Chapter Ten

Meg sipped her coffee and used the phone they'd given her to text everyone. They were supposed to be meeting for breakfast then leaving for her house, but Rascal was in pain this morning. He'd groaned when the alarm went off. When she'd started asking questions, the exasperating man had said he hadn't been doing his morning or evening stretches since they'd met. He also had skipped the heat he usually used on his back each morning because he hadn't wanted to appear weak in front of her.

Meg: Rascal's in pain this morning. He used the heat pad and took some pain meds and is now in a hot shower. We need to delay by at least thirty minutes.

Bear: Let's delay by an hour. That will give him time to do his stretches. He also has heated back packs he can wear under his clothes that he'll probably ignore. He doesn't want you to see him as old.

War: We can delay a day if needed. We can shuffle whatever.

Regina: I'll have one of the guys deliver breakfast so you can eat before you get on the road.

Remi: We'll take care of loading everything and hooking up the trailer. If he needs to lie down on the drive, War could drive his truck and trailer and you could drive the SUV.

Beth: Tell him I refilled and picked up his muscle relaxers last week. He'd run out. They are in his cabinet.

Meg smiled at the fact she hadn't even had time to reply to Bear or War's texts before the others were coming in. Her heart was full with how this family took care of one of their own. Even before she'd seen Rascal ink her name on his skin, she'd known that he was all in. She was too. She not only wanted to spend time with him, she wanted to make life easier for him. She wanted to see his eyes crinkle behind his glasses when he smiled. She needed to make each day a little brighter for him.

She'd never imagined she'd find a man she adored and wanted to spend the rest of her life staring at a beautiful sunset, knowing he was hers and she was his.

Last night, which probably contributed to his back hurting, was perfection. He'd lit candles in the front room and put on Thomas Rhett's Die A Happy Man, pulling her into his arms to dance. As they'd swayed, he'd sung the words to her, bringing tears to her eyes. When the song had finished, he'd leaned her back and kissed her. Each sweep of his tongue and touch of his lips had reinforced how much he loved her.

He'd held her hand, blowing out the candles, and then led her to the bedroom. He'd reverently swept her clothes away and then proceeded to kiss and caress every inch as it was unveiled. He'd worshipped her body. When they'd finally come together, they'd both had tears in their eyes. As he slid inside her, he'd whispered the words Together, Forever . Rascal was that one-in-a-million man who had the tough exterior that he used to protect his family, but inside, he was the softy who showed her how a real man treated his woman.

She'd asked him last night if Rascal was his real name. He said it wasn't the name on his birth certificate, but it was who he was. He hadn't been called Thomas since before he went in the service. They'd talked for a while before falling asleep. She could see how he came by his name in the military. He had that mischievous quality that peeped out at her at different times.

Warm arms slipped around her as she sipped her coffee.

"You feel good in my arms."

She smelled the clean, fresh scent of him that she loved as much as she adored the earthy, working man smell he had after being outside during the day.

"So, we have some options." She turned the phone to him so he could read all the texts.

He read them, then adjusted his glasses. "Guess the cat's out of the bag that you got yourself an old man."

She set her coffee cup on the counter, took the phone, and placed it beside the cup. She turned until her arms were wrapped around his waist, and she could look at him in his eyes.

"I love you whether your knees creak when you get out of bed, or you need to put some heat on your back when you first wake up. We're neither one, young nor perfect, but we're perfect for each other. You don't need to hide your age any more than you let me hide mine with the wrinkles on my body."

Rascal swallowed and nodded his head.

"Now, what are we telling them? Postpone for a while or until tomorrow."

"It's much better, so I'll use the heat pack and drive the truck. We can leave in an hour. I'll use the muscle relaxers once we get home tonight."

Meg chuckled at the exasperated look on his face. "Now, was that so hard to share with me?"

"It stuck in my throat, having to admit it, but you're right. We share everything. Go ahead and text them, please, while I go put the heat pack on."

