Till There Was You (7 page)

“I’m going to need the surveillance footage from last night. One of the guys wants to press charges.”

Her brow furrowed. “Against Linc?”

“And the bar.”

A loud, “Fuck off,” tore from Lily’s throat before she knew it. Matt barely reacted to her outburst. “Make it go away, Matt.”

“I’ll do my best, but I still have to follow procedure. Can you let me come in?”

With her jaw set tight, she waved him in and slammed the door in frustration. “What’s the point in having a brother as the sergeant in town if he can’t stop dropkicks from pressing bogus charges?”

“Lil, despite being your brother, I still have to follow the rules. To be honest, I can’t see these charges becoming anything more than a bit of hot air blowing, but a complaint was made and it’s my job to look into it.”

“Fine. Just...wait here. I’m too annoyed to have you in my space at the moment.”

Lifting his hands up in surrender, Matt strolled over to chat with Bec while he waited for Lily to get him a copy of the footage.

Lily was furious as she walked into the back office, muttering about pressing charges herself as she located the right camera and time. When she hit play, small butterflies flitted through her stomach. Her eyes were glued to the screen as she watched the situation unfold instead of being a part of it. She saw the guys starting to harass Bec, then their attention shifting to her, and finally, Linc interceding and dealing with all four drunks with practiced ease. Surely there was nothing there that could lead to charges. If anything, it seemed she and Linc had more of a case against those four.

Lily loaded a blank DVD and clicked the icon to begin the copying process as she sat back and thought about Linc while she waited. The night before could have turned into a horrific memory if it weren’t for his swift intervention. A shiver ran down her spine as she thanked the gods above that those men didn’t get to force her into submitting to their revolting requests. The idea made her sick to her stomach.

It was strange. She’d always been so insistent that she could handle herself. There wasn’t a person in town who would mess with her and she’d earned that respect by being tough and standing up straight in the eye of danger. But last night was the first night she’d ever pleaded for help. She was genuinely afraid at the time, and now she was eternally grateful—even if he was a stubborn, pigheaded fool.

The sound of the disc ejecting startled Lily from her thoughts. Grabbing the DVD and quickly finding an empty sleeve, she slipped it in and walked out to where Matt and Bec were speaking in low tones, now seated at the bar.

Declining the stool Matt pulled out for her, she slammed the disc on the counter, keeping her hand over it as he reached for it. “Trust your big brother, little sister. I’ll sort this out,” he promised.

“Make sure you sort it out for Linc, too. He was helping and doesn’t deserve any sort of heat from this.”

“I get it,” he said, sliding the disc from beneath her hand as he stood to leave. “Bec was telling me more about what happened, and I get it—those assholes deserved it.”

“Then perhaps you should threaten to charge them.”

He held up the disc and gave her a reassuring smile. “This will hopefully be the proof we need to do just that.”

“Good,” Bec piped in. “Those guys should get their dicks and balls cut off after the way they behaved.”

Looking at each other, Lily and Matt couldn’t help but laugh at Bec’s outburst. She was rarely one for foul language.

“All ball slicing aside, I’m not going to let anything threaten you, or this place. I swore to Mom and Dad I’d always look out for you and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

“Thanks,” Lily said as she hugged him, knowing in her heart he had her best interests in his. “I suppose I should apologize for yelling at you.”

“Don’t start being nice to me now, Lil,” he joked, returning the hug. “You’ll freak me out.”

“Very funny,” Lily said as she walked him out the door, feeling guilty for the way she treated him when he was just doing his job.

When he was gone, Lily looked around the bar and told Bec to head home. They’d made it as presentable as they could before they opened again that night. There wasn’t much more they could do.

Once alone, Lily went back into the office to finish some paperwork, but instead found herself spinning in slow circles in the office chair, lost in thought as she gazed at the frozen image of Linc on the screen. There was definitely no denying it—he fascinated her.

L
inc regretted leaving Lily standing outside the vet almost as soon as he rounded that first corner, even slowing his pace slightly as he thought about the young woman, who was surely cursing his name. She’d been kind to him. It was something people in Newsham had stopped trying to do within the first couple months he had been there. He’d made it clear he wasn’t there to make friends, and most of the townsfolk had sensed that in his disposition and learned to leave him be. But he’d seen her—he’d felt her watching him through the window of her bar and when he passed her in the street. He didn’t know whether she was curious or just enjoyed watching train wrecks, but he’d always known when she was there because of those little hairs on the back of his neck standing up to attention in response to her gaze.

She was beautiful. He’d have to be blind not to see that. But he’d gone to great lengths to make sure he never made eye contact, never engaged in a conversation, or even so much as smiled in her direction. He didn’t want friends. He didn’t want anyone. And until that morning, he’d been telling himself he didn’t even want his dog.

Memories of snarling and yelping echoed through his ears, causing his mind to flash red until the sound of something cracking forced him to stumble forward and back into his reality. Only reflexes drilled into him from years in the military saved him from falling on the icy road. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen him stumble and almost go down to one knee, but twist sideways in a tight, controlled spin to regain his footing then continue his run as if nothing had happened. It was only a few paces later that Linc felt the tightness creep into his back from the sudden spin, some of his old injuries flaring up in protest—nothing a long soak in a hot bath could not fix.

Grateful to use the pain as a distraction from his thoughts, Linc pushed through it, settling into a steady rhythm as he passed the sign welcoming people into town and headed toward the now empty place where he had been doing little more than existing since the moment he arrived.

