Page 44 of Gentle Fox

And for that hour, Annalee will either be safe at my place, or inside the walls of Willow Creek Security. I won’t be letting her out of my sight until I know what Dennis’s plans are.

“And you thought small-town living wouldn’t have its perks,” Nolen chuckled.

I was calm enough now to join him in the laughter. “Maybe it has one or two. Keep me posted and ask Lex to do the same. I want to know every move Dennis makes.”

“Will do. See you in a few hours.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. Yeah, he would see me shortly. Now that I was awake, there was no way I would be getting back to sleep. Even if I crawled back into bed with Annalee, the best I would be able to do was watch her sleep.

Not creepy in the least.

“Who was on the phone?”

I turned around, startled, at the sight of my sister standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom. A huge t-shirt hung off one shoulder and a pair of sleep pants kissed the floor by her feet.

“Since when do you move around so quietly? What happened to the loud sister who let the whole world know she was coming?”

Gracie shrugged but dropped her eyes to the floor. She couldn’t look at me when she lied, “People adapt.” I knew right then that something drove her to Willow Creek, and it wasn’t the fact that she missed me and wanted to be closer.

Well, maybe closer but not for the reasons she wanted me to believe.

“Who hurt you, Gracie?”

I would kill them. I would hunt them down and end their miserable life for even thinking it was okay to mess with my baby sister. I had six friends who would help make the body disappear without hesitation. I just needed a name.

“This isn’t about me.” Gracie scuffed her foot along the hardwood floor. “You need to focus on Annalee and whoever called you with news in the middle of the night.”

I stepped closer until I could put my fist under her chin and convince her to look me in the eyes. She begrudgingly did and I could see the pain hiding there. It hadn’t been there when she showed up. At least, I didn’t think so, but I had been too focused on Annalee that I could’ve missed it.

“You’re my baby sister. You will always be my focus. Now tell me what brought you down here.”

Gracie pulled her chin away from my hand and steeled her shoulders. Her stubborn streak was back in full force. “Just drop it, okay. I’m not ready to talk. I came here because I missed my big brother. Now I have the added benefit of seeing you with a woman. Let me enjoy that before you turn all commando on me and start threatening the people in my life. I’m fine. I’m safe under your roof. Let that be enough for now.”

I wanted to argue. She wasn’t the only Baker sibling who could be stubborn. Although as far as siblings went, she was probably the most stubborn out of us all. Maybe because she was the youngest or maybe because there was such an age gap that the rest of the family tried to shove her into this perfect box. Either way, she refused to conform and gave us all heart attacks on the regular.

“I’ll drop it for now, but just know you only have to say the word and I will make the problem go away.”

Gracie probably thought I would threaten the person, but it would be so much more than that. It was okay though. She could live blissfully not knowing the things I was willing to do for the people I loved.

My sister rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know. You will be the first person I tell. I promise.”

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her tight to my side. Dropping a kiss on her head, I reminded myself she was no longer the little girl I used to swing up in my arms when I was home on deployments.

Somehow she grew up and I wasn’t okay with it. I wanted that little girl back. The one who looked at me like I hung the moon and the stars. The little girl who wrote me letters and told me all her secrets because she thought it was so cool to have a big brother in the Marines even if it meant she barely saw me in person. I looked forward to those letters every week.

“I thought you were going to sleep with headphones on. How did you know I was on the phone?”

Gracie shrugged. “I got up to get a drink of water and heard you talking to someone. I figured I would wait until you were done before I made myself known. You never said who was on the phone.”

“Nolen. He had an update on Annalee’s stepbrother.”

“Nolen?” She said his name almost in awe and it had my hackles rising. I hadn’t liked the way Nolen looked when I told him Gracie was coming to town and now I didn’t like the way my baby sister was saying his name. Something felt off. “I haven’t seen him in ages.”

That made me feel slightly better but it didn’t stop me from wondering what was going on with those two. If I wasn’t positive Gracie would kick me in the nuts for asking, I would grill her now about it. Instead, I would watch the two of them closely. Nolen was way too damn old for her.

“Owen?” Annalee’s panicked voice filtered through the slightly open door.

“Coming.” I hollered back so she knew everything was okay.

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