Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(2)

“Of course I’ll help,” Black reassured her. “Do you know the men who’re bothering you?”

“No. They’re young. Like late teens or early twenties. They hang around the neighborhood. I don’t think they care that we see them because technically they’re not doing anything illegal. But they hang out in that new park down the street from the building or outside the tattoo shop across the street. The residents don’t want to go outside by themselves, and they won’t let their kids go play at the park either.”

“You working at the shelter this afternoon?”

“Today?” Harlow asked in surprise.

“Yeah, Harl. Today.”

“Well, yeah. At least until around four. Zoe comes in then.”

“Zoe?”

“The other cook. Loretta hired her about a week after me. When I’m not here, she is, and vice versa. That way all the meals for the residents are covered,” Harlow explained.

“She being harassed too?” Black asked.

“Yeah. Everyone is. And it’s weird, because Zoe is sixty. She doesn’t look it, not with her pink hair and all, but I don’t understand why those punks are picking on all of us. Loretta thinks it could be one of the residents’ exes who maybe hired them, but since they aren’t hurting us or destroying property, the cops won’t look into it, and so we have no way of finding out.”

Black’s heart rate increased. The more she told him about the situation, the more concerned he got.

“Anyway,” Harlow went on, “I think maybe meeting with you again and being able to ask more questions and having you show everyone some basic things they can do to protect themselves will give them more confidence.”

Black looked at his watch and said, “I’ll be there in an hour.”

There was silence on the phone for a moment before Harlow asked, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“I didn’t mean—You don’t have to come today. I just . . . you said to call if I felt uneasy.”

“Right. And you called me because you aren’t comfortable with the situation, and I can do something about it.”

Black would do something about it, all right. He would’ve told Harlow he’d be there in thirty minutes, except he needed to call Rex and inform him of what was going on. He also needed to call Meat, their resident computer expert. Meat could start looking into the ex-husbands and boyfriends of the shelter’s residents.

Black knew he was possibly going overboard, that maybe the punks had no connection to anyone and were just getting their kicks scaring the residents at the shelter, but he didn’t think so. The building wasn’t in the best part of the city, but it wasn’t the worst either. Colorado Springs was putting some money into the area, including tax breaks for businesses who opened up there and incentives to developers to try to revitalize the area.

Harlow had been harassed for at least a month now. He doubted the men bothering her would still be doing so just for shits and giggles. Once again, he was pissed at himself for not calling to check on her.

The back of his neck was tingling, a sure sign that more was up with the situation.

Black was happy to have something to do to keep himself busy and satisfy his need to be useful—but more than that, he was looking forward to seeing Harlow. She’d been on his mind over the last month, and he was grateful for any excuse to see her again.

“Go tell Loretta I’ll be there in a while. I’ll talk to her about what’s been going on and what measures are in place to protect the residents. You’ll be safe in the meantime?”

He heard the amusement in her voice when she said, “I’m thirty-four years old and have essentially been on my own for sixteen of those years. I think I can manage to survive for the sixty or so minutes it’ll take you to get here.”

Black smiled. He liked her sass. “Right. Then I’ll see you soon.”

“Lowell?”

The smile on his face grew at hearing Harlow use his given name again. It had been a long time since anyone had used it, other than his family. Hearing it in Harlow’s low, husky voice made his belly churn with anticipation. “Yeah, Harl?”

“Thanks. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, or even thought about each other. I just . . . everyone is nervous, and when the cops couldn’t do anything, we were kinda at a loss as to what to do. I appreciate you offering to give the classes. I can pay for them. I mean, I was the one who called you.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get there,” Black told her.

There was no way anyone would be paying him for anything. The women’s shelter was important to Rex and the rest of the Mountain Mercenaries. Loretta had helped them out time and time again when they’d needed her assistance with a woman or child they’d rescued. Rex would be upset that Loretta herself hadn’t called, but Black and the rest of his team would offer whatever help the shelter needed, gratis.

“Okay. Drive safe,” Harlow said. “Bye.”

She hung up before Black could say a word. He clicked off his phone and stared into space for a long moment. It had been ages since anyone had told him to drive safe, at least someone who wasn’t related to him. His parents were great, but they lived on the other side of the country in Orlando. He spoke to them frequently, and while they always told him they loved him, they didn’t worry about him, per se.