Chapter 16
Sixteen
Being an adult is like folding a fitted sheet.
—Constance to her mom
Constance
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, weirdo. But I can assure you I didn’t contact you. Nor did my boyfriend, seeing as I don’t have a boyfriend.”
The man who’d been following me looked shocked and his face went slack.
His eyes looked horrible from where I’d sprayed him with the bear spray.
I didn’t feel badly, though. Not with how he’d been about to shoot Possum.
Speaking of Possum, he was currently in the tree above me, refusing to come down because of the dog currently using my lap as a napping spot.
He was giving the dog the stink eye, offended that someone had dared to take his place.
Remembering that I still had another dead fish in my bag, I reached into it, pulled it out, and tossed it into the air in front of me.
Possum swooped down in the middle of everyone, caught it, then disappeared back into his tree to eat.
The silence was deafening as everyone processed what had just happened.
“What, exactly, was that?” Sheriff Black asked.
“The reason I reacted as badly as I did,” Creed muttered. He turned to me. “I’m sorry, by the way. I also can’t believe I haven’t met you yet, seeing as I’ve sent no less than a dozen animals to y’all since y’all got here.”
I waved his apology away. “It’s understandable.”
Black went back to his questioning of the man who’d followed me.
“Start from the beginning,” Black urged. “And don’t leave anything out.”
The man shifted in his seat, went to reach for his eyes, but stopped himself before he could start rubbing them again.
“I was hired as her bodyguard.” He pointed at me.
My mouth fell open. “What?”
“By who?” Black asked.
“Her boyfriend!” He threw up his hands. “And I wasn’t going to shoot the bird. I was going to shoot close to it. It didn’t look right. I wanted it to leave the area.”
Oh, whatever.
My scoff caught everyone’s attention again.
I blushed and looked away, using Peanut’s floppy ear as a distraction, marveling at how soft and squishy it was.
“Do you have the name of the man that supposedly hired you?” Black pushed.
“Errol Fuller,” he answered.
My heart sank.
I felt more than saw Odin inch closer.
“Why the tracker?” Black asked.
“They both agreed that it was necessary. I have text messages from both of them.” He pulled out his phone and held it out to the sheriff.
Black took the phone and used his thumb to swipe through something.
His eyes moved as he read, his face darkening.
“When did you get contracted to start this security detail?” Black wondered.
“I’ve been tailing her for a few months,” he said. “Ever since she got here. I follow her to the sanctuary every night. I am in my car waiting at the gate every morning when she leaves. I’m just supposed to be here in case her crazy ex-boyfriend comes calling.”
“Joke’s on you,” I drawled. “Errol is my crazy ex.”
The man frowned. “I think you’re mistaken.”
“Mistaken about what?” Odin finally cut in. “She would know if he was a crazy ex or not, seeing as it’s her life.”
This was just getting so confusing.
“What does this ‘crazy ex’ look like?” Creed wondered.
“Flip to the photos. It’s the first one in the roll,” Otto urged.
Black did just that and shook his head. “The man in this photo is Errol Fuller. Do you have a photo of who hired you?”
The man shook his head. “No. I’ve actually never even met him.” He frowned. “Now that I think about it, that sounds really bad. But it’s usual for my company to be outsourced without meeting the clients. My boss just tells me where to go and who to protect, and that’s what I do.”
“So, if you were protecting me,” I wondered. “Then where were you this morning when a dog was attacking me?”
“In the bathroom,” he admitted, looking apologetic. “I’d eaten something that didn’t agree with my stomach.”
“Convenient,” I drawled.
“The truth,” he promised. “You can look at my location. I share it with the big boss. Every single step I make is recorded for liability reasons.”
“Easy enough to check out,” Black said. “You’re coming with me. We’ll have a talk with your boss and find out who, what, when, and why.”
Otto stood up and walked with Black to his police cruiser.
Odin came to me and reached for Peanut’s lead.
Peanut reluctantly got off of me and came to heel next to his owner.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” I murmured, eyeing the strange pairing.
When you looked at Odin, you’d think that he would have a German Shepherd or a Malinois. Not a cute little droopy-faced bloodhound.
“Went to the shelter to get a cat and came home with him,” he murmured quietly.
“His old owner was a search and rescue chick. She died during those fires that ran rampant through here a couple of months ago. He looked sad and depressed, so I took him home with me. Found out really quick that he needed something to do to stimulate him or he’d be destructive. I just got him home from training.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Hi,” the woman who’d been extremely quiet during the entire exchange between Otto and the rest of us said. “I’m Sage.”
I waved at her. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Constance.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Not to interrupt, but I have to get to work soon. Major, are we going to do anything else today?”
Major, who I’d learned earlier was the vice president of the Dixie Wardens MC, brought his wrist up so he could check the time. “I have time. If we do it quick, we can still get some work in. Creed, you still up to play the missing hiker?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “Though I only have an hour. My girl expects me home before dusk. We have an appointment tonight.”
