Chapter 23
Sage
East looked like he was mad at the world, and I didn’t really want to go home or to Mags. Right now, everything felt disconnected. The whole thing had happened way too fast for me to even process, and Rhodes felt safe.
“Can I just stay with you?” I asked, ignoring my brothers. Rhodes looked angry too, but he was leaning over me like he’d fight a wolverine or keep the next Armageddon at bay, and that made me feel protected.
“Of course you can. We need to check a few things. You’ll do as I say?
” He’d tipped my chin up again, and I couldn’t help the full-body shiver that ran through me at the sensation of his single-minded focus.
His fingertips grazed my jawline for two point seconds, but it was enough for the word to slip out of me.
“Yes.” The answer came automatically.
“Wait just a second…” East interrupted, but Wade cocked his head, watching us with a curious look. I blocked them out.
“East, can you get the booster from my car and pick up Opal after school? She knows you, and then we’ll meet you at the house.
I’ll call the school and let them know you have my permission.
Sage and I will finish up here and see if we can get any other data from the cameras inside, and I’ll tag in my security team. ”
His jaw ground, but I could see him accepting the job Rhodes had given him as he gave me a nod. “Sure, of course, I’ll pick her up.”
Rhodes shuffled me from the van, but his eyes were moving, scanning the area as I found my footing.
We’d drawn a few lookie-loos at this point, and I was feeling self-conscious, especially with my two brothers hovering like the overbearing men they were.
For some reason, the same behavior in Rhodes was just filling me with a sense of calm.
Wade was already talking to Officer Palladino, who listened as he got directions on collecting evidence and looking for sightlines or something. I was already tuning out as he talked to the other officers.
“I’ll see you soon, Sage-O-Rama. You’re alright?” East leaned down to brush a kiss against my cheek. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“I’m okay,” I reassured him, but still moved even closer to Rhodes so that our bodies touched again.
East was my oldest and most protective brother.
Even though my arms ached a little, my words were honest. It had been scary and startling, but I was really okay.
More freaked out and startled than anything else.
“I’ll see you later.” He nodded at me before giving me a long look, and Rhodes an even longer one.
“We’re going to get the camera footage before we leave.
Stay with me.” Rhodes was succinct, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes fixed on the area around us.
“Wade.” The last was nothing short of an order, and my brother responded instantly, shoulders straightening and on alert.
This was another version of Wade that I hadn’t seen before.
Rhodes gripped my hand tightly and tucked me even closer. If he thought I was going to stray from his side, he was sorely mistaken. Right now, there was no place I wanted to be more than right next to him.
There was a teenage kid behind the register who seemed more interested in looking at his phone than paying attention to the commotion happening in the parking lot, even though there were two cop cars out there. You’d think he would have looked up.
Wade moved purposefully through the space, all the way across the store to the exterior door, the one with the push bar, which opened to the side lot. He gave it a shove, poked his head through it, where you could see that it led directly to the area where my van would be parked around the corner.
“Hey,” the kid from the counter finally said as Rhodes stopped at the counter. “What’s up?” He angled a look at his phone.
Rhodes gave a disgusted snort. “Security footage. Interior. Exterior,” he grunted. “Who do I talk to?”
He blinked sleepily. "Uh, what? I don’t know. That’s not my job, man. I’m just here to watch the pumps. You can talk to my manager, I guess. She’s ...”
"Get her,” Rhodes barked.
He scrambled to obey, but Rhodes didn’t apologize for his brusque attitude even when Wade joined us at the counter.
The older woman who followed the attendant looked harried, and it seemed likely we had interrupted her lunch, as evidenced by the greasy spot on her shirt and around her mouth.
Creekside was located between Wildwood Meadows and Cascade Mills.
Deliveries were always part of my job, so I had all the stations mapped out along the way.
The van used a lot of gas, probably more than was economical.
It was on my list to upgrade to something better, but everything these days was expensive, and it wasn’t like I was out here making a killing as a small business owner.
“Billy says you want to see the cameras?” she squinted at Wade. “What for?”
“Someone tried to assault this young woman here, so we’d like your cooperation, is all?” Wade’s tone was carefully modulated as he subtly tucked a thumb into his belt, pressing his badge front and center. He was much more polite than Rhodes and had toned down his alpha-hole-ness.
She let out a small gasp, looking over at Billy as if he were going to confirm the story.
The kid just shrugged, which seemed to piss Rhodes off even more.
That seemed to get her moving, and she straightened and murmured, “Of course. Whatever we can do. Just let me go get the tablet. It has the link.”
It took her just a moment to return with the aforementioned electronic device in her hand. She’d wiped her mouth and straightened her shirt. Billy had slunk off to the back room without a word, leaving her to deal with us without any apologies.
