Page 33 of Jett in Jeopardy

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe until we can figure out who is doing this and give their name to the cops.”

“You havenoidea who it could be?”

I shook my head. “No, I really don’t. I wish I did.”

“How are you planning to make sure whoever is stalking you knows you’re not living in the house anymore?”

“Like I said, Brody’s going to pick up my stuff tonight, and I’m going to make some posts on social media so anybody following me will know I’m not in the house anymore. You guys should be safe.”

“I’m not worried about us,” Grier said. “I’m worried aboutyou. How are you going to be safer with Brody than you would be at our place?”

“He has an alarm system too, because of the bar downstairs. And there’s always somebody around. Even when he’s at work, and I’m alone in the apartment, he’s just downstairs. It makes more sense.”

I wasn’t sure it really did. But I’d risked my friends enough, and I wasn’t going to do it anymore.

“Okay,” Grier backed down, leaning back in his seat and eyeing me speculatively. “I still don’t like it. And I still think it’s a mistake, but I’ll help you any way I can. I’ll put some clothes together in a bag for Brody to pick up. Is there anything else you want?”

“My laptop and the books on my desk.”

Grier nodded and leaned forward again. “So, what exactly is going on with you and Brody? It’s got to be more than a one-night stand if he’s got you moving in there and helping find your stalker.”

I wasn’t sure myself. We were two guys who had sex and liked each other while trying to figure out who was messing with my life, but Brody was very clear he didn’t want anything serious. That’s why he’d let himself get involved with me in the first place, his belief that I wouldn’t have any expectations beyond what we were currently doing. “We’re just… messing around,” I said. “And he’s helping me out.”

“Is that whatyouwant?” Grier asked. “It’s okay if it is, but I just hope you aren’t settling.”

“I’m not. Brody and I, we understand each other.” He wasn’t looking for anything serious, and I was okay with that.

“Fine. But you know that your home is with us, and you can come back whenever you’re ready, whether you know who’s doing this or not, right? We’re family, and we will help you if we can.”

My throat tightened. Grier and Alistair were the best friends I’d ever had, like brothers, and I wouldn’t do anything to put them in jeopardy.

“We’ll figure this out,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. “Saltwater Cove is a small town. There are only so many people it could be.”

After I worked out a time for when Brody could come by for my things, Grier returned to the counter, and I stood to leave.

I waved at Bailey as I headed back out into the frigid cold. The clouds had darkened while I was in the cafe, and a cold steady drizzle had fallen from the bleak sky.

I ducked my head against the cold wind and started crossing the street.

“Jett!”

At the sound of my name, I turned to see Simon hurrying up the street toward me.

I frowned. We hadn’t worked together for very long. In fact, we’d only shared a couple of shifts, but now, I felt like I saw him more than when we’d both been working at the university bookstore.

“Hey,” I said, as Simon approached.

“Hi.” He jammed his hands into his jacket pockets and hunched his shoulders against the wind. “I’m glad I saw you. I wondered how you were doing after what happened at the store.”

If you meant since I’d been fired, the answer wasn’t great. I’d been followed, nearly run over and was almost out of money. Yeah, things weren’t so great, but I doubted he wanted to hear that.

“I’m good. Things are good. How about you?”

Mentally, I cursed myself for asking. It wasn’t that I didn’t care how Simon was, but it wasn’t like we werefriends. We just shared a couple of shifts at the store. There hadn’t been time for us to get to know each other, and I wasn’t looking to change that out here in this rainy and cold weather.

“I’m okay. I’m glad I ran into you, though.” He glanced around the nearly empty street, shifting from one foot to the other like a toddler in need of the bathroom. He was obviously nervous or uncomfortable about something. “Um… I wanted to ask you something.”

I wished he would just spit it out, so I could hurry up and go to Brody’s and get out of the rain. “What’s that?”

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