Protecting His Best Friend's Sister (The Protectors Book 1) Page 8

  “I have to get to work. Didn’t we go over this already?”

  “We did, and I was fine with that, but you needed to give me more than three minutes to get dressed!”

  “Just making sure you didn’t drag your feet.” As if remembering, I looked down at hers. “How’s the ankle this morning?” I felt like an ass for pushing her right now. It wasn’t that I had forgotten the accident last night. I had just temporarily forgotten her injury.

  “Does it matter?” Walking over to the driver’s side, she climbed in and, true to form, beeped the horn to get me moving.

  Such a smartass. I climbed in beside her. Once I was seated, I nearly flew through the windshield as she threw the car in reverse. “Is there a problem, princess?”

  “I really wish you would stop calling me that.” She had a white-knuckled grip on the wheel, and by the time we were on the road, I thought she was going to pull the entire steering column from the dash.

  “You never answered me about your ankle,” I reminded her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at me. “The swelling has gone down, but it still hurts. Happy?”

  “Why the hell would that make me happy?”

  Her jaw worked as she tried to come up with some sort of snappy comeback, but obviously none came to her.

  “You should go to the doctor today and get it checked out. Probably shouldn’t go to work either. You need to keep it elevated and wrapped.” She silently seethed beside me as I continued. “If you have crutches at home, it would be smart to use them. You know, don’t put any weight on the foot.”

  Still nothing.

  “And you definitely shouldn’t wear any of those ridiculous shoes that you normally do. Don’t you own anything without five-inch heels?”

  I smacked my head against the window as she turned into the parking lot where I’d left my truck. I guess I had that coming, and I should have been prepared. “Damn it, Harper! What the hell?”

  She jerked the car in park and turned in her seat to look at me. “Get out.”

  “That’s it? Get out? That’s all you’ve got to say?”

  She smiled that familiar smile—the one that didn’t quite make it to her eyes. “I’m sorry. Get out, please?”

  I rubbed the spot where there was sure to be a lump and leaned in toward her. “What is your problem?”

  A small growl began in the back of her throat before she lashed out. “You are my problem! As usual! You show up at my house without warning, make me drive you to get your truck, and instead of being thankful that I’m doing it, you sit there and lecture me on what you expect me to do.”

  “It’s what anyone would expect you to do. You hurt your ankle, for crying out loud! All I’m saying is—”

  “How many times do I need to tell you, Levi? I don’t need you hovering around, dictating how I should live my life.”

  I leaned in real close and chose my words for maximum effect. “If it weren’t for me,” I snarled, “you might not have a life to be living this morning. Or have you forgotten that someone tried to run you over last night?”

  Her eyes went wide, and she paled. Mission accomplished.

  I didn’t wait for her response. I pulled back and reached for the door handle. “Go to the doctor, Harper,” was all I said before climbing out and slamming the door. I had barely gotten two feet from her car before she was backing up and speeding out of the parking lot.

  Great. With my luck she’d kill herself before whoever was after her made their next move. Good thing she could take care of herself.

  ***

  “Did you get the license plate number?”

  “No.”

  “Did you get the make and model of the car?”

  “No.”

  Randy Jenkins looked at me and threw up his hands. “Seriously, Levi, you’ve got to give me something here. Do you have any idea how many cars there are in town? Was it dark-colored? Light-colored? A sedan? A truck? Something, anything, man.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. Okay, focus. “It was a dark-colored sedan. Two doors.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere. What time did this happen?”

  “I don’t know. Sometime between ten and eleven last night.”

  “And this was outside of McCall’s Pub?”

  “Not directly. We were a little down the block and were crossing to get to the public parking lot. We were maybe about thirty or forty yards from the pub.”

  “Okay.” He jotted down some notes. “How fast would you say the car was going?”

  “Jesus, Randy,” I said, cursing under my breath. “It all happened so damn fast. One minute this car was blocks away and the next it was speeding up and heading for Harper! If I hadn’t been there—”

  “I know,” he said and really seemed sincere. “I have to admit, when you first came to me a week ago and mentioned the trouble you thought Harper was in, I didn’t give it much thought. She has a tendency to—” He paused as if carefully choosing his words. “She rubs people the wrong way sometimes. She’s very opinionated. Even though she is one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met, to a lot of people, she’s got too much to say.”

  “She’s passionate about what she believes in,” I said, feeling my spine stiffen. “Since when did it become a crime to have an opinion? Or to want to fight for other people? Why is it that people find it wrong for her to report the news and want to stick up for people who are too scared to stick up for themselves? Hell, I think a lot of what she does is for the greater good, but someone is still trying to hurt her! What are you going to do about it?”

  Randy’s eyes were wide as he looked at me. “Geez, Levi, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

  “Idea? Idea about what?”

  “About you and Harper. I mean, I get that you’re concerned because you and Gavin were so close, but clearly now the two of you—”

  I had to cut him off right there. “The two of us nothing! You’re a cop, Randy. Your job is to protect and serve. Well, do it. Someone has it in for Harper, and it’s escalating. A note on its own isn’t much. Slashed tires, alone, aren’t much. But trying to run her down in the middle of the street? That’s a serious offense. That’s attempted murder.”

