that. “Yeah. He’s a protective guy trying to control what he can.” He tipped up her face. “And he’s right. He’s twice your size.”
Acceptance dropped her shoulders. “You’re right. I’ll apologize to him later.”
“Thank you.”
Leaning around him, Honor peered at the confusion.
Nathan and the deputy corralled the men toward the deputy’s car.
“They were trying to get into my house.”
“Seems so.” It was an interesting thing, watching Honor brace herself. “I’m sorry.”
“If it’s over now, then it was worth it.” She slipped her small hand into his and started over to the heart of the confusion. “Come on. I want to know why they kept targeting me.”
That she clearly wanted him to go along with her felt like more progress. Not that long ago, she would
have insisted on handling everything alone.
Drawn by the fanfare of the deputy’s lights and sirens, neighbors crowded the streets. That was when Jason noticed Sullivan’s door open—and both he and Lexie stepped out. Huh. So they were around but hadn’t joined them for a visit?
Apparently they’d had better, more private things to do. Jason nudged Honor. “Did you notice?”
She followed his gaze, saw Lexie and Sullivan headed toward them and lifted her brows in surprise. “Lexie looks...rumpled.”
Not the word he’d use, but he didn’t want to point out that she’d clearly just had sex. Jason waved to them to draw their attention. Soon as Lexie saw them, she put a hand to her heart and quickened her pace to join them.
They all reached the deputy’s car at just about the same time, but before anyone could explain to Lexie and Sullivan what had happened, one of the men panicked.
“What are you doing?” He fought against the deputy. “Where are you taking me?”
The deputy ruthlessly controlled his guy. Nathan just stared at the man he held, almost daring him to try something. When the guy remained still, Nathan turned to his accomplice.
“You’re being arrested.”
“For what? I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s a joke, right? Burglary of a house is a felony.”
“We weren’t stealing anything!” The deputy stuffed him into the car, but the idiot wasn’t making it easy, resisting every inch while he continued to talk. “This is bullshit. It was his idea, and his money!”
The man with Nathan stiffened. “Shut up, Mike.”
Jason said, “What money?”
“Let me handle this,” Nathan insisted. But it was already too late.
“Darrow hid his own money in there. So it’s not stealing, right? Besides, I wasn’t even going in. I was just along as a lookout.”
“And you fucking suck at it,” the one called Darrow raged, “or we wouldn’t be caught now!”
“I don’t suck! They were all hanging out next door. Should’ve been the perfect time to sneak in and out, but you must’ve made a noise and they heard you, that’s all.”
“I didn’t make any fucking noise.”
“What money?” Jason asked again, ignoring Nathan’s palpable frustration.
“Darrow hid his stash in the walls. The place was a pit, so he never figured on no one buying it. Now that stupid bitch moved in and apparently plastered over it! Darrow just wanted to get his cash, that’s all.”
Eyes mean, Darrow warned, “Shut. The fuck. Up.”
Jason wanted to smash Mike for insulting Honor, but more than that, he wanted her to know what was going on.
Undeterred, Mike shot back, “Darrow’s the one who sells weed! I only smoke it.”
Sullivan asked, “Where in the house?”
“I don’t know. Darrow never told me—’cause I’m not involved.”
“I know,” Honor said. “I remember patching the wall.”
“Jesus, you’re an idiot.” Darrow started kicking, trying to reach his buddy, and as Nathan contained him, he yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”
“He’s threatening me! You heard him!”
Fed up, Nathan shouted, “Both of you, settle down.”
Like whipped dogs, the two idiots cringed and went silent.
Leaving Nathan to sort out the conflict, Jason started toward the house with Honor.
Over his shoulder, Nathan yelled, “Don’t touch anything!”
Jason lifted a hand to let him know he heard, but kept going.
Lexie and Sullivan fell into step with them, and before they’d reached the front door, Jason had given them the bare bones of what had transpired.
Inside the house, shock plain on her face, Honor pointed to a wall. “It was there. Mostly behind the couch.”
Jason quickly moved the enormous plant situated at the end of the sofa. Half behind it and the couch, he saw the obvious patch job Honor had done. It was about the size of a man’s fist, close to the floor, and with the paint-over it wasn’t as noticeable as it would have been higher on the wall.
Slowly Jason turned to face her.
It amazed him when Honor blushed. “Reading how to do it,” she explained, “is totally different from actually trying it.”
There was no reason for her to sound so defensive. “When did you patch it?”
“The same day I came here to clean.”
The day none of them were home. For certain, he’d have remembered Honor if he’d ever seen her prior to that fateful day she actually moved in. He still remembered how poleaxed he’d felt at their first meeting.
Lexie propped her fists on her hips. “I remember that. You were super hyped up and hadn’t even told me about the house yet.”
