In The Still of the Night [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (20 page)

“That’s between him and me,” Jenna stated.

“Just so you’re warned,” was all he said before he walked out of the kitchen.

“What was that all about?” she asked Tina.

“I think Morgan is feeling a little jealous.” Tina smiled.

“Jealous? Of what?”

“Whom,” Tina corrected her.

“Me?”

“Yep, you. Until you, Morgan and Riley rode together some. You’re taking his riding buddy away from him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jenna said.

“Nope. Morgan evidently has had a rough time in the past. I don’t know the whole story, but he used to have a wife and son. They are dead now. I don’t know anything more to tell you about it.”

“So? I know Riley is going to be bossy, but he isn’t going to dictate my entire life. I make my own decisions,” Jenna said.

“When you’re in a relationship with a dominant male, you give more than you get when it comes to power.” Tina patted her hand before standing up and gathering dirty dishes.

Jenna stood up and helped her with cleaning up the kitchen. It took them a good thirty minutes, but finally everything had been washed and put away. Anxious to get home, she used the card the detective had given her and made the phone call. He assured her Riley was fine and that she could have her house back. Something in his voice, though, caused her to wonder how much of “Riley is doing fine” she could actually believe.

They loaded up in Tina’s car with Morgan driving. Tyler had gone ahead with Riley and Logan. Tina and Jenna stepped out of the car only to be told to wait while Morgan checked the house over first. It grated on Jenna’s nerve, but she wasn’t going to fight about it. First, she wanted to get her home in order so she had a leg to stand on when she pleaded her case of independence with Riley.

She only hoped she had a chance to argue with him about it and not through prison bars.

Chapter Fourteen

“I didn’t kill him.” Riley didn’t blink when he looked Detective Brunson in the eyes.

“How do you explain his dead body in the morgue?” Hudson asked, leaning over the table.

Officer Smith stood by the door, leaning against the wall with one foot propped back against it. He didn’t look too pleased at being there.

“He fell on his knife when we were struggling. I didn’t stab him,” Riley said for the fourth or fifth time.

“Did you know about the life insurance policy?” Detective Brunson asked.

“No, not until you told us about it.”

“How long have you been fucking Jenna?” Hudson asked, still leaning over the table.

Riley fought to keep his anger in check. He stared long and hard at Hudson until the man stood back away from the table.

“I’ve known her for about two and a half months now.” He refused to rise to the bait Hudson was dangling.

“Did you say you would kill the deceased when you saw what he’d done to Jenna in the hospital?”

“I was angry and upset. I’m sure I probably said a lot of things at that time.”

“What did you do in the army?” Hudson demanded.

“What has that got to do with anything?” Riley asked.

“Just answer the question.”

“I did whatever Uncle Sam told me to do.”

“That’s no answer,” Hudson sneered.

“It’s the only answer you’re going to get.”

The officer took a step closer, but Detective Brunson held up his hand.

“Did you intentionally kill Scott?”

“No.”

Brunson nodded, closed his file, and stood up. “You’re free to go. If we have any further questions, where can I find you?”

“You can’t let him go! He’s guilty as hell,” Hudson sputtered.

“I’ll be at Jenna’s house until I get ready to leave,” Riley said as he stood up.

“Since you don’t have a permanent residence, how can we get in touch with you?” Brunson asked.

“My cell number is in the report.” Riley walked toward the door.

Officer Smith nodded at him and opened the door. Riley nodded back and strode through without looking back. He could hear Hudson arguing with the detective.

“You can’t just let him walk out of here a free man!”

“That’s exactly what he is, a free man,” Brunson said calmly.

“He fucking killed that man, and you know it,” Hudson insisted.

“It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t know. All that matters is proof, which we don’t have. Without proof, the DA will not prosecute. End of discussion.”

Riley didn’t hear anything else as he walked down the hall toward the large room where most of the cops tended to congregate, leaning against desks or sitting with their feet up. He found Logan sitting in a chair next to one of those desks with his legs crossed at the ankles, nearly blocking the walk way.

“Are you ready to go?” Logan asked.

“Yep. Let’s get out of here.” Riley waited on Logan to stand up and stretch.

“Riley,” Hudson called out.

Riley didn’t answer, just turned his head to regard the idiot.

“I’m going to be watching you.”

Riley smiled and followed Logan. They wound through the desks and down a long hall before reaching the entrance and through it, freedom.

“I hate police stations,” Riley said.

“Have you spent a lot of time in them?” Logan asked with a laugh.

“Enough. Seems being a biker without a physical address is a crime in most cities.”

“Did they bring up the army?

“It looks like Dodge was able to do some cloak and dagger with my records,” Riley said with a nod.

“It helps to have friends in low places sometimes.” Logan unlocked the truck and climbed in.

Riley opened the door and followed suit. He still couldn’t figure out why Hudson was so damn gung ho on pinning him with murder. He’d never met the man before. He sighed. More than likely, it was the fact he was a biker in general and not personal. Still, it pissed him off.

Just as they pulled out of the parking lot, his cell phone rang. He answered on the second ring when he saw it was Morgan.

“Yeah.”

“I thought I’d let you know the women are at Jenna’s cleaning up.”

“Cool. We’re leaving the station now.”

“Okay, see you here then.”

Riley shoved his phone back in the clip.

“Head to Jenna’s. They’re over there cleaning up.”

