Chapter Ten

Abe

I mages of what could have been flashed through my mind, and I held Lio tighter. I cupped his face and kissed him hard until a coppery taste filled my mouth. Blood. Lio was bleeding. I gripped his bicep and turned him toward the cabin. Putting myself between Lio and any potential threat, I guided him into the house. I shut and locked the door, pulled the drapes to make it harder for anyone to spot us, and turned to face him. At first, I thought the left side of his face and neck were covered in splattered blood, but then I realized he had dozens of tiny cuts and scrapes from his shattered window.

"We need to clean you up to ensure there's no glass embedded in your skin."

"I'm fine, Abe. We need to report the incident first." The lawman inside me knew Lio was right, but I wanted to tend to his cuts more than anything. They were a visceral reminder of what had nearly happened. Lio pulled out his phone and dialed 911, ensuring the next hour or more would be chaos.

Liberty County Deputy Kim Rodgers responded first with Sheriff Kent Gunderson arriving close behind her. I didn't know the sheriff very well, but we'd worked together a few times, and he seemed like a dedicated civil servant. Neither of us had requested Gunderson, but Lio had identified himself as Savannah's police chief to emergency dispatch, which probably explained his presence. Deputy Rodgers gave him a slight double take, then continued to ask Lio questions until Gunderson walked over. I extended a hand, and he shook it heartily.

"It's good to see you again, Abe. I just wish it wasn't like this."

"Likewise," I replied. I placed my hand on the small of Lio's back, a gesture the sheriff didn't miss. "This is my partner, Emilio Mendoza."

"Chief," Gunderson said, shaking Lio's hand. "I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances."

Lio smiled sheepishly. "Trust me. I'm sorrier than you are."

"I wish I could assure you that you've overreacted, Chief, but I did a cursory inspection and found an obvious exit hole in the middle of your passenger door. It's impossible to identify the ammunition used, but I can rule out a shotgun. We're most likely looking at a rifle or high-powered handgun."

"It was a rifle," Abe said. "I was on the phone with Lio when it discharged."

Gunderson nodded and fixed his steely gaze on Lio. "Mind telling me what happened?"

Lio walked them through everything, starting with the low-pressure warning and ending with what we believed was a bullet coming through his window. The sheriff circled back to the beginning and ran through a series of follow-up questions.

"Is the low-pressure warning a consistent issue with the tire or something new?"

"First time," Lio said.

Gunderson nodded and Rodgers made a note. "Is it possible someone tampered with the tire and planned to shoot you when you stopped to check or fix it?"

"It's possible, but they would've had to follow me. I think it's more likely the low pressure was a coincidence." Though it went against the grain for me to say so.

"And this Eads fellow…" Gunderson said. "How would he have known what direction you would've taken when leaving the store? You said he left before you picked up your food, right?"

"Yes, sir," Lio said. "He could've seen me pull into the parking lot and drive past the pumps while he was inside the general store."

"But he would've had to assume you would go back the way you came." Gunderson looked between Lio and me. "Is he familiar with your relationship? Would he have guessed you were coming back here?"

Lio shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of, sir. I'm very private, and my officers aren't privy to my personal life."

"If he didn't know for sure where Lio was going, then it was either a lucky guess, or he had help." While not impossible, it didn't sound plausible.

"Based on the buck running out into the road, I think we're looking at a poacher who has disobeyed every hunting law while pursuing the animal."

While Gunderson's theory was the most logical, it felt wrong to me. I just couldn't get past Eads claiming it was lucky he ran into Lio fifteen minutes before someone shot at him. I could tell by Lio's expression he felt the same way.

"But I promise we'll do our due diligence. I'll send a team to scour the area and look for the spent bullet and any shell casings that might be left behind." Lio gave him the name of the crossroad closest to the shooting, but the shattered glass on the road would pinpoint the exact location. "We'll look for signs of someone bedding down and waiting to ambush you. I assure you, I'm not taking this lightly. I'll let Deputy Rodgers finish up while I gather a team to search."

"Thank you, Sheriff."

