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“Some things a brother doesn’t need to know, or see. Hickeys on her lover’s neck, a man too old for her to begin with. And pictures of him manhandling her. ”
“Fuck you,” Alex growled.
“Not in this lifetime, hotshot,” Natches snapped back.
Alex ran his hand over his head. Natches had to be one of the most stubborn, difficult bastards he had ever run across.
Natches was an aggravation. This picture was dangerous.
“I’ve had Tyrell and Mark watching the apartment when I’m gone since the night we found the note in her kitchen. So far, nothing’s happened. No one’s been overly curious, and no one’s been following her. ”
“Where is she now?” Natches glared back at him.
“I talked to her just before you arrived. Called her cell phone. She was getting ready to go to the office to get some work done. ”
“Your men check the office and restaurant?” Natches’s voice was hard, cold.
Alex nodded at that. “They have a key to the office as well as the apartment. They finished checking it out just before I left. They have surveillance set up on the three entrances and are watching Janey specifically. ”
“You brought in two of your men,” Natches growled. “Your gut’s crawling, aint it?”
Yes, it was. It had been for days.
“I’m moving in with her tonight for good,” he told Natches. “There will be no more leaving in the morning. I’ll set up there, keep a better eye on her. ”
“Shit. ” Natches braced his hands on the counter and stared out the kitchen window. “Hell, Alex. She was supposed to be safe now. ”
“She will be. ” Alex wouldn’t have it any other way. “She is safe, Natches. And she’s damned careful.
Janey’s no one’s fool. Pay attention to something more than your pride sometime and you’ll see that. ”
Tyrell and Mark had noticed it. Staying out of sight, Mark had reported, was becoming increasingly hard.
Janey was sharp, and she watched people, cars. She wasn’t the least bit casual about her own protection.
It was something Alex had noticed as well. That picture was an anomaly. Normally, Janey was very careful about pulling her curtains closed once they entered the apartment. He’d distracted her that night.
“This is bad,” Natches finally said, his voice weary, worried. “This is bad, Alex. Whoever’s doing this is serious. ”
“We already assumed that. That’s why we’re seriously watching her, Natches. ” He turned to the other man, seeing the tense set of his shoulders. “But if you don’t get off her ass and let her live her own life, when it’s over, she’s going to walk away. ”
Natches knew that. Alex knew he knew it. But it bore affirming.
Natches finally shrugged. “You’re still alive. ”
“Barely,” Alex grunted as he collected the picture and shoved it into the envelope Natches had handed him. “I’m going to keep this. Check a few things. ”
Natches shrugged and turned back to him as Alex picked up the extra bag he had packed that morning.
Clothes, a few extra weapons. He was prepared to move into the apartment that night, despite Janey’s objections.
“You going to show her that picture?” Natches asked, nodding to the envelope.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Janey deserved to know. It was her life, her protection. She had to know to be on guard.
“You going to tell her where you got it from?” Natches asked.
