Chapter 32 Jagg
JAGG
Shadows from the almost-full moon danced along the rutted dirt road that led to Sunny’s cabin. The air was warm, pungent with the smell of river water as we neared her drive. The winds had picked up. The environment was primed for wildfires.
I thought of Sunny making the drive daily, or at the very least, multiple times a week. Alone. Sunny truly lived “in the sticks.” While her dad owned multiple housing tracts and apartment complexes in the surrounding towns, she chose to live out in the middle of nowhere. Away from people, society.
Away from danger.
There was no doubt Sunny was a loner. Her family was her dogs, her home, her sanctuary. Her safe place.
The thought didn’t only concern me, it terrified me. I didn’t like her so far away from civilization and first responders.
So far away from me.
We pulled into the driveway, the headlights bouncing off the trees until pooling onto the A-frame cabin.
My first indication that something was off was when I noticed the picnic table had been moved from where it sat earlier that morning.
I saw it immediately.
WITCH, in bold black letters, in spray paint.
I looked at Sunny just as realization struck her like a lightning bolt. Her breath caught, her body jolting forward.
She launched out of the Jeep before I could stop her.
“Sunny!” I slammed the brakes, threw it into park, grabbed my Glock and jumped out.
She was already running, gun drawn—that I hadn’t even noticed she’d had—cutting across the yard in a dead sprint, fury and panic turning her into something wild.
My sights flicked from tree line to shadows, gun raised, every instinct on high alert. The porch came into view—and with it, destruction.
Flower pots shattered. Shrubs slashed. The screened windows were ripped open like animal claw marks. More graffiti, harsher now. Cruder.
Bitch. Whore. Slut. Cunt.
A pentagram was splashed across the front door in blood-red paint.
“No.” I grabbed the back of her shirt, yanking her behind me before she could bust through.
The smell hit me before the mess did—paint.
The living room was unrecognizable. Furniture gutted, cushions slashed open like organs.
Her walls were defaced with spray paint.
Her pictures, dishes, were shattered. WITCH in large, block letters, had been sprayed across the fireplace.
Her belongings pulverized. Her world, violated.
Her sanctuary. Her home.
She tore past me, blind with panic. “My dogs, Jagg! My dogs, where are they?” Tears glimmered in her eyes, but it was the panic that gutted me. I reached for her, pulled the gun from her trembling hands and set it aside.
“Sunny. Look at me. Where were they when you left?”
She whipped her head around, chest heaving. “Inside. I always leave them in the house when I’m gone.” She jogged out the back door, onto the deck, which was in the same shape as the front.
“Athena!” Sunny cupped her hands and yelled, the panicked tone sending a chill up my spine. “Theeeena! Tango! Max!”
I spun on my heel at the pop of the screen door behind me, gun raised, finger over the trigger. Three furry, snarling masses shot like a cannon through the dark living room, laser focused on me.
“No!” Sunny lunged in front of my gun, screaming at the dogs. “No! Settle! Settle!”
The speed of the charge slowed, the barking did not.
“Put your gun down, Jagg!”
I lowered my Glock as she dropped to her knees in front of me.
“Settle.” She soothed, opening her arms to her dogs. “Settle, babies, shhh, calm. Come here. Shhh.”
The dogs immediately relaxed, either remembering me, or sensing the sudden calmness in their master. Probably a little of both. The barking slowed to whimpers as she stroked them.
“That’s it. Shhh. Good babies.” Her voice cracked, followed by a sniff.
My heart broke. Her sanctuary—her family—had been violated.
My throat tightened. I wanted to hurt whoever had done this.
Burn their world to the ground.
Sunny surged off the floor, her eyes popping. “Brutus.”
“Where is he?”
“By the river. I don’t bring him up to the house until bedtime.” She ran out the door. “Come.”
I wasn’t sure if the command was for me or the dogs, but I followed. There were immediate things that needed to be done in that house, like search for trace evidence, but at that moment, the most important thing to Sunny was her dogs—and surprisingly, I cared, too.
We ran down the trail, Sunny leading her pack while I hung back a few steps, double-gripping my gun, tuning my senses to the woods around us.
The moonlight led the way, bright enough that we didn’t need flashlights.
A breeze blew at my back, a few withered leaves flittering down from the trees, sending me jumping at each one.
Sunny’s pace quickened as the musty smell of the river grew closer. I could practically hear her heartbeat on the breeze.
The trail opened to rushing water and the sound of her feet pounding the river rocks.
This time, I pushed to a sprint and pulled ahead of her.
If something had happened to Brutus, I wanted to be the first to see it.
I wanted to shield her as much as I could.
I wanted to be there for her the moment her world shattered.
My first zing of panic came when the dog didn’t bark as we barreled down the river.
I focused on the black silhouette in the cage.
Move.
Bark.
Do something!
As I neared the cage, two silver eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
Brutus stood, wide neck, thick chest, muscular legs, all in one piece.
His eyes locked on mine as Sunny threw open the cage door.
Relief washed over me. He was okay. I found my gaze drifting to his injured shoulder, hoping it was okay, too.
I blocked Athena, Max and Tango from getting any closer.
“Brutus baby, are you okay? It’s okay. Settle, baby.”
Sunny slowly reached out her palm and dropped to her knees in one fluid movement. “Good boy. Good baby.”
The dog finally moved, backing up while keeping those electric eyes on me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen hair darker than Sunny’s, until seeing his. Brutus would be almost invisible in a pitch-black night.
The other dogs hung back, respecting the pit. Or fearing it, perhaps.
Once I was sure everything was okay, I made the call to the station, where Tanya promised to have someone there within ten minutes. I took note of the time, then shoved my phone into my pocket.
Sunny pushed to a stance, waiting to exhale until she was fully upright. She turned to me, not with fear or anger in her eyes, but gratitude. Thankfulness. She had her babies. Her dogs were okay.
Her face softened and a soft smile crossed it.
In a time that anyone else would be riddled with panic, fear, or rage, Sunny Harper smiled. Her car had been keyed, her home destroyed, but in that moment, Sunny found the light. She found the one reason to be thankful and clung onto it with such grace and beauty.
I stepped forward, cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. Right there, under the moonlight, next to the rushing river, I kissed her.
She melted into me, soft and fierce, her mouth answering mine with breathless urgency. My hand drifted to the back of her head, threading through those long black curls, fisting. Her fingers skimmed my stomach, lighting fires everywhere she touched.
Mine.
A possessiveness I’d never felt before shot through me like a pulse.
She pulled away first. Eyes shining. Lips parted. Chest rising and falling heavily.
“What was that for?” she whispered.
I took a step back, heart thudding in my ears.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back.
But I did.
She was in my blood now.
And there was no going back.