Rascal glanced around the house. They'd made the trip quickly and had parked the truck and trailer in Meg's driveway. Although Meg originally didn't want to take everything because she liked a lot of his stuff better, Remi convinced her they had room, and they could use it to help someone else.

The kitchen and bathroom items were packed and in the truck along with all the large furniture in the house which had gone in first. Rascal had wanted to keep the front door locked to ensure Meg was safe. Remi and War had agreed, so they had backed the trailer in and were loading into the trailer from her back door and the backyard.

Beth had disappeared wearing some disguise and said she'd be back in an hour. Although he wanted to go with Meg to the bank, Scoop and Sarah were going, so he'd stayed at the house to oversee the loading. He could pack but he wasn't lifting anything.

They were stopping by the police department first to file a report of the fraudulent bank account. Once they had a report, Scoop would quickly file online with the FTC. Then they were going to the bank to notify them that she wasn't the person on the account and that it had been set up by fraudulent means. Scoop and Sarah estimated it would take around two hours, and Meg had been gone an hour and a half.

So far, no one had even come by the house from the college. Rascal was on guard for it. He really wanted to teach her former boss a lesson. He decided to walk back through the house and check where they were at.

He walked into her guest bedroom that she didn't use much. Of the three bedrooms, this one had housed two dressers she didn't really use and a daybed from her parents' estate. A couple pictures had been on the wall, but she said she would be donating all the items in the room.

The college held a thousand-dollar damage deposit on the house to fix any issues and Rascal didn't want Meg to not get it back. He flipped on the light to see if they needed to touch up any of the paint before they left. Where the daybed had been, he noticed a discoloration on the wall. This room was a light gray and the other bedroom was a darker gray. There was an area that looked as if it had been repainted the wrong color of gray. Meg would have never seen it behind the daybed.

"Hey Bear, can you come look at this?"

Bear joined him in the room. "What?"

He didn't want to taint Bear's perusal of the room, but he needed to give him a reason for calling him in.

"Can you doublecheck the room for damage? My old eyes aren't quite as good as yours."

Bear started on one side of the room, checking the walls, the closet, and the floors. When he got to the place Rascal had noticed the different color paint, he paused and bent down, pulling a small flashlight out of his pocket. He shone it around the edges of where the darker paint was, then ran his fingers over the area.

"It looks like someone cut a hole here and then tried to patch it but used the wrong paint color. Has Meg done any repairs in here?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to check with her. I know when they made the complaint at the station, she was going to mention thinking someone had been in her house and that she'd changed the locks for her safety."

"I think you should do it in the group text so if Scoop and Sarah have any information to add from their visit to the police department."

Rascal: Meg, have you done any repairs to the walls in the bedroom with the daybed?

Meg: No, I painted when I first moved in. The extra paint is kept in the garage if we need to do touch-ups.

Rascal: There's a place behind where the daybed was that looks like the wall was cut, then repaired, but they used the wrong shade of gray.

Scoop: The officer who took the report wanted to come out anyway and was waiting for us to text we'd be there. I'll let him know. We are leaving the bank right now.

Beth: Hey, keep an eye out. President Ass just left his office and is walking toward Meg's house. He looks strung out or something else. He's disheveled.

Rascal: Everyone, make sure no one is in the front yard. Close up the trailer and get inside the house. I want all doors locked so if he does something, it's breaking and entering.

War: Ahh, come on. It's been a little boring. I'd really like to hit someone. You used to be fun, Rascal.

Rascal: Did you seriously just call me boring?

War: Well, you used to be the hit first and ask questions later type of guy.

Scoop: I think you're doing the smart thing, Rascal. We don't want any reason for him to have to fight any charges.

War: Suck up.

Beth: Okay, he's detouring into the science building. I'll let you know when he comes out.

Scoop: Detective is on his way. We're parking in the alley and coming in the back gate.