“Let’s get started, then.” Major clapped. “Black, talk to you later.”
Black nodded as he dropped into his seat and closed the door.
Otto in the back, he rolled out of the parking lot.
When I looked up, Creed was gone, and Major was standing over a map at his truck.
Sage was shifting from foot to foot, and her dog that’d never strayed farther than a foot from her side stared at all of us accusingly. His muzzle made him look mean as hell.
“Are you headed home?” Odin asked.
I scrubbed at my face. “I should probably. Wendy will need dinner.”
He looked at his watch. “She gets out of school soon.”
“She’s already out,” I admitted. “But my dad got her.”
“Okay, good.”
I would not admit that I liked the way he worried about whether my daughter had gotten picked up from school or not.
That was just crazy talk.
It was stupid to be happy that he’d thought of her.
I mean, it was a logical choice to assume that she would need picked up. She was school age, after all.
But still.
It made my insides all gooey.
I stood up and wiped invisible dirt off of my jeans. Picked a piece of lint off my jacket.
“What’s your goal for today?” I blurted out.
“Let Creed get far enough off course and then let Peanut do his thing,” he admitted. “What’s with the bird?”
I looked up at Possum.
“He was caught tangled up in fishing line,” I explained.
“As a youth. We try really hard not to let animals imprint on us, because our main goal is to release them back into the wild to live their lives. However, that didn’t work out with Possum.
Possum refused to hunt for himself. When we released him, he followed us back home.
Flew miles and miles back to our place. Then waited for us like he’d done every morning since he’d been brought to us.
Eventually, he started to lose weight. Then he’d venture closer and closer to us, giving us those sad osprey eyes.
We knew he’d never be released into the wild.
So we made him a nest of his own. He patrols the area.
Keeps the rodent population to a minimum. Gets his daily intake of fish.”
“What else do you rehabilitate?” Odin asked.
“I didn’t even know you could talk, Odin,” Major mused. “Are you going to be joining this meeting, or should I…”
Odin sighed. “Head home, Constance. I’ll keep you updated on the saga that is your life.”
I smiled, though it barely reached my eyes. “Would it be okay if I watched y’all work? This sounds exciting.”
“If you’re going to watch,” Sage suggested, “maybe you should participate. Major is always looking for more volunteers.”
Major grunted. “As long as they know how to turn their talk buttons off.”
My lips quirked. “I think I could manage that.”
By the time that I got home that night, my mind was reeling with my day.
First the dog attack.
Then a man following me and putting a tracker on my car.
Then the search and rescue practice where I had to watch Odin work with his dog.
A cute dog that pranced at his side, looking up at his master like he was his world.
It gave Odin a softer edge that blunted the harshness of his demeanor.
But what really got me was the way he’d not only walked me safely to my car, but he’d made sure I got home safely, too. With no unknown stalkers dogging my every move.
“Your day was eventful,” Dad mused when I told him and my mother about my “bodyguard.”
“The guy was legit, too.” I shook my head.
“When we were done with the searching, Odin got a call from Sheriff Black. He’d met with the Otto guy’s boss who sent over a full contract.
In it was my full name, with a signed permission in my own handwriting—or at least close handwriting.
And Errol’s. But the photos that were sent over to them weren’t Errol’s.
It was some AI-generated guy, according to Sheriff Black.
The guy they’re supposed to be protecting me from was Errol. ”
“Do you think that Mackey’s parents could’ve hired them?”
“I mean, yes. If it wasn’t for the name swaps. Why use Errol’s name as the client and then his photo as the man they’re protecting me from?”
“Why, out of three children, are you the most difficult?” Dad asked.
I threw my hand up with a laugh. “I have no clue. I thought I was the easy kid, too.”
“You were until you got pregnant,” Dad muttered. “Before that it was Harvey’s drinking and Essie’s inability to say no to dick. But compared to your shit, theirs seems rather paltry.”
I smirked. “I wish I had an answer for you, Dad.”
My mom placed her hand on my shoulder. “Be careful, dear. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but you’re right in the middle of it.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“Thanks for watching her today.”
“We had fun.” Mom smirked. “We went into town and stopped at Tractor Supply. She demanded we get chickens, but I convinced her to wait.”
“How?”
“By distracting her,” Dad snorted. “She has almost a completely new wardrobe.”
“Speaking of wardrobes.” Mom got up and washed her coffee cup out in the sink before turning back to me. “Don’t blame me if she wakes up in the morning complaining. I tried to get her to wear something normal to bed.”
I walked my parents to the door and thanked them one last time. When they were gone, I headed to Wendy’s room to get a look at what she’d worn to bed.
My lips curved up at the edges when I saw.
Skintight jeans tucked into flashy red cowboy boots. A pearl snap shirt. Rhinestone belt. And a cowboy hat that had slipped off and covered part of her face.
Closing her door, I headed to the hall to set the alarm when there was a knock at the door.
Expecting it to be my parents, I opened the front door wide and felt my mouth drop open. “Odin, what are you doing here?”