The breath whistled out of Newman's mouth, but Brad and Ethan had never looked more like brothers than right at that moment. Blue eyes fixed and focused on her, jaws clenched.
Chapter 9
“This is what Newman was talking about earlier?” Brad asked her.
Macy nodded.
“Get your bag. Newman, you man the shop.”
“What?” Macy looked at Ethan. “Why do I need my bag, and Newman is not manning my shop. I need to make money, not lose it.”
“We're going to talk with Cubby now. He's the sheriff in this town, and he needs to know what's going on.”
“He knows. After the first call, Newman made me tell him.”
“But there have been other calls, haven’t there, Macy?” Newman gave her a steady look, which she refused to be intimidated by. “How many has that asshole made now, and don't lie to us?”
“Four.”
She didn't catch the word Newman used, but knew it wouldn’t have been pleasant.
“So, I know this ex is an asshole, but just not how much of one.”
Macy closed her eyes briefly as Brad spoke. She didn't want Brian to start intruding in her life again, not when she was becoming the person she wanted to be. Strong and resilient, and yes, she could at least think it: she was now a woman who liked physical intimacy.
“Go and get your bag, Macy.”
She knew they would fill Brad in when she left. Knew it, and couldn't do a thing to stop them, because if they didn't do it now, they would later.
“He doesn't need to know this stuff. He's leaving soon, and I don't want my business out there.” Macy waved her hand in the direction that she knew led to the main road out of Howling.
“Yes, because I love to gossip, especially shit like this. Hell of a story over a beer.”
Macy didn't lower her eyes as Brad growled the words at her.
“Whatever,” she said, walking away from the three glowering men. “And I don't know if you like to gossip or not, because I don't know you.” Macy said the words under her breath because she didn't know him, only that his kisses melted her bones, and when he touched her, she'd felt no fear.
When she returned, Brad was looking grim, which suggested Ethan and Newman had given him all the sordid details about Brian.
“Let's go.”
Macy tried to shake off his fingers as they wrapped around her upper arm, but he didn't release her, only softened the grip, and soon she was on the street with the Gelderman brothers flanking her.
“I'm not going to make a run for it. Neither of you need to come with me.”
“Sure we do.”
Ethan’s words were final, and Macy knew she couldn’t battle two Geldermans, so she said nothing and accepted the inevitable.
The sheriff's office was called the Lair, and it was written on a brass plaque above the door.
“The names in this town are weird like the rest of it,” Brad said, looking at the plaque.
“Not weird, quirky,” Ethan said.
Rustic-looking like other buildings in Howling, the Lair looked more like a tourist information center than police station. Walking between the two large wooden pillars, Macy tried not to stiffen up as memories of the time she'd spent in here after Brian had shot Branna filled her head.
“Well, if it isn't the town’s most handsome boy. How you doing, Tex, and this must be your little brother, TJ?”
