Dead Heat by Kathleen Brooks

intimidator. He separated the weak members of the suitor herd real fast with one of his bone crushing handshakes. Paige wouldn’t have believed what happened next it if she hadn’t seen it. Cole just smiled and adjusted his grip slightly and wiggled his fingers a bit. Marshall gave an involuntary grimace of his own and then the two smiled and thumped each other on the back.
    “And this is Cade and my youngest, Pierce.” Her mother finished the introductions and moved to stand next to her father. Uh-oh, the united front. She felt them closing in. Sure enough her parents were off to her left, her brother Miles was in front of her, Marshall was flanking now that the introductions were done. Cade and Pierce moved to her right to block them in. It was solid military procedure to prevent escape.
    “Cade, it’s good to see you again. Pierce, nice to meet you. I hear you are at UK getting your Masters. Good luck with that.” Cole shook each their hands and only became aware of their situation when he looked back to Paige. She could tell by the quick look of confusion on his face that he realized they were surrounded by a six foot wall.
    “So Cole, our sister is in danger. What are you planning to do about it?” Miles kept his voice low, but his tone was hard as steel.
    “I plan on staying by her side twenty-four seven and protecting her from getting herself shot. That’s what I plan to do.”
    Even though she was not too fond of the plan, she had to give Cole props for not shrinking away like so many men before him had done when faced with the full force of the Davies family.
    “That’s a plan for her immediate safety, but what about her permanent safety?” Marshall asked from behind him.
    “That’s why those men are here.” Cole gestured to Red, Dinky, Noodle and some middle-aged man with thick black glasses, cargo shorts and a white polo shirt. Damn. She really didn’t want to be impressed, but she was. The whole time Cole talked, he stood still and kept eye contact with Miles, not turning around and around like her brothers wanted him to. “She’s going to give a description to the sketch artist and then I will take a copy of the sketch and run it through the FBI database. Red will run it through the Kentucky State Police database. Both runs will produce a flag, meaning it will be sent to every FBI agent in the area and every police officer in the State. The sooner you stop this little mock interrogation, the sooner I can get that sketch out to people who can find this guy.”
    Paige felt her mouth drop open. No one had ever spoken to Miles like that before. Miles exuded fire and ice with every breath. He could freeze you out with a stare or blister you with words. Paige looked around the circle and found all the men had tensed their jaws at the obvious power play. However, her mother stood with a large smile on her face. She clapped her hands and the spell was broken.
    “Come on, Jake. Let's get home. Paige and Cole have work to do. I think we can all say she is in safe hands now.” She stepped over to Paige and placed a motherly kiss on her cheek. “See you soon, sweetie.”
    “Bye Ma. Bye Dad.”
    “Bye-bye, sugar. You give us a call if you need anything, you hear?”
    Paige nodded and watched her parents head for their car. “Aren’t you all leaving?” She asked her brothers who had pulled in rank again and stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the staircase.
    “Not yet,” Miles responded. That was it and that was all she was going to get out of him right now.
     
    Forty-five minutes later Paige sat next to the sketch artist and stared at the man who had shot her best friends. Last time she had seen him, she didn’t know what had happened. Now, when she looked at him, she could see the cold depths of his eyes and the hard lines around his mouth.
    “Thanks Pete,” Cole shook the sketch artist’s hand. “You have a scanner Paige?”
    “Yes. In the back room, there is a computer, with a copier