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  Because I knew she felt the same for me.

  She was just too afraid to admit it.

  Plus, with her business taking off and the shit with her father, I didn’t think it was necessary to put even more things onto her plate.

  “Unit 38, I have a report of a vehicle burning. Witnesses say that a white male, mid-forties, torched the truck with a bottle and a lit rag. Also carrying a gun.”

  She then proceeded to give me an address.

  Since there was a potential volatile criminal on the scene, I’d have to go clear it before fire and rescue could come in.

  But when I arrived, the only thing that was there was the burning truck and the obvious smell of cooking meat.

  I looked at the car in revulsion.

  It was a white pickup. But since the truck was so engulfed with the flames, I didn’t see the newness. Or the wheels and tires.

  I saw flames.

  It was only after the flames were extinguished that a whisper of knowing started to course through me.

  And even then, it wasn’t until I was right up on it and saw the fuckin’ handcuffs hanging from the rearview mirror that it finally dawned on me.

  “Jason!”

  ***

  “Hey, Bourne. I haven’t been able to get ahold of you. Is everything okay?”

  I was numb.

  Jason was dead, and I’d just told his brand-new wife, Ellie, that he wouldn’t be coming home again.

  “I’m… I’m okay,” I finally said, rubbing my hands through my hair. “Are y’all done?”

  “Yes, and it’s good news and bad news. The doctor we saw thinks that Asa is suffering from migraines,” she said. “They gave us some meds to try. They also taught Asa some techniques to try and to start focusing on what causes his headaches. Once we can pinpoint that, and then what makes them better, we can focus on some more specific medications, and possibly some avoidance tactics.”

  I scrubbed my hand down my face. “That’s really good to hear.”

  Ellie’s screams kept replaying in my ear, and I felt a headache of my own start forming behind my eyes.

  “We’re on the way home now,” Delanie said softly. “We’re probably going to be late, though. The traffic here is abominable. And Asa’s already complaining about being hungry. Plus, Booth promised him we would stop by Buc-cee’s on the way home if he was good. I’m sure we’re going to get roped into going there.”

  “We are!” Asa cried from the background. “Hi, Uncle Bourne! I love you!”

  The smile that graced my lips right then was the first one in over four hours.

  “Love you, too, Bud,” I said. “Buy me a drink and some cheddar popcorn. It’s the bomb.”

  I heard Asa’s ready agreement, then Delanie say, “I thought he was asleep. I was hoping he’d forget.”

  “I didn’t forget!” Asa cried.

  I looked down at my boot and saw that it was black and charred.

  When had that happened?

  I thought back to that moment that I realized the man in the truck was my friend.

  A man that I’d just seen get married.

  A man that, I’d found out today, was going to be a father. At least, he’d wanted to be, anyway. They’d decided to start trying the day they’d gotten home from their honeymoon. She could be pregnant at this very moment, and Jason wouldn’t get to see his baby grow up.

  If that didn’t gut me the moment she’d said it…

  “…Bourne.”

  I blinked, surprised to see that I’d drifted off.

  “I’m sorry, what?” I cleared my throat. “I was walking to my cruiser.”

  “I said that I’m going to let you get back to work,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you how the appointment went since I knew that you were wondering about it.”

  I hadn’t been. But not because I didn’t care, but because I just hadn’t had time to be curious how it went.

  I was glad to know that Asa was going to be okay.

  “All right,” I said softly. “Y’all be careful, okay?”

  “We will.” Then, very softly to the point where I almost didn’t hear her, she said, “Love you, Bourne.”

  Then she hung up, not giving me a chance to reply. I felt a burn in my gut as a very unwelcome thought flowed through me.

  What if one day I left her like Jason left his girl?

  Would she be okay? Or would she completely freak out the way that Ellie had today?

  I didn’t like thinking about it, and I certainly didn’t like replaying that scream in my head, but it was something that I couldn’t get out of my head now that the thought had been planted.

  My stomach was fucking roiling as I leaned hard against my police cruiser.

  There was a steady ache in my chest, and my eyes were stinging.

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I counted to ten and willed my thoughts to control themselves.

  It was as I was doing this that I heard the crunch of gravel underfoot.

  Opening my eyes, I wasn’t surprised in the least to see the big male standing there, arms crossed over his chest, staring at me.

  He was assessing me.

  “You’re done,” Lucas Roberts, one of my father’s best friends, said. “Head on home. We’ve got things covered now.”

  I didn’t bother to argue.

  I was fucking tired.

  Even more, I wanted to go home, drink a beer, and pet my dog.

  I’d love to have my woman in my lap, too, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be at Delanie’s place if anybody needs me.”

  Luke walked up and pulled me in for a tight hug.

  Something he’d done a hundred thousand times over the years. Something that never got old, no matter how grown up I got.

  “It looks pretty fuckin’ grim right now,” Luke said as he let me go. “But don’t think that we won’t figure this out.”

  I pressed my hand to my chest.