Rascal headed out of the room, opening the back door as Meg, Sarah, and Scoop made their way across the yard. Meg looked beautiful but a little stressed. She'd been running her fingers through her hair. He held his arms open as she walked up and into his arms. Sarah and Scoop walked in. Scoop closed and locked the door.

"Are you okay?"

Meg hugged him a little tighter. "I am because I have you and my Bluff Creek family helping me. It's maddening that he thought he could get away with all this, but at least, I'm not alone."

He held out a chair at the bar in the kitchen for Meg to sit and poured her a glass of iced tea from the cooler. They'd already emptied out her refrigerator and cabinets.

"Anybody else want some?"

Rascal grabbed the disposable cups and poured everyone drinks.

"I think this is the best place for us to hang out. I don't believe you can see into the kitchen from the front window. I wish we wouldn't have removed the curtains already."

"We took down the curtains but left the blinds because they came with the house. We could slide them down so he can't see in," Meg suggested.

Scoop nodded and headed into the front room with Bear to lower the blinds in the main room and the front bedroom.

Beth: Incoming. Ass leaving science building and heading across the street. Someone else joined him. Code Paulo.

"Okay, Rascal told me about the codes, but I have no idea what they are besides Code Rachel." Meg's scrunched up nose was adorable and even in this situation, Rascal couldn't help but grin at her.

"Can't trust the person or situation. Don't worry, we have a cheat sheet for the codes," Sarah said and patted Meg's shoulder.

A knock at the door had them all quieting. When knocking didn't work, he started banging on the door.

Beth: Secondary target heading around house toward gate by garage. Ass banging on door and trying to look in the windows.

Rascal motioned for them to move into the middle bedroom. He didn't know if the target was heading toward the back door in the kitchen or possibly the window of the room that had the wall damage. Once Meg and Sarah were in the room, he headed to the front room. Bear was in the bedroom, and Scoop went to the kitchen. War was waiting in the front room, just leaning against the wall. When Rascal joined him, he motioned to the door and mouthed mine. He didn't care if War was bored. Rascal was going to get to neutralize the man who'd threatened his woman if anybody was.

"Dr. Jamison, I know you're in there. Let me in. I don't want to have to call the police."

War quietly chuckled. "Already done, ass."

Glass breaking from the back door sounded at the same time one of the chairs on the front porch was thrown through the front window. Rascal held his hand out to War to have him wait until the jerk got all the way in the house. Rascal didn't want any doubt that the president had broken in when the police showed up.

A hand wrapped in a shirt came through the window, knocking the last pieces of glass out. Rascal was thankful no one had ever tried to break in while Meg lived here by herself. The windows looked like they were original to the house and weren't even double-paned. Most of the wood frame on the side shattered when the chair hit it because it was so fragile.

Rascal waited as a leg came over the sill. The president was looking outside instead of where he was going. What type of lunatic thought the house was occupied, then broke a window and crawled in freaking backwards?

The president turned around and must have decided he didn't have anything to lose. He ran toward Rascal, raising his fist. Rascal didn't see any weapons, so he kept his hands at his side, motioning War to stay back. As soon as the president got close to Rascal, he swung wildly. Rascal let the one punch connect to his jaw, then retaliated. One punch to the stomach had the president dropping to the ground.

War walked closer, pulling the man's hands behind his back, sliding some flexicuffs on. "Kind of anticlimactic, but at least you got one punch in."

Rascal agreed.

Beth: Police at the door and coming in. Code Chandler.

As a voice yelled, Police, Rascal opened the door, keeping his hands in sight of the officer. Scoop walked toward the door. Three officers entered.

"Detective, thanks for getting here so quickly. This man yelled and then broke in through the front window. After hitting one of our members, he was subdued and placed in flexicuffs for you. A second individual broke in the back door and was subdued after he started sledgehammering a wall in the bedroom. I think you'll be interested in what is in the wall."

The detective nodded at the two officers and followed Scoop into the bedroom. Rascal opened the door to the bathroom, holding his hand out to Meg.

