Page 94 of Serve ’N’ Protect

No shock there. The man was a professional. All the more reason to let Markus—or better yet, Kade—at him.

“We’ll head out to Walt Teedle’s house and try to talk to him before he gets wind of what’s going on. I’ll keep you posted,” Chang said to Cassidy.

“Thank you.” She gave the detective a wan smile.

“Detective.” A uniformed sheriff’s deputy who’d been guarding the front door leaned inside. “Miss Morgan’s family is here. Is it okay to let them in?”

Chang nodded and no sooner had the cop opened the door wider than most of the Morgan clan burst in, rushing to where Cassidy sat and hugging her like they hadn’t seen her in a month.

Ghost sat up, trying to interject his big head into the mix and disturbed that everyone was ignoring him.

“Ghost.” Markus hitched his head to the door, indicating his dog should follow him. Just before leaving, he turned and looked back. The Morgans certainly knew how to rally around one of their own. As for him and Cassidy, there was still so much to be said, but now wasn’t the time.

He stepped onto the porch, letting the cold night air clear his head. For safety reasons, she’d undoubtedly stay at her parents’ a while longer, giving him time to get that window repair guy back to fix the window. Again.

Despite the chaos, he was at peace, and his mind was as clear as the night sky. Nothing would stand in his way. Not the past. Not his self-destructive relationship habits. And definitely not a POS like Walt Teedle.

Detective Chang came out of the house and headed for his car.

“Wait up,” Markus called to the detective.

For the first time in his life, he knew exactly what he wanted and he knew exactly how he’d go about getting it.

Chapter Thirty-Five

The Irish stew and macaroni and cheese Cassidy’s mom had prepared looked and smelled amazing, but all Cassidy could do was push it around the plate with her fork. Even her mom’s Irish soda bread held no appeal.

“Honey, you have to eat something,” her mother said, eyeing her with more than her typical motherly concern.

“Dinner is fabulous,” Kaitlyn declared, shoveling a forkful into her mouth then sighing as she chewed and swallowed. “There’s nothing like mac ’n’ cheese. Whoever said carbs were the devil should have their head examined.”

Normally, that was true. Macaroni and cheese was second only to cookies on her list of favorite foods. Today, nothing tasted good.

Two days had passed since John Smith attacked her, and there’d still been no word from the state police. The day before, she’d gone with her father to the barracks to sign a statement but until Walt Teedle was arrested, her parents all but forced her to stay with them. Out of sisterly concern, Kaitlyn was staying there, too. In a show of continued support, the rest of the Morgan clan had descended for an early dinner. Sean and his fiancée, Cherisse. Brianna and her kids. Jimmy’s wife, Olivia, and their kids. The only family member who wasn’t there was Jimmy, and that was only because someone had to close up the hardware store.

The sun had long since set, blanketing the backyard in darkness and echoing her mood. Would she ever feel safe again in her own house? It had been broken into, twice, and she’d been attacked, twice. And she was alone. Again. Somehow—she didn’t know how—she’d pick up the pieces of her pathetic little world and start over.

“Your window’s all boarded up, Cass,” Sean said as he poured more wine into his glass. “Markus stuck around to help. For some reason, John had tons of plywood in his garage.”

Cassidy had just taken a sip of wine and nearly snorted it through her nose. Her family didn’t know that between hers and John’s house, windows had been broken three times in the last month.

“Thanks.” She gave her brother a smile, but inside she was anything but smiling. Facing death did that to a girl.

John Smith was a professional, and professionals didn’t leave loose ends. Whether she’d told him where her laptop was or not, he would have killed her in the end. The only reason she was sitting here with a plate of her mom’s mac ’n’ cheese in front of her was because Markus and Ghost had been there.

God, but she needed to stop thinking about him.

“Is Markus coming for dinner?” Sean asked.

“No!” Kaitlyn elbowed her brother. “Where’ve you been? They broke up a week ago. He went back to his boring life in D.C., guarding the President and all that.”

“Oh.” He grimaced, hissing in a breath between his teeth. “Sorry, Cass. Didn’t know. I just figured since he was around last night…”

“Forget it.” It wasn’t meant to be, and she had to accept that. “He probably only came back to get something he left at John’s house.”

Brianna cocked her head. “Then why did he stop here first?”

“What do you mean?” Cassidy put down her glass, looking from Brianna to her mother.