A Reason To Breathe (11 page)

“Sheriff, you didn’t have to wait around to make sure Ms. Stewart got to her car safely, I can handle it.”
Oh, boy!

“I have no doubt you can handle it Tom; problem is, I have a problem with you handling any part of Jenn,” Jack replied as he pushed away from my Jeep and stood tall, a good four inches over Tom, I might add. Jack reached out and grabbed my hand drawing me to him, then continued.

“So if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to speak to my woman…in private.”

“Your woman?” Tom turned to me and raised an eyebrow. I didn’t know this man and his attitude was starting to piss me off. So I moved into Jack, his arm wrapped around me as mine wrapped around him, a united front against, well I really wasn’t sure, but it felt like an attack. Tom studied us for a moment then gave a slight bow and continued speaking.

“My apologies, had I of known, I would of course left you to the more capable hands of the Sheriff.” Now he was just being sarcastic, and he leered at Jack. Arrogant asshole. Jack drew me closer into his body, and Tom turned without saying another word and headed back to his mother.

“Like I said earlier, Sweetness, any man in town.”

“I remember, Jack, but you should know, that one hasn’t got a chance in hell, who bows?” Jack chuckled, then brought his hand up to my face and rubbed his thumb across what I’m sure was a handprint on my cheek.

“Can’t believe that bitch slapped you.”

“That makes two of us.”

“You wanna tell me why you’re having dinner with Lorraine, her son and the Hardy boys?”

“Just going over the suspect list and eliminating those who had alibis for yesterday.”

“At least you weren’t peeking in windows, where’s Mandy tonight?” I rolled my eyes, and he chuckled again.

“Ok, Baby, time for you to head up the mountain. Do you need me to follow you? I’m on duty and can’t stay, but I’ll follow if you need me.”

“Ben and Gerry are going to follow me, so no, but thanks Sheriff, all this special attention you’re giving me will go to my head.”

“Jenn, you want special attention you only have to ask.” Sucking in my breath, thinking about what that special attention might be, I responded without thinking.

“Pretty sure I asked last night and you said no.” Jack looked shocked but recovered.

“Pretty fucking sure if that bird hadn’t broken your window I would have said yes.”

“Then stop by after your shift and make it up to me.”
Where had that come from?

“Try and stop me,” he growled, and just like that I was putty in his hands, and Jack kissed me.

I rose up on my toes and threw my arms around his neck as his hands cupped my ass and forced me into his growing erection. I whimpered, and he kissed me deeper. A cough from behind us broke the spell; Jack pulled back an inch, but just kept staring at me. “Fuck me,” he whispered and I replied without thinking, “No, fuck me.” Jack closed his eyes, sucked a breath in then hissed, “Truck, now.”

Without another word he turned to Ben and announced, “I’ve got her, she needs to swear out a statement, then I’ll see she gets home.” Without waiting for a reply, Jack grabbed my hand and walked me to his truck, opened the door, picked me up and threw me in. I was breathing hard ‘cause I knew where this was headed, and I was freaked out, but ready at the same time. Jack climbed in, turned to me and grabbed my neck pulling me to him, then he slammed his mouth on mine, our tongues battling. He ripped his mouth away and growled, “You with me Baby, ‘cause there’s no turning back after this, no way, once I slip into that sweet heat of yours, you’re mine, do you hear me? You. Are. Fucking. Mine.” Dazzled like always, I swallowed and nodded, “I’m with you, Jack.” His face got darker, and he kissed me once more, then started the truck and took off heading out of town. Panting and my nerves raw, I looked over at Jack's rugged face, and I just knew I was making the right choice. We didn’t speak; Jack held my leg rubbing his fingers over and over the inside of my thigh, keeping my thoughts on what he would do with those hands.

Half way to my cabin, the calm of the night was broken when a tire exploded. Jack held tight to the wheel to keep us on the road, pumping the brakes, trying to slow the truck, but it veered. I braced for impact as the truck pulled to the right, jerking us onto the shoulder and heading towards a fallen boulder directly in front of us. Jack threw on the brakes, hoping to stop us, but it was too late; I screamed, “Jack,” right as the airbags exploded, and everything went black.

