“I will put you in a headlock. It’s been a while since I’ve given you a noogie.”
“Bring it on, big guy,” she challenges her brother. My eyes bounce between the two of them. Marly isn’t the least bit scared of Jackson, who is easily two times her size. Mine too.
“I tasered him and he barely flinched,” I admit.
“You tasered him!” Marly howls in laughter, making all the chickens run in different directions. “We should be best friends.”
“I think we’re done here. I need to get Bell set up with her security system.” He drapes his arm over my shoulder to guide me back toward my house.
“I’ll text you later!” Marly calls after us.
“She’s really nice.”
“She’s a pain in my ass,” Jackson responds, but he’s smiling. “What about you? Do you have any siblings that are a pain in the ass?”
“Nope. Just me.” At least that one is true. It sucks having to hide who I am. I hate it. “So your security system. Is it really that good? I had one before, but ah, someone still got in.” Jackson’s arm tightens around me. “I wasn’t there, thankfully, but he was able to get in and out without setting off the alarm.”
“Hmm,” Jackson responds. “How did you know he got inside? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“He went through some of my drawers and my bed was, ah, not how I left it.” I peek up at Jackson. His face is filled with anger, but when he sees I’m looking up at him, he forces a smile.
I know it’s fake. I tend to be good at reading people’s moods. I think it’s because of how often I draw them. The way the face moves and pulls when you’re laughing or angry. I’m not a witch, but I swear at times I can sense what I think most might refer to as an aura. I don’t visibly see a color, but I feel one.
Except with Jackson, I don’t feel just one thing. I feel them all.
CHAPTER9
JACKSON
I don’t seemyself as the obsessive type. When I was a kid, I shared stuff with Marly. It’s hard to have ownership over anything in the military. You’re stuffed into barracks with other snot-nosed kids and given a locker that is inspected on the whim of your commanding officer. Off-base and in the field, the only things you can call yours are a couple pairs of boots and a duffel bag. Men shared everything from cigarettes and socks to women. A couple of guys in my unit slept with the same girl, tag-teaming her like dating was a WWE event.
I never needed much, either. A place to lay my head and park my boots checked all the boxes on my necessary list. I think that’s why I was able to build Knight Securities so fast. I wasn’t tied to anything.
But here I am in the thrall of a woman I just met. She’s secretive, quiet, and appears more interested in my sister's chickens than me, but somehow, it makes me like her all the more.
“Why don’t we get started on those boxes?” I suggest after lunch with Marly. I spent the morning setting up the sensors on all of Bell’s windows.
We ordered sandwiches from the deli. Bell had a chicken salad on wheat and ate her pickle and Marly’s. Marly kicked us out, saying she had to work.
I should leave Marly alone since we’ve been together all day, but I can’t.
“I’m good, actually. I think I might take a nap.” She fakes a yawn. Bell really is avoiding unpacking. I’m not sure what to make of that.
My phone rings, and I’m forced to answer it. “Boss, we’ve got a call from a VIP. It’s her fourth call to the headquarters in the last hour. She sounds upset.”
I frown. It’s not like the control center to call me. I rarely do anything after the sale and installation of systems, especially since we’ve transitioned away from residential security to corporate work. “What’s the problem?”
“Started a couple nights ago. Said she heard noises in the house. We sent someone over, and it was clear. She called again last night with the same complaint, and then again this morning. She demanded to speak to you. She said that you had done the install personally a few years ago.”
Recognition dawns. “Are you talking about Faith’s place?” I’d done Faith’s place a while back as a favor to a military buddy who had been seeing her. Her daddy was an Eastern European oligarch who recently had a lot of money seized by the government. I haven’t kept up with her whereabouts.
“Affirmative.”
“I thought she moved to France.”
“She came back a week ago and alerted us so we could start monitoring, but she’s not happy with the service.”
I’m tempted to tell them to cancel her service. It’s not worth our time, but I also don’t feel right allowing a woman to feel unsafe in her home.