Chapter 4
Jana
“Jana?”I heard Brycen’s voice, but with the way things had been since last night and this morning, just the slightest sound practically had me jumping out of my skin, Brycen Matthew’s voice not exempted.
“Hey,” I managed with a soft voice. It’s a miracle I was able to talk at all what with my current state of exhaustion. In all honesty, I hadn’t gone to bed yet. “T-this is where you work?”
“What are you doing here?” he asked, coming to a stop directly in front of me. “Are you okay?” I couldn’t bring my eyes to meet his, and he must have known this as he reached toward me, a gentle hand tilting my chin up so our gazes connected. “You don’t look so good.”
“I came to drop this off.” I lifted the small envelope from my purse and pressed it into his chest. “I, uhm…Detective Peters told me to come here and hand it over because it’s evidence.”
His brows furrowed as he looked down at the miniature yellow manila envelope I’d handed him, then back to study my face. “Evidence?” His fingers palpated the yellow manila envelope as if attempting to figure out what was inside it.
“For the 9-1-1 murder case,” I croaked. “A third call came in last night, asking for me specifically.”
“The fuck!” he roared, making me jump back. I wrapped my arms around myself, not that it would protect me from the demons haunting me after what I’d witnessed. “Oh, shit!” He folded the envelope and pocketed the thumb drive I’d saved the call on in the back of his jeans, then gently grabbed my shoulders, ushering me backward. He guided me to take a seat on the reception sofa. “I’m sorry, Jana. I-I didn’t mean?—”
“S’okay,” I slurred, keeping my head down.
“No, it’s not.” His hand cupped my cheek, and I managed to look up at him. “Fuck, sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me? You know what I do for a living, I could have?—”
I shrugged my shoulders, then licked my lips. “The cops had it handled, or so I thought. Detective Peters told me to come here because he had a meeting with a Dalton Kippers?”
“So, you’re Janice Elway?” he asked.
“Mmm.” I nodded. “I prefer Jana.”
“Okay.” He paused, then reached for my hands, which was when I realized I was picking at my fingernails again—a nervous habit of mine. Pulling them apart, Brycen lifted them to his lips, kissing each of them before keeping hold of them in his. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
“But I was told to speak to a Devolin,” I argued.
“Wrong. You’re going to talk to me. You’re going to tell me everything, then I’m going to cross-reference your story with the case files Shane dropped off earlier today. I want to know where you’ve been since we last saw each other, who you’ve visited with, the hours you’ve worked, which now I’ve got since I know it’s you, and what your normal routine is like. Everything, Jana.”
I’m sure my eyes looked as if they were about to bulge out of my head. “Brycen, I don’t think you’re that hot surfer guy anymore,” I blurted.
That charming flirtatious grin of his came out, and it took everything in my power not to collapse into the man’s chest. This is as close to safe as I’ve felt over the last week.
“I-I think someone’s been following me.”
“Then you’re going to come with me. Right now. We’re going to head into the conference room, and then I’ll rally some of the team members so you can speak to all of us directly,” he explained.
“What about Devolin?” I wondered aloud.
“Devolin is right here,” a female voice interjected. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to, Baby?—”
“Huss!” he warned, then rolled his eyes, blushing as his gaze returned to mine. “Devolin, I’d like for you to meet the 9-1-1 operator at the heart of our newest case. This is Janice Elway. Jana, this is Devolin Kippers.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said as Brycen still held my hands in his and didn’t seem to want to let go, even for this introduction.
Devolin’s eyes aimed themselves first to my gaze, then to our joined hands, and then a grin spread over her face. “Wish it was under better circumstances, but you’ll definitely do.” With no fanfare whatsoever, she pivoted on her heel and walked away. “I’m getting the guys. Conference room in five, Babyface!”
I’ll do?I wondered but, “Babyface?” was what came out.
And just when I thought I couldn’t get any dizzier...
Brycen
“Babyface?” Jana asked.
I shook my head, took a deep breath, and cursed Devolin and her loose lips. “It’s a nickname the guys here gave me years ago,” I grumbled.
A cute giggle escaped her, making my eyes shoot up to meet hers. Jana’s coloring had come back a bit with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.
“I like that.” I smiled.
Her brows furrowed. “What?”
“Your laugh,” I explained. “Looks like you needed it too. Now, come on. Let’s get this meeting done and over with so I can take you home.”
“Huh?”
“It’s either me or Rex. We’re the only two available for surveillance work tonight, and now that I know it’s you, there’s no fucking way I’m letting him take care of my woman,” I snarled, righting myself to my feet, then pulled Jana along.
