I bridge the gap, and she is back in my arms. "You can't be here alone." I cup the back of her head. "Not until we find who tried to hurt you," I gentle my tone, and she shakes against me. With my other arm around her waist, I lead her to the passenger side of the Escalade. I deposit her in the seat and close the door. With one hand still on the outer frame, I face away. My heart is pounding, and it hurts to breathe. If I had a suspicion about Monday's incident being targeted and not a random accident, I have my confirmation. I peer over my shoulder at the woman in my car. She sits with her head bowed, her hands wringing together in her lap. Her eyes are closed, and her jaw works as if she's trying not to cry.
I need to make a call, but I'm not sure I want her to hear what I have to say. At the same time, I don't want her to be in there by herself.
I round the SUV and settle in my seat. Denielle won't look at me, and I can't hold back any longer. Reaching over, I clasp both of her hands between my larger one. She flips one hand over and interlaces her fingers with mine. Her other palm is on top of our joined hands. Reaching across, I take my phone out of the middle console, where I dropped it when I pulled into the parking spot.
I inhale deeply, deciding that now is not the time to spare anyone's privacy. Unlocking the screen, I tap on my phone log and then Ethan's name. He's on duty at the house, but with Lilly and Rhys both there, he's probably downstairs in our office.
It rings twice before he picks up. "Where did you speed off to?" His tone is curious, but his usual playfulness is missing.
"I need you to contact Jenn." In my peripheral vision, I see Denielle's head swivel in my direction.
The line remains silent.
"E." I don't have the patience for this.
"Why?" His reluctance is to be expected.
Ethan left his former life behind for a reason, and with that, he left his family—not family by blood, but by being raised by the infamous Marshall Davis. He was the fourth brother in the group—Jenn being the only girl. Ethan and Jenn had a thing during their teen years, but that ended as quickly as it began. They were too much alike and realized they'd kill each other (most likely literally) in the first few weeks. He was closest to her, even though he and Corbin, the oldest, were just a month apart.
"Someone slashed Denielle's tires." He'll see the extent of it when we pick up the car. Maybe Ethan has an idea what the fuck was used. He knows his weapons like no other. "George pulled too many resources for me to delegate one of the guys to take over Den's security." Denielle's nails dig into the flesh of my hand, but I ignore the bite. Whether it is for me going over her head and assigning her a detail, or if it's for using her nickname, I don't know. Calling herDenrolled naturally off my tongue. I didn't have to think about it. "Can you get in touch with Jenn?"
Jenn would blend in, being a girl and around the same age. Plus, she's the only one of the siblings that could disappear without raising questions. Marshall had the boys on a short leash. She went on little vacations all the time between jobs, which is how I met her one day when she showed up at Ethan's doorstep.
"I can try." Ethan pauses. "She's been off-grid for a few months." His wariness doesn't sit well with me. While my vest is not clean, Ethan's is bloodstained and smells of corpses.
"Try. I want an update when we get to the house." Without waiting for his answer, I hang up and drop the phone back into the console.
I start the SUV and pull out of the parking spot.
"What are we doing about Lilly's car?" Denielle asks meekly as if it was her fault for the tires being unusable ever again.
I let go of her fingers and let my hand settle on her thigh, stroking it with my thumb.
"I'll have someone tow it. I want to know what did that."
"What do you mean,what?" Her voice quivers, and she hugs herself again.
"What tool. The tires were shredded. You can't accomplish that with a simple knife or even a hatchet. Those tires are too thick." It takes effort not to slip into business mode, the part of me that is trained to shut off the emotional distractions to do my job, but this is more. I don't think Denielle would handle that well at this point. She teeters on the verge of breaking, and after what I witnessed the last few weeks, it is a miracle she is holding it together the way she currently is. But then, she's had years of perfecting her facade, from what I've gathered.
"I see." She leans her head against the window.
Despite my wanting to reassure her, we don't talk until we reach the house. I pull into the garage and throw the Escalade in park. Ethan appears in the door before I pull the key out of the ignition.
Denielle eyes him suspiciously, thumb picking on the middle finger of her hand.
I reach over, letting my knuckles caress her cheek. "Hey."
Denielle slowly turns. She gnaws on her lip, and following the action, my thoughts stray from the task. A picture of her dark hair splayed across my pillow, her body writhing underneath me, appears in front of my mind's eye, and I have to push it away forcefully.Not now.
Her attention on me, I shift my grip to the back of her neck. I don't hold her in place, but I signal to her the severity of the situation. "I will keep you safe."
Her gaze moves between my eyes and lips, then flicks over to Ethan. I have the suspicion her thoughts went where mine went just a second ago. The corner of my mouth turns up for the first time since she asked me to come get her. "We'll get to that later…" I leave the sentence hanging, but the heat in her eyes tells me she understands the meaning. And she doesn't object, either. I pull her closer and let my forehead touch hers. "Let's go."
"Okay," she murmurs so close to my lips that, if Ethan wasn't right there, I would show her how serious I am about keeping her safe.
We pull back and simultaneously open our respective doors. I wait for her to round the SUV and reach for her hand on autopilot as we walk toward the door to the house.
Ethan's gaze is trained on our joined hands, but he remains mute. His expression is grave, but if it is because he reached Jenn or if he couldn't get in touch with her remains to be seen. My order for him to contact his little sister was a lot to ask.