Page 37 of Lethal Weakness

“Thank you, Jack. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for how much you’ve done for me.”

He seems uncomfortable with my endearing words. “Just being neighborly.”

His stiff response makes me smile. Poor guy got stuck with a neighbor from hell and would probably prefer to avoid all my chaos.

“Well, I know you don’t like it when people show feelings, but I appreciate you.” I step toward him, and his entire body turns into a statue. “So thank you again.” I rise to my tippy toes, brushing a feather-light kiss to his cheek, and his stillness never wavers against me.

“I’m going to put her to bed, but if you want to stick around for a cup of coffee, I can make you one before you go,” I offer, unbuckling Avery from her seat. She squirms a little but lets me carry her to our room and settle her on the air mattress.

When I return to the living room, it’s empty.

Jack’s gone, and so is his truck.

I never remembered to ask him how he got my phone number in the first place.

Chapter Thirteen

O’Connor

Idon’t know what I was expecting once I got under the hood of Linden’s car. Maybe the fuel pump that I just fixed would be broken again, because I’m not actually a savant with cars.

Working on my truck all the time just gives me an excuse to be outside, keeping an eye on things so people don’t get suspicious of a man who never leaves his house.

What I don’t expect is to find a tracking device in the very spot that I would put one. Because that is exactly what I planned to do.

I was holding onto my final bit of neutrality towards my neighbor, but minutes ticked by last night when I didn’t know exactly where Linden and Avery were, and that was enough to convince me to go full intel mode.

I’ve lost all sense of detachment when it comes to these two.

I want to know where they are and what they are doing at all times. No, I need to know. If I don’t know, then I’m too distracted to do my job. And, not being able to do my job effectively means more people might get hurt.

I rip the unidentified person’s tracker from under the vehicle and examine it. Has to be the in-laws. Or her ex.

Thinking about that lights more anger inside of me. I don’t even see Linden standing beside her car until I’m mid-explitive.

“Is it that bad?” She asks worriedly about the car.

“No.”

She just looks at me in confusion.

“It’s just the battery. Wires got disconnected.”

“Oh, okay. So that’s a good thing?”

“No, it’s not good. It means someone was probably fucking with your car,” I snap angrily, and she recoils.

Fuck.

Her arms stay wrapped around herself, and it makes me sick to my stomach. She shouldn’t have to be wary of me. I just can’t stop acting like an asshole who forgets how to speak to a woman.

“So, someone messed with my car?” She asks softly. Hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” I admit softly. “They were fine when I worked on the fuel pump last week. I– I don’t know.”

“Just say it, Jack. I feel like you’re lying to me.”

I AM LYING. ABOUT EVERYTHING.