Bounty (Colorado Mountain #7) Read online

  I came to a rocking halt and declared, “Someone tried to strangle me.”

  That was when the tears started to flow and there was nothing for it.

  I sank down to my knees and totally lost my shit inside the Carnal Police Department.

  Chapter Nine

  Christ Almighty

  Deke

  Deke drove to Jussy’s house Monday morning knowing one thing.

  If she didn’t go out and get them sandwiches that day, he was doing it.

  She’d had her space.

  They could do this.

  And they were fucking going to.

  He was not losing her the only way he could have her.

  Which meant he was just not losing her.

  These were his thoughts as he turned into her lane but he had them knowing Jus would be in that place. That was who she was. If she could take all the shit that was fucking with her life—her brother acting like an asswipe, her friend descending into a world not a lot of people pulled themselves out of—then shake that off and do it with a smile and a wiseass crack, she could get into the right space with Deke.

  These were his thoughts when he drove up the lane, and if he was honest with himself, he was not even close to content with them, but he was not giving himself another choice.

  When he saw two police cruisers in the lane, these thoughts were history.

  He had no thoughts.

  His gut had clamped in on itself and the pain was pure agony.

  That didn’t mean he didn’t shove his truck into park, throw open his door with such strength he had to kick out a boot so it didn’t slam right back, and he angled out of the vehicle without even cutting the ignition.

  He didn’t close the door as he jogged toward Jussy’s house.

  An officer came out, looked to Deke, and Deke did not spend all his time in Carnal. Not to mention, they had a lot of new cops since the department was swept clean after Arnie Fuller’s downfall. He did not know this guy.

  He did not care.

  “Sir—” the cop started, one hand going to rest on his gun, the other arm lifted toward the aggressively advancing Deke.

  “Where’s Jus?” Deke demanded.

  “Sir, I need to know—”

  “Where’s Jus?” he roared but didn’t wait for an answer.

  He began running, right by the guy, right toward the house.

  “Sir, that’s a crime scene. You cannot go in there,” the officer bit out quickly.

  Crime scene.

  Deke’s gut twisted, the excruciating pain shooting straight down, to his balls, and straight up, to clog his throat, and he sprinted into her house.

  “Goddammit! Sir! You cannot go in there!” the officer shouted after him.

  “Jesus, Deke,” Jon, one of the officers he did fucking know came out of the hallway that led to Jussy’s bedroom.

  “She in there?” Deke asked, his gut now in knots so goddamned tight it was a wonder the coffee he drank that morning didn’t come up.

  “No, man. She’s down at the station with Chace,” Jon answered.

  She was down at the station.

  With Chace.

  Deke turned on his boot and sprinted the other way.

  “You know her?” Jon asked his back as Deke nearly ran over the other cop who’d chased him in.

  Deke didn’t answer.

  He raced to his truck, got in, did a three pointer and hauled ass to the station.

  He saw Jussy’s truck there like she’d glided it in the spot, all of her faculties firing.

  He barely was able to do the same in one of the few open spaces before he put the truck in park, got out, slammed his door, didn’t beep the locks and jogged up to the station.

  When he got in, he noted the activity but he only had eyes for the woman in uniform behind the desk. A woman he’d met, forgotten her name and didn’t give a fuck.

  She was all about him too.

  She didn’t even speak and he didn’t even get to the desk before he barked, “Where’s Jus?”

  “Sorry, Deke, uh—”

  He stopped at the desk, leaned toward her and thundered, “Where’s Justice Lonesome?”

  Her face registered shock and alarm, her hand inching toward her sidearm, but he didn’t give a fuck about that either.

  He felt her and his eyes sliced that way.

  She was racing out of the hall at the back wearing the most ridiculous pajamas he’d ever seen, top to bottom. Pants and camisole in a busy print that was mind-scrambling. She also had on a Carnal Police windbreaker. She had nothing on her feet. Her hair was down.

  And the left side of her face was beat to shit and there were angry, ugly, purple bruises spanning her beautiful throat.

