Protector (Copper Mesa Eagles Book 3) by Roxie Noir, Amelie Hunt Page B

“Seth was just barely keeping everything together, working all the time, so as soon as I graduated I got a job working nights at the gas station outside town just so I could help. There weren’t a lot of cars, but I started writing down all the states they came from, and when it was two o’clock in the morning and there was nothing to do, I’d get out an atlas and make up road trips around the United States, looking at all those places the cars were from.”
    Ellie felt a lump in her throat, and she squeezed her fingernails into her palm to keep herself from tearing up again.
    “Even when I was home, Seth was always gone, and Zach was just... he was there, but he wasn’t, you know? We each dealt with shit differently. Seth became kind of a dick, and Zach just spaced out. I think he spent most of his time smoking pot on the roof or watching cartoons. So I decided I was going to leave,” Garrett said. “I saved up enough money for a car that wouldn’t crap out on me, and I told them I was taking a road trip for two weeks to clear my head. On the way out of town I stole the atlas from the gas station.”
    He looked up at Ellie, his honey-colored eyes burning into hers.
    “And you haven’t seen them since?” she asked.
    “Nope,” he said. His hands were on the table in front of him as he held her gaze.
    Ellie held her breath, and then, slowly, she put her hands on his.
    “A couple years ago, there was a case in this small town in Montana,” she said, softly. “Someone tried to poison the town’s reservoir and kill everyone in this little town. If he’d gotten stronger poison, it would have worked, too. Just up and leaving isn’t that bad in the grand scheme.”
    He frowned, then looked puzzled. Then he finally smiled.
    “I think that was supposed to make me feel better,” he said.
    “I didn’t really think it through before I said it out loud,” Ellie said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. She held onto his hands anyway. “I meant, they’re still your brothers, and I’m sure they’ll take you back.”
    “Thanks,” Garrett said. “That was more comforting than the attempted mass murder thing.”
    He opened his hands a little and Ellie’s fingers slipped inside them, his palms warm and dry under her fingertips. Gently, his stroked his thumbs over the backs of her hands, and Ellie looked up at him, her heart beating faster.
    This is not how you solve a crime , she thought, the pads of Garrett’s thumbs tracing circles on her hands.
    “What do we do now?” Garett murmured.
    Ellie opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a knock thundered through the apartment.
    She nearly jumped out of her skin, yanking her hands out of Garrett’s. They both jerked their heads toward the door.
    Garrett jumped out of his chair so fast he knocked it over backward.
    “Stay here,” he growled at Ellie, disappearing into the living room.
    She was out of her chair in seconds, following right after him. He scowled at her, then bent to look through the peephole in the apartment door.
    “Cop,” he said.
    Ellie stood on her toes and looked through the peephole. On the other side was a white man, hair graying, with a mustache and a blue uniform, the Grand Junction PD badge shiny on his crisp shirt.
      “I don’t recognize him,” she whispered to Garrett.
    “So?”
    “So my dad’s the chief of police, and Grand Junction doesn’t have that many cops. It’s weird that I don’t recognize him.”
    Garrett looked at her and touched the chain on the door, making sure it was locked in place.
    “And there’s only one,” she said. “Cops usually come in pairs. Be careful. Don’t tell them I’m here.”
    She jumped back as the man pounded on the door again, and Garrett reached for the knob.
    “If he tries something, start yelling and recording him with your phone,” she hissed. “Whatever gets your neighbors to look out their doors and gets him to back off.”
    Garrett nodded, then opened the door six