He shook hands with us again before heading out. Deputy Rodgers asked Lio a few more things before she handed him a business card and went outside to take the best pictures she could in the dark. Lio promised to email her better ones in daylight.

Before Rodgers even cleared the porch, Lio had Rigby on speakerphone. What I liked about her the most was that she expressed concern for Lio's well-being first and foremost before she dug deeper into the incident with Eads.

"I'll have him brought in for questioning," she said. "I don't care if the incident happened in a different jurisdiction. Sometimes it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Do you want to call Alyssa, or should I?" Lio decided it would be better if his ex-wife heard the news directly from him.

"That son of a bitch," Alyssa snarled after Lio filled her in. "It's one thing to take potshots at you in the press, but shooting at you is…" Her voice trailed off as if she couldn't finish the thought.

"Attempted murder," I said.

"Let's not get carried away," Lio told us both. "Sheriff Gunderson makes a good point with the poacher theory."

"You said the buck had already leaped to safety," Alyssa said.

"And the hunter must have horrible aim if he shot through your truck instead," I added. "This sounds like a desperate act from a desperate man."

"Or a vengeful one," Alyssa countered.

Lio pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a heavy sigh. "I know you're right, but a part of me can't help but cling to the possibility this was just a horrible hunting accident."

"Wishful thinking and denial could get you killed," Alyssa said. "What if Alex hadn't gone to Eric's? You said the bullet exited out the passenger door. What if he'd been hit?"

"I assure you I'm taking this very seriously, Lyss."

She sighed again. "I know. I'm sorry if it sounds like I implied otherwise. You'd never put Alex in harm's way. I'm scared for you, Lio."

"I'm scared too," he admitted.

Sensing they needed a minute, I went out to Lio's truck to see if any of our food was still salvageable. If Lio had wanted to have a private conversation with Alyssa, he wouldn't have put the call on speaker. Then again, maybe I was the one who needed a damn minute. Holy fuck!

Rodgers was gone by the time I stepped outside. The flood lights came on and my gaze went straight to the exit hole on the passenger side as if drawn there by a beacon. I'd been too eager to hold Lio in my arms to pay attention when he arrived, but I moved in for a closer inspection. I didn't need to be an expert on trajectory to know Lio would've died if he hadn't bent over to pick up that french fry off the floorboard.

I wasn't sure what emotion hit me hardest—unadulterated rage because someone had dared to shoot at Lio or bone-crushing fear because they were still out there and free to take another shot. The last thought caused me to stumble, and I braced my palm against the side of Lio's truck. Fear was driving the emotion train, and it was seconds away from derailing.

"Abe," Lio called out softly.

I turned and found him leaning on the porch rail. "I'm okay. Come back inside." He was calm. Too freaking calm. Didn't he know how close I'd come to losing him? How close Alex had come to losing his father? I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. He'd nearly left me, not on purpose, but it would have hurt me just as much. "I'm hungry, sore, and in dire need of a distraction. Can my partner help with any of those things?"

"Too soon for that label?" I asked.

Lio shook his head. "I think it's about damn time. Come here, baby."

Lio's need for me overrode my fear, but I knew the demon hadn't retreated. The asshole had temporarily withdrawn and would wait for the absolute worst time to reappear and whisper cruel things in my ear. I didn't have a better angel to counter the negativity with sweet nothings.

Maybe Lio sensed the battle raging inside my soul, or perhaps he just knew me better than I knew myself. "I need you, Abe." Who needed a better angel when they had Lio?

I retrieved the food bag from the truck and jogged back to the porch, where Lio met me with a hard kiss. "Don't you do that again," I said.

His lips trembled as if he was on the verge of smiling, but he crossed his heart instead.

I hooked my arm around his neck and guided him toward the cabin. "You're a real smartass."

"No lies detected."

I insisted on looking after the cuts on his face and neck before we tried to salvage our food. The first aid kit was in the bathroom, so Lio followed me down the hallway. The space was cramped, barely big enough for one person, but I didn't mind the close proximity.

"The fries will be out of the question, but the sandwiches will be wrapped tight enough to be safe," Lio said as I gently dabbed his face with peroxide. He sucked in a sharp breath when I cleaned up one of the deeper cuts on his cheek.

