Her Master Defender (The Masters Men Series) (9 page)

“Sure, which chair?”

“It doesn’t matter since no one else is here.”

“Then why did it matter which one you sit in?” she asked, sitting in the one to his right. It didn’t matter, she totally understood having a favorite spot, but it might tell her something about him.

“I’m the middle brother. I sit in the middle chair.”

So she’d been right. The other two were for his brothers. “What about other family? Where do they sit?”

“Only my brothers come up here. I go down to see the rest of the family.”

“Why? Are your parents ill?”

He shook his head. “No, I go there because it’s easier to leave than kick someone, especially my mother, out of my home.”

“I take it she mothers you,” Copper said, and received a raised eyebrow as if to ask, ya think? “She’s just concerned. It’s obvious you were badly hurt.”

“She doesn’t know half of it, and I plan on keeping it that way. My mistakes are my problem. I’m thirty-six years old; I don’t need to be mothered.”

Mom off limits, Copper saluted her understanding. She also filed away for examination later, the blame for what she believed a mission gone horribly wrong. “Okay, what about--"

“Calling your father.”

“You’re a broken record.”

“And you’re in danger.”

“Why? Someone tried to break into my house. They probably thought about breaking in yours, but realized the security was too good. Mine was just the next house down the road.” Her attempt to lessen her fear failed when he met her gaze with a shaking head.

“There’s nothing above here but mountain, there’s no place for them to be coming from. They were at your place on purpose. Two break-ins, on property you own, is too coincidental. You have something they want, or considering you were home when they tried to break in there, it could be you they want. You’re in danger until they’re caught or they get whatever  or whomever  they are after.”

Copper could see his point. It did seem a little strange for someone to burgle her house the night after her office had been trashed. And they could clearly see her car was there. The thought frightened her, but she refused to let it show. She was the Colonel’s daughter after all. 

“Well, I guess they’re just going to have to ask me for whatever it is, because I can’t imagine.”

Dos leaned toward her and stared into her eyes. “They get within ten feet of you and they’re as good as dead. I told you, these people are professionals. You need protection. Give me the phone.”

She held it up, but not close enough for him to get. “Not if you’re calling my father. I said I’ll take care of that in the morning.”

“I’ll probably get hell for it, but fine. I want to call a friend of mine on the police force.”

“You mean your brother.”

“No,  a friend, not my brother. I don’t need an inquisition tonight.”

Copper didn’t have to wonder about the reference having met one of his brothers this morning. She had seen the true concern Ace had for his brother Dos. No doubt his other brother felt the same.

Dos punched in a speed-dial number while Copper watched him. Reaching up he turned on the lamp between them. With the dull light from the stove hood and the fire the only illumination it felt a little too cozy for his comfort.

“Hey, Gina.”

“Dos? Hey what’s up?”

“I need a favor. There was a break-in last night at a Therapeutic Massage on Laurel Street.” He watched Copper as he spoke. She was chewing on the corner of one of her lips again. Why the hell did it turn him on?

“Yeah, I saw the sheet. Neevers caught it. Why?”

“We both know what the Masters clan thinks of Neevers. Anyway, the owner is a neighbor of mine. Someone tried to break into her house tonight.”

“Anybody hurt?”

“No, we’re okay.” He ignored Copper’s rolled eye expression. “I got a couple shots off, but they split through the trees. I guess they had a car waiting. Anyway, they seemed somewhat professional for a simple burglary. There wasn’t a mark on the back door, but they slipped both locks. And they were armed.”

Silence greeted his last statement. “No, G, I was not shot,” he said, knowing she wanted to ask.

“Thank God,” Gina said. “Okay, so why are you calling me? Did you forget you’ve got a brother who’s a cop and also my partner?”

“No, I was hoping you could check it out so I didn’t have to deal with his . . .”

“Concern? Dos, they’re both worried about you.”

“I know. I’m just--"

“A Masters?”

Dos grinned at the easy out she gave him. “Yeah, so can you check it out before making an official report or telling your partner?”

He heard her resigned sigh on the other end of the line. Being his brother’s partner Gina didn’t like keeping things from him, but she knew Tres had been carrying a heavy load lately.

“Fine. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”

“Take someone you can trust with you. Tres will kill me if something happens to you.”

Gina’s laugh told him she understood. “Only after he killed me if I were that stupid. I have someone I can call.”

“Thanks, G. I owe you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll collect.”

Dos grinned as he flipped the phone shut. Gina had been his brother’s partner for three years. His mother had all but adopted her as one of the family. He didn’t doubt she would find a way to collect.

“Close friend?”

Glancing over at Copper he shook his head, “My brother’s partner.”

“A partner he’s sweet on?”

“Geez, you never give up, do you? No, but she’s like family,” he said. “She’ll call back after she checks it out. If you’re tired feel free to go to bed. I’ll wait for the call.”

“Not that I think I could sleep, but that brings up a good point. Where am I going to sleep? I don’t see a sofa or anything.”

“The bed would be my guess.” He took a drink from the water bottle he’d brought in with his ice packs.

“Your bed.”

“It’s the only one here.”

She shook her head and that glorious copper hair shown in the glow of the fire. God she was a beautiful woman. Then it hit him. She probably thought that meant sleeping with him.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t mean sleep with me. I won’t be using it anyway, you might as well.”

“You need to be comfortable and stretch out. I can sleep just fine here.”

“Suit yourself, but the bed’s yours if you want it. I rarely use it.” Dos stared uncomfortably at the fire. Now what were they supposed to do? Company, when he used to have any, consisted of his brothers, beer, and a game on TV. Small talk and entertaining were not common occurrences for him.

