Page 55 of Liar Byrd
At the doorway, I peek over my shoulder. Nash and Vonn are standing outside the car, frowning.
Both are watching me.
Chapter 19
Nash
Vonn waits until the front door closes behind her. “We need to talk about Jessica, Nash.”
I slam the passenger door shut and meet Vonn’s gaze. “You went into town.”
I’d been heading out for a walk in the garden when I heard Vonn’s truck pulling up to the house.
Jessica’s pale face had drawn me closer when I’d told myself to keep my distance. I’d scared her the first time I met her, and I didn’t want to scare her again.
Seeing her in Vonn’s truck had been unexpected. Then I heard him tell Nance that he’d startled Jessica, and I knew something else had happened. Vonn rarely lies. Makhi is blunt, painfully so, but Vonn would rather stay silent than tell the truth if he knows it will hurt someone.
And the way Jessica had collapsed as if her legs couldn’t support her had solidified that whatever had happened in town had been no accident.
She needs a hero. I saw it in her eyes the moment I met her. Between her skittishness and the fading bruises on her wrists, I knew Vonn would do everything to protect her. That’s who he is,even if he believes the things he has had to do have made him into a monster.
I lead the way into the office and lean against the wall just inside. I struggle to see it as mine. It was my dad’s, but I’ll always view it as a place I went to receive punishment, no matter how many times I might sit behind the desk.
“You know not to go into town on your own,” I tell Vonn.
“Couldn’t be helped.” Vonn closes the door and drops into the same seat where he laughed until he cried after Jessica dumped a glass of water in Makhi’s lap.
One act, and she stirred Makhi’s curiosity. It’s not always a good thing for a person to do—for him or them—and Vonn’s protective instincts. Mine too, but I can’t even protect myself. How can I protect someone else?
“Did the sheriff see you?”
He shakes his head and scratches his beard. My eyes move over his tattoos. He’s lost a lot—fighting in wars, in Austin, where he’s from: people, a home, and himself. The tattoos are a reminder of those things. A way for those people and places to stay alive within him.
If I stamped myself with all the things I lost, I’d be covered in tattoos, but there’s only one thing I want to remember, and it hurts too much to have a permanent reminder etched on my skin.
“Didn’t get out of my car. Well, not until our new maid dropped the groceries, bolted, and nearly got herself flattened.”
“We agreed to stay at the house until we figure out how to fix this mess before it blows up in our faces.”
He raises his eyebrow at that, and I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my mouth. “I know. What happened?”
“Something about going into town scared her. I had to know what it was.”
“And?”
He pulls his gun from the back of his pants and lays it flat on the desk, eyes on me. “Let’s just say it was a good thing I did.”
I cock my head. “Trouble?”
“Someone was looking for her.”
“Who?”
He shrugs. “Didn’t see the guy’s face. Don’t think she did either, but she reacted like she knew exactly who it was. She won’t tell us, so don’t ask.” His eyes warn me to stay silent. I don’t need a warning because I knew she was in trouble the second she walked through my front door. I just hadn’t expected the trouble to find her in a town most people are desperate to leave.
Vonn continues, “She was going to run before. Pushing will do the job and then some.”
“I wasn’t going to ask. She can keep her secrets.” As long as she doesn’t dig into any of ours. “What happened to the guy?”