  “Let’s not go there just yet. Maybe they were just trying to scare her.”

  “And that makes it better? That makes it right?” I’d raised my voice and soon found myself surrounded by several officers. I held up my hand and apologized and waited for them to walk away before returning my attention to Randy. “Whether they were trying to scare her or if it was a drunk driver with no relation to this whole crazy situation, the fact still remains that Harper was hurt. You need to look into this.”

  He nodded. “Why isn’t Harper here reporting it herself?”

  Because she wants to irritate the shit out of me, was what I wanted to say. “She’s hurt, Randy. She’s supposed to go to the doctor today and make sure that it’s just a sprain and nothing’s broken. I told her that I’d take care of it.”

  Without a word, Randy turned to his computer and began typing. “It will take a little while to get a report from the DMV that will list any dark-colored, two-door sedans registered in this area. As soon as I get something, I’ll let you know.” He looked up at me seriously. “In the meantime, tell her to be careful. She really needs to think about who she may have made an enemy of.”

  “I think the DMV list would be easier,” I said, only partially joking.

  “I’m serious, Levi. Talk to her. Talk to her boss. Her coworkers. Maybe someone has seen something or has heard something.”

  “Shouldn’t that be your job?” I asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.

  Randy nodded. “It is. But I know you. You’re going to look into this yourself no matter what I do. We’re definitely going to look into all of it. All I’m trying to do is give you a nudge in a good direction to begin.” He smirked. “Just in case the local police aren’t fast enough for you.”


  I shook his hand and exited the precinct. My lunch hour was nearly up, and I still hadn’t had a damn thing to eat. Walking across the street to the deli, I wondered if Harper had gone to work or if she’d gone to the doctor to get her ankle checked out. Knowing her like I was beginning to, I’d have to place bets on her being at her office. Wearing sky-high heels and pretending like she wasn’t in pain.

  She was a pain.

  Stopping on the sidewalk, I looked up and down the block. The deli was only three blocks away from the pub, and the street was lined with parked cars. It was frustrating to realize that at least half of them were dark-colored sedans. How the hell was I supposed to narrow it down if this many cars fit the description? Maybe Harper remembered something.

  No, that wasn’t any good. She’d been too focused on talking and hadn’t seen the car until the headlights were staring her in the face. I should have been paying better attention. Hell, for most of my military career, I’d been trained to take note of things that no one else did, and now that there was a chance to apply it in my own life, I screwed it up.

  Shit.

  There wasn’t enough time to eat my lunch and go down to Harper’s office and talk to anyone. I really wanted something to eat, but I wanted answers more. “Damn it,” I muttered, jogging across the street to my truck.

  I was parked outside the newspaper’s offices in less than five minutes. The perk of the small town. I looked around and didn’t see Harper’s car. Maybe she had finally decided to listen to reason and follow my advice. Relaxing slightly, I climbed out of the truck and strode directly into the building.

  “Can I help you?” a cute redhead asked. She was sitting at a desk near the front door, so I assumed she was the receptionist.

  “Yes, actually. I’m looking for Jack.” For the life of me I couldn’t remember his last name, but maybe she’d just think that I was a friend.

  “Who’s looking for me?”

  I turned and faced who I could only guess to be Jack. He was an older man, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up so high on his arms that I was certain he was cutting off circulation. I held out a hand to him and introduced myself. “I’m a friend of Harper’s. Can we talk?”

  Without a word, he led me to his office and closed the door. I sat down and faced him, but not before scanning the newsroom in search of her. “Is she here today?”

  Jack shook his head. “She called in. Something about twisting her ankle coming down the stairs this morning. I think she’s going to the doctor.” He stared me down for a minute. “Why?”

  Leave it to Harper to distort the truth. If I was going to make any kind of headway on this whole situation, I needed to be as direct as possible. Jack looked like the type of guy who appreciated that. I gave him a quick snapshot of what had been going on with Harper. “Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? Anyone hanging around more than they should?”

  “Holy shit,” he muttered, wiping a tired hand over his face. “Harper normally gets her share of hate mail but nothing like this.” He leaned back in his seat. “She’s a good kid, a fine reporter. She’s just very… passionate about what she writes about, and I don’t think she knows how to tone it down.”

  “She shouldn’t have to,” I said blandly. “Not when it’s important.”

  Jack made a face. “To Harper, everything’s important.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle because I knew it was the truth. “Okay, I get that, but have you noticed anything different lately? Any more hate mail than usual? Anyone stopping by here and asking about her?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye out, Levi, and thanks for coming to talk to me. I was worried about her after her brother was killed. She really took it hard. Only someone who knows her well would have noticed that because she tried to carry on with business as usual. His death and the cause of it have become a bit of an obsession for her, and I finally had to put my foot down to make her stop writing about it. We’re a local paper and all, but I certainly didn’t want the kind of attention she was asking for.”

