“Listen—”
“You got problems with the nutjobs living next to you, I’m gonna loan you Hannibal.”
Hannibal?
My question must have registered on my face because he bit off, “Not the fictional cannibal, the Carthaginian general.”
Bet he had that question a lot.
“I already put my appli?—”
Again, I didn’t finish.
“I’ve spent time with Tonks.She’s trained.She’s smart.She’s got a good bark.But Hannibal is ready to roll.”
“I don’t want?—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you want.”
At his assertion, I stared in shock at him, but he kept speaking.
“You’re on the radar of those crazies, you’re getting Hannibal.”
I blinked as something else hit me.
Then I asked, “How did you know I was?—?”
“You called me, I called Harry.He was thrilled I was taking an interest, seeing as I’m a fuckuva lot closer to you than he is.”
“But, isn’t it confidential?—?”
“It isn’t an active investigation, Mabel,” he clipped.“And you’re a woman alone whose got some religious fanatics pissed simply because you did what’s well within your rights to do.You took a man’s cock.”
I was trying to process his blunt words, but he still wasn’t done giving them to me.
“Also got David coming up.He can’t get to it until next week, but he’s installing motion sensor lights on your house.Front and side doors, all corners.No one will get close at night without you knowin’ they’re there.I’ll deal with Mrs.Matthews.”
I needed to get a handle on this mostly one-sided conversation, pronto.
“Okay, listen?—”
He pushed away from my truck, stating, “Nothin’ to listen to.This isn’t a discussion.The decisions are made.”
Oh, hell no.
He started to make a move.
But I planted a hand in his chest and shoved him back into my truck.
Yes, I knew he let me.
No, at that point, I didn’t care.
“Listen,Mr.Hutchison, even if you were that man they saw coming or going, you don’t factor into my life or my decisions.You certainly don’t get tomakemy decisions.”He was staring down at my hand on him, so I took that hand away but didn’t get out of his space.“Though, glad I got the chance to saythanksfor your sweet note.I was good with the multiple orgasms, but that was icing on the cake.”
The sarcasm laced heavily into my last two statements wasn’t lost on him, I knew by the way his eyes thinned.
And then he stated, “I’m the president of the board here at Stony Bluff.”
