“Bree, honey, who is this guy?” Chad asked.
“This is Jase.”
Chad looked between Jase and Bree before asking, “Okay, but who is he?”
Before Bree could answer, a silver sedan tore into the drive. The car screeched to a stop, a hair’s breadth from Jase’s truck. The driver’s side door flew open and a large man barreled toward them, losing a flip-flop along the way. Jase pushed Bree behind him and backed her up a few steps, but the guy went directly to Chad and laid him out with one punch to his face. He straddled Chad on the ground and continued to land punches as he shouted at Chad.
“You killed her, you son of a bitch! You killed her!” Chad struggled to cover his face with his arms while the guy continued to pound on his face.
“Jase!” Bree pushed on his back. Jase looked over his shoulder at the concern on her face. He stepped forward and grabbed the guy on top of Chad, pulling him off.
Shit, he wasn’t going to be able to hold him without subduing him. Jase tapped the back of the guy’s supporting knee with his, causing it to buckle and taking him to the ground. Jase wrapped his long legs around the attacker’s torso and rolled onto his back, pulling the guy on top of him so he couldn’t brace himself on ground and push back up. Jase hooked one elbow around the guy’s throat and clenched his hands together, cutting off blood to his head.
A Haven Springs PD cruiser pulled up behind the silver sedan, lights flashing. An officer jumped out of the passenger side and ran toward Jase and Chad’s attacker, still struggling on the ground. Tim stood from the driver’s side, talking into a radio.
“Aren’t you going to help?” Bree yelled.
“Jase’s got it,” Tim said.
Jase looked up at Bree as he rolled Chad’s semi-conscious attacker off him with help from Tim’s partner. “I’m good, darlin’.”
Jase stood as the cop rolled Chad’s attacker onto his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back. Chad lay groaning on the ground, both hands holding his bleeding nose. Jase went to Bree and cradled her head in his hands, bending at the knees so they were eye level.
“You good?” He peered intently at her to gauge her reaction.
Bree grasped his wrists lightly as she leaned her forehead against his.
“Are you going to think I’m absolutely nuts if I tell you that was really hot?” she whispered.
Jase let out a bark of laughter before he hooked an arm around the back of her head and kissed her forehead. He leaned close to her ear. “You can show me how hot you thought it was later.”
“I can do that.” She wrapped her arms loosely around his waist and watched over his shoulder as Tim squatted down in front of Chad. She glanced at the other guy, still lying on the ground.
“That’s Steven,” she said.
Jase pulled her tight to his side as he turned them to face the action on her lawn. “You know him?”
“He’s my old neighbor. Jaelynn’s husband.”
“Should I have brought popcorn instead?”
Bree and Jase turned as Denise sauntered across the lawn holding two large iced coffees. Her SUV was parked along the curb, and a huge dog hung its head out of the rear window.
“Oh! Love your face.” Bree pulled out of Jase’s hold and reached for one of the coffees.
“I know. Right?” Denise replied with a smile. “So, what’s going on?”
“Well,” Bree took a long sip of her coffee. “The guy in cuffs is Steven, my old neighbor. He tore into the drive and almost hit Jase’s truck before attacking Chad. The cop talking to Chad is Tim, Jase’s brother, purveyor of illegally obtained address searches, and I’m guessing the other cop is his partner.”
“You ever going to let that go?” Tim asked as he helped Chad to his feet.
Bree shrugged as she sipped her coffee. “We’ll see.”
Jase grinned. It was nice to see his brother getting shit from someone else for a change.
“Why is Chad here?” Denise asked.
“Mmm, that’s a little more complicated.”
