Page 56 of Justice for JoElla

“Hmmm. Just be careful, please? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Idon’t want anything to happen to me. I’ll be as careful as I can, but there’s some inherent risk that goes with this job. Just like yours.”

“I know.” He got quiet and JoElla was beginning to think the call had dropped when he said, “I don’t want to scare you off, and I don’t want to turn you off, but you need to know that I’m starting to have some pretty substantial feelings for you. I’m not asking you to return them. I’m just asking if you want out. I’m not afraid of getting hurt. I’m only afraid of alienating you, and if I can give you something you need, no matter what it is, I’m willing to do that, even if it means I’m going to get my ass handed to me at some point. Does that make sense?”

It was the moment JoElla had dreaded but for some reason, it wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d imagined it would be. “You’re not going to alienate me. Brandon, I can’t promise you that I’ll ever be able to return those feelings, and that has to be okay. Don’t misunderstand me. Iwantto return them. I’m just not sure I can.”

“Fair enough. I get it. Really, I do. In the beginning, I thought this would just be something light and fun for both of us, but I find myself thinking about you quite a bit, and I don’t mean in all the carnal ways either. Saturday meant something to me.”

“You mean after you recovered from me hitting you in the head.”

“Yeah. After that. But honestly, I’ve never witnessed anything like the butterflies, and it made me… hopeful.”

“It’s weird you’d say that, because that’s exactly how I felt when we left there.” JoElla wasn’t sure telling him things like that was a good idea, but she also wasn’t going to lie to him. “I’m open to seeing how it goes, but I want you to know all of that up front.”

“Eyes wide open, darlin’. I get it. Really. And I’m not worried. Hey, how’s that Quint guy?”

“He’s really nice. Seems to know his stuff. He’s going to help me canvass today.”

“Good. You won’t be alone.”

“Sometimes I’m going to be alone. It’s just?”

“Part of the job. I know, I know. But I still don’t have to like it.”

“No. But you also can’t do anything about it. Honestly, neither can I. Now, I’ve got to get going. He’s going to think I’m taking the dump of the century in here.”

“Well, isn’t that attractive? Okay. But be careful.”

“I will. I promise. Talk to you later.”

“Later, baby. Bye.”

JoElla hit END and leaned up against the counter for a minute. The more she thought about Brandon, the more she wanted to spend time with him. He was massively good for her ego. Apparently he thought she was attractive. That was odd. She’d never thought of herself as being anything special, but he seemed to think so. He was fucking hot as sin, him and that married brother of his, and that might not have been a determining factor, but it sure didn’t hurt a damn thing.

“Ready to go?” she asked as she strolled back into the big common room.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Mick just headed out. What’s our first stop?”

JoElla handed him a list. “These are the places where we know he’s worked. I figure we can stop in, see if anybody’s still in contact with him.”

“Good enough place to start. Who’s driving?”

“I am. You just tell me where we’re going and I’ll know how to get there.”

“Roger that.”

They stopped at a place that bagged and sold popcorn wholesale, but only one person working there seemed to remember Warmuth. The manager had only been there for a year and according to their information, Warmuth had been gone from there for three years. Only one man who’d worked there with him was still in their employment, and he said they’d never been close. JoElla could tell from the casual way he answered that he was telling the truth.

Their next stop was a muffler shop. Two of the guys working there knew him, but they hadn’t seen him since he was fired. When JoElla asked why he was let go, one said he was overcharging customers and pocketing the difference. Yeah, that would definitely get you fired when you were found out.

They were headed to the next location when JoElla heard something behind her?the momentary bleep of a siren. Behind her was a Taylorsville Police Department cruiser, and when she pulled over, the officer hopped out without a second thought, so he definitely knew who was in the car he’d stopped. “This is no coincidence. Hang tight,” she told Quint. As soon as the officer was at the window, she stared up at him. “Did I do something wrong, sir?”

“You can drop the sir bullshit. I know who you are. Our chief told everyone in the war room this morning that if we saw you, we were to tell you that he wants to talk to you. In person.”

“Oh yeah?” There was very little he could’ve said that would’ve pissed her off more. “Well, officially, I’m busy on an investigation, and if he wants to impede that, I’ll just give one of my buddies at KDCI a call and let them know. Unofficially? Tell him I said to stick it up his ass. He wants to talk to me, he needs to call SheriffRoy Billings. I trust you know where he is.”

“You sure that’s the message you want to send?”

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