Page 62 of Meant for Two

She turned to Zane and Jeff. “Seems to me that everything that has happened would hurt your security business more than anyone. And if they’ve seen either of you with me, it might have been a reason for them to come after me. That’s assuming they know that I’ve been staying at the loft. Hurting me might be upsetting to you two,” she said.

“That’s for sure.” Jeff looked over at Zane and did that staring thing he did. “The most likely candidate to want to take us down a notch or two is John Gaines. If he knows we’re seeing you, he might want to discredit us in your eyes.”

“That makes sense,” the sheriff said. “I’ll ask Mason to follow him—assuming my son is free.”

“We’ve already spoken with him.”

“Good,” the sheriff said. “I’ll just give him a call to see where he is on that front.” The sheriff faced her. “I will say that your theory of someone trying to sabotage Jeff and Zane has the most credence at the moment. Gaines doesn’t own an old blue truck by any chance does he?”

Blair couldn’t help but chuckle. “John Gaines would rather go to prison than drive a beat-up truck. No, he buys only the sportiest models.”

“Would you say he’s not the type to get his hands dirty then?” the sheriff asked.

“Normally no, but his finances aren’t the best right now. No telling what he might do when he’s desperate. I’m thinking that what was stolen from the Hensleys would come in handy. As for destroying the model home, he might have realized that the only way I’d come back to work for him would be if my business failed. Having a break-in and destroying one of the model homes might do it.”

“Dad would never let you go,” Jeff said. “Assuming the Development is viable.”

She hoped he was right. “It is also possible that John believes that if he can show me what loser businessmen you two are, I’ll crawl back to him.”

“Hey!” Zane said.

She smiled briefly. “I just meant that John would think that if you lost some business I might think less of you two. That is totally false, but John’s ego is large.”

“I see. Thanks. I'll keep that in mind,” the sheriff said.

“If you’re finished with the ladies, I think we should be going,” Jeff said.

“Good idea,” the sheriff said.

“I believe Adam volunteered my services to follow Avery back to her place, but there is still a lot of work to do," Noah looked at Jeff and Zane. "Can either one of you follow her home? These events don’t seem to be targeted at Avery, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Sure,” Zane said. “I’ll drive her home.”

“Thanks.”

Zane looked over at Jeff who nodded and then turned to Blair. “Are you ready?”

“Do we really have to leave?” she first looked at Jeff and then at the sheriff.

“I would feel better if you do,” the sheriff said. “Don’t worry. I plan to stay close to this model home in case they decide to return.”

“Zane and Jeff put in an alarm system in here so you’ll know if they try to come in,” she told them.

“I know.”

Everyone seemed determined for both her and Avery to leave. “Okay. I’ll grab my things.”

No one said anything as she slipped on her sweater and retrieved her purse from the desk drawer. “What about locking up?” she asked the sheriff.

“I’ll be outside, so go ahead and do what you need to do.”

As soon as all six of them left, she locked the door. Not that locking the door did any good at the Ranchero Model.

“My truck is on the other side of the complex,” Jeff told her. “We’ll need Zane to drop us off over there.”

Once she was seated in Jeff's truck, Blair relaxed. He seemed competent enough to fight several men at once—or had she watched too many action flicks where the hero was able to take down five men at once and not receive a scratch?

Jeff glanced over at her. “Are you hungry?”

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