  He saw it all but he checked it all as he moved her way and he didn’t stop even when he heard the officer say, “Deke, I gotta ask—”

  He kept moving and Jussy kept moving so when they hit, they slammed into each other.

  He curled his arms around her and she wrapped hers around him, pushing…no, fucking burrowing into his body.

  He lifted a hand and cupped her head, pressing her good cheek to his chest when she shoved out a fractured, “Deke.”

  “I’m here. Right here, baby.”

  He felt her body start trembling.

  Fuck, all he’d lived through, all he’d done, all he’d seen, all that had been done to him, his ma.

  He’d made it through all that with delivering just a few deserved ass-kickings in the process.

  Now he was going to fucking kill somebody.

  “Deke.”

  That was not Jussy.

  He lifted his eyes from the top of her gorgeous hair to see Chace was there, not close, not far.

  “What fucking happened?” he demanded to know.

  He felt pressure on his hand as Jus’s head went back and he looked down at her when she started, “I—”

  “Not you, gypsy,” he whispered gently and again lifted eyes to Chace Keaton, friend and Carnal detective. “You,” he bit out.

  Chace glanced from Deke to Justice and back to Deke.

  “I take it you two are close,” he remarked.

  “Talk to me!” Deke boomed.

  Jussy’s body jerked in his arms.

  Deke instantly curled into her, saying into the top of her hair. “It’s good, baby. I’m good, Jussy. Just hang on.”

  “You stay good, we’ll take this to a room,” Chace said.

  Deke turned his attention to Chace and jerked up his chin.

  “You good?” Chace asked.

  “Good,” Deke grunted.

  Chace took him and Jussy in another beat before he said, “Let’s go.”

  And that was when Deke bent at the knees and gathered Jus in his arms like she was a wounded foal who was on her last two breaths.

  She pressed into him when he had her up and she stayed pressed deep as he followed Chace into a hall and watched Chace throw open a door and stand outside it.

  Deke prowled through, went right to a table in the middle of the room, turned his ass to it and hefted himself up on it.

  He arranged Jussy in his lap so she was close and tight in his hold. She had her hands fisted in his tee, her good cheek to his chest and her eyes closed.

  All he could see was the swollen, bruised, fucked-up side of her face.

  He checked that too and looked to Keaton who’d entered the room behind them and closed the door.

  “Now, talk to me,” he ordered, his voice low and shaking with the fury he was restraining.

  Chace talked.

  “Someone broke into her house. Justice said she heard glass shattering. He got to her, assaulted her, held a knife to her throat, strangled her and—”

  Chace said no more when each word lashed through Deke with the understanding she’d endured them all and Deke bent his lips to the top of Jussy’s head and whispered, “Christ almighty. Christ almighty.” His arms got tight. “Christ almighty, baby.”

  “Had
emergency come ’round,” Chace stated, voice now lower, calming. “Checked her out. They reckon she’s good, physically. No lasting damage, Deke. She’s got a sprained wrist she needs to be careful of and keep wrapped for a week or so. But mostly she’ll just need rest and lots of aspirin and she’ll heal.”

  Deke looked back to Keaton.

  Keaton’s body went on visible alert and his mouth said, “Keep your shit, Deke.”

  Deke kept his shit.

  Barely.

  “She give you a full statement?” he asked.

  “We were finishing up. She needs to make some phone calls and I was about to call Krys or Lauren to come in and—”

  “She’s gonna be with me.”

  He felt Jussy’s head tip back and her eyes on the underside of his jaw but he didn’t take his from Keaton.

  Chace gave him a long look and gave away nothing through it when he said, “Okay, then let’s finish this up ’cause we’ve had ice on her face and she needs rest but before that she needs to make some calls. This guy who did this to her was using her to send a message to someone else. Boys are gonna bring down her phone since it was her phone he used to send that message.” He paused and then went on warningly, “Now gonna say this and you need to keep keepin’ your shit, Deke.”

