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“Enough! I want the truth.” Her heart pounded as she tried to keep her temper in check.
He frowned. Pretend hurt darkened his brown eyes. “I don’t know what to tell you, Harper. It wasn’t me.” He shook his head. “And I’m a bit insulted that you would think I would do such a thing.”
Was she wrong about Jason? Had she just forgotten to lock the door and someone broke in? She stared at him.
“Seriously, Harper. I would never do that to you. I’m a cop. It’s frowned upon for us to break into people’s houses.” He offered her a small smile. “Tell me what happened.”
She took a deep breath. Maybe she was wrong. “Someone broke in and left a candle burning in my living room with a note telling me to keep out of investigating Astrid’s death.”
“Do you still have the note? We could dust it for prints.”
“I’m not sure.” She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. “I can’t remember what I did with it, to be honest.”
Jason squeezed her arm. “You’ve been through a lot. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Of you.” He amended. “Do you still have the lavender candle? Maybe there are prints on that.”
She froze. Adrenaline rushed through her body. “I never mentioned the type of candle.” She stared at him. “Itwasyou. You broke into my home, and you lied to me.” She stood. “Get the hell out of this house and away from me.”
He jumped up too. “Harper, I just wanted to keep you safe,” he said as he reached out to touch her.
She backed up. “Get out, Jason. Now. Stay the fuck away from me.”
He took a step forward.
“I don’t think you want to do that,” Flynn said from the doorway to the sunroom. The gun in his right hand was pointed at the floor, but the menace was clear. “Harper asked you to leave, so you’re going to go.”
Jason’s face changed. Gone was the folksy, caring expression. His eyes hardened and his lips curled into a snarl. “Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? Do you even have a license to carry that? I could arrest you right now. As a matter of fact, you’re under arrest, Flynn O’Connor.” Jason started forward.
Flynn raised the gun. “I have a license and I wasn’t the perp who broke into her condo. You have nothing to arrest me for. Come a step closer to me or to Harper and I will shoot you dead where you stand. I will be perfectly justified because Harper is terrified of you. You should go now. Before I change my mind and kill you just because you scared her.”
Jason looked at the gun and then back at Flynn. Hatred mottled his face. He turned and stormed out of the side door. Flynn was immediately at Harper’s side and put his arm around her while watching Jason go. “You okay?”
She leaned against him, taking in the warmth and strength of his body. Her knees were weak and relief at seeing him flooded through her, making it hard to stand. “W-what are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you.”
“How did you get in here? My parents—”
“Are very nice people who let in a stranger because Bob Ross told them I was throwing pebbles at your window. He gave me his stamp of approval.” Flynn grinned. “Your father was good enough to take that into consideration. He likes Bob. Your mother didn’t like the look on your face when Jason arrived.”
God, if he just told her he’d reversed the tide, she couldn’t be more shocked.
“Let’s get you more coffee,” he said tucking his gun back in his waistband and adjusting his sweater and jacket over it.
They walked back into the kitchen. “Breakfast is ready. Would you like to stay, Flynn?” her mother asked. “There’s plenty. Where’s Jason?”
“I’d love breakfast, ma’am.”
“Jason left.” The four of them sat down at the kitchen table. Harper took a bite of her bacon and then put it back on her plate. “There’s something I need to tell you about Jason.”
An hour later she was walking Flynn out to his SUV. “Thank you for saving me.”
“For the record, I don’t think he was going to hurt you, but I do think he has major issues.”
She shuddered. “I don’t care what he was going to do, I’m just glad you were there to stop it. You heard my parents; they want me to report what happened. What do you think?”
Flynn leaned against his vehicle. “I think that’s a wise move. It gets him out of the investigation though and leaves it in the hands of the other two. But if he’s crooked, like we think, that can only improve things.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m just worried. Lazlo and George Crawley don’t exactly inspire confidence.”