Chapter Twelve

My Spidey Senses Are Tingling

       “You hear me—Jenn, baby, are you with me? Jenn—Goddammit.” There was a ringing in my ears and my chest felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. I could hear Jack yelling, so I blinked my eyes open and tried to focus on his face. Jack had a cut on his forehead, causing blood to run down his face. I couldn’t form words yet, but moved my hands and feet to make sure they still worked. Thank God for seatbelts. I saw Jack exhale, like he’d been holding his breath then whispered, “Thank Christ.”

“Jack, we hit a really big rock.” Jack scowled a little then shook his head.

“Yeah, Baby, and
you
hit your head.” Nodding gently in agreement, I tried to sit-up, but Jack kept his hand on my chest to keep me still.

“Lie still, Babe, I called an ambulance, we need to get you checked out.”

“Jack.”

“Yeah?”

“First the bird and now this, I think someone is trying to tell us something.” Jack’s head jerked a bit, and then his eyes lost focus as he stared in the distance thinking.

“Jack?”

“Huh, yeah?”

“I lost you there for a second?” His mouth turned into a sexy grin, and he leaned down and kissed me gently, then spoke softly against my lips. “I was just thinking about all the things I didn’t get to do to you… and Baby, it would have been extremely fucking thorough.” I inhaled quickly, my imagination in overdrive. Jack nipped my lip and then smiled at me. Hearing a motor behind us, his head turned, and he pushed up when he heard the siren from the ambulance. He moved his hand and waved, saying, “Looks like the Hardy boys are here too.”

Jack opened his door, and it made a loud groaning noise, and wouldn’t open fully. He slipped through the opening, and I could hear him talking to someone. Still lying on my back, I pushed up and released the seatbelt, rubbing my chest where it snapped tight, holding me safe during the impact. Other than a pounding head and bruised chest I felt fine, so I tried to open my door, but it wouldn’t budge. I heard Jack say, “We need to get her out and away from the truck in case it catches fire,” which made me turn to look at the crushed hood. I saw the steam from the radiator hissing into the air and decided it was time to move. Jack may be worried I had injuries and should lie still, but I wasn’t staying in the cab a second longer. I scooted across the seat, stuck my legs out the door and put my feet on the ground and then passed through the opening of the driver’s door.

“I’m out, I don’t like fire.” Jack turned, said, “Fuck,” and moved to me, and before I could say stop, picked me up and carried me towards the arriving ambulance.

“I told you not to move, what if you have a spinal injury.”

“Uh, truck may catch fire trumps spinal injury, besides, I feel fine other than a killer headache.”

“Jesus you’re stubborn.”

“Pfft, and you’re bossy as hell.”

“Get used to it.”

“Same goes for you, Bucko.”

I heard Ben chuckle behind us, so I looked over at him and smiled. He winked at me then nudged Gerry, who was watching the interaction.

“Got your hands full there, Jack,” Ben laughed.

“Don’t I fuckin’ know it,” Jack growled.

“Hey, I could say the same thing.”

Three men chuckled, and I rolled my eyes, as Jack continued to carry me. Just as we made it to the arriving ambulance, we heard a whoosh, and Jack, Ben and Gerry, and me in Jack’s arms turned and saw a small fire coming out from under the hood of the truck. “Fuck,” Jack said, and I couldn’t agree more…my purse and my satchel that held all of my work and notes were in the truck.

“Dammit, my notes, my purse.” Jack turned to Ben and started to hand me over to him, so I resisted.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting your fucking bags.”

“Jack, no, the truck is on fire, it might explode.”

“Won’t take a second, Babe, hold tight,” Jack explained exasperated as he handed me off to Ben, under protest.

“Won’t take a second? Jack don’t you dare,” fell from my lips as he walked right up the back of the truck, kicked in the rear window with his boot, then leaned in and grabbed my stuff. He then turned and walked right back out the truck bed and up to Ben and me, handed me my bags, then took me back from Ben and walked over to the waiting medical team, who were watching the truck engulf with flames.

