Page 10 of It Runs in the Family

“She’s our cousin, Garrett, and she’s obviously with someone dangerous. We have to help her.”

“She doesn’t want our help. We’ve gotten her out of tough spots before. Remember a couple of years ago when she was with that guy who kicked her out and threw her crap all over the front yard? Or the guy who got busted for drug possession, and I made sure she didn’t get charged too?” He shook his head, his mouth pinched. “We bail her out and she jumps right back in.” He paused. “In fact, if you were murdered when you were with Selena, then you need to stay far away from her.”

JJ let out a little snore on my shoulder, and he went totally limp in my arms. “Do you mind if I lay him down on your bed?”

“How’d you get roped into watchin’ him anyway?”

“I woke up Rita when I called her lookin’ for Selena. But I would have watched him anyway. She’s sleep-deprived, and we all know how mean she gets when she doesn’t get enough sleep.”

His eyes widened slightly, probably shifting into Deputy Garrett Riggs mode. He seemed to consider something, then nodded and took a drink.

I patted JJ’s butt. “She wouldn’t hurt him, Garrett. She’s just cranky.” Rita had a good heart. She was just stressed. And stuck with an asshole who believed her job was to wait on him hand and foot on top of working thirty-eight hours a week at Walmart.

“If you wanted to really keep him safe, you’d quit your job and take him with you far, far away from here.”

I laughed. “You’re encouraging me to kidnap Rita’s baby?”

“You’d do a hell of a lot better job of raisin’ the poor kid than her and John Jacob.” He took another sip. “But no. As bad as I feel for Quadruple J, I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Quadruple J?” I asked with a giggle. “You gonna call him that in front of his parents?”

He shrugged. “It might be fun to see their reaction.”

“Do me a favor and wait until I’m there so I can see it too.”

“Sure thing,” he said, “Let’s just make sure you’re still alive to see it.”

Chapter Four

JJ only napped for about twenty minutes before he was screaming to eat again.

“Yep,” Garrett said. “He’s John Jacob’s son, all right.”

After he finished his bottle, I burped him then took him home. I was relieved to see Rita’s car was still parked out front. However, when I knocked on the front door, John Jacob greeted me—but not until I knocked for a good thirty seconds and then rang the doorbell repeatedly.

If there were a photo in the dictionary next to the word redneck, odds were it would be John Jacob’s. His hair suggested he didn’t own a comb or a brush. His five o’clock shadow was a few days old, and it didn’t look like the sexy stubble some guys could pull off. His eyes were bloodshot, and his T-shirt with the slogan Everything’s Bigger in Texas, with an arrow pointing to his crotch, was stretched across his beer belly.

Charming.

Rita had herself quite a catch, and fool that she was, she was still trying to convince him to marry her. I’d given up trying to talk sense into her. She was an adult, and I had to accept her choices. Even when I vehemently disagreed with them.

John Jacob opened the door and stared down at the car seat, making a face. “You’re back already.”

“I’ve had your kid for nearly five hours,” I said. “I need to get ready for work.”

“You’ve got a few hours ‘til ya gotta be there,” he said, still standing in the opening.

My temper flared. “John Jacob, this is where you say thank you for your help, Iris, and then you take your kid.”

He held up his hands. “I don’t know shit about taking care of babies.”

“And neither do I, yet I spent five hours takin’ care of your kid, and I did just fine.”

“I ain’t no woman, and this is definitely woman’s work.” He started to shut the door, but I dropped the diaper bag between the door and the frame, keeping the door open.

“Take your child, John Jacob, or I’m leaving him on the front porch.”

He shrugged. “He’ll be all right. Rita should be up in the next couple of hours.”