Her Master Defender (The Masters Men Series) (10 page)

Dos chewed on another bite of sandwich for a minute while he thought about what she’d said. Something about it didn’t sit well with him. It could just be his over-active protective gene, but he had the feeling there was more to this little run-in than a guy trying to get a look at a woman.

“You said he grabbed your camera strap. Maybe you got his picture and he was trying to make sure you didn’t print it. Where are these cameras now?” Dos asked. But why would they ransack her place of business first?

“In my backpack, I take them everywhere with me.”

“Did you leave them at your office Thursday night?” he asked, then answered before she could. “That’s right, I saw you go in as the event was winding down.”

Copper tilted her head then nodded. “Yeah, I did stop there for a few minutes before coming home. I wanted to check my appointment book to see if I needed to be in early. Then I got the table ready and did a few odd chores. Why?”

“Just trying to figure out why they would break in there first rather than your house,” he told her. “They must have figured you left the cameras there. If it’s the same guy and if that’s what they were after.”

“You really think they’re after the cameras? I took several bags in from the car. When I left I only had my backpack with me. Maybe they thought I left the cameras there to take the film in for developing today. ”

Dos knew she had no idea how lucky she had been. Leaving that bag had probably saved her life. After seeing the condition of her business, and then facing them at her house, he had no doubt what would have happened if they had followed her home. Except for the fact that most people used digital cameras today he understood her reasoning. “That’s a good possibility.”

“That’s kind of a stretch, don’t you think? Why would anyone want those pictures bad enough to destroy my business? It was a benefit for an animal shelter, nothing fancy or expensive. Not even any expensive dogs or cats. Just loveable mutts like this guy here,” she said, rubbing Kismet’s side with her foot.

“Maybe not, but all kinds of people attend those things; rich people wanting to look good by supporting charities, criminals looking for marks, and amazingly enough, people actually looking for animals. No doubt the entire town was there.”

“Not the entire town,” Copper said. “I don’t remember seeing you or your brother and you two are pretty hard to miss.”

“We were there,” he said. Actually all three of them had been there. Tres had been on duty and Ace had been looking for a birthday present for one of their sisters. “Let’s get back to the topic at hand, your cameras. Maybe you took a picture of someone, probably this guy, who didn’t want to be seen. You said the pictures were for the website, right? That could have someone nervous if they weren’t supposed to be there.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess. For the most part I was taking pictures for myself because I enjoy it.  Greg, the administrator from the shelter, asked me to take some pictures of the various people who adopted with their new pet. They gave me their contact information so I could send it to them. 

“Actually, Greg sent me an email asking me if he could use my pictures for the website. I guess someone spilled a drink on his camera and ruined it.”

All kinds of alarms went off in Dos’ head. “Were you taking pictures of the same things at the same time?”

“Sometimes,” she said, her expression asking why, but Dos could see the answer come to her as her eyes widened. “You think someone spilled the drink on Greg on purpose. Why?”

“Like I said before, they didn’t want their picture published. Where are the pictures you took?”

“In the cameras, I haven’t had time to download the digitals or develop the ones from the 35mm.”

Before Dos could comment his phone rang. Glancing at the number he flipped it open. “What’d you find, G?”

Dos held the phone with his shoulder then set his plate down and readjusted his ice packs. He listened to Gina’s detailed report. 

“First off, they didn’t come back. The house is still locked up. There were barely a couple of scratches on the outside of the back doorknob. They could have been made tonight or in the past sometime. I agree with you that they were professional if she had the door locked.”

“She did. What else?”

“We found some casings. I’m guessing you had your 9mil.”

“I fired five shots; one in back and four on the front lawn. I think they fired three.”

“That adds up with what we found. We also found blood near the trees. I guess you hit one.”

“Good, I shouldn’t be the only one in pain,” he said before thinking.

“I thought you said you didn’t get hit,” Gina said.

The accusation in her voice rang loud and clear. Dos knew better than to avoid explaining. “I didn’t, I just twisted my knee.”

“Just twisted your knee?” Copper said. “It’s twice its normal size.”

“Is that the woman who lives here?”

“Yes,” Dos growled while glaring across the space between them. “What else did you find?” he asked quickly not wanting to give Gina time to ask more.

“You were probably right about them having a car parked down the road. There were skid marks just around the curve in the road where they came out of the trees. They could be old, but the dirt on the side of the road is damp up here and it hadn’t dried from the tire’s weight yet. We took a cast and I’ll let you know what it turns up. What do you know about this woman and what she’s mixed up in?”

Dos grinned. Since Gina had been his brother’s partner, she’d become as protective of his family as if she were a blood relative.

“Her last name’s Kerrigan for one thing.”

“Where’ve I heard that name before?”

“Probably from your partner, with the word Colonel in front of it.”

“That Kerrigan?”

“Yeah, so don’t bother looking for her connection with these,” he glanced at Copper, “butt-heads.”

“Then what’s your opinion of what’s going on? One break-in and another attempt on the same person’s property is no coincidence.”

“No it’s not. We think they might be after pictures she took at the benefit last night. Someone must think they’re in them and don’t want them made public. I don’t remember anyone that stood out as not belonging, but I haven’t spent any real time in town in a while. We’ll develop them tomorrow.”

“Let me know if you find anything. If I can write this up, I can send the blood for analysis and see if we get a hit with DNA. It will take a while, but it’s worth a shot.”

