Page 127 of Fragile Sanctuary

I sent her a scowl and mouthed the wordspanking.

The ringing of a phone cut through the air, and Trace stood, pulling his cell out of his pocket. He frowned down at the screen. “Sorry. Give me a second.”

He disappeared down the hall, but my sixth sense was already tingling.

“Anson,” Nora said, crossing to me. “I’m so happy you could make it.” She didn’t waste a moment, simply pulled me into a hug.

I patted her back awkwardly, not used to the easy affection. “Thanks for having me.”

She smiled warmly as she released me. “You’re welcome any Sunday and whatever other days we manage to get together.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“We’ll just ignore the fact that you rejectedmyoffers for the past year and a half,” Shep goaded.

Rho stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t be jealous that I have the touch.”

Shep shook his head. “Don’t think Anson is interested inmytouch.”

“Jesus,” I muttered. This family was sex obsessed.

“What does that mean?” Keely asked, full of innocence.

Nora gave Shep a glare. “Nothing, baby. Want to come help me finish dinner in the kitchen?”

She nodded easily, following her grandmother out of the fray.

Just as they disappeared, Trace strode back into the living room. I recognized his expression instantly. The hard set of his jaw, the tight grip on his phone. Whoever had been on the other end of the call, and whatever they’d said, it wasn’t good.

Rho saw it, too. “What happened?”

Trace strode toward us, his face warring between pissed off and gentle. “That was the station. We got a call about a dead body.”

Rho sucked in a sharp breath. “Who?”

“I’m sorry, Rho. It was Davis.”

41

RHODES

Anson wrappeda blanket around my shoulders, gently tucking one end beneath the other, making sure I was as warm as possible. But I still shivered. It was the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and was nearly impossible to get out.

Davis. Dead.

The two words were so incongruent. They didn’t fit. I’d seen him two days ago, being a total and complete douchebag. Even with the stunt he’d pulled, I never wanted anything like this.

Anson lowered himself to the spot next to me on the couch and pulled me to him. He didn’t say everything would be okay or give me any other platitudes that felt incredibly false. He just held me.

We didn’t have a lot of information. Davis’s body had been found next to the dumpster behind the bar. The Sagebrush wasn’t a place he typically frequented, but he could’ve been nursing his wounds after Anson’s verbal assault.

“What the hell is happening?” I whispered as I stared out thewindows into the darkness outside. “This is supposed to be a quiet town. Safe. Now the fire, getting run off the road,murder.”

Anson gripped me tighter, practically pulling me on top of him. “When I was digging into Davis, I found some things.”

I stiffened. I hadn’t missed how Anson had pulled Trace aside before we left Nora’s. How he’d spoken in hushed tones. I had to assume it was about this.

“He’s got ties to a loan shark who works out of Portland. If Davis wasn’t paying that guy back, there’s always a chance this was done to set an example.”

---