A Fresh Start for Two (13 page)

“Lucia said I could play games on her phone while you do school work.” Her dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail that bounced whenever she moved. She had a beautiful heart-shaped face, and was dressed in a colorful sundress.

“Well, you let me know if you need anything, sweetie.”

“This will be fun, like I’m on vacation,” the little girl gushed, all shyness apparently forgotten.

“You are on vacation. There’s no school until September,” Lucia corrected her.

“Can we go swimming in the lake?”

“Not tonight, but I promise we will another day,” Jake answered.

Lucia pulled out her phone. “Chica, here’s my phone. Do you want to sit in that chair so you can look at the water?” She pointed to a wicker chair a little ways away from a larger grouping of wicker furniture.

Maria nodded, her face alight with excitement, as she took her sister’s phone and settled into the chair. Taking her cue, Jake and Lucia sat side by side on the small cushioned loveseat in the larger grouping of furniture and Lucia chose a chair across from them. The porch where the family held their weekly family picnics was attached to the house. This area they used for big parties because it was completely open to the summer breeze coming off the water.

“Thank you, Jake, for letting me bring her here. She’ll be good.” Lucia turned her attention to her friend. “How have you been able to handle this, amiga? How terrible for you.”

Jake wrapped his arm around Julia’s shoulder. “I don’t know how she was able to hold this inside for a few days, let alone a few hours. Julia, I wish you hadn’t tortured yourself like that. We’ll figure this out together.”

Julia stared at the beams in the roof above them. “I never would have guessed Vincent would be this mad. It’s crazy, isn’t it? He’s acting like he’s obsessed with me.”

“He definitely has stalker tendencies,” Jake affirmed. He lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes with a concern that warmed every inch of her. “Do you feel safe here?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“And do you feel safe here, Lucia?” he asked, turning toward her.

“Si. I don’t think he’ll bother me though. He’ll go for you, Jake, or mi amiga.”

“Julia, I was thinking you, Maria, and Lucia could stay in the room that used to belong to my sisters. There are four twin beds in there. It’s huge. Or I can give you two separate bedrooms. There’s plenty available.”

Julia glanced at Lucia, and saw her nod. “We’ll stay together.”

He whispered in her ear so Maria wouldn’t hear him. “I decided it would probably be best not to move you into my bed yet.” He kissed her cheek. “Out of respect for Lorraine. I’m not sure she would be okay with it.”

“But you’re staying here, not going back to your apartment, right?”

“Yes, I’m going to stay in my old room. I get up at five-thirty for work, as you know, but you should all feel free to sleep in tomorrow. Dad will be here and we’ll have a patrol car sent around to check on you. You can both text me if you suspect anything. There’s not much going on in Summerhill right now. Vincent Nye will be our focus tomorrow.”

Chapter Thirteen

As Jake headed into work Wednesday morning, he definitely felt like he was missing something—Julia. He had gotten quite used to having her in his bed every night. Of course, he had made love to her twice under the maple tree the previous afternoon, so this wasn’t about sex. He just liked to have her nearby.

He strode into the office and greeted Bill and Dave Oglesbee, Ryan’s partner. There was no sign of Ryan.

Oglesbee sipped his coffee as he leaned back in his chair. “You look like a man on a mission, Ramsay.”

“I am.” Jake pulled his chair out and sat. After flicking on his computer, he rolled his chair over to the coffeemaker.

“What the hell? You so overworked you gotta roll to the coffee, Ramsay? Or does the new girlfriend have you all tired out?”

One of the other officers said as he walked through the door. “What a lazy ass.”

“Bite me, Scanlon.” He ignored them all. He wanted to do a little web search before the day officially started.

“What’s up?” Bill asked. “I can see there’s no distracting you today.” He sat on the corner of Jake’s desk. He turned back to Oglesbee. “The mind’s on the girlfriend. Don’t bother him.”

The rest of the guys who were on duty helped themselves to coffee or headed to the locker room. The normal routine was for the day-shift guys to sit around for about fifteen minutes until Sarge gave them their assignments after the night patrol guys headed home.

“You remember Vincent Nye?”

“Yeah, how could I forget him? The guy your girlfriend was supposed to marry—the restaurant guy.” He grabbed a donut from a box that was splayed open next to the coffee maker and sat back down, sprinkling powdered sugar all over his uniform. He didn’t seem to care. He had a thing for donuts, even when the other guys ragged on him for being a stereotype.