“You’re welcome to get yourself something to drink or eat,” he offered to break the silence that had fallen over them.

She got up and walked to the kitchen. Dos breathed a sigh of relief. It was going to be a long night. He should have taken her to Gina’s. Why hadn’t he thought of that earlier?

“Can I get you anything?”

Another water would taste great. A sandwich would be better since it was after nine and he hadn’t eaten since lunch. But having someone else wait on him in his own home didn’t feel right. “I can take care of myself.”

He heard her mumble something.

“What was that?”

“I said you’re just like my father, heaven forbid someone do something for you.”

“Okay, okay,” he said realizing she needed to keep busy. “If you don’t mind, a sandwich would be great. The bread is on the counter and there’s meat in the refrigerator.”

Pulling a remote from the drawer in the lamp table he lowered the television screen. It was hidden above the fireplace. Since he and his brothers were all close to six and a half feet tall it didn’t make the screen too high and kept it out of the way since he rarely watched it.

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Copper said from the kitchen. “I didn’t think you had a TV.”

Dos didn’t comment. He was checking out the various channels represented in the eight boxes on the screen. All were news channels of one kind or another. If he watched television it was usually news.

“Yuck,” Copper said as a plate appeared on the table beside him. She had also brought him another bottle of water. “Isn’t there anything on worth watching?”

He watched her as she took her seat in the chair to his right. “The news isn’t worth watching?”

“Only if you want to get depressed,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. “Life’s hard enough without looking for more to worry about.”

“You prefer to walk around unaware?” Man, he never would have expected such a thing from the Colonel’s daughter.

“I’m not unaware. I watch the news, just not right before I want to go to sleep. Murder, muggings, and war do not make for pleasant dreams.”

“What do you watch then?” Not that he cared, his life focused around the news. But she was a guest and had been through two somewhat traumatic experiences today. He should be considerate of her wants and needs.

Dos took a bite of his sandwich while he waited for an answer. This was no slab of meat between two pieces of bread sandwich. This baby had plenty of meat, lettuce, cheese and mustard. It tasted like the best thing he’d ever eaten. Granted, he wouldn’t be able to finish half of it, but it was nice to have something that tasted better than cardboard for a change.

“Thanks, this is great,” he said, after swallowing.

Pushing a button on the remote for the night’s listings so she could pick something out, he took another bite. After a minute he glanced toward her chair. She wasn’t even looking at the television. Her fingers were picking at the sandwich on her plate pulling little pieces of bread off, but not eating any.

“Copper? Are you alright?” he asked flipping off the TV.

“Fine,” she said, but didn’t meet his gaze.

“Now who’s lying?”

She looked up. Dos wished she hadn’t. Her eyes were full of questions, fear and confusion.

“I just don’t understand. Why me? I’m nobody important. I’m not rich or famous. I’m not anything,” she said setting her plate on the end table between them. “And no, I’m not fishing for compliments or moral support here. I just mean I don’t own, have, or know anything worth stealing.”

Dos would have smiled if she weren’t so upset. She was definitely the Colonel’s daughter. Not pompous, but secure in self-esteem. It must run in the Kerrigan genes. Knowing she needed to talk, but not ready to set aside his sandwich, he adjusted his position a little to look more fully at her.

“Okay, let’s think it through. Before today, you’ve never had any problems at the shop or your house, right?” He watched her think it through as he took a bite of sandwich. She shook those coppery waves and he forgot to chew for a minute. Swallowing the half chewed bite, he reached for his bottle of water to wash it down.

“No, nothing that I can remember and definitely nothing like this.”

“What have you done differently in the past few days? Anything, no matter how insignificant it might seem.”

She screwed up her lips while she thought about it. Dos found himself staring at her mouth. What the hell was wrong with him? He never reacted to women this way. In his current predicament he had no business even looking. If his scarred body wasn’t enough to remind him, there was always the fact that some virus was running through his system. The possibility of transferring that to someone else was unacceptable.

“The only thing I can think of is the dog rescue charity event. That was last night. The rest of the week was as boring as normal gets.”

Forcing himself to focus on her comments instead of her mouth, he mulled over the information. “Did anything unusual happen? Anyone cause trouble or come on to you in a way you didn’t like?”

Dos thought back over the evening. Him and his brothers had been there as well, though no one probably noticed him. Keeping to the shadows observing people had kept him from staring at the walls of his cabin for one evening. He replayed his memory reel in his head and couldn’t think of any specific trouble.

“No,” Copper said as if agreeing with his thoughts. “Well, some guy grabbed my camera strap. I glanced up to find him smiling. It wasn’t an embarrassed, I’m such a klutz kind of smile. It made me feel like I was a piece of meat he wanted to devour. Then his gaze changed. He turned and disappeared into the crowd without offering an apology or a hand up. It was very creepy.”

“Did you recognize him?” he asked, then followed with more questions before she could answer. “Was it a local maybe, some guy you’ve turned down when he asked you out? How was it creepy?”

“His gaze changed from leering to angry. His eyes narrowed and his smarmy smile disappeared.  It was like he thought I was someone he knew then realized he was mistaken and wasn’t happy about it. To answer your other questions, no, no and no.

“Did you see him anymore?”

“I don’t think so. Believe me, if I had I would have turned around and walked in the opposite direction. I really wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy taking pictures of the people who adopted dogs or cats and the animals who weren’t adopted yet to put on the website.”