Page 38 of Spiritwarrior

Knox noticed something he hadn’t.

“How did you get that gash on your forearm?”

Baylin tugged the arm of her housecoat down, which had slid up when she placed her arms around his neck. “I broke a glass in the garbage disposal,” she told Knox timidly.

“Baylin, I’m going to go back to check the apartment out. If I find any blood, I’ll be back with a warrant to get a blood sample from you.”

Baylin watched Knox until he went inside the apartment. Then, grabbing Jody by the arm, she tugged him inside her apartment and closed the door. “You have to help me,” she pleaded with him with frightened eyes.

Jody crossed his arms over his chest. “Why should you be afraid? Is Knox going to find your blood inside?”

“You bastard, you know I did it. You have to help me.”

“Why should I?” His stony expression took in her appearance. “There was no reason for you to trash Sophie’s apartment.”

“My friend saw you in her restaurant today, working behind the counter. It didn’t take you long to replace me.”

His arms went out to her shoulders. “Sophie didn’t replace you. We were never in a relationship. Get that through your head.”

“We will be. You just need time to figure out how much you care about me.”

“I used to like you, Baylin. We had some good times. I don’t need more time to figure out what you mean to me. You meannothingto me,” he told her coldly.

Her face went ashen. “You don’t mean that.” She started pressing herself against him, trying to kiss him.

“Cut it out.” Jody stepped away from her reach. “My advice is to tell Knox what you did before he has to get a warrant. You might be able to keep it quiet until it goes to court.”

“I’ll lose my job at the hospital if anyone finds out about this.”

“You should have thought about that before wrecking Sophie’s apartment,” he told her ruthlessly.

“I just wanted her to leave town.”

Jody stared at her pitilessly. “I can’t believe I misjudged you so badly. I could never be with a woman who would deliberately hurt another person.”

“You don’t have a problem hurting me!”

“If I hurt you, you should have taken that out on me, not blindsided someone else who was nice to you. That’s fucked up.”

“I’ll talk to her.” Baylin’s voice turned shrill. “I’ll pay for the damages.”

Jody reached out to take her by the jaw, controlling his strength so he wouldn’t hurt her. “You don’t go near Sophie, or the next time, the only one leaving town will be you. You let Knox do the talking for you. If you’re lucky, Sophie will let it drop. If not, you accept the punishment. Personally, I prefer they lock your ass up in jail.” Releasing her, he turned for the door.

“You don’t mean that!”

“Yes, I do. You came after someone who belongs to me. Make no mistake, Baylin; I protect those who belong to me, and Sophie belongs to me.” Jody pinned her in place with his stare. “I better not find out you’re part of the reason customers aren’t coming into the diner because you’re bad-mouthing her.”

When she shifted her gaze away from his, Jody knew he had hit the nail on the head.

“You’re a piece of work. You better fix this mess you created, or so help me, I will.”

“I’ll fix it.” Her hand went to her mouth as she started crying.

Jody turned to open the door, motioning for her to go through. “I’d start now.”

Chapter Sixteen

Looking at her watch, Sophie dragged herself out of bed then lay back down. She pulled the pillow over her face and started crying, smothering her tears in the pillow, wishing her mother were there instead.

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