Page 27 of Serve ’N’ Protect

“Stay behind me,” he snapped. Voices filtered through from outside. “Two men and a woman.”

Uh-oh. She had a bad feeling. Not that Markus had anything to be worried about. She, on the other hand… “What kind of cars did they come in?”

“A red Honda Prius and a silver Camry.”

Cassidy groaned. “You can stand down, Super Cop. I know who they are.”

“Who are they?”

The last people she wanted to see right now. One of them seemed to drop by nearly every day, but Sundays were supposed to be sacred, a day to herself. “My family.”

Chapter Ten

Markus hooked the curtain with his index finger, pulling it aside. The Prius and the Camry were still in the same spot they were an hour ago.

He took in the peeling siding paint and the sagging front porch steps of Cassidy’s house. It was a California Craftsman, the same general style as John’s, but hers could use a little work. On the outside, anyway. He stared a moment longer, wondering what the inside looked like. There was no doubting it would be chock-full of her personality. All bright-eyed and chipper.

The woman was a certified Chatty Kathy, but he didn’t mind. Having her around would keep him from getting bored. If her family would leave, they could get started on her rehab.

Markus wanted to get her into John’s gym ASAP, before she chickened out. Trepidation was written all over her face, which was exactly why time was of the essence. She needed to saddle up and get back on the horse. The more time that passed, the more anxious and doubtful she’d be about achieving positive results. That and the fact his time in Leonardtown wouldn’t be all that long. He hoped.

He let the curtain drop then went into the living room to start reviewing the video Kade had sent over. He flipped open his laptop, patting the sofa beside him. Ghost crawled up next to him and stretched out with the top of his head against Markus’s thigh. His dog was definitely a couch potato, had been since the day Markus had brought him home.

Kade’s email was actually a link to a Dropbox containing sixteen files, each with an hour’s worth of recordings from the two cameras outside the rented mansion. He clicked open the first file and hit the play button.

His and Jack Barnes’s shift had started at four. Given that it was late November, the exterior light was already fading. The first catering truck had just pulled through the wrought iron gates and driven up to the main door. Over the next fifteen minutes, truck after truck arrived, unloading trays of food, cases of wine, and champagne.

An hour and ten minutes into the videos, Markus was ready to blow his brains out. He rubbed his eyes and hit the pause button. This is a colossal waste of time. And only fourteen hours and fifty minutes of video to go. He’d much rather have been in the gym with Cassidy.

If she stuck with the plan he had in mind, those baggy jeans would fill out with supple curves in no time. Her strength and balance would return, along with her self-confidence. She’d be a stunner. She already is.

The first thing he’d noticed when he’d come to on the floor were her ocean-blue eyes and wavy, thick blond hair. Despite feeling like death, he’d noticed how pretty she was, but it was more than that. Something about her attracted him in ways other women didn’t. Maybe it was because she didn’t want anything from him, or that she didn’t give a shit about his reticence. She just kept talking as if he was a normal person, not someone who’d grown up with a father that jumped down his throat whenever he said or did the wrong thing, which was pretty much all the time when his father deigned to be home. Around Cassidy, he was comfortable. Despite the fact that they were on totally opposite sides of the social spectrum, she’d managed to engage him in enough conversation that the morning had whizzed by.

His stomach growled, a sign that he’d already worked off the amazing breakfast she’d made for him. Unlike him, she could cook. Yeah, having her around not only kept McMurray off his back but would keep him well fed and…entertained.

He closed the laptop and set it on the coffee table. They did, however, have one thing in common. They’d both been badly injured and were both still in pain. She had guts, he’d give her that. Living alone had to be hard, especially given the weak condition of her legs. He wasn’t surprised when she’d told him she’d been an athlete before her accident. There was good muscle tone in her arms. Not many women could have manhandled 230 pounds of a practically deadweight man out of a house, into a car, then into a wheelchair.

Voices came from outside. Ghost lifted his head, his ears flicking.

“About time.” Markus eased to a standing position then hissed in a sharp breath as pain gouged his abdomen and back. When the moment had passed, he resumed his position in front of the door, pulling back the curtain.

Cassidy and her family stood on the porch. Even if he couldn’t make out practically every word, he could see their mouths moving nonstop. Guess that trait really did run in the family.

For what seemed like an eternity but was probably only another five minutes, they kept chattering away. Finally, they got into their cars.

Ghost pressed his snout against the bottom pane of glass, staring at Cassidy. The tip of his tail flicked slowly back and forth, like a flag in a light breeze. Normally, Ghost growled when someone got too close to either of them. Last night, his dog had seemed totally at ease with Cassidy on the sofa next to them.

She stood on the top porch step, leaning on her cane with one hand and the wood handrail with the other. She released the rail, smiling and waving as they drove off. The second they were out of sight, her smile abruptly faded. Something was up with her and her family, that was for sure. Unlike him, the woman wore her emotions on her sleeve.

When she put her hand back on the rail, it broke and crashed to the grass. At first, she only wobbled, but with her balance off-kilter, she began windmilling her arm.

Markus didn’t think. He just moved.

He unlocked the door and flung it open. Ghost bounded onto the porch, turning to look at him. “Ghost, go!” He pointed to Cassidy, knowing Ghost could get there faster.

Markus hobbled down the steps, gritting his teeth with every step, then ran, following Ghost across the narrow strip of grass separating their houses. They were too late. Cassidy fell hard on the edge of the top step, sliding down to the second. Her cry of pain was like another knife to his gut.

Ghost got to her first, his training kicking in as he stood on the step below her, nuzzling her hand while he waited for a command. Ghost was a hard-hitting, attack-trained K-9 that could take down a man five times his weight, but he also knew when to be gentle.