Dos thought about it for a minute. He turned to Copper. “You wanted to report this, right?”

She nodded.

“Okay, go ahead and we’ll come down in the morning to sign it. Thanks, G.”

Dos flipped the phone closed. “They had a car waiting like I thought. Other than that, Gina found casings from their guns and blood. She wanted to write it up so she can send the blood for testing.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I wish I could develop the pictures now. Wondering who’s doing this is making me crazy.”

Reaching for his crutches Dos started to stand.

“What are you doing?” Copper asked standing in front of him.

“Moving, I’ve already been in one position too long. Then I thought I would get my laptop and we can download the pictures you took with the digital.”

They spent over an hour staring at the computer but found nothing or no one out of place. Copper could name almost everyone in the photos and he filled in most of the blanks. It appeared they had been wrong about the pictures.

“I took more with the other camera. I doubt it, but there might be something there. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow I guess.”

Dos didn’t like not knowing, but she was right. Her exhaustion was starting to show as well. She may be an army brat, but that didn’t make you immune from fear. And having your own place violated was scary. The stress was taking its toll. Since she wouldn’t sleep in the bed, and his other two rooms housed his office and exercise equipment, he got her a pillow and blanket so she could rest in the chair. Then he found a documentary about Rocky Mountain National Park on the television and turned it on low.

# # #

Dos dabbed at the blood oozing from the razor cut on his face as he flipped open his phone. “Tres, I’ve had about all the family I can stand for a while, so this had better be important.”

“Not necessarily important, but urgent,” his brother said. “Thought I would call and warn you. Ace is on his way up.”

“I’m fine, what the hell’s he coming up for?”

“Playing big brother and he’s not alone.”

“You’re with him,” Dos said, hoping he was right.

“I’m two cars behind him, but that’s not what I meant. He’s bringing everybody.”

“Everybody?”

“Yep.”

“Shit, how long have I got?”

“Not long enough to leave without him spotting you,” Tres chuckled. Dos ground his teeth. “Maybe ten minutes.”

“Son of a--"

“Sweet lady,” Tres interrupted.

Dos had to grin at their long time joke. “Yeah, right. Thanks for the call.”

Disconnecting he splashed water on his face then applied styptic to the cut. He definitely didn’t need a Band-Aid on his face for his mother to carry on about. Pulling on a long sleeved shirt over his t-shirt he opened the bathroom door. Copper sat cross-legged in one of the leather chairs eating cereal and watching a morning news show.

“We have company coming,” he said.

He must have startled her, because she jerked around spilling milk from her bowl on her lap. Dos grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen bar and took them to her.

“Who?” She wiped up the milk that had gone from her lap to the chair.

“My family.”

She stopped wiping and glanced up at him. “Your brothers?”

“No, the whole family.”

“I thought you said they didn’t come up here.” She carried her dishes to the kitchen.

“They don’t. Ace is forcing them on me because we had words yesterday.” He glanced down her front and nodded. “You might want to change before they get here in about seven minutes now.”

She rolled her eyes and started for the bedroom. Halfway there she stopped and turned back looking at him. He knew what was coming.

“Where are your crutches? You shouldn’t be putting weight on that leg yet.”

God save him from mothering women. “My cane is fine, besides, I’ve got a brace on. Now that the swelling’s down, I can deal with it.”

“Look, I know you think I’m some pushy female, but I’m not. I’m a trained nurse, so I know what I’m talking about.”

Great, just what he needed, another person telling him how to handle healing. Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone? It wasn’t as if any of them could do anything about the real problem. Unless the scientists playing with his blood figured out what was causing his attacks, no one could.

“I’m not in the hospital anymore. I don’t need a nurse,” he said. Watching her hands fist at her side he felt a little vindicated. Someone else might as well be frustrated. “But, I’ll make you a deal.”

Her brow raised and she tilted her head. Curiosity obvious in the way she watched him. Kismet chose that moment to sit in the space between them. His head swinging back and forth like a kid waiting to see what his parents would say next.

“I’ll take it easy, if you don’t say anything to anyone about my knee. They already worry too much.”

“Fine, they’re your family, it’s not my place. Taking it easy means weight off that leg, preferably sitting, and you have to take something to help keep the swelling down. Agreed?”

Dos nodded. “I’ll take some more aspirin while you change. They’ll be here any minute.”

He watched her disappear into his bedroom and stood staring at the closed door for a minute. Hearing her jeans fall to the floor he didn’t have a hard time imagining those long legs uncovered. Realizing his mind was moving into dangerous territory he slapped his thigh so Kismet would follow him into the kitchen.

“Okay, buddy. Your job is to keep everyone distracted while they’re here. It shouldn’t be too hard since you’re almost as big as the house.” Kismet thumped his tail. “I wish everybody else was as easy to please as you.”

Dos grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge. Tossing three aspirin in his mouth he chugged half the bottle. The security speaker buzzed with his last swallow. He stared at it not quite sure he was ready. It buzzed again.

The bedroom door opened and Copper peeked out. He found himself mesmerized by the contrast of her hair and a white button-down shirt. When the intercom buzzed again he snapped out of it and reaching over the counter pushed the intercom button.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, little brother it’s me. Thought we could do a little fishing,” Ace’s voice crackled from the speaker.

Copper’s questioning expression had him placing a finger over his lips. “Sure, come on up,” he said pushing the button to open the gate.

“What’s that about?”