"That hurt?" I asked.

Lio snorted. "Hell yes, it hurts. Those fries were seasoned to perfection."

I stepped back and glared at him. I knew damn well his comedy routine was for my benefit. There was no way in hell he was handling the shooting so glibly. "All right, Fallon. I get the point."

"I'm more of a Kimmel guy," Lio said. "And you're taking the situation seriously enough for five people, so I'm going to take the night off." When I continued to glare, he added, "In your mind, you've already identified my body in the morgue and picked out my pallbearers."

"Have not." Only because he'd interrupted me before my mind could wander that far.

"Listen to me very carefully, Abraham Beecham. Don't waste another moment on what might've happened. I promised I wouldn't let you fuck this up, and I meant it. I didn't leave you. I'm right here."

I set the first aid supplies on the bathroom counter, placed my hands on Lio's waist, and rested my forehead against his. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

We stayed that way for a few moments before I continued rendering first aid. None of the cuts were deep enough to warrant further treatment. Once I finished, we headed back into the kitchen. Lio had been right about the food. The fries had to go, but the sandwiches were tightly wrapped and taped shut. I gave Lio half of my Italian sub, and he shared half his Reuben with me.

"I'm not sure how well these sandwiches will mix in the digestive tract," Lio teased.

I chewed and swallowed my last bite. "I saw antacid tablets in the first aid kit."

Lio's phone rang, and he dropped what was left of his Reuben to retrieve it. I looked longingly at the last few bites, and he wisely shifted his food out of my reach as he answered it. I could tell by his formal tone that he was speaking to his boss.

"Yes, ma'am. We'll head there now." He disconnected the call and quickly finished his sandwich.

Lio looked at his keys and grimaced. "It's going to be a chilly ride back to Savannah." But it was our only option if we wanted to get there as fast as possible, and we did. Lio could swap it out for a city-issued vehicle until his truck was repaired. It was a minor inconvenience compared to some of the situations we'd found ourselves in during skirmishes overseas.

"Let's lock up and get out on the road," I replied. "What did Rigby say?" I asked once we backed out of the driveway.

"She contacted Eads's attorney, Juliette Remington, and filled her in on the situation. The attorney said she'd contact her client and arrange an interview. Remington just called her back and said she, Eads, and his alibi witnesses would meet Rigby at the precinct for an interview tonight."

"Alibi witnesses?" I asked. "How many?"

"Per Remington, more than a dozen. The fact that Eads is facing the allegations head on is a point in his favor."

"Or he carefully orchestrated this bullshit."

Lio shook his head. "He had no possible way of knowing I would stop at Terry's for sandwiches. It was either a crime of opportunity because he caught me out alone in the country and his buddies are lying to cover for him, or I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when a poacher took a shot at that buck."

It was my turn to shake my head. "I don't believe a poacher shot across the road to hit the deer."

"So you're convinced it was a deliberate attack?" Lio asked.

"Yes."

"Well," Lio said, "let's see what Eads and his witnesses say."

Eads and his attorney were up to bat first. I wasn't surprised Alyssa had joined Rigby in the interview room. Eads was cooperative and borderline friendly as he answered each question. His attorney only intruded once, and that was to clarify a question Alyssa had asked. It had sounded like splitting hairs to me, but Remington seemed mollified when Alyssa slightly tweaked her question. Afterward, it was one alibi witness after another.

Eads had been on a hunting and camping trip with a group of friends and family. Each of them told a variation of the same story, which accounted for Eads's whereabouts all day. One of his cousins claimed to have been in the SUV while Eads had gone inside to buy some lottery scratchers.

"Is that possible?" I asked Lio.

"The windows on the SUV were all tinted, so I guess so."

The cousin described Lio's truck and what he'd been wearing. He'd heard Eads's remarks, but he didn't think they were threatening. When pressed for an opinion on what he'd meant about being lucky to run into Chief Mendoza, the guy shrugged. Alyssa had asked if he was lying to protect Eads, and he adamantly rejected the notion. Then he produced his phone and showed a picture he'd taken when Eads had gotten back in the SUV. Lio and I couldn't see it, but according to the cousin, he'd captured a smiling Eads giving him a thumbs-up with one hand and holding five hundred dollars in the other.