  “I literally just asked him to look into shit for me. Concerning Delanie’s dad. His wife said that he never even made it into the office because he stopped by a friend’s place on the way home. He called to tell her that he’d be coming by to see what she could collect, though. It, apparently, was a game they played. She’d see what she could find in as short of an amount of time as he could manage. Sometimes it was an hour. Other times it was five minutes. But he never got there,” I said. “The last thing I asked my friend was for a favor.”

  Luke’s unwavering eyes met mine. “Didn’t he ask you last month to pull a double shift for him?” he asked.

  My jaw twitched. “Yeah.”

  “And do you think he would’ve felt bad if, after that shift, you drove into a tree on your way home?” he asked.

  Jason would’ve felt terrible.

  “We do favors for our fellow boys in blue because we love them. Don’t turn this into what it wasn’t. This was just us. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, go home and get some sleep,” he ordered.

  With that, he left, not once looking back.

  And I climbed into my truck and drove to Delanie’s place.

  Thankful that I got a key from her that morning, I wasn’t at all in the right place when I showed up and found her father on her front porch looking pissed.

  I shoved my hand into my pocket and glared.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to control my temper.

  “I’m here because my secretary emailed and said that we would be meeting here at four in the afternoon for my scheduled time with Asa,” David said, looking perturbed.

  I snorted. “A, Asa wouldn’t even be off the bus yet,” I said. “B, I’m fairly sure had you checked your email, you would’ve received one back saying that today, and not any day, was going to work. She doesn’t want you to see Asa. Neither do I.”

  “You’re not the child’s father,” David said. “Are you?”


  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve done more with that kid than you can even think about. But no, I’m not the child’s father. What I am is his uncle, and I’ll always be here to protect him from people like you. I don’t know what you want, or why you’re really here, but this isn’t going to happen. Take your campaign, and your fake good intentions, and go. Asa doesn’t need this, and I know damn well Delanie doesn’t either.”

  “Without me and my money, neither of those girls would be where they are today. I helped them make it, and I sure the hell can take it away,” he growled.

  I rolled my eyes again. “You almost helped them ruin their lives. That much I know,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, please leave.”

  “I’m not leaving,” he said.

  “Yes, you are.”

  I’d heard the car pull up.

  I’d also seen Dillan get out.

  I just hadn’t expected her to actually engage her father.

  David stiffened and turned to see Dillan standing there, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

  “Dillan,” David pasted on a false, ungenuine smile. “I didn’t see you.”

  I rolled my eyes and started up the front walk, bypassing David as I went.

  I passed by him closely, though, forcing him backward into the grass.

  He gave me an infuriated look, as if touching grass was beneath him.

  “Was that necessary?” he hissed.

  I put my key in the front door and let Moses out.

  Moses, who was waiting by the door, jumped up and down in excitement, his happy dog body nearly knocking Mr. Tight Lips down in the process.

  “Control your dog,” David ordered, hands clenching.

  My brows rose. “He’s excited to see me. I’m sorry if I don’t control him. Now, if you wouldn’t mind…”

  I gestured toward the curb where his car was parked.

  “Why are you even here?” Dillan asked.

  Her voice cracked, reminding me that a few days ago she was nearly strangled again.

  She’d done a very good job in hiding the bruises today.

  “I was here to make contact with Asa,” David said. “And this one won’t let me see him. Shall I wait for him to get off the bus then?”

  I tossed the ball across the yard and Moses shot off after it.

  In the process, pieces of grass flew out from behind him and got onto David’s shoes.

  He hissed and kicked the grass off his feet.

  “You will not be seeing Asa,” Dillan agreed with me. “I’m sorry, but none of us will have any further dealings with you. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to leave.”

  David shook his head. “Technically, this is still my property. I don’t have to leave.”

  “What are you talking about?” Dillan snapped. “This is Delanie’s and my house. We own it.”

  “You don’t own anything,” David disagreed. “I’ve spoken with a lawyer. Since you purchased the house under my accounts, technically speaking, these are all co-owned by me. And since this place hasn’t yet been paid off, I’ve gone ahead and done so. It’s mine just as much as it’s also yours and your sister’s.”

  That wasn’t how it worked.

  “That’s not how it works.” Dillan shook her head. “Our names were on the accounts. And we only used a small amount as a down payment. Which you gave us permission to do, might I add.”

  “Yes,” he said. “But I have the money to tie up lawyers in this for a while… do you?”

  The answer was no. They didn’t.

  Neither did I.

  I mean, I had a pretty hefty chunk of money in my bank account, but it wasn’t enough to buy a house. Nor was it enough to even pay off a car.

  Let alone buy off Mr. Moneybags.

  I looked over at Dillan and could see that she was fuming.

  “Sit out here for as long as you’d like,” I said as I gestured for Dillan to go inside.

  Dillan did, followed by Moses and then me.

  I shut the door on David’s face.

  His smug, I’m going to win this, needs a good punch, face.

  “That…” Dillan said the moment the door closed. “That bastard!”

