Page 7 of Jasper

She took the coat from him and smiled. “Thank you, Jasper.”

“First thing we have to do is stop in town and get you a coat. Won’t do to have you freezing to death on my watch.”

“It’s not your watch, soldier.”

Something pierced Jasper’s heart when she said that. He hardly ever spoke of his time in the Marines. Probably because he was on the front lines shooting people more than helping them. But hearing Sloane call him ‘soldier,’ even though it was technically incorrect—soldiers were Army—it reminded him he had done good. He’d protected whole villages from insurgents. Yes, he’d killed people, but he’d done it keep others safe. He’d saved lives. Somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten that.

Maybe that was part of his problem. His job was to protect people, and the killing had worn him down mentally. Sure, he didn’t do that anymore, but all the deaths he’d been responsible for weighed on him. Viktor would tell him to get his ass to therapy, but Jasper didn’t want to have to talk about those moments, to relive them. A shrink would force that out of him, and he wasn’t ready to do that. He might not ever be.

“Hey, you still here?” Sloane nudged him, and he blinked. Wow, he hadn’t zoned out like that since junior high school. If he could get that lost in his thoughts, he definitely needed the time off.

“Sorry. My mind’s a thousand miles away.” He picked up the bags and boarded the shuttle that had pulled up. “Let’s hope my friend had his truck dropped off like he was supposed to.”

“You said he was away?” Sloane asked as she sat beside him.

Jasper nodded. “He’s deployed right now. Told him I’d keep an eye on the place.”

“That was nice of you.”

He shrugged. “I needed a place to stay for a while, and he needed to save some money. Worked out for both of us.”

Despite Jasper’s nonchalance about helping out his friend, Sloane knew better. He could have taken his friend up on the offer of a place to stay and let him keep paying whoever for looking after the animals. Not everyone would offer to do it. It gave her a glimpse into his true character. He might act all flirty and full of himself, but deep down, he had a strong sense of duty, even if that duty was saving his friend a few dollars.

It made her decision to trust him a little easier.

But that devil on her shoulder kept whispering he could just be telling her a load of crap to whisk her off somewhere to indulge in his serial killer tendencies. Seeing a man being butchered and dumped brought out the paranoid side of her. Plus, she’d bingedDexterlast week on Netflix, and that wasn’t helping her paranoia either. Served her right for letting Jarrod talk her into watching the “coolest” show ever, in his opinion.

Well, it was cool. Mostly. The last few seasons went off the rails.

But no more thinking of that. She needed to keep her mind off homicidal maniacs. Zen. That was what she needed to practice. She would be Zen, and all would be right with the world.

Until the killers showed up on her front porch with guns and axes.

“Hey, you okay?” Jasper bumped his shoulder into hers.

“I’m fine.” Sloane grabbed hold of the pole when the bus lurched forward. She’d forgotten how unsteady these things could be. They could throw you off the seat if you weren’t careful. Why they didn’t have regular seats instead of these benches was ridiculous. At least add seatbelts if the drivers were going to toss you around at every curve or bump in the road. “Just wondering who my roommate is going to be.”

“Roommate?”

“My cousin has someone staying at his place. Said I’d have to be willing to share.”

“He wants you to stay with a stranger?”

“Well, he’s not a stranger to him, and Jarrod swears he’s a good guy.”

“Jarrod?”

“My cousin,” Sloane explained and tilted her head to look up at him. He had the funniest expression on his face, somewhere between shock and trepidation.

“Jarrod McDaniels?”

“Yeah…” Her voice trailed off with realization. It couldn’t be. “You’re his friend, aren’t you?”

He nodded, some of the shock disappearing. “He never told me you’d be coming.”

“He was supposed to call you this morning.”

“My phone broke. I need to pick up a new one once we get to town.”

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