Her Three Wilde Champion Men (Wilde, Nevada 2)

“They came up and were pushy. Typical Elko girls.”

“According to Byrd, there were witnesses that heard you threaten her. Is that true?”

Had she done that? Yes. She remembered saying something to the woman in the heat of the moment. “My temper was up, Brandon. That’s all. I would never hurt her or anyone else, I swear.”

“I think you aren’t as harmless as you say, but I believe you.” His words made her feel a little better about this mess, but only a little.

“What now? Do I go talk to Byrd about this or not?”

He rubbed his chin. “Not yet. I want to talk to Alex first. You will cooperate with Byrd but I need to make sure you and Alex stick to the facts only. I don’t want you slipping into one of the asshole’s verbal traps.”

Chapter Eight

Shelby looked up at Brandon, who was leaning on the edge of the desk right in front of her and Alex. She and Brandon had found Alex at his office a little bit ago. His temporary workspace was in a trailer on the construction site of the new hospital. He’d seemed shocked to see her and his brother together, but after Brandon informed him about what Sheriff Byrd was up to, Alex had comforted her with a hug.

Right now, he was sitting next to her holding her hand.

“What time did you get to Elko?” Brandon asked, holding his iPad. He’d been taking notes on it since they’d arrived.

“I already told you that,” Alex snapped. “Let’s move off the trip from Wilde to Elko and on to our date. We went into the restaurant. Sat down. Ordered. Lucille and Trixie came up and were acting like they normally do. Shelby handled herself well. Who in Elko hasn’t had a run-in with the duo from hell?”

“Doesn’t matter, Alex. What matters is Byrd’s got a hard-on for you two. He likes his cases wrapped up nice and tidy.” Brandon shook his head. “I’ve seen what he does when he gets on the scent of someone, innocent or not. In his mind, one or both of you are guilty. All he wants to do now is pin it on you. Trust me, he’ll do whatever he thinks is necessary to get a conviction.”

“Fine,” Alex said, squeezing her hand. “You’re the attorney.”

“Damn right, Doc. Damn right.” Brandon’s gaze landed on her. It was intense and powerful, causing a round of nervous shivers to roll through her. “What happened after dinner, Shelby?”

“We went dancing,” she said.

The door suddenly flew open behind them.

She turned around, expecting to see Sheriff Byrd.

Justin entered the office. “Connie just texted me what’s happening. Why the hell are you two still in town?”

“Because we’re not guilty of anything, bro,” Alex said.

“That doesn’t matter to Dirty Byrd, and you two both know it, even if Shelby doesn’t.”

Brandon pointed to the empty chair beside her. “Sit.”

“Sitting seems stupid to me.” Justin shook his head. “We need to act.”

“You call the sheriff ‘Dirty Byrd’?” she asked.

“It fits, sweetheart,” Alex said. “Believe me.”

“Justin, sit down. I’m trying to get them ready for Byrd’s questioning. The worst thing that Alex and Shelby can do is run. It makes them look guilty.” Brandon typed something into his iPad.

Justin reluctantly sat down. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it as Alex was doing with the other one. It was crazy, but she felt good being surrounded by the three Champion men at the moment.

Lucille was in the hospital fighting for her life. According to Brandon and his brothers, Byrd was looking for someone to blame. None of this made sense to her. But she had to trust them with at least this, though she wasn’t ready to trust them with her heart. That wasn’t something that was safe with them and she knew it.

“Now, let’s continue. You went dancing.” Brandon nodded. “Who was there? Who can verify your whereabouts?”

“At the dance hall? The band.” Alex turned to her and smiled. Then his gaze moved to where Justin was holding her other hand and his lips twisted into a frown. “Our date was amazing, wasn’t it, Shelby?”

“Really? You didn’t bother calling after.” She pulled her hands free of both of them. “I can’t do this.”