Chapter Fourteen
On Monday morning, Katie sat down in the leather chair behind her desk and winced.
Damn, Ry and Jed had given her a workout this weekend.
A smile crept over her lips. Oh, but what a workout it was.
From the club, to watching Ry and Jed together, to all three of them snuggling together and sleeping through the night.
And Sunday… She couldn’t remember having so much fun.
They took the horses out for a ride and then had lunch in town.
After, they’d been cajoled into a friendly game of touch football at the park.
Game won, they’d gone back to the house and watched a movie.
Katie shook her head. She could daydream later.
Right now, she had clients to contact and work to do.
An hour later, she was knee-deep in computer files.
One of her New York City clients had received a letter from the IRS, and he was panicking.
Katie talked him down, and he scanned the IRS letter and sent it to her.
Now, she was gathering all the information. She wasn’t surprised by the letter, but as she assured her client, it was routine and just a time suck.
She was printing the last of the paperwork when her cell rang. A sigh escaped her as she grabbed her phone. “It’s fine, Larry. Would you relax?” This was his fourth call in the last hour.
“It’s about time you answered my call.”
She stiffened at the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s voice. Damn it, why hadn’t she checked who was calling before she picked it up? “I don’t have time for you, Walter.”
“Bull, Katherine. Grow up and come back.”
His nasally voice grated on her nerves. “I am grown up, and I’m not coming back. I’ve made that more than clear to both you and my father.”
“Don’t make me come after you.”
“Bring it on. You can’t get your lazy ass away from my father.” She hit the end button and rubbed her forehead. Walter was one headache she didn’t need.
Her phone rang again, and she glanced at the screen. Great, now her father. With a sigh, she picked it up. “I’m not coming back.”
“Katherine, I’ve already apologized. What else can I do?” Her father’s grating voice attacked her last nerve.
“Nothing. I told you, Randall. I’m done.” Again she hit the end button. Would they ever get the message? Eventually, she hoped.
Her father was only looking after himself and Walter… The man didn’t have a trustworthy or honest bone in his body. Neither man had much integrity, and that was something Katie couldn’t live without.
After double checking the paperwork, she emailed it to Larry and then called him. By the time she was finished, it was almost eleven. She stood and stretched.
“Oh good, you’re off the phone,” Gran said, standing in the office doorway.
“For the moment. What’s up?” Her cell rang again. She glanced down at the screen and let out a sigh.
“You can answer that. I’ll wait,” Gran said.
“It’s just my father again.” Katie hit the reject call button on her phone. Time to block their calls. Probably past time to do that.
“Has he been calling you a lot?” Gran waved her hands at Katie’s cell phone.
“Enough. He’ll eventually get the message. I’m not going back.”
“Have you told Ry or Jed about the calls?” Gran was frowning at her.
“No.” And she wasn’t planning to, at least not right now. She scooted out from her desk.
The frown grew deeper.
“It’s okay, Gran.” She walked over and kissed her weathered cheek.
Her grandmother stared at her for a moment. “I’m going outside and do some weeding.”
“Okay. Don’t stay out too long. It’s pretty warm today.” Was that all her Gran wanted to talk about? A little odd, but maybe Gran just wanted her to know where she’d gone.
Her grandmother just waved a hand at her as she walked away. Katie grinned. Maybe she’d fix something special for lunch.
“Katie,” her grandmother called barely a minute later.
“Yeah, Gran.”
“You better get out here.”
Katie’s eyes narrowed as she strode to the front door to see Gran standing in the yard by their cars. Her hands were on her hips, and Katie noticed the slight trembling of her hands.
“Gran, what is it?”
“Your car.” Gran pointed.
Katie’s heart sank.
* * * *
Ry hopped out of his SUV on Monday, slipping his sunglasses on in the mid-morning sun. He jogged into the Red Dog, the local bar.
Burt, one of the town’s old-timers, sat in the corner, nursing a beer, and he waved at Ry.
Linda, Roc’s daytime waitress, wiped her hand on her apron and came rushing over.
“Where is he?” Ry asked.
“In back, the darn fool.”
Ry silently agreed with her as he followed her to the back of the bar, down the hallway, past the small office and stockroom. Nothing looked out of place. Roc sat on the floor near the open back door with a bloody towel around his hand.
“Did you call the paramedics?” Ry asked Linda.
“Don’t need them,” Roc said.
Ry shook his head as knelt next to the older man. “Roc, how many times do I have to tell you not to confront these punks?”
