Brianna looked down at her feet as her cheeks brightened. By now, the rest of the group had gathered around them. Amber put her hand on Brianna’s shoulder. “You okay, partner?”
Brianna looked up and smiled at Amber.Partner. That meant a lot to someone who was often overlooked at school at best, and teased and bullied for being who she was at worst. “I’m fine, partner.” She hugged her newest friend.
Jerold stood there shaking his head, a look of absolute fury on his face. “What about me? I’m the one who’s been wronged here.”
Jake whipped his head around and stared the man down. “What in the ever-loving hell are you talking about?”
Jerold pointed in the direction that the car had disappeared. “That’s one of my cars.”
Chapter 9
As he stood in the Lyons police substation, Brock was so enraged he could barely see straight. Jake had contacted the rest of the team right after the near-miss and now Brock, Jake, Kyle, and Wolf crowded Sergeant Williams’ office. Kyle’s dog Camo stood guard beside the door as if they were about to be attacked any moment by a group of insurgents.
Williams drummed his fingers on his desk. “I’m telling you, we don’t have a solid motive.”
“Bullshit,” Jake said. “Jerold Glass set this up. Rachael told me last night that he gave her the stink eye all through dinner whenever I was looking away. Hell, I caught him doing it and asked what his problem was. The little shit denied any problem but he kept it up today while Rachael was on stage. Stared at her like she was a bug he wanted to squash.” Jake leaned forward and pressed his palms against the top of the desk. “You’re telling me it was just a coincidence that not an hour before, someone stole a car off his lot and that same vehicle tried to run down my woman? It’sbullshit. It’s also bullshit that I’m even here right now while my angel’s back at the festival grounds with that son of a bitch, but she insisted.”
“Jake, brother.” Kyle laid a hand on Jake’s shoulder and eased him back up from the desk. “Go easy. George is on our side, trust me. He’s a good man and I vouch for him, okay? So does Arden. Give him a chance.”
Williams acknowledged Jake with a chin lift before returning his attention to Jake. “I appreciate that. Jake, I want to figure this out as much as you do. I don’t like this shit going down on my watch in my little town.” He settled back in his chair. “Glass’s dealership is just outside of town right along the main strip coming in, and he keeps the used cars right up front, which makes it convenient to rob. Guy’s a cheapskate and expects his salesmen to double as security, which of course they don’t. Glass showed me the text his sales guy sent today describing the incident. The timestamp for the text and Glass’s response correspond to the times on the video from the dealership and the call his sales guy made to my department. Two young men in baseball caps and bandanas walked onto the lot, broke into a 1972 Buick Skylark, and drove it off the lot in the span of five minutes.”
Jake shook his head, unconvinced. Brock wasn’t convinced, either.
“Hell, you can start those cars with a screwdriver,” Williams said. “It was on the edge of the lot and the easiest thing in the world to steal, so they did and then drove like a bat outta hell. We’ll probably find it trashed by the side of the road tomorrow.”
Jake crossed his arms. “Not buying it.”
Williams put up his hands, palms out. “The guy’s a dick, no argument there. Always has been. But he’s clean—well, as clean as a used-car salesman can be. Whatever grudge Glass might have against Rachael Collins, I don’t think he’d go so far as to try and set up a hit, which is what this would be. His style is more like what you’ve described—a coward trying to intimidate with nasty stares and passive-aggressive behavior.”
Wolf cleared his throat. “So, if Jerold Glass isn’t behind this, who is? Jake, I imagine Rachael gets her fair share of weirdos. Anything lately or tied to the concert?”
Jake uncrossed his arms. “Sure, but we’ve followed up on a couple and they’ve ceased and desisted. Nothing lately, which makes Jerold look all the more suspicious to my mind.”
Brock had been good—very, very good by his standards—but he couldn’t hold back anymore. “Brianna was the target, I’m telling you.” He banged on the desk for emphasis.
“We went over this,” Williams answered, running a hand over his short, graying hair. “Same thing holds true. Glass is a bully, so by nature a coward who’s gonna stick to tactics that won’t get him in trouble. He wouldn’t call a hit on Brianna because he’s too chickenshit. I’ve known Brianna since she was knee-high to a grasshopper and that girl has no enemies. Some people talk about her disparagingly because of her family, but she’s always gone out of her way to fade into the background.”
“And now that she’s shining her light for the first time, Glass has made her a target,” Brock answered.
Williams stood up and came out from behind his desk, signaling the meeting was over, at least to his mind. “Respectfully disagree that she was targeted today at all, let alone by Jerold Glass. If—and that is the biggest if in the world—anyone was targeted it would be Rachael, but my money is on a couple of punk asses out for a joyride. That sort of thing happens around here on the regular I’m sad to say, and this isn’t the first time someone’s stolen a car from Glass’s dealership like that. Your women just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Your women. God, was it that obvious that Brock was already starting to think that way about Brianna? Of course it was, the way he was standing here right now demanding justice for her.My woman. Those two words felt mighty good to him. Which was why he wasn’t going to let this go. “Respectfully disagreeright back atcha. If you aren’t going to protect Brianna or keep an eye on Jerold Glass, then I will.”
Williams’ neck flared red. “Mr. Jones—”
Kyle stepped between the men and faced Williams at the same time Wolf pulled back on Brock’s shoulder.
“George, it’s cool, okay? Badger’s just upset.” He looked over his shoulder at Brock. “But he’s gonna respect you as the chief authority in this town. Isn’t that right, Badger?” He narrowed his eyes.
Brock huffed out a breath. “Aye, aye.” Sure, he’d respect the fuck out of Williams so long as Williams understood that he’d better stay out of Badger’s way when it came to protecting Brianna.
Wolf turned him and walked Brock to the front of the building and out the door. They stopped in the small parking lot.
“Brother,” Wolf started, “I get what you’re going through right now, and believe me, this stinks to high heaven. But you’ve gotta trust we’ve got your back, okay? We’re gonna be keeping an eagle eye on both Rachael and Brianna. Me and Kyle talked all the way to the station after we got the intel. I think Sergeant Williams is a good man but I also think he’s blinded to the innocence of his little town as he calls it. I thought Rachael was the target at first too, yeah, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder.”
Brock breathed out a sigh of relief. He’d been expecting a lecture on controlling his temper—par for the course. “Yeah, I wonder too.” Should he tell Wolf about the white trash comment Jerold made to Brianna’s face? It felt like a betrayal, especially after the conversation they’d all had at Arden and Kyle’s place about Brianna’s reputation. But her safety was more important, and besides, anyone who spent more than two seconds with Brianna could see she was anything but trash. “You guys think this has anything to do with Brianna’s family? Considering their bad rep around here?”
Wolf nodded. “Yeah, the subject came up.”
