Page 31 of Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

Oh, he did. “If the bastard comes at her again, he’s dead.” Did that count as having it? Jake thought it did.

Harris’s eyes widened. “You can’t say that to a cop!”

Jake shrugged. He’d just said it, hadn’t he? No stutter. Loud and clear.

“And you’re in a jolly Santa suit!” Harris huffed. “You can’t make threats when you’re dressed like?—”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Jake growled. “If he comes at her again, I’ll deck the bastard’s halls so hard that he will never move again. Better? Is that Christmasy enough for you?”

“No, no, that is not better!” Harris’s eyes were huge. “You need to leave this to the police—to me!”

“Then the police need to get busy. Because there is no way in the world that I’m letting him get True again.” He pulled her closer to him even as he told Harris, “If you need us, we’ll be at my place.” For the rest of the night. But come morning, they were hunting. The bastard was not getting away with what he’d done to True.

Harris looked pissed, but he didn’t argue.

“There’s…one more thing,” True said, hesitant. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but…”

Both men focused on her.

“Right before I noticed that the exhibit door was open, I realized that I’d missed a call from my ex-husband.”

Jake stiffened. The ex. From Atlanta.

Where the dead man under the tree just happened to live and work…Like it wasn’t easy to connect those dots.

“Richard and I haven’t talked in ages. There’s no reason for him to call me, and—it’s odd, right?” A little furrow appeared between True’s brows. “The dead man in my home was from Atlanta.”

She’d clearly been connecting the dots, too.

“Richard—Richard Wells—is a prosecutor in Atlanta. He might have known the man we found in my house. I don’t—I don’t think Richard would hurt me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Forget it. I’m just making crazy connections.”

Jake didn’t think there was anything crazy about her at all.

When Harris dipped his head, Jake understood the detective felt the same way. “On it,” Harris murmured.

Jake was going to be on it, too.

True’s eyes opened. “Do you have any other questions? Can we leave?”

“No more questions. Not for now, anyway.” Harris inclined his head. “But if you see anything or anyone suspicious, you call me, got it?”

If Jake saw anyone suspicious, he was taking the prick down. He pulled True closer to his body and, together, they headed into the museum’s hallway. Uniformed cops were in the Egyptian display room. Braden and Robert were talking quietly to one police officer. They didn’t even seem to notice when Jake and True slipped away.

But as soon as Jake had gotten True out of the building…

“Boss!” Perry rushed toward them. Light snow flurries danced in the air around him, and a puff of icy fog appeared before his mouth. “I got your text. The cops wouldn’t let me in, so I just waited out here for you.” His anxious stare darted to True as the nearby parking lot light fell on them. “You okay, ma’am?”

She shivered.

Jake shouldered out of his Santa coat and put it around her shoulders.

“Is that a Santa coat?” Perry squinted.

“You’re always giving me your coats to wear,” True murmured. “That’s…kind of you.”

He didn’t feel particularly kind. He felt like ripping apart the bastard who’d terrorized her and then sealing that prick in a coffin. Let’s see how that feels, asshole.

No, he’d never been kind. That had been her. True was the one who volunteered at the local soup kitchen at Thanksgiving. She was the one who organized the Christmas toy drive—yes, he’d donated when he saw her putting up flyers around town. She was the one who did things to help other people.

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