“If I had,” Honor said, “you’d have wanted to help me clean. And that type of cleaning isn’t really your thing.”
“Being friends with you is my thing, and damn right, I’d have helped. You shouldn’t have had to do that alone.”
“That’s the crazy thing. I enjoyed it.”
Lexie gave an indulgent shake of her head. “I remember coming over to the apartment to pick you up, but you were dirty head to toe, looking pretty beat and smiling ear to ear.” Lexie glanced at Jason. “That’s the first I heard of her buying her own place.”
“There was so much garbage in here,” she told them all. “The house had been empty for a while. I knew someone had used it, because there were old food wrappers and half-empty cups of cola from some different fast food places.”
“Jesus,” Jason muttered. If he’d known about the squatters, he’d have done something sooner to ensure that her house was secure.
“I changed out the locks first thing,” Honor assured him; then she wrinkled her nose. “But there was graffiti on the walls and it was really trashed up. Before Lexie saw it, I at least wanted it cleared out, and I put flat paint over the worst of the...wall art.” She cleared her throat.
“And you did some patching,” Jason added.
“Yes.” She waved a hand at the wall. “That was the biggest one.”
“You didn’t notice anything inside the wall?” Sullivan asked.
“No, but then, I wasn’t looking. I was only hoping nothing came out of the hole, like a mouse or spider or anything.” She shuddered. “It was pretty creepy being here alone without much light.”
Tenderness bombarded Jason. Honor had done so much to prove she could make it without her grandfather’s money—and now she’d inherit anyway. He pulled her close, looped his arms around her and held her.
She returned his hug, patted his back, then said in an aside to Sullivan and Lexie, “He was in a fight earlier,” as if to explain why he was being emotional.
After a quickly stifled laugh, Sullivan asked, “Is that so?”
Jason grinned. “Yeah.” Crazy Honor. Sweet, smart, capable and giving. She’d never again have to face being alone, because going forward, he’d be with her.
Nathan stepped in through the open doorway, looked at each of them and smiled. “Honor, honey, we need to bust up your wall.”
* * *
They found five thousand dollars. Honor still couldn’t believe it.
Jason had carefully cut away her not-so-great repair and exposed the roll of dusty money. It had been dropped into the wall and pushed to the side in an empty space. Even if she’d been looking, she wouldn’t have seen it. It took Jason feeling around in there to reach it, and no way would she have done that.
After they uncovered it, Jason promised to show her the proper way to do a drywall repair.
Happiness, she decided, was having Jason around. He didn’t insist on doing something for her, but instead offered his expertise. He accepted that she liked to do for herself, while also believing her competent and trusting her to learn.
His faith was a gift she’d never take for granted.
They were snuggled together in bed, not asleep but resting, when a phone rang
.
Honor automatically went to jump from the bed, but Jason stayed her with a gentle hold. “It’s mine.” Reaching out one long arm, he snagged his cell from the nightstand.
Heart still punching, with regret as much as anything, Honor wilted against him.
How long would it take her heart and mind to accept that her grandfather was gone? She was so conditioned to relating late calls to her grandfather’s need that she felt devastatingly bereft all over again.
Without saying a word, Jason drew her nearer to his chest in a gentle, comforting hug.
He was so aware of her and her thoughts, her reactions, that he made her feel special and cared for just by being near.
“I’m going to put you on speaker. Honor should hear this, too.” He pushed a button, and said, “Go on.”
“Sorry for calling so late, Honor.”
Nathan. She hadn’t expected that. “It’s okay.” She needed to sit up for this and regretfully disengaged from Jason’s embrace. “Did you learn anything more?”
Jason, too, pushed up to rest against the headboard, his shoulder to hers.
“I did, in fact. The men are Mike Witty and Darrow Hedman,” Nathan explained. “Mike, the squealer, has never been in much trouble before, but Darrow is a regular offender. I didn’t know him because he was before my time.”
Jason interjected softly, “Nathan’s only been sheriff for a year.”
“From what I’m told, after being busted for stealing a car, Darrow was still on probation when he was spotted dealing pot. He fled, taking officers on a chase—apparently with just enough of a head start to drop the money in Honor’s wall and get out a back window, then halfway to the woods, before he was caught. He still had the dope on him, but no one found the money.”
Because it was hidden in her house. Honor leaned into Jason; his presence grounded her and made it easier to face the unbelievable.
Jason put a hand on her knee, his thumb teasing over her skin. “How long ago was this?”
“The money’s been in the wall for months, but Darrow got out of jail just days after Honor moved in. According to him, he’d only wanted to reclaim what was his.”
“And my mailbox?” Honor asked, still plenty peeved about that.