Claiming the Enemy: Dustin (Porter Brothers Trilogy 3)

Waiting until the road cleared, Dustin jogged across it to take Greer’s back. If Knox was going to arrest Greer, he would have to be the one to call Diamond. The lawyer had sworn she would never represent Greer again when he had made an idiot of himself in front of the commonwealth attorney at her office.

“It’s not like Jessie to not show up at work without calling me.”

Dustin could hear the worry in Bliss’s voice as he drew closer.

“She’s not answering her phone either. I’m really worried.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Greer assured her while writing on his notepad. “Have you called Holt or Asher?”

“Yes, they’re on their way to her apartment. She didn’t call them this weekend. They thought she was just ignoring their calls, but when I told them she didn’t open the daycare this morning, they became just as worried as I am.”

“Let’s not get too concerned until Holt and Asher call you back. She could have overslept. When is the last time you saw her?” Greer asked, meeting his eyes.

They both held their breaths as they waited for Bliss’s answer.

“Friday at work.”

“When she wasn’t at church on Sunday, I should have called. She never misses church,” Holly added before Greer could ask another question.

Dustin looked at the bright yellow façade of Jessie’s daycare. It was eye-catching with the “Happy Friends” letters on the door, pretty much summing up the way she made anyone who entered feel. Even when she was away from her business, her natural friendliness had everyone stopping to talk to her, even though she would talk your ear off if she wasn’t in a hurry. She was that way with everyone but him.

He had broken that bridge, and once she had gotten his message, she never tried to cross it again.

“Greer and I will drive over there now.” Knox’s demeanor didn’t suggest the women shouldn’t be worried, but that he wanted to drive to Jessie’s apartment said more than words. “Diamond will stay home with Brink until Jessie shows.”

“I can go home with Rosie,” Holly added.

Bliss confidently took Rosie from her cousin-in-law. “That won’t be necessary. I asked Rain’s sister if she could help out today. She’ll be here any minute. Jessie would be furious if anyone missed work because of her.”

As Bliss reached for the diaper bag, her cell phone rang. “Just a sec, Holly.” As she put her phone to her ear, Dustin waited, feeling the cold clutch of fear at her expression. “You don’t have to call. Knox is here. I’ll tell him.” Bliss disconnected the call, her face ashen. “Holt used his spare key to open the door. She’s not there, and her car’s in the parking lot.”

“I’ll keep you posted,” Knox promised, motioning to Greer. Then the two men took off for the squad car.

Bliss’s hand shook as she took the diaper bag from Holly.

“Are you sure, Bliss?” Holly relinquished it, just as troubled about Jessie as the other woman.

“I’m sure. The kids will keep me busy.”

Dustin left when Bliss went back inside the daycare and Holly got back in her car, crossing the road and returning to his own vehicle. Darting out into the traffic, he drove toward Jessie’s apartment, feeling ice cold despite the temperature being in the seventies.

He tightened his fingers on the steering wheel. That Jessie could have been the one he had dreamt being killed tormented him.

They had shared a playpen when their mothers had been friends and had only stopped playing together when his and Jessie’s fathers started competing for weed customers. The night Duke had been shot made the Hayeses enemies. They kept to their side of the mountain ever since.

When Holly had enrolled Logan in Jessie’s daycare, Greer raised a fit. It was the only time Dustin put his foot down and agreed with Holly that Jessie was the only person they would trust to care for Logan while they were at work.

Finding a parking space next to Holt’s truck, he got out of his car, seeing Holt and Asher standing outside Jessie’s apartment on the second floor. Taking the steps two at a time, he walked along the landing, seeing the brothers turn at his approach.

“Whatcha doing here?” Asher clenched his jaw aggressively as Dustin drew nearer.

“I wanted to see if I could help.” Dustin stopped inches away, not wanting to start a fight when he could see how worried they were about their sister.

“We don’t need any help from a Porter.”

Holt put a restraining hand on Asher’s chest, cutting him off. “Shut up. I’d take the help of Satan himself to find Jessie. If you can’t be quiet, go sit in the truck.”

Asher obeyed his older brother, closing his mouth as Knox and Greer came out of the apartment.

“Did anything look out of place when you went in?” Knox asked the brothers.