Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(55)

“I owe you my life,” Alex said to the men.

“That’s right,” Jim quipped. “I expect five years of free car washes and I like my lawn mowed twice a week.” His grin didn’t fade as he stepped forward and slapped Alex’s shoulder.

“Done,” Alex said.

Jim’s grin faded. “I was joking.”

“I’m not.” Alex’s lips twitched. “But I’m not doing any manual labor for you. Would you settle for car wash tickets and a yard service?”

Jim’s hand lay still on Alex’s shoulder as he blinked. Brynn had never seen Jim speechless before.

“If Jim doesn’t want ‘em, I’ll take ’em.” Ryan stretched and yawned. Brynn jerked her head in his direction. How long had Ryan been awake?

“Except I don’t need a yard service. How about a subscription to a Beer of the Month Club?”

Alex nodded. “Thomas?” He turned toward the quiet man who’d been closely following the conversation.

Thomas shook his head. “Don’t need anything. Didn’t do it for a reward.”

“I know that, but it’ll make me feel rotten if…”

Thomas grinned. “Perfect. If it bothers you then I’m happy.”

Alex stared then laughed. “There’s a sick sense of logic there.”

“What about Brynn? What are you gonna give her?” Ryan smiled and turned innocent eyes on Brynn. She felt her cheeks flush.

“I don’t…”

“Don’t tell me you want me to be miserable like Thomas does,” Alex prodded.

“No, of course not, but…”

“Aw, come on, Brynn. Give the guy some slack. Tell him you’ll settle for a big ol’ diamond and he’ll be happy.” Pure devilry shone out of Ryan’s eyes.

Now she knew he’d been awake as she kneeled near Alex.

“No diamonds. No car washes.” She threw a protein bar at Ryan’s head, which he handily snatched just before it nailed him in the mouth.

“Come on, you can think of something. He’s not going to give up until you name something. You don’t want him stalking you, do ya?” Ryan caught his breath as his face fell. “Shit.”

Brynn’s mouth dried up.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Silence filled the broken plane.

Alex looked at each teammate, but the men were all looking at the ground and Brynn was trying to get her lungs to work properly.

“Did I miss something?” Alex asked.

Brynn’s heart felt as heavy as the plane as she turned to Alex. Curious concern shone from his eyes.

Jim spoke first. “Brynn had a stalker last year. This dipshit let his mouth flap without thinking.” He whacked Ryan’s head with a glove.

“A stalker?” Unease replaced the concern in Alex’s eyes, and he frowned at her.

Brynn wanted to tell him, but didn’t know why. She hadn’t spoken of the incident in months because it’d seriously freaked her at the time.

“Awhile back…”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Alex popped three ibuprofen in his mouth and swallowed them dry. “Forget it.”

“No. I don’t mind talking about it. Really.” And she didn’t. She forced her stomach to relax as she sat back in one of the cushy chairs and tried to figure out where to start.

“Last year I was called to a suspicious death of a teenager. It was plainly suicide. The boy had locked himself in his room, left a long, rambling good-bye note, and shot himself in the mouth. He’d attempted suicide twice before, he’d been treated for depression, and there wasn’t a shred of evidence that anyone else could’ve been in the room.”

“Window?” Alex was following her story closely, his eyes intense.

“No window. And the door was locked with a bolt from the inside. His mother heard the shot and was at that door within seconds. No one else could have gone in or out of that room.”

“So what was the problem?” Alex raised a brow.

“The problem was the dad. He lived in Tennessee and believed his son had been murdered,” Brynn explained.

“Stupid *,” Thomas swore. He chomped into a protein bar.

“The father stalked you?” Lines creased Alex’s forehead. “From Tennessee?”

Brynn nodded. Her lungs were working normally now, and she breathed steadily. The father had been a big man—a big, determined man. And he’d scared the crap out of her.

“He harassed me by phone for a week. Swearing, cursing, calling me every name in the book, and threatening to get my license taken away. He threatened to shoot me and see if some idiot death investigator thought it looked like a suicide. The medical examiner and I had determined an autopsy wasn’t needed in this case, and the father was livid. He wouldn’t accept that his son had committed suicide. He had my cell number and wouldn’t stop calling.”

Alex’s brows shot together; he looked furious. “How’d he get your cell number?”

“I don’t know.” She suspected someone at the ME’s office had given it out, but no one had ever admitted it. “Then he showed up at the office. He’d flown across the damned country to yell at me in person. I’m not at the office that much because I’m usually out in the field. The secretary told him that and he left. My boss called me at home to warn me, and I got Jim to park his squad car in my driveway and sleep on my couch.”