“Jacqueline ismyfiancée! I don’t know who the hell you think you are—”
“I just told you who I was. Weren’t you listening?” A long sigh.
“OhGod, OhGod, OhGod,”Tim quietly chanted.
“Your two men made the mistake of attacking me while they were hunting Jacqueline. Foolish choice, and one they’ll pay dearly for.”
“I didn’t tellanyoneto attack—”
“She isn’t your obsession any longer.” Not so cheerful. More cutting-like-a-knife. “This is your warning. Jacqueline is protected now. She isn’t on her own. You won’t touch her again, and you sure as shit will never bruise her skin. Are we clear?”
Preston hung up.
“I don’t know if you’re clear,” Constantine warned. “That didn’t sound like a yes to me.”
Remy stared straight at Jacqueline. “Hewillnever hurt you again, I promise.”
***
“They broke into your place, you say?” Sheriff Dewayne Jenkins put his hands on his hips and glared at the two cuffed men. “Andthey took a shot at you?”
The men kept their mouths clamped shut and didn’t say a word back in response.
“I’ve got some federal agent acquaintances who will be showing up soon to take them off your hands,” Remy said smoothly. “The CIA will probably arrive first. Ty is a punctual prick, uh, agent.”
“The CIA?” Now Tim’s mouth flopped open. “Why the hell would the CIA be coming after us? That’s national security shit! We don’t have anything to do with the CIA—this is just…I mean, at best, it’s a B&E.”
Dewayne’s brows beetled. The sheriff wanted to know, “That a confession?”
“Shut up,” Nate ordered Tim. He winced. “Can I get some freaking medical treatment? Some ice for my hand? Something?”
“He attacked me.” Remy shrugged at Dewayne’s questioning glance. “What was I supposed to do? Had to defend myself.”
“Well, yeah, guess you do have to do that. A man breaks into your place, comes with a gun…” Dewayne’s hands were still on his hips. “Don’t like it when people break the law in my county.”
Nope, Remy knew that the man did not. He and Dewayne had a sort of understanding. One they’d reached shortly after Remy took up temporary residence in the cabin. The cabin had been an old safe house, one he’d decided to use for a bit. The truck had come along with the house. Not his usual style, but he was coming to like it.
His first order of business in town had been a meet and greet with the sheriff. It had seemed like a good idea to get on the right side of the sheriff early on. To his surprise, he’d actually liked Dewayne. The man took his job seriously and just wanted to protect the people who called his area home.
So when Remy had needed these two bozos locked up, he’d known that Dewayne could handle the job. But hehadn’tknownthat Dewayne would be out of town and that it would take the guy forever to get out to the cabin.
So he’d also called in a favor from a—well, a semi-friend—at the CIA. “The CIA is involved,” he explained to a shaking Tim, “because I’m pretty sure the ring your boss gave Jacqueline was stolen property.”
“Still not really a matter for the CIA,” Dewayne said.
Really? Now the man was gonna chime in with that?
“Itistheir affair,” Remy continued doggedly, “if the ring once belonged to a queen and was part of a major, unsolved international theft that occurred years ago. A theft that happened right after an assassination attempt.” As soon as Jacqueline had described the ring to him, he’d known why Preston had been so pleased to get it out of the safe.
A very, very important piece of history. One that had been stolen long ago.
Not just anyone would have recognized the description of the ring. Good thing Remy wasn’t just anyone.
Good thing he was agoodthief on his own.
“Where might this ring be now?” Dewayne asked as he glanced around the den. Technically, the place was a crime scene.
Dewayne didn’t seem too worried about technicalities.