When Bowie walked into the garage lunchroom around one, he found Chase polishing off the sandwich Bowie had brought in that morning. He shook his head at his brother. Some things never changed. “You lookin’ for an honest day’s work, or did you just come by to steal my food as usual?”
Chase grinned. “Fridge at home was empty, and I was hungry. Thought I’d come by and see how your night went.”
So that was it. “Went fine.”
His brother arched an eyebrow. “Just fine?”
He shrugged, downplaying it because he didn’t want his brother to know how deep he was already into Aspen. “Yeah.” He’d kissed her, because it had been impossible not to. And it had pretty much made the world stand still. Not that he was going to tell his brother any of that. “How was yours?”
“Man, you are no fun at all.”
“So I’m told.” Although Aspen seemed to enjoy herself with him. But what the hell was he doing with her? He’d wrestled with that all night until he’d finally fallen asleep at around two this morning, and ever since he’d woken up.
Maybe it wasn’t wrong to want someone else after Theresa had been gone this long, but he still couldn’t shake the guilt. Or maybe he didn’t want to shake the guilt.
All he knew was, he hadn’t dated in forever, and that’s what this felt like. As though he and Aspen were building toward something, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for a serious relationship and to get his heart involved again.
And dammit, even with all that going on inside him, he still couldn’t wait to see her again. Harper had taken her out for the afternoon. He was glad. Harper was the best, and both she and Aspen could use a friend. He also wanted Harper’s take on her, just in case his inner radar was busted and he was missing something important.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, saw his sister’s number. Perfect timing. “Was just thinking about you guys. How’s it going with Aspen?”
“We just had an accident.”
Worry pulled all his muscles taut. “What happened? Are you guys all right?”
“We’re both fine. Well, I’m fine. Aspen’s… She’s really shaken. We noticed some fluid leaking from under her car earlier, then she said the brakes felt weird, and then she couldn’t stop all of a sudden.”
“But you’re not hurt?” he repeated, needing to be sure.
“No, promise, she managed to avoid crashing into the truck in front of us and we ran into the curb and jumped the sidewalk instead. Someone’s already called a tow truck for us, but I wanted to give you a heads up that we’re on our way there with the car. Can you take a look at it and see what’s wrong?”
“Of course.” Jesus, had he missed something with the brake lines? Immediately he dismissed it. No way. He’d checked over every inch of the car personally and the brake system had seemed fine. “Did you call the cops?”
“No, there was no property damage.”
“Want me to come get you?”
“No, we’ll come in the tow truck. They’re loading up Aspen’s car now. See you in a bit.”
“Okay.”
“What’s going on?” Chase demanded when Bowie ended the call. Bowie told him, then hurried to the reception area. “Cancel whatever I’ve got for the rest of the day and I’ll make up the time later,” he told Barb. The two other guys working for him had full slates already. “Something’s come up.”
“Um, sure,” she said in surprise, but got right on it.
He and Chase were standing outside when the tow truck pulled up with Priscilla loaded on the flat deck. He directed it to park in front of one of the rolling bay doors, opened it for the driver, then walked around to where Chase was already helping Aspen and Harper down from the high cab.
Bowie spared a brief glance at his sister, satisfying himself that she was really okay, then looked at Aspen. Something caught in his chest with a hard thud as their gazes connected. She looked pale, drawn.
“You all right?” he asked her.
She nodded, but didn’t smile or take a step toward him, her arms tucked beneath her breasts. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? No one was hurt.”
“I couldn’t stop. I tried to, but the brakes didn’t work.”
“I’m going to check that out.” He glanced at his brother. “Chase, take them inside and get them something cold to drink while I look into this, okay?”
“Sure.” He looped an arm around each of them and led them away. A surprising twinge of jealousy snaked through Bowie at the sight of his brother holding Aspen, but he shook it off because it was ridiculous.
Once Priscilla was in the garage, he popped the hood and started his investigation. Everything looked okay. He put her on the hoist next. Aiming a flashlight at her undercarriage, it took less than ten seconds to spot the problem. And he didn’t like what he found. At all.
He checked the brake hoses and calipers just to be thorough. They were fine. But the problem he’d found had unease curling inside him.
Aspen was sitting next to Harper when he walked into the lunchroom. All three of them looked at him expectantly. “Find anything?” Chase asked.
“Yeah.” He shifted his attention to Aspen, who was watching him with worried eyes. “The brake lines were sliced. Not right through, but pretty bad.”
