Caleb chuckled. “If you’ll kiss me like that again.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal, mister.”
He grinned. “First, Mylee told me you were worried he would come tonight, so she let me camp on her porch and watch for him.”
“Oh, Caleb.” She kissed him again, letting all of her gratitude and longing for him pour out. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled back. “I was going to let you answer both questions.”
“Don’t ever be sorry for a kiss like that. Besides, the second question shouldn’t require an answer, but I guess I’ll be magnanimous and give you one. I beat him because I’m much stronger than him, I’ve been fighting my brothers my whole life who are twice as tough as that loser,andI play a real sport.” He winked.
She laughed, but then she was kissing him again. The kissing session grew in intensity, and the only reason Emily thought she’d ever stop kissing him was to go get Krew so they could all spend time together before Krew had to go to bed. Krew wouldn’t care that his time with Harley was cut short if he could be with Caleb.
Sirens sounded in the distance, then drew closer, reminding her that she needed to call the police and report Jeff attacking her in her home. Emily wondered what was going on in their usually quiet neighborhood, but unless it concerned Krew, she didn’t care, and if it did concern Krew, Mylee would come find her.
She looked up into Caleb’s handsome face. “Thank you for camping on the porch, for fighting for me, for loving me.”
“The only hard part was camping on the porch. It’s cold out there.” He gave a pretend shudder.
Emily laughed.
The front door of her house burst open and a loud voice barked, “Police! Get your hands in the air.”
Emily took in the surreal scene of policemen rushing into her house and surrounding her and Caleb with their guns out. She scrambled off of Caleb’s lap and to her feet. Her heart raced, and her stomach churned. What was going on?
Caleb stood slowly, putting his hands up. “Hey, guys,” he said calmly. “I think there’s been a mistake, but since you’re here, we did need to report an assault—”
“Caleb Jewel?” The guy who seemed to be in charge cut him off.
“Yes, sir.”
“There’s no mistake. You’re under arrest for the murder of Jeff Gehring.”
“Murder?” Caleb shook his head. “He just left here. I thumped him pretty good for assaulting Em, which is what we need to fill out a report for, but I definitely didn’t kill him.”
Emily felt her vision going in and out of focus. “He didn’t murder Jeff!” she cried out in Caleb’s defense. “Jeff was here, alive, maybe twenty minutes ago.” Jeff was dead? How in the world had he died after leaving her house? This was a mistake, probably a ploy from Jeff to hurt them because Caleb had humiliated him. Would Jeff ever leave them alone?
“Cuff him,” the head guy ordered. “We’ll sort it out at the station.”
“No!” Emily screamed as the police displaced her from Caleb’s side and wrenched his arms behind his back, cuffing him. “No, please, he didn’t do anything! Jeff’s alive!”
“Emily.” Caleb’s voice was still calm but also stern. “Calm down, love. You need to call one of my brothers, preferably Joshua or Luke, and get their best lawyer here. Don’t call my parents; my mom would have a coronary.”
“I don’t have their numbers.” Her heart raced, and she was seeing the entire scene through a tunnel. How was she supposed to find his brothers? Could she find a decent lawyer who could help? Her lawyer was only for family law.Oh, Caleb … Help him!she begged the good Lord.
The police started to haul him away. “Can she take my cell phone?” Caleb asked the main guy as Emily followed them through her house. How could this be happening?
The guy nodded, and Caleb said, “Wait, please.”
Amazingly, the police obeyed. Emily hurried around in front of him.
“My phone’s in my pocket,” Caleb said.
She reached in with trembling fingers, and her hand closed around his cell phone. Pulling it out, she looked to him for instruction.
“0858 is the passcode. Get ahold of my brothers. They’ll know what to do. I love you.”
“L-love you,” she managed.
The police chief guy nodded again, and they rushed Caleb out of her house. Emily followed along, watching them walk Caleb down the porch steps and then help him into a waiting police car. He caught her eye before he disappeared, giving her an encouraging smile.