  There was a chuckle from the other side of the door.

  “He’s trying to buy his way into Asa’s life,” she said. “He knew we wouldn’t do this the easy way.”

  “No,” I agreed. “But we don’t have to let him win.”

  “He’s right,” she said. “Neither Delanie nor I have the ability to fight him. I’m in the black, but barely. I’ve only recently started turning a profit. And I know that Delanie’s turning a profit, but barely. We pay this place once a month in half, and we’re not even a quarter of the way in to paying it off yet. I’m honestly not even sure how he finds out the stuff he finds out. But, just sayin’, he’s not going to give up. This is only going to get worse.”

  David started to knock on the door, and Dillan growled at it in frustration.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the number by heart.

  “Yeah, can you send a blue and white out to…” I gave the dispatcher Delanie’s address.

  “It won’t stop him,” she said. “He’ll just come back.”

  “It’ll stop him for now,” I said. “Which is all I really need.”

  Dillan’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

  I pressed my hand to my chest.

  “Someone that I knew died today,” I said. “Umm, do you want to let the dogs out and let them run for a bit, or do you want me to do it?”

  Dillan’s eyes softened. “That’s why I came over.”

  I nodded. “I’ll wait for the cruiser to come. Have him show your adoring father the boot. Then I think I need to take a nap. My head hurts.”

  My head wasn’t the only thing that was hurting, but it would be the only thing that I admitted to Dillan.

  As much as she looked like her sister, she didn’t inspire me to have any heart to hearts. She also wasn’t the love of my life.

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m sorry to hear that about your friend, Bourne.”

  I nodded once, thankful when I heard the knock at the door.

  I walked to it and looked through the peephole, grinning wide when I saw Jonah Crew.

  Jonah was a motorcycle cop for Kilgore Police Department.

  He was also one of my not friends, per se, but acquaintances.

  He was also a take no prisoners kind of guy and hated dealing with assholes like David.

  “Jonah,” I said, holding out my hand. “And you met my unwanted yard ornament.”

  Jonah took my hand and shook it before looking back at David, who’d still refused to move.

  “This the trash that needs taking out?” Jonah asked quietly.

  “That’s it,” I replied quietly, then more loudly. “He won’t leave.”

  “I own this house,” David replied. “I don’t have to leave.”

  “You have paperwork that states that?”

  David shook his head at Jonah’s question.

  “You have a key to get in the house?” Jonah continued.

  David shook his head once again.

  “What about a driver’s license that shows you live here?” Jonah pushed.

  David’s jaw clenched. But he once again shook his head.

  “Then it looks to me like you’re going to leave,” Jonah said. “Come back when you have a few of these things.”

  David glared daggers at me, but nodded once. “I can do that.”

  Then he left, determination in his every step.

  Chapter 13

  Love is ale you need.

  -Bar marquee sign

  Delanie

  “Hey, baby.” The voice of Booth carried through the vehicle’s speaker system.

  “Um, hey,” Dillan said. “I called Delanie, though.”

  Booth’s lips tipped up. “So
rry. Does that mean you can’t say hi?”

  There was a moment of silence, and then Dillan cleared her throat.

  “I was hoping to tell Delanie first.” She paused. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

  There was a moment of silence and then Booth looked at me curiously.

  I shrugged.

  “Just tell me,” I said. “It’s on speakerphone.”

  There was another long pause and then Dillan said, “So I heard some bad stuff happened today. I think that Bourne might be in the middle of it.”

  “What kind of bad stuff?” Booth barked.

  I looked over at him to see him clenching his hand onto the steering wheel, looking miffed.

  “Not like that,” she said softly. “I wanted to tell Delanie this so she could tell you when you weren’t driving. But, from what I hear, one of y’all’s fellow officers died today. The one that just got married. Jason. Bourne saw him die.”

  ***

  “Thank you,” I said quietly to Booth. “I’ll come pick him up tomorrow.”

  Booth waved it away. “I’ll just drop Asa off with my dad when I have to go to work.” He looked toward the house as if he wanted to follow me in there. “Take care of him, okay?”

  I nodded once then walked up the front walk that led to my house.

  I glanced over at Bourne’s truck that was parked at the curb, then hurried up the path that led inside.

  I found it unlocked.

  Pushing the door open, I locked it behind me then slowly started to turn out lights as I went.

  After a quick check on the two remaining dogs that I had to make sure were bedded down for the night, I then went and found my man.

  He was lying face down in the middle of my bed, sleeping.

  Moses’ head popped up when he saw me, but he didn’t get up from his sprawl on the floor.

  I patted him with my foot as I passed him, then went to the bed.

  Kneeling down onto it, I ran my hand down the length of Bourne’s back.

  He groaned and rolled over, his arm coming up to cover his eyes.

  He was asleep.

  Very asleep.

  I watched him quietly for a few long moments, my eyes taking in his body.

  He was in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.

  I slowly caught the covers and pulled them up over his body, covering it with a sadness that bordered on ludicrous.