“Your woman?”
As soon as her words were out, I realized what I had said. Coming to a complete halt, I spun around so fast that Jana crashed into my front. Steadying her with my hands on her waist, all I could do was stare into her wide eyes.
I expected embarrassment, regret…something akin to panic—much like what I witnessed in Jana’s eyes right then—but I was met with a sense of calm and a deep feeling of rightness, so I gave her a curt nod and said, “Yeah, my woman.” I grabbed her hand, then pulled her the rest of the way into the conference room. She’d just have to let the idea grow on her because I wasn’t going anywhere until this case was solved, and even then, I doubted that would be sufficient enough time for me to have figured out why I couldn’t get her off my mind.
“Dev just gave us the news,” Dalton announced. “Matthews, you’ll be on protection duty for the next few days.”
“What about my mother?” Jana asked.
The men around us looked confused, and I’m pretty sure I shared the same expression.
“We live together,” she explained. “She’s too sick to live alone and?—”
“Who’s looking after her now?”
“My brother, Jason and I take turns,” she said. “We trade off on our shifts.”
“Jesus, woman, do you ever sleep?” Rex blurted.
As I squeezed Jana’s hand in mine, she shot a self-deprecating smirk in Rex’s direction. “When my mom does,” she stated.
“Fucking saint,” he mumbled as Dalton added, “Your mother, brother, and yourself will be fine staying together, Miss Elway.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Now, how do I explain this to my family? Jason doesn’t know all of what’s been going on at work. I’ve barely had the time to catch up on how Mom’s doing before he has to run out the door for work. How am I supposed to break the news that there’s a-a fucking psycho that’s calling me at work, making me listen in on his killings?”
“We’ve got it covered,” Rex said, and I gave Jana’s hand another reassuring squeeze, which she returned. Dalton seemed to have noticed the act as his eyes turned to me with a glint of recognition in them. “Bryce and I will go with you. We’ll sit down, first with your brother, then we’ll work on breaking the news to your mother without causing too much stress.”
“She doesn’t do well with change. What if we need to be moved?” Jana asked as opposed to argued.
“I’m a trained paramedic,” Cade announced. “If it makes you feel better, I can be there whenever is most convenient for you, your brother, and your mother. Let’s not borrow trouble for the time being, however.”
“It’s not that. I’m a trained nurse, but—” Jana shook her head as she cut herself off, then nodded in agreement. “Fine. And what about my job?”
“Since you’re at the center of all this, it would be wise that you keep working. You’re our main contact to be able to trace this guy,” Rex explained.
“But if it all becomes too much,” I interjected, “and you need some time off, we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe and help out the JPD and FBI with this case.”
Dalton gave her a reassuring smile. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Miss Elway.”
“Jana, please,” she stated.
He nodded. “Jana.”
“So what are you gonna do with Bailey?” Cade asked me, the men’s curious gaze aimed at me, along with Jana’s confused one.
“Who’s Bailey?” Jana asked.
Turning to her for my explanation, I said, “He’s my one-year-old, Aussie-German shepherd mix.”
Her eyebrows knitted as she processed this. “But why would there be an issue with looking after?—”
“You’ll have someone with you around the clock,” Dalton stressed.
“Sweetheart.” I waited until Jana looked at me. “They’re curious because I’ll be with you, and the poor mutt gets into trouble when left to his own devices for too long.”
“But—”
“Better safe than sorry,” I explained.
“If it makes you feel any better, we can post him outside your home until things are back to normal,” Rex smirked at his suggestion, which lacked appeal.
“Hey, that’s not half bad,” Cade chimed in, then turned to me. “That way you’d be able to take Bailey with you.”
“And if you need anything, Jana, Bryce will be just a quick call or text away,” Dalton added on a nod of approval.
I couldn’t help myself. I reached up and cupped her cheek in my hand, her eyes tearing up.
“O-okay.” Grabbing the hand that cradled the side of her face, Jana’s eyes searched mine right before she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck in a hug. “Thank you.”
The fruity scent of her hair had me closing my eyes, reveling in the contact between our bodies. Something about this arrangement niggled at me because I would have preferred to have watched over her from inside her home. Despite this, I rumbled a soft, “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
Dalton and the rest of the men in the room seemed to be humored that I wasn’t going to be making inroads with the woman in my arms by protecting her inside her turf. Not tonight, anyway.
Just please don’t let me fail.