Chapter 13 #2
Walker settled her at one of the stools on the other side of the kitchen island and brought her a glass of water. She gulped it, then set the glass down on the countertop.
“More?” he asked, his voice so, so gentle.
She shook her head, and when the shakes started, he came back around the island and pulled her fully into his arms. “I’ve got you.”
And he did.
She didn’t cry, but she let herself revel in his warmth, in his solidity for a long, long moment, then stepped out of the circle of comfort. “I’m okay,” she said. “It shook me, that’s all.”
He scrutinized her, then nodded and sat in her vacated seat and pulled her into the vee of his legs. “I’ll bet it did. No one would blame you if you took a knee today. Maybe go upstairs and lay down for a bit.”
She snorted at him in response. “Oh really, like some Victorian lady in a melodrama?”
He tried to fight the smile and failed. “Welllll,” he drawled. “If the house fits…”
“Good one,” she said, then blew out a breath. “What did Garrett have on Marlon that made him come for him now? Here? And what was all that about someone paying him?” She shook her head in frustration. “Marlon doesn’t seem bright enough to have kept anything this big quiet for this long.”
Walker shook his head. “Dunno to either question, but there must be something pretty solid, since I can’t see Garrett making a scene like that without being pretty damn sure of himself.”
Huh. So why had he done it? It really wasn’t his style, and he could have as easily apprehended Marlon outside. When she saw him again, she’d sure as hell ask.
But for now, she needed to pull up her big girl panties and get back out there. Tongues would already be wagging. If she pulled a disappearing act, then it would be ten times worse.
“Thanks for the time out,” she said. “I needed it. I want to leave a bit early today, if it slows down. I want to talk to Garrett about what happened, and then I want to go to the storage unit and get Mr. Higgins off my damn back.”
Walker wasn’t sure it was the best idea to dive back into the storage area with so many moving pieces still in play.
But he did want to hear what Garrett had to say.
He could one hundred percent see Marlon Jones breaking into The Menagerie and then being stymied by the heavy-duty lock on the back door.
But to be smart enough to break in not once, but twice and not leave any evidence besides a blood smear? Never mind going so far as to assault Serena. Petty crime and grifting vulnerable old ladies was more his speed.
He’d seen how the young man was around her. Skirting into flirty sometimes, but he was like that with all women. He’d never once flinched, never averted his eyes from where her wound was. There’d been no tells.
Walker wasn’t buying it. He wished it was as easy as Jones being Serena’s attacker, but it didn’t feel right, and he one hundred percent believed in and followed his intuition. It’d saved him one too many times, both in the army and when he’d worked private security.
Traffic to the restaurant slowed considerably as the morning wore on, and around eleven Serena handed the reins off to Gena and they headed to Cottonwood and Garrett’s office.
She was quiet during the short drive from Rimrock Creek into the bigger city, and Walker let her have the silence. She’d been running and gunning for too many days and the strain was beginning to show in her eyes.
Garrett took them back to his office right away.
“We were doing a canvas of the neighborhood, including the homes on the other side of the alley and discovered Arizona Fish and Game had set up a camera in one of the trees to capture data on the canyon bat, which has apparently been moving into more populated areas lately.”
Warren didn’t find himself at a loss for words often, but this was definitely one of those times. Serena had no such problem.
“Bats? They caught Marlon Jones trying to break into my house on a bat-cam?” Her tone was incredulous and she seemed to be just short of breaking into uncontrollable laughter.
Garrett nodded soberly, but the corners of his mouth twitched.
“He’s still babbling about how someone reached out to him on Snapchat and said they’d pay him two hundred bucks if he’d get the door unlocked and walk away.”
His statement demolished any amusement Walker might have felt and jibed with his gut feeling.
“Of course, since it’s Snapchat, there’s nothing to corroborate his statement,” Garrett said.
“Did he have any scratches from the rosebushes?” Walker asked and got an approving look from Garrett.
“He did not,” he replied. “Which is why I’d highly recommend you stick to Serena like glue, regardless of all the whiz bang shit that Quentin installed.
Maybe Marlon has a partner, or maybe he’s telling the truth.
Either way, because he’s on parole, he’ll be camping here for the foreseeable future.
His parents already said they weren’t going to bail him out this time, if bail is even set anytime soon. ”
“What I don’t get is what they were after. This level of escalation makes no sense given what Serena has in the shop and at the storage unit.” he said, wondering what Garrett would say.
“There’s nothing worth more than a thousand dollars in either location,” Serena added. “I agree with Walker, especially given what Marlon said. Something, and someone else is at play here.”
Glad that she was finally truly on board, Walker steered her out of the Sheriff’s Department and they climbed into his truck and headed for the storage unit.
“Why are we doing this today?” he asked, no censure in his voice, just curiosity.
“I needed to get away from the house, and I want to do something with my hands,” Serena replied. “If we find Mr. Higgins’ statue today, I’ll consider it a victory, especially with everything else going on. If we don’t find it today, I’m closed on Sundays, so we can come back.”
“Fair enough,” he said, and he was glad that she hadn’t even blinked when Garrett had suggested sticking to her like glue. Because that’s exactly what he intended to do.