I stayed quiet beside Rhodes, slightly turned toward him as he furiously tapped on the tablet while talking to the manager, Bev. She didn’t ask many questions when she handed it to him instead of Wade, but looked at me, then at the three of us, seemingly sizing everything up.
“Sorry about your lunch,” I managed.
“It’s no problem. You okay?” Her brows furrowed, concern obvious on her face, which at least made me feel like she hadn’t realized I’d been struggling just outside while they’d all been in here, right on the other side of the door.
“Yes.” I didn’t bother to elaborate. All in all, I was lucky. Who knows what would have happened to me if I hadn’t managed to get away?
She seemed satisfied enough and went back to answering questions and talking to Wade because Rhodes was quickly sorting through electronic folders, as if he were emailing footage.
“I’ll review these at home and send them to Redhawk. There’s someone here, but …” he paused and showed the tablet to Wade. “Movements are suspicious. I can’t be sure.”
There was a figure dressed in dark clothing, a man who kept his head down as he moved through the convenience store aisles.
If the teenager had been paying close attention, they would have become suspicious immediately, but Billy didn’t seem like the type to take action.
After a few minutes, the man left through the back door.
His face was turned away from the cameras, and he wore a hood despite the nice weather.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t like I could identify the person.
Rhodes’ jaw clenched as he handed the tablet to Bev. “Thanks for your help.” Without another word, he guided me out the front of the store, his pace almost faster than mine.
My van was now bustling with activity, and I could see that another officer had arrived and was with Palladino, bent over near where the scuffle had taken place, probably searching for non-existent evidence.
I needed to shake myself out of this fog I seemed to be in, but it was hard to think as Rhodes opened his truck door, waiting for me to get in.
"I have something to tell you. About the flowers." Clearing my throat nervously, I wondered what the best approach was. I definitely had messed up. It hadn’t ever occurred to me that the person sending them was crazy or dangerous, but I’d probably made things worse.
Hell, I listened to Hattie’s podcasts before.
People were wild. I just didn’t think they would ever direct that at me.
“I kept them.” His face froze. “You know it wasn’t the flowers’ fault that they were from a stranger or anything.
I couldn’t just throw them away.” Wade waited patiently, but I could already see that Rhodes was going to have an aneurysm.
“And maybe I put them in the window as part of the display.” I winced.
“You put them in the window?” Rhodes repeated, incredulity clear in his tone. “Jesus.” He took a breath, but I could see his jaw tick. “Okay.”
“And,” I bit down on my lip. “I posted something on social media with the last bouquet in it. I just wanted to not make a thing about it.”
Rhodes was quiet for a moment, Wade standing still beside him, watching as if he was waiting for him to explode, holding his breath.
Finally, Rhodes exhaled, “Okay, we can work with this. I’ll have my guys monitor that post, and maybe we’ll get something on it.
This could be a good thing.” He shook his head like he was coming up from the water and turned those stormy eyes on me, and I wished he hadn’t because I still felt like an idiot.
“We’ll figure this out,” Wade stepped forward and held me tightly for a long moment, wrapping me completely in his arms, and setting his jaw on the top of my head.
“I promise, okay? It’ll be fine.” I nodded against his chest because he truly meant it.
My family had always looked after me. “I’m going to finish looking over things here and see if I can find anything, and then I’ll head over. ”
“Sounds good.” Rhodes was already crowding me into the truck as my brother slapped him on the back in a goodbye. Maybe I should be annoyed, but instead I was just grateful that I didn’t have to worry about it.
“What about my van?” I asked when he’d gotten back into the truck and started it up. “Maybe I should just follow you?”
“You’re not driving. That’s not even a conversation that we’re going to have.”
I frowned at his bossy attitude. He reached out and tucked the loose end of my braid back over my shoulder, and I felt my skin prickle under his attention as his calloused hand grazed along the skin of my neck before he let his hand drop.
“You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, Mr. Collins,” I huffed.
“Mr. Collins? I could get used to that.” He slanted a heated look over at me, but his muscles were all bunched as we drove away from the gas station and my brother.
A small part of me wondered whether I should have stayed with Wade, but I understood Rhodes’s high-handedness. It was something that would usually make me walk out the door, but right now it was just what I needed. He looked a little stressed. “You look tense. Are you okay?”
He took the corner a little too fast. “Sorry.” Then he shot me an incredulous look. “Tense? You think I’m tense?”
“Yeah.” Opting for a teasing tone to try to lighten the mood and the anxiety that was still riding through me like an electric wire, I poked his shoulder. “Tense, you know? Relax. It’s over now.” Realizing I was sounding like I was coming on to him, I put my hand back down in my lap.