"You can see the general store in the background," the guy said. "I couldn't doctor that."

"Any amateur with basic Photoshop skills could produce this picture," Alyssa had countered. She probed further but couldn't get him or any other witnesses to testify.

"Well," Lio said when Alyssa and Rigby released the last witness. "It doesn't look like Eads is the shooter."

I looked over at him. "Do you believe that?"

Lio met my gaze and shrugged. "I don't know what to believe." He sighed heavily, and I noticed the tension in his shoulders.

"Adrenaline crashing?" I asked.

Lio nodded.

I moved to stand behind him and went to work on his shoulder and neck muscles. "You're going to be sore in the morning."

Lio snickered. "I bet you say that to all the guys."

I dropped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder. "You're the only guy. Let's go home."

He turned in my embrace. "Yours or mine?"

"Your house is closer and feels more like home, even if you still haven't replaced that awful goose wallpaper in the kitchen."

"My helper keeps bailing on me every time I suggest removing it," Lio countered.

"Tomorrow," I promised.

We had a quick conference with Rigby and Alyssa while waiting for Eads and his buddies to leave. Lio's house was in various stages of remodeling, but I still loved it.

"Still smells like burned cake," I teased when we stepped through the front door.

Lio glared at me, but I saw the corners of his mouth twitch. "Keep it up and you'll go back to crashing on my couch."

I held up my hands in mock surrender and followed him down the hall toward his bedroom. "Maybe we can do appliance shopping while we're at it tomorrow. Find you one of those fancy ovens with a timer on it."

Lio grabbed a throw pillow off the bed and hit me in the stomach. I wrestled it out of his hands before he could whap me with it again, and we ended up horizontal on the bed. That led to kissing and teasing. Lust chased away my lingering fear, and all my focus went into celebrating Lio's victory over death. When I was buried deep inside him, I stared into his brown eyes.

"Don't you dare leave me," I pleaded.

Lio carded his fingers through my hair. "I'm not going anywhere but to sleep if you don't fuck me." With a challenge like that, I had no choice but to rock his world.

I fell into a deep sleep once we'd cleaned up and returned to bed, but my reprieve was short-lived. I came awake around two in the morning with a sickening thought about who else might have wanted to hurt Lio. My uncle and two cousins lived in a trailer park not too far from Terry's. One of them could've been there and gone unnoticed by Lio. He might've called the others to let them know Lio was heading that way. It was a sick feeling to think my flesh and blood might've tried to kill the man I loved.

No love was lost between Lio and my family, but to kill him? Then I recalled Red forming a gun with his fingers and telling Lio he'd get what he had coming to him. A flash of heat washed over me, and I broke into a cold sweat. My stomach pitched and acid blazed a path up my throat, filling my mouth. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and hurried into the bathroom, making it just in time to throw up in the toilet instead of on Lio's new floor. I vomited and heaved until there wasn't anything left, then I lay on the floor and pressed my heated cheek against the cool tile.

Once my stomach stopped cramping, I pushed myself into a sitting position and wiped my brow with the back of my hand. I knew exactly what I needed to do. Standing took effort, but I was determined to get answers, so I splashed water on my face and brushed my teeth. I shut off the bathroom light and checked on Lio. Luckily, he was still snoring softly and didn't wake as I dressed as quietly as possible and eased out of the room.

I climbed into Betty and held my breath when I started the engine, but Lio didn't come charging after me. I backed into the street and aimed the old truck in the right direction. It would be nearly three in the morning by the time I made the forty-five-minute drive to Liberty County, but Vernon and his miscreants would be rolling home from the bar. I kept my rage in check while I drove past Terry's and the spot where Lio had nearly lost his life, but I snapped when I saw Vernon, Merrill, Red, and Bobby hooting and hollering on their front porch. Maybe they didn't care if their neighbors wanted to sleep, or maybe they were too busy celebrating to notice how late it was. The three men froze when my headlights swept over them, just like deer do when they run out in front of a vehicle.

