Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(23)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“They want to…use me against him?”

He nodded. “Looks that way.” The words were stilted. I’m using you.

“Cale’s done something…bad.”

Serious understatement. She sounded almost like a lost child, but maybe that was the point. She saw Cale as the big, protective older brother. Perfect. Strong.

Now she was starting to wonder about his flaws.

“Think about this,” he urged her. “What would someone want to find in that house? Did Cale keep anything special there? You said you went through his computer before.”

“His computer wasn’t touched.”

How was she so sure?

“I, um, put a special security system on it. Trust me on this, no one will be getting past that.”

If not the computer, then what would Cale have? Why suddenly get so desperate to find it? If the watcher had been eyeing the house for months, then the guy could have broken in anytime.

But he’d chosen that specific day. Chosen a time hours after Reed Montgomery was killed.

“Veronica!”

She turned at the sheriff’s call. He hurried down the front steps, a worried frown pulling his brows low. “Veronica, those feds just called me. They’re sending a team out here.” He gave her a fierce stare. “I don’t know how long it will take them to sweep for prints, but I just… I don’t think you should be staying out here by yourself. Not with these murders going on.”

Murders that were shattering the peace of Whiskey Ridge.

“There’s only one motel in town,” she said, lips curving in a smile that was sad. “If I leave my house, don’t you think anyone watching me would realize exactly where I’d gone?”

“You can stay with me,” Wyatt offered at once.

Jasper stiffened. He didn’t like the way he’d caught the sheriff staring at Veronica. A guy knew lust when he saw it. The sheriff wasn’t about to get cozy with Veronica.

Jasper knew the jealousy for exactly what it was. Stay away from her. He glared the message at the sheriff.

Only the sheriff wasn’t looking at him. His total focus was on Veronica. “You don’t need to be alone,” Wyatt continued, and that was when Jasper realized that the sheriff’s voice was a little too intense. Emotions hummed beneath the surface. “You shouldn’t be alone. I can—”

“She’s not alone,” Jasper growled. Then, when Wyatt glanced over at him, Jasper offered the sheriff a tiger’s smile. “I’m standing right here.”

The sheriff narrowed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was clipped now. Not filled with warm emotion. Biting with fury. “I did some checking on you. Sure, you got bureau friends, but I know about you.”

No, the sheriff knew what his fake bio said. The bio that Sydney had put in place for him.

“You’ve been to every hellhole on earth, and you left a trail of bullets and bodies behind you.”

“I was following orders,” Jasper said, his own anger rousing. The guy was trying to attack him? Trying to make Veronica doubt him? “Sometimes orders aren’t pretty.”

“Yes, but that was when you were in the military. Years ago. You’ve been in bar fights, brawls. You’ve—”

He wanted to get in a good, hard fight right now with the sheriff.

“—got connections with some shady characters who have spent most of their lives in jail.” The sheriff turned his gaze back to Veronica. “I don’t think you should trust him. You know me. I can help you.”

Damn it. The last thing he needed was this guy trying to play white knight.

Or trying to get in Veronica’s bed.

Back off, Wyatt. Back. Off. Jasper’s hands clenched into fists.

Veronica cast a fast glance at Jasper, then turned back to the sheriff. “When I needed help, Jasper was the first person to listen to me. The first to agree that he’d try and find Cale.” Veronica shook her head. “I begged you for months, Wyatt, but you wouldn’t even fill out a missing person’s report.”

“Because Cale was supposed to be on a mission—”

“I trust Jasper.”

Damn straight. He flashed another hard smile at the sheriff.

Wyatt’s glittering gaze met his. “I don’t. Check your timeline, Ronnie. He comes to town, and folks start dying. He comes to town, and your place gets trashed.”

“I was with him then.”

“Maybe he has a partner. Maybe he has—”

The sheriff was accusing him? Jasper stepped forward. “Get some facts to back up any accusations you’re making.”

Veronica pushed between the men. “Calm down, both of you.” Her breath expelled in a rush. “Wyatt, Jasper may have shady friends, but so do you. So does Cale. I’ve seen them. Heck, I told you that I’d been going through old photos of his and just the pictures of some of those guys intimidated me.” Guys like Reed Montgomery. She paused, then said, “He may have some dangerous friends, but Jasper also has some friends who are coming in very handy.” She tilted her head and studied the sheriff. “If he was involved in this, would he be pulling in the feds? Jasper is helping us, getting more done than—”

You.

She didn’t finish her sentence. Maybe she didn’t have to.

Veronica touched the sheriff’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I trust Jasper.”

“What if you’re making a mistake?” Wyatt asked her, voice raw.

“I don’t know.” She didn’t look at Jasper when she whispered this confession.

Jasper put his arm around Veronica’s shoulder. He pulled her against his side. The woman seemed to fit him so well. “I’m going to stay with her. I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“You’d better not.” With that snarl, Wyatt turned away and marched back into the house.

Veronica watched him go.

Jasper wanted to ask her about the sheriff. About the possessive gaze he had swept over her. But now her eyes were on him, and for a second, he didn’t say anything at all.

“I have to do something,” she said. “I can’t just stay here and watch some crime techs go through all my things.”

And she couldn’t search through the house to see what had been taken, not until Logan’s crew arrived. He blew out a slow breath. “Let’s search the rest of the property.” Well, the north end, for now. “Any buildings or places where someone can hole up for a while.” Rain was coming, so they were working against the clock, or rather, the weather. Jasper wanted to get out there and see if there were any fresh tracks before the rain washed those tracks away. But, judging by the gathering clouds, there wasn’t gonna be much time.