Unafraid (Amber Ridge #1)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

J esse leaned back in his seat. He was almost done. The day had been filled with speeding fines, warnings for minor offenses, and a house call to check on an elderly couple who hadn’t stepped outside in a few days. It hadn’t been a bad day—he was just ready to get home.

It was late, so Aspen should be home from spending time with her mother.

He was about to stand when his cell rang, his mother’s name on the screen. “Hey, Mom.”

“Jesse, honey, I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. I’m just about to leave work.”

“Oh, your job worries me, honey. Are you keeping safe?”

She worried a lot. The day he’d told his mother he was joining a Ghost Ops team, she’d almost fainted, and that was after Becket had become a SEAL.

“There’s not a lot of danger in Amber Ridge.”

“Don’t jinx it. Not while you’re sheriff and Becket’s fire chief. At least Clara has a nice, safe job.”

“I would argue that jabbing people with needles could put her in more danger than me.”

His mother chuckled.

“Are you doing okay, Mom?”

“Better than okay. I just called to tell you that I met Aspen today.”

Something buzzed in his gut at the mention of her name. The sheer fucking mention. That was what she did to him. “Yeah? Where’d you meet her?”

“Clara and I were in the diner, and so were she and her mother.” There was a brief pause. “She’s pretty.”

He bit back a laugh. She wasn’t pretty. She was beautiful. “Yeah, she is.”

“And that smile of hers…you know, you can tell a lot about a person by their smile.”

“Is that right?” He rose and started to clear his desk.

“Absolutely. Her smile told me that she’s kind. Smart. Maybe has a bit of fire to her, which is exactly what you need in your life.”

His lips twitched. “You read all that in one smile?”

“I did. Now, I’d like to have her over for dinner soon.”

He should have seen that coming. “Mom, she just got to town—”

“No, she didn’t. She’s been here for months. Can I trust you to ask her and come back to me with a date?”

He’d understand it if they were dating, but they weren’t. “She’s just renting a room from me.”

“Which means she’s close to you, so I want to get to know her a little better. Now I have to go, but you’ll get me that date, won’t you? I’ll make my pot roast.”

He loved his mother’s pot roast. And he loved his mother. But she loved to meddle. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Thank you. Drive home safely, okay?”

“Always. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, honey.”

He hung up and slid his phone into his pocket. He was so aware of how lucky he was to have the family that he had. Aspen deserved more from her own mother. Hopefully, she’d gotten more from her today.

A knock sounded at the door, and he looked up to see Claudia poking her head in. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

She stepped inside and his gaze lowered to the folder in her hands, then back up to her face.

And immediately, he knew…he just fucking knew what it was without being told. “That’s information on Dylan Bollard.”

She nodded, and by the look on her face, it wasn’t good.

Shit . “Tell me.”

“He doesn’t have a criminal record, but I dug a little deeper into his past and found something you might be interested in. He used to live in Billings, and he had a fiancée.”

Jesse frowned. “What does that—”

“Her name is Lilly Spawn, and she almost died.”

Every muscle in his body pulled so fucking tight that they could have snapped. “How?”

“She was beaten so badly, she ended up in a coma.”

He wanted to punch something. A wall. A desk. Anything . “He did it.”

“Not according to the police report. She told them it was a home invasion, but police never found evidence of anyone else being there. Then, two months later, she left town and there’s been no sign of her since. She disappeared.”

A vein throbbed in Jesse’s temple. “He almost killed her, and she either ran from him or…”

“He made her disappear.” She held out the folder. “This is the report. It includes photos of what he did to her.”

He almost didn’t want to take it. He forced his hand to stretch out and his fingers to wrap around the folder. Then he opened it.

Fuck .

The woman was black and blue with bruises. Her eye was almost swollen shut, her lip was split and she had bandages everywhere.

He turned the page and read over her injuries. Broken ribs. Concussion. Internal fucking bleeding.

He slammed the folder shut. “I have to know where he is.”

He wasn’t sure if the words were for Claudia or himself. There was nothing Claudia could do…nothing legal anyway. They needed legal recourse to access things like his vehicle or his phone number, both of which could be used to track him.

Claudia glanced over her shoulder before closing the door. “I know someone.”

Jesse frowned. “Someone?”

“Don’t ask me how, but I might be able to get you the information you need.”

His frown deepened. “I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.”

“Maybe I like living in the gray area. I’ll let you know when I get something.”

She left his office and Jesse packed up his stuff. His muscles were tense the entire way home, his fingers curled too tightly around the wheel. He drove over the speed limit, and it still didn’t feel fast enough.

The second he stepped inside his house, he was greeted by an eerie silence and not a single light on. Was she not home? It was almost dark, and she didn’t have a car.

“Aspen?”

Nothing.

He checked the kitchen and living room, then went down the hall to her bedroom. He wanted to walk straight in but forced himself to stop and knock.

Again, no response.

He stepped inside and, just like the rest of the house, the room was cloaked in darkness and empty.

She wasn’t home. Where was she?

He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. Straight to voicemail.

Goddammit .

He marched over to the door and yanked it open—only to stop at the sight of her standing on the porch, key raised.

She frowned. “Jesse…is everything okay?”

Aspen felt light. And cautiously happy. She’d had a good day with her mother. A really good day. They hadn’t fought once. There’d been no big mood changes. Her mother had been kind and funny and had taken an interest in her life. A real interest.

One good day didn’t erase the lifetime of trouble her mother had caused. But they hadn’t had a day like today in…heck, ever.