“You’re kinda crazy you know that, right?”

“Yup.”

“You could have been killed.”

“I wasn’t,” Jack, said as he handed me off to the EMT’s.

“Who does that? What if the truck exploded?” I yelled, as the tech tried to wrap a blood pressure cuff around my flailing arms. The second EMT, a woman, was dabbing at Jack’s cut while I yelled at him.

“Babe, hold still. Jesus, you’re always fighting something.” I narrowed my eyes at him and hissed, “Fine.” I shoved out my arm and held it level with my chest so Mr. EMT could get my pressure, then I turned my eyes to Jack and glared. Jack being Jack just grinned.
I’m adding cocky and arrogant to bossy
.

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” Jack laughed.
Seriously? He thinks he can win me over with that…

“I’m not speaking to you right now.” And I meant it.

“Obliged…all that yelling was giving me a headache.”
Grrr.

“I should tan
your
hide, Sheriff.” That got me a wide grin, and I knew I wouldn’t get through to him, so I shut my mouth and looked away, mumbling, “Bullheaded, bossy, reckless and now arrogant and cocky…I should have my head examined.”

 
Mr. EMT chuckled at me, and I looked up at him and grinned. Wondering where Ben had run off to, I looked around and found him talking with Barry, who had driven up a few moments before. The Gunnison Fire Department showed and was putting out the fire. Thankfully the engine never exploded, but the cab did catch fire, and my belongings would have been destroyed, if not for Jack. Not that I was going to mention that.

After cute EMT girl finished putting a butterfly bandage on Jack’s head, he walked up to me, looked me over and then kissed my forehead. I tried to ignore him, but I couldn’t, so I smiled at him. Jack shook his head at me, making it clear he thought I was a nut,
whatever,
and then he moved to the fire department and spoke with the Captain. I saw him point to the tire that exploded, and the Captain nodded his head, and then spoke to another fireman at his side. That man moved to the back of the hose truck and pulled out a tire iron, then moved to the now flameless truck, and started removing the damaged tire. I found this curious? Why did Jack need the tire? Tires explode all the time, don’t they? My need to know everything, a good trait to have if you’re a reporter kicked in, and I spoke out loud to no one in particular.

“Now why does he need that tire?” Not expecting anyone to reply, I jumped when EMT guy or Jake Jarred as I now knew, spoke up.
             

“Probably because all the department vehicles got new tires last month.” Jake replied then continued, “I bet there was a defect in the tire.”

“So if a new tire explodes, it would have to be from a defect?”

“Would think so that, or someone shot it out while you were driving, but that would take a really good shot, or luck I suppose.”

“I don’t remember hearing a gunshot.”

“A long-range rifle would be silent from a distance.”

“Who knows how to use that type of weapon?”

“In Colorado, in the mountains? Everyone old enough to shoot, including the women.”

Well that narrowed it down by the number of children in the area. Tapping my finger on my arm and wondering why someone would shoot out the Sheriff’s tire, it occurred to me that I might be jumping to conclusions. As Jake said, it was probably a defect in the tire, but it bugged me, and I couldn’t let it go till I talked to someone, so I looked around for Ben and found him with Gerry. Deciding I would pick Ben’s brain, I thanked Jake for helping me and put out my hand to shake his. Jake smiled and took my hand, but as he shook it, he looked over my shoulder and his smile fell. I looked behind me and saw Jack scowling at our friendly handshake, and I rolled my eyes. That man has a serious caveman complex!

Saying goodbye to Jake, I jumped down and walked over to Ben. Ben gave me a hug when I arrived, and we stood there and watched the fire department finish with Jack’s truck. Needing to sort out the questions in my head, I turned to Ben and didn’t beat around the bush.

“So, Ben, what causes a brand new tire to explode at a high rate of speed?” Ben looked surprised by my question and thought for a moment.

“Only thing I can think of darlin’ is he ran over something, or a defect in the tire.”