  Now wasn’t the time to debate that point with him. “Let me know if you find out anything. Talk to your employees, but it would be great if you don’t let Harper know what you’re doing or that I was here.” I stood and held out a hand to him. “I appreciate your time, Jack.”

  Walking out of his office, I felt like I had taken a step in the right direction. With Harper out of the picture for the moment, I finally felt like I might have made an ally and have someone to help me watch out for her.

  Pulling my sunglasses out of my pocket, I stepped out of the newsroom and came to a dead stop. There, leaning against the truck, was Harper. Steam was practically shooting from her ears.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Levi?”

  Seven

  Harper

  As soon as I’d seen Levi’s truck in front of the newspaper offices, I’d known he was getting into my business again.

  I also knew I was the biggest idiot in the history of the world for letting him kiss me last night.

  Not that I hadn’t been kissing him too, but he’d started it—so I was prepared to put the blame for the kissing entirely in his camp.

  Also the blame for the huge mess my life was right now.

  I’d gone to the doctor—not because he’d told me, but because it was really bothering me and I didn’t want to risk any serious injury. And then I’d decided I should head to the police to file a report too since I really didn’t want some wacko out there trying to kill me.

  I’d only delayed because I was so angry with Levi, but the part of my mind that still functioned rationally realized that wasn’t a very good reason not to report it to the police.

  But I was definitely not going to let Levi involve himself in the situation any further. Definitely not.

  And I also wasn’t going to let some anonymous crazy shut me up or keep me from doing what I wanted to do.

  Seething with rage, I waited by Levi’s truck, and he came out in just a few minutes.

  And the bastard didn’t even look guilty about visiting my office.

  “I was talking to your editor,” he said, raising obnoxious eyebrows.

  “About what?”

  “About you. About who might be trying to kill you.”

  “Nothing gives you the right to come to my place of work and talk to my boss—or anyone else.”

  He looked big and hard and intimidating and just a little mussed, with his hair disarrayed and in need of a shave. Part of me wanted to touch him—to stroke his face or his chest—but that just enraged me further. “I’m taking the right,” he said roughly. “You’re in danger, and you’re not taking the most basic of precautions to keep yourself safe.”

  “And what basic precautions do you assume I’m not taking?”

  “Going to the police.”

  I realized something then, and a wave of fury swept over me. “What makes you think I haven’t gone to the police?”

  “Are you saying you have?”

  “I’m asking what makes you assume I haven’t?”

  I could see him hesitate for just a moment. Then he admitted it. “I went there myself this morning, and they definitely didn’t know about the hit-and-run.”

  I had to clench my fists at my sides to keep from clawing the arrogant look off his face. I was so angry I couldn’t even get out any words. And the anger was paired with a kind of helplessness I couldn’t tolerate.

  It was like when I was a little girl and Gavin had held me up by my elbows to tease me. I’d kicked and screamed and raged at him but could do absolutely nothing to stop him and get down.

  I could scream at Levi all I wanted, but he wasn’t going to back down. I could see it on his face.

  But I wasn’t a little girl now, and Levi wasn’t my brother.

  So, instead of raging, I gave him a brittle little smile. “I’m touched by your concern. I’m sure Gavin would be too.”

  I saw something break on his
face for just a moment. Then his brows lowered in a frown when I turned and walked toward the office building.

  My ankle—which was just a minor sprain, thank God—hurt like hell, but I made myself not limp.

  Levi fell into step with me. “What are you doing?”

  “Going to work.”

  “And then where?”

  “Where do you suggest?”

  He definitely didn’t believe my sweet voice. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “What do you mean? You wanted to help me, right? Maybe you’re right. What do you suggest?”

  “Just be careful. Take some basic precautions. Don’t go out alone—especially at night. Don’t be too much in the public eye. Let the military questions die down, at least for the time being until we figure out what’s happening. Will you stop walking for a minute?”

  I halted, relieved by the break to my ankle but annoyed because I felt relieved. I turned to face him again, holding my expression in the same smile. “I really do need to get into work. I already missed a couple of hours this morning.”

  “Going to the doctor?” He was watching carefully, waiting for my reaction.

  I kept smiling. “Just a slight sprain. No big deal. But thanks for your advice. I’m going to try to catch up with work all day, so you shouldn’t have anything to complain about with my behavior. I’ll stay out of trouble. Satisfied?”

  “Sure.” His eyes were narrow, and I could tell he was suspicious.

  He could be suspicious all he wanted. As long as he left me alone.

  We’d reached the door, and I gave him a little wave. “Talk to you later.”

  I went up to the next floor and watched from a window as Levi stood out on the sidewalk for a minute before finally striding back toward his truck.

  I let out a breath and went to my desk, greeting the people who passed by.

  When I sat down, I thought for a few minutes. Then I picked up my phone and dialed a number.

  When the voice came on the other end, I said, “Hey. It’s Harper. I think I’m going to head up to DC at the end of the week. I’m wondering if you can help me out with a couple of things… I want to talk to some people—socially, not in an official capacity. What’s going on this weekend that might attract people with some influence in the government or military?”