Page 11 of Ferocious Protector

Cole gestures a hand to a spare spot at the long table. “Take a seat if you want, Sheriff. I’m sure you remember Damian and Dereck, but this is Blake. New member of their team and a good friend of Beckett’s.”

Sheriff Cates settles into his seat and Krissy pours him a cup of black coffee. “Thank you,” he says. “I don’t have good news. We didn’t get any fingerprints.”

Blake’s jaw tightens. “I didn’t think you would. They wanted her to know they had been there.” He turns to the others. “Left the door open and a note that said don’t forget who you belong to.”

Lacy gasps. “Cole told us all what was going on but left that part out.”

Cole shakes his head. “First time I’m hearing about it, ladies.”

Sheriff nods. “We sent it out to the lab, hoping to get a trace on something but it’s doubtful. Best lead we had was Tucker and he was still passed out at his place. Asked around and Bill from next door to Kenny’s said he saw some strange guy helping him into the back of Randy’s truck. Randy said he dropped him off and put him on the couch last night, described what he was wearing, and he was still there in the same clothes today.” Sheriff Cates looks at Damian, Dereck and Blake.

None of them have anything to say, just go about drinking their coffee and chewing on their pastries.

Sheriff Cates uses a different approach. “Any idea who gave him that shiner and dumped him into the back of Randy’s truck? He said he couldn’t remember what the guy looked like it all happened so fast.”

Everyone at the table shakes their heads. “Better ask Tucker, Sheriff Cates. Maybe he’ll remember.”

Sheriff Cates smiles. “Yeah, that’s the answer I thought I was gonna get.” He stands up. “I’ve got some extra deputies called in for the wedding next week. I’ll have them out on the points, just in case there’s trouble.”

Cole shakes hands with him. “We appreciate you doing that, Sheriff. We’re hoping for a peaceful wedding for these four, but I can’t say having more protection hasn’t crossed our minds.”

“Anyone coming to town I need to know about?” he asks. The real question isn’t lost on anyone. Do the Larussios plan to attend the wedding, and if so, will that bring in the Chicago boys and the Eldridge crews?

“Hard to say at this point, Sheriff,” Garrett says as he heads for the door.

“Alright then,” he calls back over his shoulder. “Try to stay out of trouble until we get this sorted.”

Damian and Dereck try quite unsuccessfully to hold back grins as he walks past the window outside and toward his SUV. Damian gives Cole a grin. “He’s a nice guy. You have it lucky compared to some of the places we’ve been.”

Cole shrugs. “His goal is the same as ours. Peace. We like it that way but no matter if the Larussios plan to show or not given what we know about Tucker we can be assured the Chicago boys have a plan to mess with us.”

Mason’s jaw tightens. “Then we make damn sure they don’t get anywhere near the wedding. If the sheriff plans to have his men out on point, then we have our people in strategic places where we know they’re coming in. But my guess is they’ll either start coming in tonight or right in as the wedding is in motion.”

Blake looks at Beckett. “You want a best man, or you want to make sure you can actually say I do?”

Beckett hefts out a sigh. “There’s no one better to spot them or take them out. That’s for damn sure. I’d feel a hell of a lot better knowing you’re our cover out there with your special type of skills.”

Blake nods. “I didn’t bring my special rifle though.”

Beckett laughs. “I just cleaned mine up, they’re ready and waiting for you. Just call it intuition,” he says.

Cole grins at his friend. “I’ve got plenty of ammo and stuff here, too. The guys keep them in our bunker below ground. I’ll get them brought up to the basement.”

Blake nods. “Looks like I’m all set then. I just need the lay of the land.”

Krissy nods. “We have people coming to help me clean midweek, but I still need to pick up all the toys before that and get a ton of things done.”

“We’ll all help,” I tell her.

“Of course we will,” PJ says. “We just appreciate you two letting us get married here. It’s going to be perfect.”

Krissy smiles. “We’re so excited about it. I want everything to be just right.”

“When will they come to get the property out back set up?” PJ asks.

“They’ll be here later, but you are not going out back until it’s all done.” Krissy waggles her fingers at both of them. “Neither one of you. Don’t even try to peek. It’s going to be a wonderful surprise.”

Jules and PJ give each other a knowing glance. Kenny and a few other people in town we know very well will make sure everything is catered and absolute perfection.