  “I’m good, Keaton, just say it,” Deke bit out his lie, bracing for the worst.

  Chace gave him another look before he nodded and said, “It was while he was strangling her that he made the call. Put the phone to her while he was choking her so they could hear. Threatened her and someone else. Boys got her phone. She gave us her password and we know he called a female friend of hers that’s had some trouble.”

  He looked down at Jussy. “Bianca?”

  Her lips trembled and she nodded.

  “Fuck,” he grunted and turned his attention back to Keaton. “You know she’s famous.”

  Jussy’s body got tight in his arms.

  He held her closer.

  Chace nodded. “It’s early but from what she’s shared, this isn’t about that. It’s about this Bianca. We got guys up at her house and the crime unit is headin’ up there now to see if he left us anything.” His voice changed, went cautious and he said, “He used gloves so we reckon no prints but she tore through during the struggle and got some of his skin. We got that.”

  Tore through…got some of his skin.

  Christ almighty.

  Deke closed his eyes and hefted up Jussy so she was resting right against his heart, her head tucked under his chin.

  He opened his eyes and ordered Chace, “Call Krys. She needs clothes and shit. Get your boys to let Krys do her thing at Jussy’s place. She’s comin’ with me to my trailer.”

  Chace’s body shifted. “Deke, man, this guy gave her girl a week to pay whatever he’s owed and said he was comin’ back. Not thinkin’ the trailer is a good idea. It’s remote and easy to breach.”

  “She won’t be alone.”

  “She’ll be a lot less alone and a lot safer she stays with Tate and Lauren or Lexie and Ty. They both got security systems.”

  Deke set his jaw and said, “She’s gonna be with me.”

  “Deke—”

  “Jonas ain’t a kid anymore but they’ve had enough shit, it came right to their front door, they don’t need more. So Tate and Laurie are out. You know the same with Ty and Lexie and they do got kids, little ones and a lot of those fuckers. So it’s gonna be the trailer.”

  Jussy was still trembling and his words made her do it more so Deke started stroking her back.

  “Deke, dammit—” Chace started.

  Deke cut him off. “You got the resources, keep a unit at the trailer. I don’t give a fuck. Won’t matter, I’ll talk to the crew and they’ll take shifts, keeping an eye. But she barely knows Tate and Laurie and I don’t think she’s even met Ty and Lexie. She needs to be with me.”

  “I want to be with Deke.”

  That came from Jussy.

  Her voice didn’t sound right, scratchy and hoarse, and Deke checked it, hearing that too.

  He made no response physically or verbally to Chace. He just stared at his friend to make his point.

  Chace looked from Deke to Jussy and his face got soft. “Right, Justice. Whatever way you want it. We’ll do our best to put Deke’s trailer on patrol and if we can, keep units out there.” He looked to Deke. “Need you on speed dial, man, and you get the crew set up. Haven’t been to her house so I don’t know what we’re working with, professional or somethin’ else. Glass shattering says something else. Professional would get in another way and that’s the one bit of good news we got so far. But I gotta see. In the meantime, you don’t take any chances and we’ll have an unmarked follow you when you go, keep a look out to see if…”

  He trailed off but Deke got him.

  Whoever did this to her might have eyes on her. If they had an unmarked following them to Deke’s trailer, they’d spot a tail.

  “Tate won’t get made,” Deke told him.

  “Then I’m callin’ Krys and I’m callin’ Tate,” Chace replied and his gaze dropped to Jussy. “Justice, I’m gonna step out. Make a few calls. Sort a few things. Then we can let you go and you can get home with Deke. Once we process it, I’ll give you your phone before you go and I need you to make your calls and give me anything you got. Right?”

  “I remember the plan, Lieutenant Keaton,” she said quietly.

  Chace nodded.

  “You keep a lid on this,” Deke demanded and got Chace’s attention back.

  His words were firm when he replied, “We are.”

  Deke meant Jussy didn’t need the media crawling all over this.