"Well, well, well," Vernon said when I climbed out of the truck. "To what do we owe this honor, your highness?"

"Which one of you fuckers shot at Lio tonight?"

My uncle sobered right up and lunged to his feet. He marched down the steps with his chest puffed up like an indignant rooster. His three boys were right on his heels, and I could tell they were spoiling for a fight. Vernon stopped in front of me and said, "You have some nerve coming around here and accusing us of something like that."

"Save your posturing for someone who might be swayed," I said, then turned my glare on Red. I formed a finger gun and repeated the threat he'd made at the cabin a week ago. "Pretty coincidental that someone shot at Lio just down the road from here, isn't it?" Red screwed up his face like he didn't understand what coincidental meant. I growled my frustration and grabbed him by his shirt and jerked him forward. "Answer the fucking question. Did any of you, or anyone you know, shoot at Lio either intentionally or accidentally while hunting illegally?"

"I-I-I didn't shoot at n-n-nobody," Red stammered.

My cousins tried to move in to help Red, but Vernon held up his hand to stop them. "You might be the sheriff in Bryan County, but you don't have any authority here. I don't know what time your little boyfriend got shot at, but it doesn't matter because it wasn't us. Red's been with me all damn day. We got dozens of witnesses who will swear we were at the Swamp Tavern. Let go of my boy, get the fuck off my property, and don't come back. You won't like what happens if you do."

In the dim porchlight, we squared off like sworn enemies for several moments before I shoved Red backward and released his shirt. My cousin stumbled into his brothers and nearly took them all down. It had been a foolish thing for me to show up there by myself and accuse them of a crime. While I could take any of them in a fair fight, I wasn't so sure how I'd stack up against all four of them at the same time.

I pressed the gas harder than necessary when I drove off, spewing rocks from my tires and hoping the stones pelted them in the face. I questioned my sanity during the trip back to Thunderbolt. I wanted to think my fear-fueled rage would've given me the edge, but I'd lived among honorable people too long, and my family played dirty. I hated feeling helpless and wanted to find a way to make the threat disappear. If not Eads or my family, then who? The careless poacher? That theory still didn't sit right with me. It had to be one of them. Eads's only alibi was his buddies, and plenty of people lied to cover up crimes. Uncle Vernon might've sounded outraged by the accusation, but I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. And Red's alibi was just as suspect as Eads's.

I was nowhere closer to solving the mystery when I pulled back up in Lio's driveway, but a new fear punched me in the balls. If Lio had woken while I was gone, he would've assumed I'd broken my promise and bailed on him. I might've puked again if there'd been anything left to expel. I held my breath as I let myself into the house and eased down the hallway. Lio was still sound asleep when I stripped my clothes off and climbed back into bed. I spooned behind him, pressed my nose in his hair, and breathed in his scent. Tears burned my eyes as I thought about what we had almost lost, but I got a grip on myself.

"Good thing you came back on your own," Lio said gravelly. "I was going to track you down after my power nap."

"I didn't run from you, baby. I was chasing down a lead."

"Red?" he asked.

Of course Lio had recalled the threat. "I don't know why I didn't think of it when Gunderson interviewed us. Why didn't you mention it to him?"

He rolled over and cupped my face. "Because Red Beecham is all talk and no action. And now it's time to work on our conflict resolution skills because I'm pretty damn pissed at you for going there by yourself. Luckily for you, I've already decided how you can make it up to me."

"Yeah?" I asked as I gripped his ass with both hands.

Lio placed teasing kisses on my lips. "It involves physical labor."

"Liking the sound of this," I murmured.

"And a scraper."

My lusty brain slammed on the brakes. "A what now?" Lio's wicked grin clued me in. "Fine. I'll help you take off the damn wallpaper."

The following morning, I tried to distract Lio with sex, but I apparently didn't fuck him hard enough. After breakfast, he produced two scrapers and a bottle of something that was supposed to release the old adhesive. It took us hours to get the crap off because there were two other layers of ungodly wallpaper patterns beneath the goose, but the smile on Lio's face when the walls were bare made it all worth it.