Usually, Felton’s Creek was pretty quiet, but lately, there’d been a rash of petty thefts and attempted break-ins. Nothing major until today. Roc’s place had been a target before, and he refused to be intimidated.
“Hell, Ry, I cut myself on the knife I was holding. Those punks had nothing on me.”
Relief poured through Ry. At least the punks were still unarmed. “How many were there?”
“Two. I’m sure they pissed their pants when they saw my knife.” Roc gestured to the butcher knife lying on the floor.
“I bet.” Ry unwrapped Roc’s hand to look at the damage. The knife had slashed into his palm, a flesh wound, but it might need a couple of stitches. “Linda, get me the first aid kit.” The waitress marched away. “Can you describe them to me?”
“Adult punks, I’d say in their twenties, both over six feet tall. They had on jeans, black caps, and handkerchiefs covering their mouths.”
Different description than he’d heard from half a dozen other people. Interesting. Something wasn’t adding up here. Linda arrived with the first aid kit. Ry made quick work of patching up Roc’s hand. “Go see the doctor. I’ve done a patch job, but he needs to make sure you’re good.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Ry helped Roc up off the floor, and the man swayed. “Never mind. I’ll take you there myself.”
Before Roc could protest, Ry had him bundled in his SUV. Linda promised to stay until Roc returned. After dropping Roc off at the doctor’s office, Ry drove around town, checking everything out.
None of this made any sense. Were they local adults or kids that looked older? And if so, why now? School wouldn’t be out for another month or so. Usually, trouble started by the end of summer when the kids got bored.
After pulling his SUV into his parking spot at the sheriff’s office, Ry made his way inside the building. He waved to Betty, their receptionist/dispatcher, and went into his office, sat at his desk, and began filling out reports.
Josh, a deputy fresh out of the academy, poked his head around the doorframe. “How bad?”
“Flesh wound. Drove Roc over to Doc’s. But I don’t get it.” Ry typed on his keyboard. He hated filling out reports. “Why now?”
“Did the guys get anything?”
“No. Roc flashed his knife, and they took off.”
Josh sat down in the chair in front of Ry’s desk. “Are we sure these are locals?”
“No.” That was another problem. Could these be people from a neighboring town determined to create havoc or something else? “All we can do is keep doing our reports and watching for any trends. So far, no one has gotten seriously hurt.”
“And that’s a good thing,” Josh commented before rising and leaving the office.
The phone rang. “Sheriff McKade.”
“Hi, Sheriff.”
Katie’s sweet voice made Ry smile, and his cock hardened as he remembered their weekend together. “Hi, sweet Katie, what can I do for you?”
“Umm, well.” She let out a loud breath. “I need you to drive by Gran’s house.”
His spine stiffened, and his gut tightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing super bad, but I promised Gran I’d call, so would you please come by? I really don’t like talking about this over the phone.”
“On my way.” Ry slammed the receiver down and sprang out of his chair.
“What is it?” Josh asked.
“Not sure. Katie asked me to stop by. Something tells me it isn’t good.” Ry loped out of his office and into his SUV.
Within ten minutes, he was in front of Miss Mazie’s house. Katie was sitting on the front porch. She stood when he got out.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his gaze sweeping her from head to toe. She wore a pair of jeans and a cute white blouse. She looked okay, and his breath eased in his chest.
“Yes.” She wiped her hands down the front of her jeans. “You didn’t have to rush over here. It wasn’t an emergency, and I didn’t mean to make you think I needed the sheriff.”
Her words hit him in the gut, and he grinned. “I’m glad you called, period.” He strode up to her and drew her into his arms. “As long as you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing, really.”
He leaned back and stared down at her.
“Oh, all right.” She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed. Ry released her. “Gran made me call. I didn’t think I needed to, but…” She gestured to the driveway.
Ry’s gaze followed the movement, and he swore softly. Her red, older model car had four flat tires, and someone had scratched the hell out of the paint job with a key or a knife. “When did you notice this?”
“I didn’t.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Gran saw it when she started weeding the garden.”
Ry strolled over to her car. Damn it was a mess. Whoever did this had to have done it under the cover of darkness. “Miss Mazie’s car?”
“Not a mark on it.” Katie walked over to him. “She was parked behind me too.”
“Damn kids.” It had to be.
“Is that who you think it was? Kids?”
“We’ve been having some issues with some kids lately—petty thefts and such. Today, they tried to rob Roc.”
“Is he okay?”