  He figured Chace knew what he meant but Chace also knew they really didn’t need the media to be crawling all over this. After Dalton the serial killer and Arnie Fuller’s bullshit, Carnal had a definite reputation and that reputation was national. They were coming out of dark times and hitting the light. So Deke hoped like fuck not one cop in that building wanted to do anything that might threaten that.

  He looked down at Jussy and she must have felt it because she tipped her head back and looked up at him.

  Christ, the motherfucker did a number on her.

  Deke beat that back and said, “Need you to sit in here two minutes while I talk to Chace.”

  More scratchy and Deke had to beat that back too when she replied, “You can talk in front of me.”

  “Need you to give that to me, Jussy.”

  She stared at him. She pressed closer into him.

  Then she relaxed and nodded.

  He slid off the table, took her to a chair and carefully put her in it.

  He noticed the ice pack she’d been using was on the table probably where she dumped it to run out when she heard him bellowing.

  He reached to it, tagged it and handed it to her.

  “Back on your face,” he ordered.

  She nodded, took it, staring in his eyes the whole time, and put it to her face.

  “Good, gypsy,” he whispered. “Be right back.”

  “Right, Deke.”

  He straightened, looked to Keaton and walked to the door.

  He waited until they were through it and just down the hall before he turned back, spoke low and did it still braced for the worst.

  “She’s in her pajamas, bare feet, but somethin’ you’re not tellin’ me?”

  Compassion hit Chace’s features he didn’t try to hide but his answer was, “She wasn’t violated, Deke.”

  He felt his gut start to unknot, actually felt his shoulders slump as the tension slid out of them, and he continued, “She performed at Bubba’s the other night.”

  “I heard. I also saw, but not from being there. From what I can tell, two dozen people took videos and pictures. All over social media. Everywhere. Heard word that Krys is not pleased even if it means a few more folk have come in to have a drink. Krys likes asses on stools so I didn’t quite get that until I heard Justice talkin’ about ho
w she’s tight with Krys. Tate’s just pissed. They want customers but they don’t wanna be on radar. Things have died down now that time’s passed since one of their bartenders was tagged as a serial killer. They don’t need memories refreshed about that.”

  He was right.

  But right then that was not what was on Deke’s mind.

  “You sure this,” he jerked his chin to the room Jussy was in, “isn’t about Jussy takin’ that stage?”

  “What she reported, he said her name but he didn’t make a single demand of her. He was all about the phone call and the message he was sending. That said, if he was looking for her, those pictures and video hitting the Internet helped him find her.”

  Great.

  Deke gave a nod and shared, “This bitch, her friend, she’s got problems.”

  “Justice spoke freely about that.”

  Deke heaved out a breath.

  Chace got close. “You need to get in there with her. How she made it here was a miracle but she lost it when she got here and that’s not surprising. Clear she likes Krys a lot, not sure how that came about, and Jim-Billy, that one’s easier to call, but the only close person she has in town is you, apparently.” Chace give him another look. “Though she mentioned Krys and Jim-Billy in her interview and she didn’t say anything about you.”

  “You got eyes or do I have to explain all you saw the last ten minutes?” Deke asked.

  Chace pressed his lips together, not pissed, trying not to smile.

  That made Deke pissed.

  “Is this the time to do this?” Deke asked.

  “Just keep an eye,” Chace returned, getting a lock on it. “We need to get Victims Assistance to her, give us a call. And make that call, Deke. She was attacked, beaten and from what she reports, strangled to the point that it was a seriously close call. And keep your shit about that too,” he said the last quickly, a good cop, a smart man, not missing any of Deke’s responses from the minute he saw him to that second in the hall. “She’s here. She’s gonna be fine. And you gotta help her be fine if she needs someone to lay it out for who she doesn’t fear is gonna go out on a mission of vengeance and wreak havoc across the United States until he finds that for her.”

  Deke didn’t think he was funny.

  What he did do was grunt, “I hear you.”