Close To Danger (Westen #4)(5)

“Not to mention nearly killing Gage at the time,” Bobby added, her voice dripping with anger.

Wes nodded, “That, too. She lost quite a few friends. No one wanted to help bail her out. She has no money and no house or property to put down as collateral with the usual bail bondsmen.”

“What about her sister in New York?” Gage asked.

“I guess the sister was tired of her mooching off her, and refused to help, too.”

A sputter came out of Bobby. Wes and Gage exchanged a what-the-hell look before both focused on the little brunette, who was trying—not too successfully—to hide a grin.

“What was that?” Gage asked.

She made the sound again, a mixture of a snort and a giggle. Then she gave up and laughed. “I know it’s wrong of me, but can we just say that karma is a bitch and right now she’s kicking your ex’s butt? And I’m not the least bit sorry I find it very, very funny.”

Wes shrugged at his boss, who was grinning from ear-to-ear. “She has a point.”

That sent Bobby into more laughter, which quickly turned to tears. Gage shot to his feet, crossed the room and gathered his wife in his arms. Over her head he shook his head at Wes.

Discreetly he turned back to his computer and opened up the daily log to update Earl’s stay in the jail last night, but mostly to give the pair a chance to calm down. Between the stress over the wedding, the crazy Gage’s ex had dumped on the pair, the threat to Bobby’s sister the day before the wedding, and now a new baby on the way, if anyone deserved to cry it was his friends. Which made his decision about Chloe much easier.

He’d been torn between telling Gage and Bobby about the apparent stalker Chloe had or just quietly investigating into it himself. They had enough on their plates. Besides, at the moment he didn’t know more than she’d felt someone watching her and was getting phone calls that hung up.

Speaking of phones, he pulled out his smart phone and hit the app that let him clone other people’s phones—another gift he’d kept when he left the agency. A quick tap on Chloe’s phone and he had her text message history—most of them were benign or business oriented. In the two weeks she’d been home, he’d only seen one or two that might be questionable. When he’d tried to trace them, they came up as burner phones, which engaged his danger radar. One of the texts was from that number.

If you’re going to run away from me, you might want to ditch the heels next time.

Now danger was clanging in his head like a five-alarm-fire bell.

Shit. Someone was definitely stalking the sexy lawyer, and here he was nearly three hours away. Once again, his eyes fell on the pair across the room. Bobby had calmed down and was sitting in her chair once more. Gage was talking quietly to her and she laughed, wiping at the tears with a tissue.

Yeah. He was going to have to go take care of this on his own.

Schooling his features to show no emotion, even though his blood boiled with anger that someone was threatening Chloe, he leaned around his desk to get Gage’s attention. “So, boss, any chance I can take a few days off?”

Gage walked back to his own desk, flipped open his scheduling book—a leftover relic from when his father was sheriff—studied it a moment, then gave a shrug. “Don’t see why not. We’re back to full force now, with Bobby and me back. Any particular reason you want off?”

“Just got a family thing I need to take care of.” Which was true. Only it wasn’t his family thing, it was theirs. “Need to go out of town for it, though.”

“Tomorrow be okay or you need to leave today?” Gage’s brows rose in question, which didn’t surprise Wes. It’s not like he’d ever shared anything about his past or family—or lack thereof—with his friends.

Wes checked his watch. Nearly ten. With the snow from the storm a few days back still on the roads, the usual three-hour drive from Westen to Cincinnati could be more like four, which would put him at Chloe’s office sometime this afternoon if he left now, giving him the element of surprise, both for Chloe and whoever was watching her.

“All the reports are filed. Nothing really going on. No major problems. If you could spare me today, I’d like to get on top of this ASAP,” he said, trying to act as calm as possible, even with the implied threat in the text still rattling around in his brain. He shut down his computer and pocketed his phone.

“Guess you’ve kept things pretty much in order while we were gone. You deserve the time. Get on out of here.”

Shoving himself out of his chair, he grabbed his backpack.

“I hope everything’s okay,” Bobby said from her desk as he pulled on his jacket and Sheriff’s Department ball cap. He paused and looked at her. She was one of the bravest women he’d ever had the pleasure of working with and counted her a friend. If her sister was in trouble, he was going to be sure she was safe.

“I hope so, too. I’ll know better once I get there.”

“Where’s your family at?” she asked.

“South,” was all he said and headed out of the office.

Time to go solve the problem of Chloe Roberts.



*



“I’ve never heard Wes talk about his family,” Bobby said as she stood at the window watching their friend hop in his truck and head down Main Street.