Page 8 of Run to Ground
Norman shifted ever so slightly, his body tensing as the mild mask slipped even more.He knows.Although she tried to tell herself she was being paranoid again, that he was just a harmless, oblivious guy—albeit a strange one—it didn’t work. Her instincts were shouting at her that she and the kids were in danger.
She opened her mouth, still unsure of the best way to reply, when a growly voice interrupted. “What’s going on here?”
Her head whipped around. Theo was standing right next to her, so close that his arm was almost touching hers. This time, however, Theo’s glare wasn’t directed at her. Instead, all of his angry attention was focused on Norman.
“Are you bothering this woman?” Theo demanded, shifting so he was ever so slightly in front of Jules, as if shielding her from harm.
A rush of relief and gratitude hit her. Theo’s take-charge manner was exponentially more attractive when he was defending her.
Norman’s bland expression had returned, which upped Jules’s suspicions even more. A normal person would at least flinch. As she knew from firsthand experience, Theo was hugely intimidating. “Of course not. Jules and I were just getting to know each other.”
With Theo’s back to her, Jules couldn’t see his expression, but there was disbelief in the tight lines of his shoulders.His very broad shoulders.Jules quickly shook the thought out of her head. Now was not the time. In fact, there was never a good time for her to be attracted to a cop.
“Why don’t you just let her do her job, Rounds?” Theo’s voice was even and calm, but there was a menace to him that would’ve left her shaking if it had been directed at her.
Instead of looking worried, Norman seemed almost amused. “Of course. Carry on, Jules. We can talk later.”
“No,” Theo snapped. “No talking later. Just eat your breakfast peacefully and then leave.”
There was a tense silence before Norman said, “Sure.”
After a long moment, Theo turned to face Jules, and she was startled by his proximity. It wasn’t nearly as scary as it had been earlier, when Megan had saved her from him. NowTheohad turned into her hero…and the oddness of that made her smile. Theo’s gaze lowered to her mouth, pausing there for a moment before he abruptly turned and headed back to his booth.
Jules watched him join the other two cops. Looking up, Hugh caught Jules’s gaze. His expression changed before she could get a bead on what he was thinking, and he widened his eyes in an exaggerated pleading expression. “Can we order now? Please? We’re so hungry it’s possible we mightdieif we’re not fed soon.”
Residual relief made her want to laugh. The third cop whose name she didn’t know looked amused, but Theo’s scowl had returned, even more ferocious than before.
“Be right there,” she called, her voice only slightly shaky. Turning back to Norman, she gave him a quick, insincere smile. “I’ll be back in a minute to take your order.” Before he could respond, she darted away toward the counter.
She returned the coffeepot to its warming station and pulled her notebook and pen from her pocket. As she hurried over to take the cops’ orders, she marveled that she was actuallyrelievedto be at Theo’s table when, just five minutes earlier, she’d been anxious to leave it.
Now that she was away from Norman’s odd and probing gaze, Jules began doubting her reaction. He was a strange guy, sure, but it was highly unlikely he was an investigator or that he knew anything about her except that she didn’t sound like she came from Arkansas. She had to keep her guard up, though. In this new life of hers, pretty much anyone could be a threat. She tried not to glance at Norman three booths over as she smiled at the three cops—including her crabby, reluctant hero. “Sorry about the wait. What can I get you?”
It was all a matter of what—or who—was thebiggestthreat.
* * *
“Viggy, here!”
The Belgian Malinois huddled in a forlorn heap on the far side of his kennel. He didn’t even turn his head at the command. As Theo stared at the dog, guilt and grief churning inside him, chewing away at his carefully constructed wall of numbness, he resisted the urge to punch the concrete wall dividing the enclosures.Damn you, Don.
“Can’t really blame him.”
Hands fisting, Theo whirled to face Hugh.
“Just saying,” Hugh continued in his calm voice. “He’s lost Don. It’ll be hard for him to trust that you won’t leave him, too.”
Although Hugh pretended to be talking about Viggy, Theo knew the words were directed toward him, wereabouthim. The well-meant but heavy-handed platitude made Theo want to punch Hugh in the throat. Theo should be used to that urge, since he’d been feeling it pretty much constantly—about everyone with whom he came into contact—for almost two months. Closing his eyes, Theo drew in an audible breath through his nose, grasping for calm. It wasn’t in him anymore, though. There was no serenity, no peace. All he had to offer was guilt and rage and grief and barely leashed violence. He took a second breath, determined to control it.
“I know.” That sounded almost calm, although the way Hugh’s mouth tucked in at one corner showed that his friend knew Theo was faking it. Giving up on convincing Hugh that he wasn’t a raging mess, Theo turned back to the dog.
“Viggy.” There wasn’t even a twitch of an ear. “Here.”
“Calling him isn’t working. You need to go get him, or he’ll just keep ignoring your commands.”
Although Hugh’s tone was even and not judgmental at all, another surge of anger flashed through Theo. He knew too well how Viggy felt, the bone-deep sadness that made it impossible for anything else to matter. If he went and forced Viggy out of his corner, it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t bring Don back. It wouldn’t make Viggy accept that Theo was his partner now.
“No,” he snapped. It sounded harsh, so Theo tried again, attempting to moderate his tone for the second time in as many minutes. “Thanks for the advice, but there’s no point.”
