11. Declan
11
DECLAN
A coffee table, or what once was a coffee table, lay crushed and scattered across the floor, leading from where it had once sat to a large hole in the wall between the French doors and the fireplace.
And in the midst stood Hayden Marin, getting looked at by Liam, Walker’s doctor brother-in-law, with Walker and the chief standing close by. I couldn’t hear what the hell they were saying.
Worry churned in my gut, but experience told me Hayden wouldn’t welcome it. I shoved it down and willed my system to ignore the concern for the man who wanted nothing to do with me.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Hayden’s gaze swung to mine. Fuck me, he was beautiful. The few years since I last saw him had been kind to him. The warm chocolate gaze turned cold as shock slowly took hold of his face.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Jackson’s a Holt. Katie is his girlfriend. That makes her family.”
Hayden stood watching me. He pulled out his wallet and handed over a wad of cash to Conrad before storming off. As much as I wanted to follow him, I knew better than to do so. We were usually oil and vinegar, with occasional eruptions that mirrored the volatile combination of gasoline and matches.
That was all well and good when we were both down to fuck, even if we fought to be the one in charge. I didn’t mind handing over control to him in measured amounts, but he took a mile when I gave him an inch, and then he pushed for a mile and a half.
I surveyed the mess. A perfect representation of my life lay in smithereens at our feet. I picked my way across the mess to Liam.
“Did he lose consciousness?”
Liam’s brow scrunched up as he shook his head no. Thank God for small favors. That’s all he needed.
“Do we need to worry about that?”
“I don’t know.” My gaze roamed over the others, catching Priest, Cameron, and Scott’s shocked gazes. “Ask them,” I said, nodding at the guys.
“He’s fine,” a woman standing with Hayden’s buddies said.
“You, Lucia?” I asked, knowing the answer without her response. She looked too much like Scott.
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you. Finally.”
I wanted to be an asshole. I really did, but my raisin’ kept me from smarting off to the woman. My situation wasn’t her doing.
“Likewise.”
Feeling like a zoo attraction with everyone gawking at me, I turned and walked off, passing Celeste and Heidi, who were standing so they hid from where Hayden’s buddies were standing. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.
“Thanks, guys. That was great. I really appreciated that.”
“What’s he talking about?” Celeste asked.
“Don’t act like you don’t know, but just in case I’m wrong, I’ll let these two assholes fill you in.”
Outside, the tears I’d been holding at bay fell without permission. Determined to get some time to myself, I hopped in the vehicle we’d rented and drove off. I needed space and time. A lot of it, if I had to be around Hayden regularly, and not let our history get in the way of protecting Jackie and Katie.
The cabin of the car filled with ringing, and my phone lit up with Walker’s face. I pressed the button to ignore him, only for the phone to ring again. Heaving a deep breath, I answered the call.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you?”
“I went for a drive.”
“I need you here. We need that brain of yours when we question the PA and manager.”
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Don’t fucking give me that shit. Did you know?”
“Yes. Now get your ass back here or go the fuck home to Texas and keep licking you damn wounds.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
“And be sober when you get here.”
“What?”
“Don’t act like I’m an idiot. Your dad is my favorite uncle. We talk daily. My father is the point of contact for the family trust. Everyone knows how much you’re drinking. The fact that you’re killing your liver by getting drunk on five-hundred-dollar bottles of imported Irish whiskey is ridiculous and wasteful.”
“So, it’d be okay if it was rotgut off the shelf at the fillin’ station?”
“No. It wouldn’t be fucking okay. This behavior is not you. You’re a fucking Holt. You’re better than this.”
He hung up. Pain shot through my fist up my arm to my shoulder. The dash of the rental cracked where my fist hit it.
“Fuck!”
I spun the big ass SUV around and headed back to Chief Carter’s house. Shame fueled the lead foot pressing on the gas pedal, and when I pulled into the driveway, I had a tail with flashing blue lights.
I pulled my Sig out of the holster to drop it out the window, but stopped when the chief and Walker came out the front door.
The chief was pissed. Rightly so, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know.
