Hell, who was she kidding? She just flat out wanted J.T. with her.
And as if he'd somehow heard her, her husband plowed through the front door. Intense. Focused.
On her.
He stalked straight to her chair, ignoring everyone else in the room. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he clasped her by the shoulders, firm, solid. "Is everyone all right? Are you all right?"
His concern pulsed into her, soothing and exciting all at once. "I'm fine. Someone threw a brick through the window. A scary way to wake up, but nothing overly dangerous. I just thought it was important to report it to the police."
His gaze fell to the splash of glass glinting on the floor, to the harsh gouge in the wood inches away from the couch, then up at her rumpled blanket and pillows. "You were asleep in here when it happened?"
She nodded. Only a few hours ago she'd nestled into those pillows with plans to show J.T. the ultrasound photo.
His fingers bit into her skin. She struggled not to flinch and up his concerns.
"But I'm fine. Really. I wouldn't lie about this, not when it comes to the baby."
Jaw still tight, J.T. stood, turning to Chris. "Son, are you okay?"
"Yes, sir." Chris fidgeted from foot to foot, his baggy clothes rippling with every agitated move. "I was on my way home from work. I would have been home sooner but there was a backup on the bridge. God, Mom, I'm so sorry I wasn't here. Maybe I could have done something."
Horror splashed through her. "You would have stayed right here in this house with me while we called the police." She couldn't even let herself dwell on what could have happened to him out there. "No more Price heroes for me this year, thank you very much."
The senior cop stepped forward, hat tucked under his arm. "Sir, we did a walk around of the yard, had a second car run a quick canvas of the area. There's nothing to report. It's probably just a teenage prank, like rolling a house with toilet paper."
"I'm not buying that." J.T. shook his head. "Didn't my wife tell you about the hit-and-run two weeks ago?"
The younger female cop thumbed through her notepad. "We have that report, too, and will follow up. We'll schedule a car to cruise by your house. Unless you have something else to tell us, that's the best we can do for now." She flipped her notebook closed. "You'll want to board up that window tonight, just to be safe."
"No problem," J.T. answered, already looking in need of some physical release for the tension visibly knotting his shoulders.
The police tucked away notepads and started to pack the evidence bag with the brick inside.
"Hold on a second." J.T. frowned, stepping closer. He cocked his head to the side for a better look at the brick. Forehead smoothing, eyes icing, he jabbed a finger at a painted discoloration on the side. "Damn it, that's the same symbol as on the bumper of the hit-and-run car."
Rena leaned nearer. How had she missed the markings? The inked red circle with a black triangle inside wasn't all that large, still it niggled at her brain with familiarity. Maybe because J.T. had told her, but she'd been too foggy from the accident to process the information?
Until now. Her fears for her child grew exponentially while foreboding smothered her.
"Uh, Dad?" Chris inched forward. "Can we, uh, go in the kitchen for a minute. I really need to talk to you."
Three hours later, J.T. hammered the last nail in the plywood covering the broken window. Pounding nails didn't come close to releasing the anger boiling inside him.
Somebody had screwed with his family. Put his wife's life at risk. Dared try to suck his kid into underworld crap.
J.T. gave the nail a final whack, driving it home.
Chris had given his full statement to the police. For now, it didn't look as if they would need a lawyer, but if things shook down the way J.T. suspected, they would all be spending time testifying in courtrooms before this was over.
His son would have to testify against the people who'd threatened him. The scum-sucking bastards had come after his family, leaving him in his front yard in the middle of the night doing his damnedest to take some precautions for his family while the police looked into things.
Dangerous and scary-as-hell things.
It had taken guts for Chris to come forward, and J.T. couldn't help but be proud of his kid for making the stand. Although he wanted to shake the boy for not doing it sooner. Just thinking about what could have happened—
He jammed another nail home.
A cop cruiser drove past for the second time while he'd been repairing the window. Some reassurance. His military web belt now in place with his 9mm holstered provided a little more.