“I should have known. Women can’t stand a mess.” Logan flipped on his turn signal and pointed them in the right direction.

“So, what are you going to do about Jenna?” Logan asked.

“Nothing. There’s nothing I can do.”

“That’s not an answer. Are you sticking around or leaving?”

“I’ll stick around long enough to be sure she isn’t going to have any fallout over Gregg’s death. Does that answer your question?” Riley ground his teeth and stared out the side window.

Even under the influence of a lot of beer or good whiskey, he didn’t like talking about emotional issues. He sure as hell didn’t want to talk to his best friend while sober about them.

“I guess I thought for awhile there you were looking at sticking.”

“Yeah, well. Things change,” Riley said without turning his head.

“So what changed your mind?”

Riley sighed. He was persistent that was for damn sure. Why had he changed his mind? He was no good for her. She deserved someone whole, someone who could take care of her without all the baggage weighing them down. He was a rough, ex-army assassin with a penchant for getting kinky. He doubted she understood half of what he wanted to do to her much less want to experience it. It just wouldn’t work.

“Gregg.”

“I don’t get it. What does Gregg have to do with your being with Jenna?” Logan asked.

“She’s had a rough life between Gregg and then Todd. She deserves someone nice and normal to take care of her. I’m
not
nice and have
never
been normal.” Riley finally turned to look at Logan.

“I think you’re underestimating Jenna. I think she’s a lot tougher than you are giving her credit for. Because of Scott and Todd, she is strong and self-sufficient. She might not need you to take care of her. All she might need is for you to love her.”

“Love? Are you saying you love Tina?” Riley asked.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Ah, hell.” Riley shook his head and peered out the side window again.

The fact that he’d already been courting the word for the last few days only intensified his feelings that she would be better off without him. Love? Yeah, he could admit that he was falling in love with her—or was already half way there. Admit it to Logan? No. Riley swallowed. He wouldn’t leave Jenna to deal with the aftermath of Gregg’s death alone, but it would be tough on him. The longer he stuck around, the harder it would be to leave. And he would leave. It was the best thing for both of them.

Logan pulled into the drive behind Tina’s car. Morgan stood outside on the porch with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

“What’s up?” Logan asked as they walked up the walkway.

“They kicked me out,” Morgan groused.

“What the hell did you do?” Riley asked with a half laugh.

“Hell if I know. They were moving furniture around, and I stepped in to help, and the next thing I know, I’m standing out here.”

Logan shook his head and laughed. Riley shrugged. He didn’t have a clue what the other man had done. Evidently, Logan did.

“You tried to move it for them, didn’t you,” Logan said.

“Well, yeah. They have no business trying to move that stuff by themselves,” Morgan said.

“Been there, done that, slept on the couch for it,” Logan said. “You were married. Didn’t you learn anything?”

Morgan’s face turned to stone, and he stomped off the porch toward the yard. Riley winced.

“Fuck!” Logan slapped his hand against the worn wooden post. “I knew better than that.”

“He’ll get past it. Just let him be for awhile.” Riley opened the screen door and knocked twice before opening the wooden door to walk inside.

* * * *

Jenna knew the minute the men were back. It wasn’t because she heard the truck pull into the drive or because she heard them talking on the front porch. It was the fluttery feeling inside her stomach. Whenever Riley was close by, she felt different. He stirred feelings inside her she had never felt before, feelings that had grown stronger day by day. Despite knowing they were there, when someone rapped on the door, she started. Even before she turned to go answer it, the door was opening and closing.

Tina grinned from ear to ear and bounced into the other room to greet Logan. Jenna followed more slowly. She’d been rehearsing what she would say to him ever since he’d left. How she would explain to him that if they were going to make a relationship work, he had to back off some, let her make her own decisions? But one look at him and all thoughts of exerting her independence went out the window. She wanted to please him, even at the expense of her self-sufficiency.

He looked up at her when she walked in the room. Something in his eyes turned her blood to ice. A serrated knife jabbed at her heart. Were they charging him with murder? If so, why was he here instead of locked up? What could possibly have happened to put the distance she saw in his eyes?

“So everything is okay now?” Tina was asking Logan.

“Yeah, they aren’t charging him with anything. They don’t have any evidence, so they couldn’t hold him.” Logan wrapped his arm around Tina’s waist, drawing her to him.

“Did ya’ll get much accomplished?” Logan asked.

Tina slapped at his chest. “Look around you. Doesn’t it look better than the last time you saw it?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said sheepishly.

“Right answer.” Tina smiled.

“How are you doing, Jenna?” Riley asked without taking a step toward her.

The distance between them may have only been a few feet, but it felt like a few thousand feet. Something was very wrong.

“I’m fine. Now that the house is back to normal again, I feel fine.”

“Good.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at her.

“How about coffee, everyone?” Tina suddenly asked.

“Coffee sounds good,” Logan agreed.

“Sure,” Jenna said. “I’ll come help make it.”

“Naw, Logan will help me.” Tina pulled at Logan.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll help.” Logan let the little woman pull him along through to the kitchen.

Jenna stood alone in the room with the man she was falling in love with. Hell, be honest, she thought. She was totally in love with him. Yet, here they were, acting like strangers to each other. Tears burned behind her eyes. She recognized the signs for what they were. He was pulling back from her, getting ready to leave. How had she read him so wrong? Up until now, she believed he planned to stay, if not forever then for a semi-permanent length of time. What had changed?