Ruth Plowman had graciously offered her cabin for him to use, telling him the quiet would help him find himself again—help him recover. It had done nothing of the sort. Instead, he had retreated further into himself, preferring the company of nature to the trivial musings of actual people, but something in his gut told him his solitary life might be interrupted more often in the near future. Between a certain sergeant and his sister, he’d just experienced his noisiest twenty-four hours in a long time. They seemed close, and both incredibly stubborn.

He thought about the way Lily was so ready to fight those men in the bar the night before, and the way she’d stormed into the police station acting as if she owned the joint. Then, again, when she demanded he let her help him fix his lip, drive him home, and drive him to the vet. She was like a one-woman snowstorm that had raged into his life and stirred things up. The more he thought of her, the more the stirrings continued at the back of his mind, reminding him of someone else who was stubborn and never let him get his own way.

Shaking his head free of the images, he tried to distract himself from where his thoughts had been taking him by thinking of a name for his dog. Should he name him Rover, or Butch, or Lucky—Charlie, Bear? He couldn’t decide. By the time he reached the front gate, Linc had failed to come up with a single name he liked or felt fit his dog. He wanted something meaningful—something that spoke of the lifeline that dog had been to him. It felt like a huge responsibility, and he was glad he still had time before a final decision needed to be made.

As he made his way inside, the sudden change in temperature caused sweat to bead across his forehead. He stripped off most of the bulky clothing and ran the bath, filling the oversized tub with hot water and a muscle soak. 

Linc lowered himself into the steamy concoction, giving his sore body a chance to relax. After the hit from the Taser and the near slip on the run back, his muscles were aching knots of tension that begged for the heat to permeate them. He let out a content sigh as the welcome heat began to relax his body. If only his mind would follow suit. He kept his thoughts clear of complication and focused on his dog while hoping everything would work out. That led him to think about the wolf. He knew he would have to hunt it down now that it had attacked this close to town and gotten away with it. If it survived those rock hits, it could become bolder and venture closer to the general population. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Needing to take action, Linc stepped from the tub as steam curled from his heated skin. He grabbed a towel to dry off before the cool air could cause small goose bumps to bloom to life. Pulling out a set of snow fatigues, he dressed quickly and efficiently with only one thing on his mind: search for the wolf. It had hurt something precious to him and he was very protective of things dear to him. The wolf would pay for hurting his dog.

After he finished dressing, Linc moved toward the back door feeling strangely comfortable to be back in his old fatigues as he laced up his boots. He did a quick double check to make sure he had everything he needed before going outside to grab the ax from where he usually chopped wood. Running his thumb over the edge, he felt satisfied with the blade he always kept razor sharp—so sharp, he could have shaved with it if he were not growing a lumberjack beard.

Linc set off in the direction he had last seen the wolf, finding a faint trail of red dots that confirmed he was on the right track. The further Linc followed the trail of blood, the more his anger rose. He had lost so much over the last year and was not prepared to lose something else.

Not long after, Linc came upon the site where the two canines had fought. The blood from his dog was still bright on the snow like some sick version of a raspberry Slurpee. Rage welled up inside him as he replayed the scene in his mind, reheard the snap of bone and whimper of pain from his dog.

Walking around the area, Linc studied the ground, searching for the tracks of the retreating wolf. Finally picking up the trail, he set off in pursuit, keeping low while trying to make little sound.

It was slow going at first, but his search brought him to the crest of a hill, and it was there Linc finally caught up to his prey.

Taking a moment to study the wolf, he noticed a slight limp in its stride from where he’d hit it earlier. Linc moved quietly, making sure to stay upwind. He tried to get closer without alerting the beast, preparing the razor sharp ax to exact his revenge.

The moment he got even remotely close, the wolf seemed to sense him. Lowering its body and baring its fangs, the wolf prepared to defend itself as it turned to face him. It looked sickly, it’s fur matted and skin taught against its sides as it snarled and stalked toward him.

He brought the ax up over his right shoulder, ready to swing down if the wolf were to pounce unexpectedly. Growling, it lowered its body further, closing the distance between them, saliva dripping off its teeth. Linc’s heart thudded against his chest as his focus honed in on the wolf. This always happened when he was in danger and had to fight. It was as if he entered into some sort of trance where he could do whatever it took to remove the clear and present danger and remain unharmed. He could calculate his moves and react as if the world was in slow motion, even though everything was moving rather fast.

As the wolf continued to close in, Linc went through his options and decided to use the ax to fend it off while he reached for the knife strapped to his right hip. The moment his hand closed over the bone handle, the wolf surged ahead, coming low and fast. Shifting backwards, Linc slid on the treacherous terrain, causing him to stumble sideways, just avoiding the wolf’s snapping jaws. He had to abandon the ax to prop himself up and moved just in time to see the snarling wolf turn and leap again, this time aiming straight for his face.

On reflex, Linc thrust his left forearm into its jaws as his right hand darted forward and under, plunging the knife into the wolf’s neck before dragging it in a sawing motion toward its throat.

With the lethal wound pouring hot crimson blood over his hands and chest, Linc knew it would be over in a few moments. With a heavy heart, he watched the light fade from the wolf’s eyes as it went limp on top of him.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” Linc whispered as he rolled the heavy body off him and tried to steady his breathing. Adrenaline still surged through his own blood after the narrow escape.

Sitting with his legs bent in the snow, Linc let his body relax while he looked around the small depression in the woods—at trees, the sky, at anything that was not the blood stained snow or the lifeless body next to him.