The dawn was a frosted glass of beer, chill and opaque with an amber glow. Fog hugged the lowland clearing then lifted where the woods began, branches holding it tented at treetop height.
James’s feet made very little sound as he jogged along the dirt road in back of the K-9 kennel site. Bogart bounded along beside him, putting in less effort to keep up. They had run several miles before James’s breath became labored and his energy began to flag. So he pushed harder.
Anger was sometimes a useful motivator. Right now it was the prime reason he was up with the sun, beacons flashing on his cap and armbands, and on Bogart’s collar. He’d fucked up. Bad.
Shay had every right to be furious. Hell, he was furious. But she wasn’t going to get away that easily. As soon as the awards ceremonies were over, he was heading to Raleigh to face the pissed-off woman in his life.
After another mile, he paused and dropped down at the base of a loblolly pine, resting his back against the thick rough bark. Bogart settled in beside him, pressing in close to his side as he panted from his exertions. He stretched out one leg, bent the other at the knee and rested an arm on his partner’s back.
“We’re just a couple of simple guys. We like things simple.” He glanced down at Bogart. “Okay, I got a bug up my butt about a beauty queen. But that was just my dick thinking. Now I’m in real trouble. But for the first time in my life I feel good about that. This making any sense to you?”
Bogart watched him with quiet eyes and then licked the sweat off his handler’s chin.
“Yeah.” James nodded. “Shay’s tough. She’s not simple. But there’s a good heart inside all that barbed wire. She doesn’t complain or ask anyone to take on her stuff. Hell, I’m still not even sure that I know all her stuff. But there’s something about the way she looks at me. Like I was everything a woman could want. Like I’m enough.”
James gazed up at the new morning sky growing mauve at the edges. That’s how Shay made love. Like it was the first and the last time and every ounce of her, body and soul, was in it because it had to be enough. She did everything that way, come to think of it. She had been totally in for Bogart. She’d been ready to face down Eric all on her own. That counted for a lot. Maybe everything.
Bogart nudged his nose up under the hand dangling over his head. James grabbed him by the muzzle and wagged it playfully. “Yeah, she likes you. I notice she didn’t kick you off the sofa the other night.”
Bogart made a funny noise low in his throat.
“You’re right. That was me. But I got dibs on her in the sack. And the shower. And the front seat. Hell, I got dibs, period.”
James climbed to his feet. All he had to do was make Shay understand that he wasn’t going anywhere. He would stand by her, fix what he could for her, and have her back when she stepped out to fight her own battles. He just hoped she’d let him fit all that into their next conversation before she tossed him out.
*
James was devouring his final lunch plate of fried catfish, hush puppies, and coleslaw when his cell buzzed. He set down his fork and surreptitiously pulled it out of his pocket. They were in the middle of the awards luncheon.
Jaylynn. What could she possibly want? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to find out until he had talked with Shay.
Twenty seconds later a text came through. He peeped at it.
A man broke in. Tried to rape me. Please come.
It was a testament to his feelings about Jaylynn, James decided, that it took him a whole five seconds to decide that it might be true.
“Shit!” He grabbed a piping hot fillet of fish and stood up.
“Woman getting restless because you been gone too long?”
James winked at his chuckling tablemate. “You know it.”
He retreated to the hallway, wolfing down his catch before calling her.
“Jimmy! Oh my God, Jimmy. Where are you? I need you! Come to my place now!”
“Sure, Jaylynn. And why would I want to do that?”
“A man broke in and robbed me!”
“Call 911.”
“You know I can’t do that.” He noticed her voice lost some of its fear to irritation. “Not after—well, you owe me. This is your fault!”
“I don’t owe you. And just to prove what a great guy I am, I’ll call it in for you.”
“No! Oh God, Jim—James. You don’t understand. He—threatened me. And your new girlfriend.”
“Right. Good try.”
“No! Please. Don’t hang up.”
He’d heard Jaylynn in a lot of different moods, from lusty to pissed off. He’d never heard this note in her voice before. It sounded like genuine fear. Oh, she was definitely trying to get into his head.
“Sorry. No. Call the cops.”
“I don’t trust anyone else.” He heard her swallow. “I need you.”
She was trained in emotional vocal delivery but he knew she wasn’t that good an actress. He heard weakness in her tone. She was really scared.
Or did he just need to get his head checked?
“I’m more than two hours away. If this is some kind of trick—”