She stared at him blankly. “What does that mean?”
He flicked a glance at his siblings, then focused back on Aspen. “Harper didn’t notice anything wrong when she drove over this morning. She said she went inside your place and visited for about half an hour before you headed out, and then you noticed fluid leaking before you lost the brakes later?”
Aspen nodded. “Every place I parked.”
“Fluid was leaking out bit by bit every time you pressed on the brake pedal. They’d start feeling mushy. When the pressure in the reservoir got low enough, the brakes stopped working completely.”
“Oh.” She frowned, looking confused. “So I…ran over something and damaged them without realizing?”
He wished. But she’d misunderstood what he meant by sliced. “No. Someone cut them with a sharp blade.” But who would have done it, and why?
She paled. “What?”
“Yeah.”
Her expression was frozen, shock in her eyes…and then fear. Harper reached for her hand. “Is there anyone you can think of?”
Aspen’s face was stiff. “We need to report it.”
Yup. “I’ll call them now,” Bowie said, and pulled out his phone. He stepped out into the hall to talk. Two officers were dispatched to see the evidence and take Harper’s and Aspen’s statements.
Just as he ended the call, Harper appeared around the corner. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
The look on her face worried him. Something was up. “Sure. What’s up?”
“She’s not okay, Bowie. Physically, yes, but she’s still upset, and it isn’t just shock. You should have seen the look on her face when we hit the curb. Terror, Bowie. She shook like a leaf for the next twenty minutes. And finding out about the brake lines… I get the feeling there’s something going on she won’t talk about.”
Yeah, he didn’t like where this was going. “Did she say anything to you earlier? Any clues that something’s wrong?”
“No, but I think she’ll talk to you if you ask.”
“What about a reason why someone would cut the lines?”
She winced, her expression turning guilty.
His eyebrows snapped together. “What?” he demanded.
“That uh, it might not be anything to do with her.”
He folded his arms. “What’s that mean? Harp?” he pressed when she didn’t answer right away.
She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. “All right. I didn’t want to say anything, but, I’ve been having…trouble recently,” she finished, finally meeting his eyes.
What. The. Hell. “What kind of trouble?” he said in a low voice, anger igniting inside him. If she’d been in trouble, he should have been the first person she told. Without question. Why hadn’t she?
She winced. “Nothing that serious,” she began, then started talking faster when he gave her a hard stare. “Some emails. Random texts.”
“About what?”
“Pete.”
“What about him?” he said, barely managing to keep the growl out of his voice. He was mad that she’d hid this from him, and worried she was in serious fucking danger.
“About how he was killed. And what was going on when it happened.”
A lead ball formed in his gut. The situation surrounding Pete’s death was still shrouded in mystery. But the story Harper had been given had sounded like bullshit right from day one. Bowie knew in his gut that Pete hadn’t died in the way the contracting company had reported. “You found something?” He knew she’d been trying to learn the truth.
“No answers yet. But I guess someone doesn’t want me looking into the things I’ve been looking into,” she finished with a shrug. “Company records, talking with former employees. No one wants to talk to me about what happened that day. Not even guys who no longer work there.”
He had to unclamp his jaw to respond. “So someone involved has been threatening you?”
“Kind of.”
His fingers bit into his palms where he’d clenched his fingers into fists. Son of a bitch. “Kind of?”
“Just…subtle things. Whoever it is has so far been careful not to type anything overt.”
“Have you reported it to someone?” He shoved back the urge to grasp her by the shoulders and force everything out of her.
“Yeah, I just told you.”
Shit. “That’s not the answer I was lookin’ for, Harp. I meant—”
She waved his concern away. “I know what you meant, but no. Everything’s been subtle so far. Careful what you wish for. Stop before you get hurt. That sort of BS. Not enough to report it as a threat.”
Yeah. Fuck that. “How long’s this been going on?”
“Since I’ve been doing my own investigation.”
Jesus Christ. “So pretty much the past six months.”
“Yes.” She put a hand on his forearm, staring up at him with pleading eyes. “Don’t be mad, Bow. I just didn’t see the point in causing you any more stress than you—”
“Fuck that, Harp,” he said, his temper igniting. He should have been the first person she turned to about this, as soon as it started. “You know damn good and well that nothing comes before you and Chase with me.” He would have been there for her.
Her expression softened. “I know. I do know that. But I’m a big girl. Someone’s trying to scare me into making me quit searching for answers, that’s all.”
“You need to stop this now, and get help. Hire a lawyer or a private investigator to do the digging from now on.”
