Page 63 of Dancin' with Demons

My mouth drops open as I stare at her. “Babe?”

Raylynn’s eyes are fire, and she juts her chin out in defiance. “No. I’m sick of people I don’t know knowin’ who the hell I am.”

The cop shakes his head with a chuckle before holdin’ his hand out to her. “Gage Kariss. I’m Lacey’s older brother, and a Captain at the police department.”

Raylynn’s face immediately falls, her eyes fillin’ with tears. “Oh. Sorry. I just—”

“Don’t worry about it, hon,” Gage says as she shakes his hand. “I get it, but I’m here to help you, I promise.”

“Start talkin’, Gage,” Reaper says as he comes from the front of the truck.

I try to curb my possessiveness as Raylynn gently pushes me back and hopes off the truck bed, goin’ right to Reaper and huggin’ him. Despite knowin’ me really well, Reaper wraps his arms around her and leans down to whisper Somethin’ I don’t catch in my woman’s ear. A fresh wave of tears flows down her face as she nods and hugs him harder for a moment before comin’ back to me.

For once, I don’t say anythin’. She doesn’t need me gettin’ mad about that right now.

“We’ve got a curtain up so the pictures and shit ain’t on display. Come have a look,” Gage says, and I don’t move, instead lettin’ everyone else follow him.

Turnin’ to Raylynn, I take her face in my hands and gently tilt her head up until her watery eyes meet mine. “Baby, will you be okay here for a moment?”

Her lip trembles and a few tears run down her face. “I don’t want you seein’ those pictures, Renegade.”

My brows pull together. “Little love?”

“It’s humiliatin’,” she whispers, grabbin’ my wrists and pullin’ my hands from her face as she looks away.

“Raylynn,” I snap, grabbin’ her face again, forcin’ her to look at me, “stop it. Nothin’ in this fuckin’ world will make me look at you differently. I love you. Every single part of you. Do you hear me?”

She nods and sighs. “All the guys are seein’ ‘em, Renegade. I can’t even tell you how uncomfortable that makes me.”

“I’m sorry, little love,” I say, leanin’ down to kiss her forehead, “and I promise, we will find this person and I will end him.”

Swallowin’ hard, she takes a deep, steadyin’ breath. “Go. Ask ‘em if we can leave when you’re done. I want to go home.”

After kissin’ her head again, I head across the parkin’ lot, steppin’ around the giant tarp the police put up to block the area. I don’t know what I expected but the moment my eyes fall on the pictures of my woman stapled to the fence, my heart breaks for Raylynn. I can’t imagine what the hell she went through for six months, and I can’t even comprehend what seein’ this pictures did to her mindset.

Steppin’ in front of Gage, Catacomb, and our brothers, my eyes are glued to the pictures, scannin’ each one for anythin’ tellin’. “No one says shit to her about you seein’ this pictures. She’s humiliated right now, and that ain’t Somethin’ I can fix, and it sure as hell ain’t Somethin’ that she needs to be made worse.”

“Of course,” Catacomb says a second before a loud bark echoes from my right.

Turnin’ my head, my eyes land on the pitbull that Raylynn stops to pet every day when she comes to work. If I didn’t know better, I’s think the thing was starin’ at me. I go to turn away, but it barks again. This time as I turn back, it comes trottin’ over to me, walks around my legs, and then slams it’s head into my calf before runnin’ back to the edge of the woods and barkin’ again.

“Follow it,” Reaper says as he steps next to me.

Shakin’ my head, I walk toward the pitbull, and as soon as I get to the edge of the woods, he moves further in and looks at a large tree before barkin’ without stoppin’. Gage steps up next to me and holds his arm out, stoppin’ me.

“Let me, just in case it’s another crime scene, man.” Pullin’ his gun, he walks slowly into the woods, usin’ his flashlight to illuminate the path. The dog doesn’t shut up until Gage stops next to him and pats his head. Then, he comes runnin’ back out and sits right next to my foot, still as a statue. When Gage finally comes back, he huffs. “Someone’s been hidin’ there. Perfect view of the front of the diner as well as an eye line for the fenced area.”

“He’s stalkin’ her,” I growl.

Gage nods. “Yeah, that would be my guess. Take her home, Renegade. Keep her close until we help figure out who this is. Anyone willin’ to decapitate a dog and shit ain’t someone your woman needs to get caught by.”

As I turn away from Gage and head back across the parkin’ lot toward the truck where Raylynn is, the dog walks next to me. My mind is goin’ a million miles and hour until the dog darts forward and growls. It’s only then Raylynn’s panicked voice reaches my ears. Comin’ around the back of the truck, the pitbull is in front of Raylynn, entire body tense, growlin’ and snarlin’ at two cops with their guns pointed at him.

Runnin’ over, I step next to Raylynn as my brothers come in close, helpin’ sheild my woman from the cops. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”

The younger of the two cops smirks, his eyes dartin’ between me and the dog. “She’s comin’ to the station for questionin’.”

Before I can open my mouth, a deep, angry yell makes everyone freeze, and I’m shocked when Gage pushes through from between everyone and steps right into the line of both cops guns. “I call the shots here, and I already cleared her to leave. Put your fuckin’ guns away and take your asses back to the precinct before you do Somethin’ else stupid.”

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