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Drew and Eli set me on my feet. I booted a heavy kick aimed at his kidney and spat on him. They led me to the edge of the crowd as two deputies cuffed Chris and wrestled him into a squad car while muttering a list of his rights. I straightened my shirtsleeves and tried to look the picture of an upstanding citizen who stopped a crime, not a vigilante who wanted to feed that fucker his own teeth.
I cut my eyes to Jasmine, who was still on her feet but swayed a little under the strain. I wanted to scream at the cops to get her a goddamn chair and a blanket or take her inside to sit down. It was barbaric to force a crime victim to stand around in the cold while she gave a statement. Jake had draped his coat around her and held her tight against his side, supporting her.
A muscle in his jaw pulsed and anyone with sense would take one look at the tightness around his mouth and know he was ready to make someone bleed over this clusterfuck. I hoped for the cop’s sake that he was being polite to Jasmine. Otherwise, I’d be rounding up cash bail for my big brother.
The guy who questioned me wasn’t too concerned about my involvement since the alleged stalker was mostly in one piece and could stagger to the squad car on his own.
“Jasmine is a close family friend,” I said smoothly, “we’re on a long weekend, checking out the slopes here.”
I was trying to put our new friend Sgt. Cooper at ease and assure him I meant no harm but was looking out for my dear friend who was practically family to us. I didn’t want to risk describing Jasmine as frightened or outmatched by her ex while she was in earshot. If she heard me there was a fifty-fifty chance she’d come over and beat my ass, which wouldn’t play well in a court of law when it came to casting her as the victim. I was so damn proud of her, but I wanted the legal part settled quickly and cleanly.
“When my brother knocked on her room in the cabin,” I said, making it seem like she had her own bedroom, “she was nowhere to be found. We looked for her, and when I spotted her on my way to inform the resort security about the situation, he already had a hold of her and looked to be dragging her away from the entrance. I saw her toss whatever was in her food box at him to get away and I just went for it, ran him down and punched him. Unfortunately, the law enforcement in Virginia didn’t take the matter as seriously as your department does. We brought her here to get away from the hell he’s put her through, but he found her. I’m just glad you were able to apprehend him before anyone was seriously hurt,” I said with as much sincerity as I could fake.
“Glad to be of service. And I hope you won’t let this bad experience stop you from coming back to the resort again soon,” he said.
“We won’t hold it against the community or the resort,” I assured him. “Let us know if you have any more questions.”
“I think we’ve got what we need. Hope you can enjoy the rest of your stay.”
“Thank you,” I said with a solemn nod.
After he walked off, Drew elbowed me, “How’s your hand?”
“It’s ok. I’ll ice it in a few minutes. Right now I just want what you want—to get her out of here and back to the cabin.”
“Exactly,” Drew said.
Jasmine was wrapped in Jake’s coat, Eli and Jake both huddled around her like the offensive line protecting the quarterback. She saw me coming toward them and broke away to run into my arms. I caught her and lifted her off her feet. Then I set her down and held her to my chest, palmed the back of her head and just breathed her in.
“Thank God,” I muttered against her hair. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’m shaken up, but I’m safe. How are you? Did you break your hand punching him?” she asked, concerned.
“No way. But they’ll have to wire his jaw down at the county hospital,” I said kind of proudly. She grinned at me.
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. That shit hurts—I had mine wired once. Because of him. My teeth still don’t hit right in back after he screwed up my jaw,” she said.
“Are you kidding me?” I said, white rage sweeping away my relief. “What all haven’t you told us? I know it’s not something you like to talk about, but I think after today—”
“I should’ve told you all before now, but I’m just ashamed of how bad I let it get.”
“You didn’t let it get bad. He made it bad, and you survived against all odds. You should be proud as hell of who you are and what you’ve overcome, Jas.”
“Thanks for punching him,” she said a little sheepishly.
“Thanks for shoving his nuts up his ass with that knee of yours. Pretty badass,” I said.
“Yeah, don’t you forget it,” she said.
27
ELI
As thrilled as I’d been to provide my family with the luxurious vacation, I was glad as hell to see that place in the rearview mirror. I flew us home the next day. Everyone was eager to get back to the office and the reassuring predictability of that routine.
Jasmine slipped almost seamlessly back into her role as office manager and assistant. She managed the phones and scheduling, ordered supplies, joked with the bookkeeper, and taught one of the newly promoted full-timers how to sweet talk Ty into fixing the printer. If it weren’t for the way she held her shoulders up too high, the fact she wasn’t humming and singing under her breath all the time anymore, and the tightness around her mouth and between her brows—you’d think she was just fine.
She didn’t even want barbecue when we ordered it in for lunch one day. She insisted she wasn’t hungry, that she’d just had a granola bar earlier. Then she said it smelled weird and didn’t want to stay in the conference room while we ate it. This was the same woman who put away two pulled pork sandwiches, a mountain of chips and pickles and some slaw the last time we had it for lunch and stole a couple bites off Drew’s sandwich when he wasn’t looking.