She climbed up the front steps and had just lifted her key when the door opened and Jesse stood in front of her. Only he wasn’t wearing his usual smile.

She frowned. “Jesse…is everything okay?”

He studied her face before sweeping his gaze down her body and back up.

A shiver ran down her spine.

“ You’re okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” What was going on? She slipped past him and dropped her bag onto the hall table before facing him. “What’s wrong?”

“I was worried. It’s late.”

Her brows shot up. “You were worried about me because it’s late?”

“I don’t like you walking home after dark. You should have called. I would have picked you up.”

Why did it feel like more than that?

She walked into the kitchen and pulled some containers of leftover Chinese takeout from the fridge. “You know, this is Amber Ridge. It’s pretty safe here.”

“Funny you should say that. I just told my mom the same thing.”

“Oh, did she tell you we met?”

“She did. She wants to have you over for dinner.”

Aspen paused in the middle of pulling a fork from the drawer. “Really? Why?”

One side of Jesse’s mouth lifted. “I guess she likes you.”

“Two moms in one day. I’m on a roll.” She tipped the Chinese into bowls, just assuming Jesse would have some too, before putting them into the microwave.

“I take it you had a good day with your mom?”

She set the microwave timer. “I did actually. We went to the diner, we walked, we talked. We haven’t spent a whole day together since I was a kid, and we’ve certainly never spent so much time together without arguing. I kept waiting for the switch to flip and for her to say something horrible to me, but it never happened.”

Jesse leaned a hip against the island. “Maybe the distance has done the relationship some good.”

“Maybe. I mean, I hope so. I was almost wondering if she’s actually sought some help from a therapist or something, but I was too scared to ask.” Mentions of her mother’s mental health had never gone well in the past.

She grabbed the Chinese from the microwave and handed one bowl to Jesse.

He slipped it from her fingers. “Thanks.”

“So, you gonna tell me why you got weird about me coming home late?”

His frown deepened, and his fork paused its stirring. “Not right now. You’ve had a good day. We should keep it that way.”

She cocked her head. Did he have something to tell her that would ruin her day? She opened her mouth to ask, then stopped. He was right. She was having a good day, and she didn’t want to ruin it.

She cleared her throat. “Did you arrest anyone today?”

Jesse laughed, and the deep timbre made all the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. “I cuffed someone. Does that count?”

“Absolutely.”

They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing about anything and everything while eating two-day-old Chinese food and finishing it off with ice cream. It felt good. Easy. But then, conversation with Jesse had always felt easy.

When they were both done, Jesse took her bowl and popped it into the dishwasher. “I may check the locks and head to bed now.”

“Did I wear you out?” She grinned, but that grin slipped when he lowered his head and his lips brushed her ear.

“Nope. With you, I could go all night.”

Her belly rolled, a tingle slipping over every inch of her skin. Then she swallowed as she watched him leave the room, her gaze fixed on his broad shoulders. The muscles in his back contracting beneath his shirt as he moved.

Man, he was a temptation she rarely felt strong enough to resist.

She was still smiling when her phone beeped with a text. She pulled it from her pocket to see it was her mother. The smile dropped the second she read over the words.

Mom: Did you say something to him?

Aspen: Who?

Mom: The waiter at the diner…did you say something to him?

Aspen: Like what?

Her phone rang, and she had to work up the strength to answer it because she knew the second she did, the great day would be tarnished.

One breath, and she put the cell to her ear. “Mom—”

“I went back to the diner this evening to talk to him, and he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“How does this involve me ?”

“I saw you talking to him on your way back from the bathroom today. Did you tell him lies about me? Is it because you want him for yourself?”

Aspen dropped her head into her hand. She could almost hear the pop of the bubble that had been her magical day. For a split second, she’d thought she and her mother might be able to have a semblance of a normal relationship…now that second had ended, and reality was hitting her smack in the face.

“No, Mom. He asked me if we’d like any cake for the table before he sold the last piece, and I said no.”

“You’re lying.”

Deep breaths, Aspen . “No, I’m not. But I am hanging up.”

“Don’t even think about—”

She ended the call, tipped her head back, and closed her eyes. It would be easy to cry right now. But she didn’t want to cry. She wanted to rage at the unfairness of it all. That she had to deal with this while others didn’t.

Yeah, anger. That felt safer. Anger at her mother for not seeking help for her mental health when Aspen had suggested it so many times. Anger at the universe for giving her a mother who was so mentally unstable.

Her phone beeped with another text.

Mom: You’re a slut! You know that?

The tears once again pushed at her eyes.

With fast steps, she marched toward the front door, tugged it open and threw her cell outside. When the door closed, she laid her head against the wood.

It was always going to be like this. Her mother was always going to be mentally ill, and Aspen would never have the relationship with her that she craved. She just had to accept it and move on. To stop wanting better.

A few deep, calming breaths later, she pulled the door open, crossed the lawn and lifted her phone. Once back inside, she wanted to slam the door closed after her. She didn’t. Because then Jesse would come find her. He’d want to know what was wrong. And for some reason, she felt embarrassed about her mother. Maybe because he had such a perfect family. Maybe because she’d just told him what a great day she’d had and now felt like an idiot.

She closed the door quietly, then headed to her room, promising herself she’d never make the mistake of trusting her mother again.

Once she was in bed, she lay there staring at the ceiling, emotions rolling through her. Frustration. Sadness. And anger. But mostly anger at herself for thinking things could be different.

It took her a long time to fall asleep. Too long. She was just drifting off when a hand suddenly covered her mouth, causing her eyes to pop open to the outline of a large male figure standing over her.