“On Sunday night, he tried to get Julia fired from her job at the restaurant, and then he was waiting for her in the parking lot. He told her if she didn’t go back with him, he would hurt me and break her friend’s leg.” He clenched his jaw just thinking about it.

“Jeez,” Oglesbee spat out from his nearby desk. “You Ramsays sure like to keep things interesting around here, don’t you?”

“Threatened you—a police officer?” Bill said as he stuffed the rest of the donut into his mouth, sweeping the crumbs off the front of his uniform.

“Yeah. Nice, huh?”

“So where is she?” Dave asked.

“She’s at the inn with my dad and the rest of the family. Nice thing is there’s always a crowd there. Julia filed a restraining order, but we have to wait for a court date. Lucia’s going to stay there for the time being too, just in case. I need Sarge to have a patrol car check on them a few times today. Where the hell is Ryan? He’s never late.”

“He took the day off. Going fishing, I guess.”

Jake stared at Oglesbee. Why hadn’t Ryan said anything? He had hoped his brother would help him out today. He had a little more experience dealing with stalkers than he did.

Just then, Sarge came out of his office to make assignments. Once he finished, he said, “It’s a pretty quiet day, so if you know of something else that needs your attention, now’s the time to speak up.”

Bill spoke up first. “Sarge, we could have a serious issue here. Could be nothing, could be big.”

“What is it, Wagner?”

“Somebody we’ve encountered on two separate occasions for possible domestic violence has threatened to hurt one of our officers and another citizen in Summerhill.”

A hush swept over the entire all squad room as everyone focused their attention on Bill. Jake stood up. “Vincent Nye, previously engaged to my girlfriend Julia, has threatened to hurt me and Julia’s best friend, if she doesn’t go away with him on Saturday.”

“Didn’t we just go through something similar with your brother, Ramsay?” Sarge asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, a few months ago. No connection.”

“Where are the best friend and your girlfriend today?”

“Both are at my dad’s house.”

“Scanlon, you and your partner are on patrol in that area, so I want you to check on them every hour unless something more important comes up. Wagner, you and Jake can go on desk duty and play detective. See what you can dig up on this character. Oglesbee can go alone today, can’t you?”

“Yep, no problem, Sarge.”

“Okay, keep me posted. I want to know this guy’s location. Oglesbee, get his address and the make of his car and keep track of him today. I want to know if he does anything unusual.” He shook his head. “Sounds like it could be an empty threat, but when one of you Ramsay boys is involved, I know better.” He walked into his office and closed his door.

Several hours later, they hadn’t gotten very far. Jake couldn’t turn up any of Vincent’s friends, any previous records, nothing. His car was at his house, so either he was out of town as Julia had suggested or he was home. They had a patrol on him for the evening shift. As soon as Jake’s shift ended, he clocked out and headed over to Ryan’s house, hoping to catch his brother and talk to him about the whole Vincent Nye mess.

He texted Julia first.

Jake
:
Everything okay?

Julia
:
We’re fine. The officer stopped by a few times.

Jake
:
I’m going over to Ryan’s for something. Tell Lorraine I’ll be late.

Julia
:
Lorraine said they’re eating late because your dad is over at Gramps’ house.

Jake
:
Okay, see you soon
.

Julia
:
Please be careful.

He pulled into Ryan’s driveway, shoved a preemptive toothpick in his mouth as he got out of the car, and rang the door bell. Lucky, their chocolate lab, started barking and didn’t stop until Cait opened the door. Then Lucky ran up to him, jumping up and down in the excitement of seeing someone she knew.

Ryan reached down and petted the puppy. Lucky hadn’t had the best start in the world, but Cait had saved her and changed her life…just as she’d done for Ryan. “Cait, is Ryan around?”

“He’s been back and forth fishing all day. I think he just left again in the rowboat, Jake. Why? Something wrong?”

“Yeah, I really need to talk to him about something. Does he have his phone with him?”

“Yes, go ahead and text him.”

Jake:
How long until you’re back?

Ryan:
Not for a while yet.

Jake:
I really need to talk to you about something.

Ryan:
Can’t it wait?

Jake:
No, it can’t.

Ryan:
I’ll be back in a couple of hours.

Jake shut his phone off, muttering curses to himself. What the hell was wrong with his brother? He never used to ignore him before. Shit. He’d just have to go out after him. “Cait, do you know where he is?”

