Sweetest Taboo (SIN 3)

And then, of course, I scream.

Dallas was out of the car within seconds, pulling Jane into his embrace and blocking her view of the poor, brutalized dog that someone had viciously murdered and left in the driveway. "You're okay. You're okay."

"Someone d-did that. I saw its throat. Someone did that and brought it here. For us." She tilted her head back, looking at him, her eyes so large and scared that Dallas was certain he would have put his fist right through the heart of whoever did this. Whoever hurt that poor animal. Whoever scared Jane.

"I know, baby. I know. Let's get you inside."

She let him lead her toward the patio, her body frail against his, as if this new assault had knocked the foundation out from under her, and if she wasn't careful she would tumble and shatter.

No.

No way was he letting that happen. She was too strong, and she'd already survived so much. She'd get past this. They both would.

They'd survive.

They'd do more than survive.

And they'd make whoever did this pay.

"The Woman did this," Jane said. "She attacked me in New York, and now she's taunting me here."

"Maybe." Dallas raked his fingers through his hair. "Probably. But I didn't expect her reach to be quite this long. We didn't exactly make it public knowledge that we were coming to LA."

She said nothing as he pushed the front door open for her. She shook her head. "No. I want to stay with you."

"I need to call the cops and wait out here for them. I don't want anyone tampering with the scene."

"Who--"

"I don't know. Maybe no one. But there are coyotes in these hills, too, and buzzards. I need to stay out here."

"Then I'm staying with you."

"Jane, I don't know. You--"

"Can handle it," she said firmly. "I'm scared, sure. Because honestly, I'd be an idiot not to be. But this is my house, and that bitch came onto my property. So I'm pissed, too. And pissed trumps scared."

He studied her and saw the fight under the fear, and for just a moment he felt like an ass for even trying to coddle her. She was a survivor. He should know; he was a survivor, too.

&

nbsp; "All right," he said, then dialed 911.

To the department's credit, two officers arrived within ten minutes, and Dallas joined them when they examined the dog. For that, Jane opted to wait on the porch. Dallas half-considered doing the same--someone had used barbed wire to strangle the poor collie--but he didn't trust the police to not overlook something important. As it was, both Dallas and the officers zeroed in on the collar and dog-tag.

The older cop--Sergeant Fielding--held it out while his partner took a picture of the owner information, and Dallas used the opportunity to memorize the name and phone number. Carol Lucas.

"Know her?" Fielding asked.

"Not that I recall," Dallas said. "But the name's vaguely familiar. I know a lot of women," he added, and saw Fielding's partner smirk. "Give me a second," he added as he pulled out his phone.

"Do you know the owner?" Jane walked over to join them. At the same time, two cars pulled up and parked on the opposite side of the road. The drivers' windows came down, and cameras started flashing.

"Dammit," Dallas said, pulling Jane with him as he turned around and hurried back to the house. "Tabloid chasers. They must listen to the police band. Come on." He urged her inside the house, and then stood just inside with the door half-open so that they could hear the police outside, urging the men to move along.

Dallas was barely paying attention to that, though. Instead, he was following a trail from Carol Lucas's Facebook account and then to her Twitter and Instagram profiles. He remembered her vaguely--a pretty blonde he'd slept with twice when he'd been in Los Angeles a year or so ago. He'd blocked her on Twitter after their second date when she developed the annoying habit of sending him tweets every five minutes on the nose.

Now he saw what he'd been missing. A tirade about what an asshole player he was. How he fucked her and dumped her. How he deserved to have his heart yanked out and stomped on. Those started about eight months ago, and the general theme had continued periodically until recently.