Page 108 of The Reluctant Siren
“Are you doing okay?” Ben was in a T-shirt and jeans andsneakers, casual to his twin’s chic.
“Where’s Harlow?” Jensen asked, ignoring the question.
A brow rose over Chase’s eyes. “She’s with her mom. I’mfairly certain at this point her sister and Ruby and Gigi have joined them. Ithink they were opening a bottle of wine when I left. She had a rough day.”
“She spent some time talking to the cops. They werepractically high-fiving her,” Ben admitted. “We managed to get to the stationabout halfway through her interview.”
Jensen’s eyes were steady on Chase. “Is she safe? They lether go?”
“From being prosecuted for taking out Hamilton?” Chase wavedthat off. “Like I said we have contacts, too. And obviously they let her go.How else would she be with her mom? I assure you they’re not opening wine downat the station.”
Ben sighed. “Give the kid a break. He had a rough day. Theysaid that taser they used on him was amped up beyond anything they’ve seen. Thecops were worried about his heart function after all that electricity.”
“They should be more worried about his brain.” Chase took upa place at the end of Jensen’s bed, looking him over like he was a subject tostudy. “You know if it had been Harlow, she could have taken it. She knows whata taser feels like. I didn’t do it. It’s precisely why I let her train with BigTag. I couldn’t tase my baby girl any more than I could send assassins outafter her.”
“What?” Niall stood.
Chase waved him off. “They weren’t real, but she would haveflunked the course if she’d gotten tagged. Huh, tagged by Tag. That’s what heshould call it. Anyway, I hoped Big Tag would scare the shit out of her and shewould go back to college and get her master’s in history or something and besafe.”
“She was never going back. She didn’t love getting herundergrad,” Ben pointed out. “You can’t treat her like Greer.”
“I know that. Now. She took to that training like a duck towater. A violent, aggressive, perfectly competent at taking out the bad guysduck,” Chase said with a sigh. “I have to deal with it. Anyway, don’t worryabout Harlow. She’ll be fine. Jasper got off with a warning from the FAA. Ithink that was because they sent out a young woman who he took to lunch andprobably is in bed with now. Youth. That kid should be happy he didn’t killanyone today.”
“He’s a handful,” Ben agreed. “I’m glad we only had girls.So much more reasonable.”
Chase snorted.
Niall stood, done with the brothers’ banter. “But Harlow didkill someone, and she’s not unaffected by it. I want to talk to her.”
One of Chase’s big shoulders shrugged. “Then you should callher.”
“You know she’s not answering her phone,” Niall replied.
Ben sent him a sympathetic look. “I think she needs sometime.”
“Like years,” Chase added.
Niall shook his head. “If I give her time, I’ll lose her.”
Chase frowned and gestured to Jensen. “I don’t think she’staking him back. Are you planning on dumping your best friend for a girl you’veknown for a couple of months?”
“If I have to,” Niall said.
“Yes,” Jensen said at the same time.
“Well, isn’t that interesting.” Chase looked at his twin.“You were right. He’s going to martyr himself, and the other one is going to betoo timid.”
Niall knew which one he was. “I’m not timid. I thought wewere solid, Harlow and I. We said I love you even after this asshole dumpedus.”
“I didn’t dump you,” Jensen said with some fire back in histone. He’d been lifeless for hours, dull and without any of the bravado he’dcome to expect from his friend. “I was protecting you.”
“You say potato he says abandonment,” Chase snarked. “It allboils down to the same thing. Asshole here has decided twice to protect mydaughter by leaving her behind to clean up all of his messes.”
“Hey, I thought we were being gentle about this,” Bencomplained.
“I am,” Chase affirmed. “I left my gun at home. That’s mebeing gentle.”
“I didn’t mean for her to clean up my mess. I meant to dothat myself.” Jensen sounded stronger. “I meant to clean it up so she didn’thave to be touched by it. I was going to give Jack what I had on Hamilton andoffer to testify.”