“Could someone have shot it out with a rifle?” Ben narrowed his eyes at me and then nodded.

“Yeah, I could see that, but they’d have to be a good shot.”

“Better than most the folks who live up in the high country year round?”

“I’d think so, probably the only one around here who could make that kinda shot is Jack, though.” That didn’t surprise me; I’m beginning to figure out that Jack is good at everything and doesn’t lose often either. That would definitely make you cocky and self-assured. So, if Jack were the only one who could make that shot, maybe it
was
just something we ran over?

“What’s running through your mind, Jenny?” Ben asked.

“Honestly? I wouldn’t have thought anything, but Jack took an interest in the tire and had the fire department remove it from the truck, so I asked myself why.”

“Good question to ask, maybe we should be asking ourselves if this is connected to the killer? Your being in the truck and doing an investigation could be it was you he was after.”

“Ben, until right before I got in his truck,
I
didn’t know I would be there, so how could the killer know?”

“Good point, so let’s assume the Sheriff is onto the killer, but he doesn’t know it yet, and the killer doesn’t want him to figure it out.”

“I don’t think Jack has found anything yet, he said there’s no evidence to point to anyone.”

“Then it’s probably just a fluke accident and us standing here speculating is just that, speculation.”

“Okay, Ben, you’re right, I must have hit my head harder than I thought.” Ben ruffled my hair and smiled at me. Then put his arm around me and pulled me into his side.

“Glad you’re ok, Jenny, would be a dull place again if something had happened to you.” I nudged his shoulder ‘cause that sweet old man had no idea his words made me happy. Building something for myself here in Colorado, even if it was just a family of friends, was what I needed, and I’d adopted him as my father figure pretty much from the start. Lorraine taking me under her wing and giving me advice is putting her in the lead as my mother figure. Mandy definitely wins younger, crazier, sister roll, so where would Jack fall? Boyfriend? Lover? He said after we slept together there was no going back, I would be his, so I’m thinking significant other? Maybe I should get clarification of this before we sleep together? If
I’m
not supposed to date around that sure as hell went double for Mr. “I’ve never been married and dated half the population of Gunnison County.” Watching Jack while thinking a talk was in order before we moved forward any more than we already had, Jack turned to our group and started moving towards us.

Looking around he spotted Barry and called out to him to grab a lift to the station. Jack then made it to Ben and me and put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed.

“I gotta head to the station, Jenn, can you catch a ride with Ben?”

“I’ll take her straight home and put her to bed myself Jack, don’t you worry.”

Jack gave Ben a chin lift then said, “Walk with me.” He took my hand and walked me a distance away where no one could hear.

“Seems we’ve been interrupted again.” Jack said grinning down at me.

“Seems we have, but maybe that’s a good thing, I think we need to talk more.”

“Talk about what?” he questioned.

“About what we’re doing Jack, I think we’re rushing this thing between us.”

“Jesus, leave you alone for thirty minutes and you start over-thinking things.”

“I’m not over-thinking things, I just want to make sure we’re on the same page, Jack.” He stared at me a moment and then nodded.

“Ok, I get that; I’d take you home myself so we could talk, but as you can see, no vehicle
and
I need to file a report.”

“Don’t worry about it, go do your job, it can wait for another time, I’m not going anywhere.” I meant that too. Something clicked riding in the truck with Jack, and I knew I would stop running from him, but I wasn’t moving forward till we had some ground rules in place.

“Better and better.” He whispered on a grin.

“What?”

“You, Babe, keep getting better and better. You’re not busting my balls ‘cause I have to head to the station, or pissed off that I’m leaving you in someone else’s care, and not taking you home so we can talk. You understand I have a job to do, and you don’t hesitate or have to think about your answer when I tell you I have to leave. It means you’re not playing games and saying what I want to hear, so
you
keep getting better and better.” Wow, that was direct and to the point and, almost on the verge of insulting. Why would I have a problem with him doing his job? And yet, insulting or not, it was charming my pants off for some damn reason?