âCan we talk about the rules for a minute?â he asked.
âRules?â
He waved his hand. âExpectations. Firm expectations. We remain in visual contact at all times. That means you donât even step outside for a quick breath of fresh air without me. If you have to go to the bathroom, Iâll check it first and then stand outside the door.â
âI know weâre supposed to be newlyweds, but wonât people think thatâs just a little over the top?â
âIâll do it in a way that people wonât even notice.â She thought he perhaps underestimated that every womanâs eyes in the place would follow him. He was just so darn handsome, so darn male. âGot it. Visual contact. At all times. Itâs just that Iâm a little disappointed.â
âWhy?â He looked very concerned.
She lowered her lashes. âWell, Detective Hollister. That wasnât the only kind of contact I was hoping for tonight.â
Chapter One
Chase Hollister heard his cell phone ring and used his forearm to pull the pillow that he slept half-on and half-under closer around his ears. It rang four times and clicked over to voice mail. Thirty seconds later, it started ringing again.
âDamn,â he muttered, tossing off the pillow. He glanced at the number, saw that it was his brother and reached for the phone.
He pushed a button. âI have not had any sleep for twenty-eight hours,â Chase said. âThis better be good.â
âBrick is dead,â Bray said.
Chase sat up in bed. He hadnât heard the manâs name in over eight years. Hadnât spoken it himself for much longer. âHow?â
âCar accident. His sister was with him. They had a double funeral two days ago.â
Chase had met his stepfatherâs older sister once, maybe twice. He recalled that even as a teenager, heâd known there was something odd about her. That family had a bad gene pool.
âAnybody else get hurt?â Chase asked.
âNope. One car. Only Brick and Adelle in it. They were on their way to Brickâs doctorâs appointment.â
He lay back down. He didnât care about the details. âIâm going back to bed.â
âI got a call from Momâs attorney,â Bray said. âThe house is ours.â
In one smooth movement, Chase swung his body out of bed. His bare feet hit the soft rug first, then the polished hardwood. He walked down the short hallway and into his kitchen. The blinds were up and he was naked. He didnât care. He needed coffee. âThat doesnât make sense. Brick had a son. I assume the man is still alive.â
âIâm not sure but itâs a moot point. When Mom died eight years ago, the house was in a trust for us. Brick had been granted lifetime use. The attorney said that we should have been made aware of that upon Momâs death but it was a slipup.â
The irony was not lost on Chase. They could have fought the lifetime-use thing and booted him out of there. Heâd have been on the outside looking in, kind of like Chase had been whenever Brick got a wild hair and locked him out.
He dumped some coffee in a filter, poured water in the coffeepot and flipped the start button. He didnât put the pot on the burner. Instead, he held a cup directly under the streaming coffee.
âYouâve got to go there and see what we need to do to get rid of the place,â Bray said.
Chase jiggled the cup and hot liquid burned his hand. âNo way,â he said. âYou go, youâre the oldest.â
âI would if I could. Iâm three weeks into a new assignment. I canât pull out now.â
âCal will have to do it. Weâre older, we can make him.â Chase added the familiar taunt, knowing there was nothing easy or familiar about his relationship with Cal.
âHeâs out of the country.â
Cal had spent most of the past eight years out of the country. That was what navy SEALs did. For the past six months, following his discharge, heâd been working as a contractor. That was what his business card said. Chase supposed it could be true if the new breed of contractor was trained to blow up the bad guys, disarm bombs and generally screw with the enemy. âWell, I donât care if heâs on the moon. Iâm busy, too, you know. Iâve only been back for a week.â
âHow is the leg?â
Functional. Still not up to full strength.