Page 32 of I'll Carry You

“I’m Sergeant Dan Klein. I think you know my sister, Jen.”

Jason stiffened. He turned slowly. Not because he’d mentioned Jen. But because he’d called him by his last name when he’d first addressed him. Jason gave him a flat, hard look. “What do you want?”

Dan crossed his arms. “I want to know what the hell you’re doing with her.” His eyes narrowed. “She mentioned you and that your car was towed. That your last name was Sutter. So I looked up the cars that were ticketed and towed the other day but didn’t find any Jason Sutters. Found a Jason Cavanaugh, though. So I looked you up.”

Jason felt his throat go dry. He took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen . . .”

“I’m not finished,” Dan gritted through his teeth. “Imagine my surprise when I dig into who Jason Cavanaugh is, and I find a picture from an obituary of another familiar face. Another prick who didn’t give my sister his real last name, apparently. And now that I know, it all makes a lot more sense why I could never find a trace of him.”

Kevin.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. This was worse than he’d even assumed.

Dan’s face reddened. “What the hell am I supposed to tell my sister? That the man she’s been hoping will show up someday again is dead? Or the even better part? That hisbrotheris here is in town, trying to fuck with her, too?”

Jen was hoping Kevin would come back? Was she still in love with him?

“That’s not how it is.” Jason gave him a level glare. “I had no intention of messing with her.”

“I don’t know what sort of sick game you’re playing here, but you have no idea what your asshole brother put her through. She almost died giving birth to his son. And he wasn’t anywhere to be found. She’s broke and my nephew has no dad, and you’re over here toying with her.” Dan reached for his shirtfront and grabbed it in a fistful, yanking Jason closer. “I don’t think so, pal.”

“I’m not trying to toy with her,” Jason managed. Despite his instinct to pull away, he steered himself to calm. Dan wasn’t acting in any official capacity, but cooperating with him would probably be smarter. And make his own life easier.

“Just trying to sleep with her.” Dan didn’t loosen his grip.

God, he didn’t want to admit that to this guy. But Dan had asked nothing, and there was nothing to deny.

Dan’s voice lowered to a threatening whisper, close enough to Jason’s face that Jason could smell the stale coffee on his breath. “What the hell are you doing here in town?”

Jason’s mind raced for an answer. Anything that made reasonable sense. “My grandmother,” he finally said. “I came to see her.”

“Then why stalk my sister’s workplaces? You knew who she was before you kissed her at the street play, didn’t you?”

How did he know about the kiss? Then again, the guy who had dumped Jen had known about it. Word seemed to travel exceptionally fast around here. Dan was definitely not someone he wanted to involve in his personal business. “Yes.”

Dan’s grip—amazingly—grew even tighter. The fabric dug in around Jason’s neck. “Explain how you’re not messing with her.”

Jason narrowed his gaze at him. “I will when you get your hands off me.” He needed the time to think anyhow.

Dan’s fingers uncurled slowly, and he stepped back. Jason had served as the cooler head throughout his life, learning early on that explosive anger only fed off more anger. Pissing Dan off would only make things worse. Jason pulled the front of his shirt down, away from his neckline.

He scanned Dan’s face. There was a faint resemblance there, one that he could see now that Dan had told him he was Jen’s brother, but not too close. Probably the same way Jason and Kevin had been. But Dan had clearly known Kevin, and his attitude toward him would definitely impact how he saw Jason.

Something close to the truth would be the best bet. With Ned in town, it wouldn’t help to have Dan as his enemy. Dan knew Kevin’s real last name now, and that Colby was his son. Both things made Dan a threat he had to neutralize.

Jason relaxed his posture. “Want to sit down?”

“Not really.”

Not surprising. Dan probably was accustomed to using his stature to his advantage. The more Jason could treat this like a casual conversation, the more it would disarm him.

Jason turned and went over toward the kitchen island, where the coffee machine waited. “Coffee?”

Dan’s angular face followed him suspiciously, his eyes wary. “No.”

The small bag of coffee was French vanilla-flavored, and Jason frowned as he ripped the foil top. “I found out about Colby and Jen last week.” He grabbed a spoon. Now that he wasn’t so close to Dan, he felt remarkably more in control. He’d dealt with men like Dan before. “As soon as I heard that my brother had left behind a child, I drove down.”

The heels of Dan’s shoes dragged against the hardwood floor. “And you decided to stalk Jen?”

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