"Let's go see what they wanted."

Meg nodded at him as they entered the bedroom. Meg's gasp echoed how Rascal felt.

Meg and Sarah stayed behind the door, listening to the yelling and loud noises.

"Meg, they'll be fine."

Meg nodded. "I'm not worried about Rascal being hurt by my former boss. I'm worried Rascal won't take care of his back when he defends us. He was still moving slow when we got back from the bank."

Sarah slid her arm around Meg. "War's out there with him and they'll keep an eye out."

Beth's text came through that the police were coming in. Meg wanted to open the door, but Sarah cautioned her to wait. Sarah didn't want the police startled by a door opening and having to assess a threat.

It seemed like forever but was probably only minutes before Rascal had the door opened and was leading her to her spare bedroom. The sheetrock had been ripped from the wall and what was behind there had Meg gasping.

Fury filled her that her house had been used for storing some type of drugs and a lot of money. The stacks were in between the two by fours and banded together. The detective put on gloves and pulled out the first stack. She could see denominations of twenties and tens.

The detective stood up and backed away. He placed the money down and took off his gloves.

"Let's all step out into the main room," he said as he walked to the kitchen and washed his hands.

"Jakes, can you call for our hazmat team and tell them I'm not sure if the drugs we've found include fentanyl?"

"Listen, we've had an uptick of fentanyl deaths, and I don't want to take a chance of someone getting sick. If you've loaded all your items, we'll take them to the station and let you all give statements. Then I'll notify the vice president and the dean at the college what is going on. If this is happening at your house, I'm guessing they've used other ones."

Meg walked into the front room. She so wanted to kick her former boss for doing this to her.

"Detective, there is something I think you and the officers will all want to see. I'm Beth Franks with Franks and Daughters Bail Bonds. My two sisters Remi and Sarah are in the house and happy to watch them while you check this out."

Meg watched Beth charm the detective into following her across the street. Rascal chuckled beside her, then turned his watch over for her to see the text.

Beth: I'm showing him the drugs I saw the guys touch in the science building. Rascal and Meg have plenty of time to get a couple more kicks in.

"That's my bonus daughter. Meg, you have anything you want to say to him?"

Meg walked closer to where he was sitting against the wall where the policemen had placed him. Both his and his buddy's hands were cuffed behind them.

Fury filled her at him not only taking out an account in her name but also endangering her by hiding drugs and money in her house. She didn't consider herself a violent person, but she also wasn't a freaking shrinking violet to allow this jerk to get away without any repercussions.

"Why use me? There are plenty of properties on the campus you could easily hide the drugs and money."

His smirk infuriated her. "Because you think you're smart as a college professor but you're like all the other academics who think they are better than everyone else. You thought you knew everything but couldn't even see what was right under your nose."

She didn't think she was better than anyone else because she worked at a college, but she did believe she had better ethics because she wouldn't dream of doing something illegal and blaming someone else.

"So because I did my job, you decided to hide drugs in my house? And what about my name on the bank account? What was your reasoning for that?"

"You're old and have no one. If I had to make you disappear, no one would care."

Meg couldn't believe the words out of his mouth. Not only was he a thief but he thought murder was okay. Rascal started to head forward but she put her hand out to hold him back. She walked closer.

"I hope you have good memories of when you were president because where you'll be going, I'm pretty sure you won't be on the top."

She pulled her foot back and kicked his thigh because he wasn't sitting correctly for her to kick him in the nuts, which is where she wanted to.

"Hey, if you're wanting to kick his balls, I can stand him up or move him around."

Remi's words had her smiling despite everything that had happened.

"No, I'm going to let my man do whatever he wants to. This piece of trash isn't worth another second of my time unless I need to testify at his trial. That I'll make time for."

Meg leaned up and kissed Rascal on his cheek, above his beard. "Do whatever you want, but don't hurt your back."

Rascal chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm good if you're good."