“I don’t trust any of them. I’m going to find out what happened, and if the company was to blame, I’m suing their asses off.” Her expression softened, the heat leaving her tone. “And besides, I can’t let my big brother fight all my battles for me,” she finished with a disarming smile, tapping the end of his nose gently with her finger.
Bowie flexed his jaw, anger still riding him hard. And worry. Jesus. What else was going on in his siblings’ lives that they were hiding from him? “You’re going to involve me from now on. If you get any more messages, I want to know. And I’m telling Chase, so don’t bother asking me not to. He deserves to know too.”
She shook her head at him, her expression equal parts exasperated and fond. “Fine.”
“Promise?” he demanded, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. And I love you too.” She hugged him, her way of trying to take the edge off his temper, and dammit, it always worked. “Now go talk to Aspen before the cops get here. She needs a hug.”
Normally he would balk at the idea of having to talk to someone about this kind of thing, but Harper wasn’t going to give him any more information on her situation right now, and this involved Aspen too. He already cared about her. A lot. He wanted to make sure she was okay. “Fine. Get Chase outta my hair for a minute and I’ll talk to her.”
Harper went into the lunchroom and dragged Chase out. His brother passed him with a confused look on the way by. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Harper muttered. “We’ll go wait out front for the cops.”
When they were gone, Bowie entered the room. Aspen looked up at him, still seated in the same spot. Damn, she was a knockout, but that vulnerable look in her eyes set off an ache in the center of his chest. The accident had scared her, and the cut brake lines had to have made it all worse.
He stopped in the center of the room and put his hands in the pockets of his coveralls, not wanting to crowd her. “Sure you’re okay?”
She lowered her gaze, and his insides tightened. She was definitely hiding something. What? “Yes.”
“Harper’s fine,” he said, in case she was still worried about his sister. “Not even a sore neck or anything.”
“I’m glad. And thankful I didn’t hit anyone on that sidewalk.” She blew out a breath and rubbed her hands over her lap, her distress clear.
Unable to keep his distance any longer, he crossed the few feet to her and crouched down, reaching for her hands. Her eyes flicked up to his, filled with worry and shadows, and something he recognized far too easily.
Guilt. But what did she have to feel guilty about? Unless she knew someone who might have cut her brake lines.
He rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands. Her skin was chilled. “You don’t look okay, baby girl.”
She swallowed, a sheen of tears glossing her eyes. “Just shaken up,” she whispered.
Bowie got up, sat next to her and slid an arm around her back. He couldn’t force her to confide in him, but he wouldn’t let her suffer if he could help it. “Come here a minute,” he murmured, pulling her toward him.
She resisted for a second, then gave in and leaned toward him. Bowie gathered her close and wrapped his arms around her in a firm hug, resting his cheek on the top of her citrus-scented hair. He wasn’t sure what was going on inside her head, but it must be bad.
“I’m here if you ever want to talk,” he murmured after a moment. He wouldn’t push her to open up to him, because that was bullshit and he hated it when others tried it with him, but he needed her to know he cared. Needed her to know she could tell him if something was wrong.
Her head bobbed, strands of her hair snagging on his beard. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” He held her another minute, absorbing the feel of her, that strange pressure filling his chest. He was already protective of her, and maybe more so now because he was amped up after the brake lines and what Harper had told him.
Easing back, he kept his hands splayed across her spine as he studied her face. Man, he was already sucked in so deep. If he didn’t watch it, he’d be in over his head before he even realized. “The cops are coming to talk to us and see the car. Chase and Harper will take you home, and I’ll bring Priscilla by when she’s ready.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay.” She started to get up, but stopped when he tightened his hands on her back, looking up at him uncertainly. He didn’t kiss her, because it didn’t feel right in this moment. Something was still going on inside her. Something that made all his protective instincts rise to the surface.
Something that refused to let her go. And God, he knew exactly what that was like too.
An idea occurred to him. It was probably the dumbest idea he’d had in a while, but… “You like picnics?”
She blinked in surprise. “Yes. Why?”
“After I finish fixing Priscilla up I’ll grab some food for us on the way to your place and take you to the perfect picnic spot so we can kick back and relax together for a while this afternoon. Sound good?”
A startled smile spread across her face, magically easing the tension in his chest even as that ever-present guilt that refused to leave him alone expanded in his gut. But it was too late to take it back now, and he didn’t want to anyway. Not when she was smiling up at him like that. “That sounds perfect.”