Page 84 of Serve ’N’ Protect

“What?” Markus jerked his head up. “Is she okay? What happened?”

“A hit-and-run driver almost ran her down in the grocery store parking lot.”

“Jesus.” He ground his teeth so hard his jaw popped. “And she’s okay?” The thought that she could have died and he never would have known gutted him.

“Yes, she’s fine. Just a little bruised and scraped.” Ian paused. “But the police don’t think it was an accident. They think it was intentional.”

“Intentional?” Markus bellowed, awakening Ghost who rose to stand behind the headrest and snort warm breath against the back of his neck. “Why do they think it was intentional?” He ran through everything he knew about Cassidy, trying to understand who would want to hurt her and why and coming up blank. Except for her ex-fiancé.

“According to witnesses,” Ian continued, although Markus was having a hard time hearing the man with all the shouting in the background, “the pickup truck swerved directly at her. There’s video footage showing the driver waited for Cassidy to leave the store then intentionally tried to run her down.”

“Did anyone get the tag off the truck? Did they find the driver?” A hundred other investigative questions came to mind. For now, he’d settle for the bare facts. Later, he’d badge his way into the state police barracks and read the reports himself.

“The truck was stolen.”

“Did they dust it for prints?”

“The only fingerprints belonged to the owner of the vehicle. The police think the driver may have been wearing gloves.”

Like the guy who broke into Cassidy’s house. The bad feeling he’d gotten that night intensified, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straighter than a flagpole. First a burglary and now attempted murder? What the hell was really going on here?

“What about her ex-fiancé, that doucheba—er, Hugh?”

When Ian chuckled grimly, even his laugh had a brogue. “Trust me, son, I share your thoughts regarding Hugh, but he has an alibi. The state police said he also has an alibi for the night of the burglary. As of now, they have no suspects for either crime.”

Markus tapped his fingers on the wheel. He would have bet money that Hugh was behind the burglary and the attempt on Cassidy’s life. If he really wasn’t, then who the hell was? He’d bet his ass the same person was responsible for both.

“I’m on my way to your house.” He backed out of the lot and turned the SUV in the opposite direction, toward Ian and Fiona’s house. “Who’s with Cassidy now?”

“Her mother. We made a schedule. The whole family’s been taking shifts to make sure someone is always with her.”

“Good.” Cassidy must have hated that, but he was glad for how the family had rallied around her.

“And Markus?”

“Yeah.”

“I just thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks.” He ended the call.

Damn right I’d want to know. Someone had tried to kill Cassidy—the woman he loved with every cell in his body and every breath he took.

He pushed the SUV as fast as he dared, zigzagging in and out of traffic on the busy local road. Cassidy was safe. For now. But he couldn’t put his finger on the growing sense of urgency gripping him.

The state police wouldn’t have the manpower to provide 24/7 protection for Cassidy, but he could. Protection was his thing.

Chapter Thirty

Using her feet and elbows, Cassidy crab-walked backward, breathing hard and staring at the tip of the odd-looking silencer. A stupid thing to do, really, since it meant she was in the gun’s crosshairs.

In the movies, professional hit men always used silencers so no one would hear the shot. But why in the world would he be here, in her house? None of this made sense.

“Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

“I’m doing this because I’m getting paid to.” Still aiming the gun at her, he went to the window, pulling the curtain aside then peering out.

“Paid to?” she choked out. “By whom, and why?” She shook her head, still struggling to absorb the reality that a hit man was in her house.