Hero (Alpha Mountain 1)

Although I doubted how safe my pride would be with him. Because for some reason an angry and growly Ford made me wet. Horny. I did like him being all protective. To know that I wasn’t alone. That he’d keep me safe.

Every one of those thoughts was stupid. Because I wanted him, and that was that dumbest thing of all.

“I need a shower,” I said. “But I need to call my parents before they find out about the break-in through the Sparks gossip mill.”

He looked me over again, and my body heated. Stupid body.

“You shower. I’ll call Kennedy to bring a new lock and install a security system.”

“A security system?”

He continued to eye me in a way that said he wasn’t changing his mind.

“Fine. But you’re still not my big brother,” I called out as I clomped to the bathroom, cell in hand.

“Well aware,” I heard him mutter just before I shut the door.

Chapter

Six

FORD

* * *

My feelings for you are far from brotherly, Blue.

I rubbed my forehead as I stared at the closed bathroom door, listening to the sound of the shower.

I had a hard-on knowing Indi was naked beyond that door. I didn’t need a woman with makeup and heels to be turned on. It seemed my dick liked a woman dusty and trail worn. Or it just wanted Indi.

To distract myself, I took a slow gambit around the room. I would help her clean up the mess, but first I wanted to take things in the way they were. Someone had been looking for something. That was the part that made me uneasy. Had they found what they’d been looking for? No laptop was taken. No TV missing although no one would want that old thing. What worried me was that they might come back to keep looking. But who would want anything from Indi? Like she’d said, she and her family weren’t made of money, and Buck hadn’t received any death benefits from the military.

I would ask her about who she worked and hung out with. She didn’t like to share shit with me. Hell, I probably would have never known about the break-in until Gram heard the gossip and shared if I hadn’t seen the cop cars parked out front.

I couldn’t let this go. Someone broke into her house. In Sparks. Nothing happened in this town. I’d do whatever necessary to keep her safe, including taking out anyone who was fucking with her. I’d turn it into an interrogation if need be.

It was my job to keep her safe, and I’d blown it. I’d had my head up my ass while someone rifled through her panty drawer.

Thank fuck she’d been on a guide trip and not here—but still. I ran a fucking security company, and I couldn’t keep Indi safe. Why hadn’t I thought to secure her house? I pulled out my cell and texted Kennedy.

I need a new door lock dropped off and a full security treatment on Indi’s house. Top priority tomorrow.

By the time Kennedy was done, we’d know if an ant came in for a bread crumb.

In the meantime, no one was getting to Indi without getting through me first.

Pissed, I went into her bedroom, looking at the emptied dresser drawers. All the pictures hung askew on the walls, like the fuckers had looked behind each one.

A scarf pinned to the wall had been half torn down. I walked over because it was obviously a screen for something else. A bulletin board.

I removed the fabric and took in everything that was tacked to the corkboard. The letter from the Navy telling of Buck’s death. Another one with the official finding that Buck had been found guilty—posthumously—of murder. A highlighter had been used to circle the name of the signatory. James Knighton. A half-dozen index cards were pinned to the board. One had the name of the village where Buck had been killed. One had Sergeant Major Johnson, the commanding officer of the Ranger Beta Team he’d been pulled onto. Another had my name and Lincoln’s, my commanding officer. Huh. She had William Gentry, the translator Buck had replaced—the one Kennedy just found out had committed suicide recently. That one made ice sluice through my veins.

How much had Indi been poking into this case? I knew my efforts had certainly caused a ripple in the military. A ripple big enough to get me dismissed. Was it possible this break-in was related to Buck’s case? Had she stirred the pot enough somehow to get someone’s attention to come here and search the place? Had they seen this board?

Why her? Why now? If someone was doing surveillance, why not me? I was the one who’d obviously been pushing for the truth. This board meant Indi was curious, but how would anyone know she had it? The fuckers were well-connected and had enough clout to frame Buck. Kick me out of the Navy.