“Yes, I know his two favorite spots. You want to take the motor boat and go see him yourself?” She puttered around in the kitchen, straightening things up, before feeding Lucky.

“Yeah, do you mind?”

“No, not at all. Why don’t I go with you? I’m up for a boat ride. It’s not more than five minutes away.” Cait grabbed a light sweater and they headed out the door.

Jake helped Cait onto the boat, then started the engine up and pulled away from the dock. It seemed to take forever to get to Ryan’s spot, but the delay gave him time to think about exactly what he would say. Lately, he was always unsure of himself when he approached his brother, but right now he needed him. Ryan had a much more analytical mind than he did.

Ryan was right where Cait thought he’d be. Jake killed the engine and pulled up next to him.

“What the hell, Jake. It couldn’t wait?” said Ryan, irritated already.

What was his problem? Did he really hold him in such disdain? “No, I need your help. Vincent Nye is threatening to hurt Lucia and come after me if Julia doesn’t get back together with him. I’m not sure how to handle this.”

Cait gasped. “Oh, Ryan, you have to help him.”

Ryan glowered at his brother. “Fine. I’ll be right in.”

Jake didn’t like his attitude. His own brother had almost refused to help him. He got back in the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. “Ryan, you’re an asshole,” he shouted over the din of the engine. The only thing he heard was Ryan shouting at him.

“Don’t you hurt my wife! Damn it all to hell, Jake! Leave Cait out of this.”

Jake looked over his shoulder, and when he saw Cait sitting on the bottom of the boat, he realized she must have gotten bounced down there when he gunned the engine. She seemed fine, though, and he could tell she wasn’t going anywhere so he gunned the engine a little more.

He flew across the water, slamming the bottom of the boat up and down on the surface of the lake, narrowly missing a buoy. Another glance over his shoulder told him Ryan was following, though he was way behind him now since he was rowing. Cait looked like she was hanging onto the railing for dear life, and it was only the expression on her face that forced him to slow down. What the hell was he doing?

Realizing they were almost back to the dock, Jake threw the engine into neutral, allowing the wake to bring them in.

Cait stared at him in shock, still unable to speak.

Shit. He hadn’t meant to take his anger out on Cait. He reached for her. “Cait, I’m so sorry. Let me help you up. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was just so mad at Ryan.”

Once they docked, he helped her out. “Are you all right? I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I’m fine, Jake. I know you’re worried about Julia. Go and do what you need to do. I’ll deal with Ryan. He’ll get over it once he sees I’m fine. And I’m sorry he wasn’t more gracious. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Go.”

Jake chomped down on a toothpick and glanced over his shoulder, Ryan rowing for all he was worth, bellowing threats. He might as well get the hell out of there before he arrived, let him cool down a bit before they came face-to-face. He had work to do, and after all, Ryan had made it pretty clear he didn’t really
want
to help him, so why bother? Once he was certain Cait was all right, he ran back up the small hill and
jumped into his car, then slammed the door and backed out of the driveway, flooring it. What the hell? Ryan was right. He shouldn’t have let his anger singe Caitlyn of all people. He loved Cait as a sister.

As he headed down the street, Ryan’s car pulled out not far behind him. This probably wasn’t going to go down well. He and Ryan would probably come to blows. Ryan had every right to come after him. He’d be pissed if Ryan had done the same with Julia. Hell, he just didn’t have time for this.

He decided he might as well get the confrontation over, so pulled into Gramps’ driveway. As luck would have it his father was there as well. Better to have it out here than in front of his stepmother, the rest of his family, and Julia and Lucia.

Jake threw his toothpick into the weeds when he got out of the car, then headed toward the door just as his father came outside. “What’s going on, Jake?”

Ryan pulled in behind him, slammed his car door, and moved as fast as his prosthesis would allow him.

“Three? What’s the problem?” their dad yelled.

“The problem? I’ll tell you what the problem is. My stupid ass brother just risked my wife’s life because he was pissed at me.”

Jake turned around to face him, his arms outstretched at his sides. He was tired of his brother’s antics. “Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it?”

“I don’t give a shit if you want to kill yourself, Jake, but stay the hell away from my wife.” Ryan hissed through clenched teeth. Then he shoved Jake hard in the chest.

The anger that had simmered between them for years was finally coming to a boil.