Walker came to the driver’s side window, and the disappointment on his face doused the inferno of embarrassment and shame swilling in my guts with gasoline. He didn’t say a word.
Over his shoulder, Hayden stood leaning against the corner of the house. His tree trunk legs crossed at the ankle, and the heavily corded arms folded together over his broad chest. Seeing him made my heart sing and my soul weep, and I didn’t think it would ever change.
“Well, now that’s handled, can we get back to figuring out who’s after my daughter?”
Walker looked at me, and I opened the truck door, glancing back to where Hayden stood, only to be disappointed when he was no longer there.
Dropping to the ground, I asked, “We’re questioning the manager and the assistant, right?”
“Yes.”
“And why are we questioning them?”
“Did Foster not fill you in?” Walker asked.
“He did, but that info came from Jackson, through the Admiral, and lastly through Foster. So, I wanna hear it from the two of you because you were there.”
“We don’t think they’re involved, but we don’t know. Not for certain anyway.”
“Alrighty then. Let’s go see what they know.”
We made our way into the house to the dining room, and an older man sat at the table next to the luscious specimen who tried running me over a while ago. Cato’s remark about trusting the chief replayed in my head. A police chief should know you didn’t leave possible suspects together unsupervised. I knew Walker did. Yet here they were. I held my tongue. They’d mentioned not suspecting either individual of anything untoward, but I still wouldn’t’ve left them alone together.
Turning my attention from the faux pas, I let my eyes roam over the pair. The guy was of average height and weight for his frame. Graying light brown hair covered his head, and his lined face seemed friendly and open. If he were involved and people didn’t know him, they’d never be able to pick him out of a line-up, and a sketch artist would be useless because he looked like a hundred thousand other middle-aged Caucasian men.
The woman, though… whew. She was nowhere near as nondescript. With her sitting before me, I had the opportunity to take in more than the tits and ass that stirred my dick.
She was a beauty the likes of which I’d not seen in a long damn time. Waves of long, thick, dark caramel hair lay in loose curls over one shoulder. Bright blue eyes stared back at me from under the heavy fringe of her equally dark lashes, the color of her eyes reminding me of a cloudless Texas sky in July. Soft pink tinted her lips, and her cheeks were pinking up as she looked at me with interest.
Not that I would act on it, but having not felt the weight of an interested stare in so long, I had to admit it was nice. It was nice knowing my dick still worked too.
Walker and the chief pulled out chairs and sat at the table across from the pair, reminding me what we were here for. Shoving everything else away, I focused on their behaviors and demeanors. Neither appeared worried, or outta sorts, but people could fake that with practice.
The chief cleared his throat before starting, and I dropped my gaze to the floor to hide my surprise. A man of his rank in a department the size of his shouldn’t be nervous questioning two people whom he didn’t suspect of a crime.
“Marcie, you’ve met me and Walker,” he said with a twitch of his head to indicate Walker, “but you’ve not met Declan.”
She smiled. Lord, it was as pretty as a rainbow and warm as the sun’s rays.
“Hi, Declan.”
Not trusting my voice, I bobbed my head.
“Glenn, my name is Conrad Carter. I’m Katie’s dad, and Walker is Jackson Holt’s father.”
“And Declan? Who’s he?”
I spoke up before the others. “A casual observer.”
His eyes rounded, but he didn’t comment further. He stared at me for several minutes before turning his attention back to Walker and the chief. Neither said anything until the guy fidgeted in his seat.
“Glenn, can you explain how you came to be Katie’s manager?” Walker asked.
The guy swallowed and answered the question. And all the questions that came after. Celeste came in at one point, joining me against the buffet where I leaned. She kept her mouth zipped, watching and listening. After several more questions, she patted my arm and left the room.
It didn’t take long for me to realize neither Glenn nor Marcie was working with the stalker, but I didn’t interrupt the questioning. There could be things they knew that we didn’t.
When Walker and Conrad wound down, they hadn’t asked a question I wanted an answer to.
“What did you make of Danny?”
“Odd.”
“A creep.”