Page 15 of Rebels and Roses

“Why would he come to you for this? Shouldn’t he talk to the police?”

Cooper was a man who could get things done, but he wasn’t a cop or a detective. He just wrote about them.

“He has, and apparently, they haven’t taken him all that seriously. He doesn’t really have any evidence, just afeelingthat he can’t shake. As for why he messaged me? He remembered that Fiona said that I’m friends with cops and detectives. He thought I could help him. He said he didn’t know where to turn. And yes, I’m as surprised he did as everyone else.”

“A feeling?” Jane echoed. “He has a feeling that he’s being followed?”

“He said his apartment was broken into. He thinks that’s proof, I guess.”

“You don’t seem to be taking his claims all that seriously.”

“He’s not making it easy for me,” Cooper replied defensively. “If he had a shred of proof… But he doesn’t. Just hunches and gut feelings. I can’t go to any of my contacts in law enforcement and tell them that my ex-brother-in-law thinks he’s being followed but can’t point to anything concrete. They’d tell me that he needs psychiatric intervention.”

“Does he?”

“No, he’s not crazy. At least, I don’t think he is. I’m not a mental health professional, though.”

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you,” Jane joked. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe someone is following him.”

“He might be.”

Cooper outlined how Tom was cheating on his girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancée Erica.

What a lowdown, dirty dog. Erica shouldn’t bother watching him. She should just throw the whole man away.

“In other words, he’s paranoid, and he should be.”

“Yes, and I’ve basically said that to him. Finn, too. He swears that Erica doesn’t know, but this morning he seems more open to the idea. To be honest, I’m not sure he gets it. His first question when we arrived was if there was coffee here. His second was about you.”

“At least he has his priorities in order,” Jane snorted. “What did he say about me?”

“He said you were extremely sexy, and he asked if you have a boyfriend.”

“What did you say?”

“I said that you were out of his league, which is the truth.”

Cooper’s simple statement had Jane laughing out loud. She’d never thought of herself as all that good-looking, although she knew she wasn’t ugly either. She was fine. Just okay.

Sometimes, when she and Cooper were together, and he was looking at her with his molten hot gaze…she did feel sexy and beautiful.

“I think he’s still going to try and flirt with you,” Cooper warned. “You don’t need to feel like you need to let him down easy. Let him have it with your usual no-nonsense charm.”

“I don’t coddle cheaters,” she shot back. “And that’s what he is.”

“That’s what I like about you. You don’t suffer fools.”

“Neither do you. You’re just more subtle about it.”

“Years of living in the Winslow household. Passive-aggressive was the name of the game. Speaking of my family, the private investigator that we hired is on the way here.”

Jane’s stomach tightened, as it did every time he mentioned his mother’s disappearance. Despite not living in this town her whole life, she’d have to have been blind not to see the toll it had taken on Cooper and his siblings. They were in a world of hurt not knowing what had happened to Lily Winslow.

All they wanted was the truth. Something that seemed in short supply in the Winslow household.

Courtesy of Joel Winslow. Try as she might, she simply hadn’t been able to find any redeeming qualities in the man. But surely, there was one? Did he like puppies and kittens?

“I’m glad. I hope they can find something for you.”

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