At the back of the closet near the front door, I enter the safe’s code and pull out my old hunting rifle. I prop it under my arm as I make my way to the back.
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb are trying so hard to pick the lock on Bailey’s trailer they don’t hear me exit my house. Granted, I’m pretty stealthy about it, even as I plunk myself down in the chair where Bailey lays herself out while wearing that tiny bikini I like so much.
I spread my legs and prop the gun over my knee. It’s hard to tell in the dark, but I think they’re using a bobby pin to open it. I watch them struggle for more than a few seconds.
Fucking stupid.
Bet they slam river rocks together trying to start a fire too.
“Y’all want some help with that?” I announce, forcing myself not to laugh at how high they jump when my voice rings out, echoing back off the river.
“Fuck you!” the first one to get his bearings says. I can’t tell in the dark which is which. “This is our trailer.”
I bounce my knee, noting the way their eyes drop to the gun propped on it.
I wouldn’t actually shoot them, but I get a kick out of watching them go real fucking still. I feel like the old me. In my element.
“It’s not your trailer. It’s Bailey’s. And it’s on my property. So are you. It’s time to get the fuck off.”
“Where’s Bailey? She owes us rent!” the other pipes up and licks almost rabidly at his lips. High as a goddamn kite.
“Bailey doesn’t owe you shit. You got something to tell her? It goes through me. Something to give her? You give it to me. You want to so much as lay eyes on my fiancée? You better come crawling asking for my permission.”
“She’s my sister! Over my dead fuckin’ body am I askin’ you for permission for shit.”
“That’s exactly what you’ll be if you go anywhere near her or her things.”
“Come again?” I can see now that it’s the older brother as he takes an aggressive step toward my back deck. He’s too high to be properly afraid of me.
I chuckle and scrub at my beard. “You heard me. Harass her again and I’ll paint my driveway with your brains. You won’t be the first man I’ve killed, but you could easily be the last.”
It’s the younger one who pipes up now. Possibly the smarter one. Likely the more sober one. “She owes rent! She pays it and you guys won’t hear from us again.”
I click my tongue. “You Jansen boys must be as dumb as everyone says if you think that I, of all people, am going to negotiate with terrorists. Get off my property.”
“You just—” They start to argue with me, but I don’t let them get far.
I pick up the gun and pretend like I’m taking aim, which is when they scramble. I almost want to laugh. These two fuckers are addicts, petty thieves—not criminal masterminds.
But they’re just troublesome enough that I know they’ll pick on Bailey as long as she’s here. They’re too lazy to follow her anywhere else. She’s just an easy target for them here in Chestnut Springs.
Well, she was an easy target.
Not anymore.
“You’re fucking insane!” one of them calls back as they run into the dark river valley.
“Yeah, buddy. You have no idea!” is all I call back as I watch them scamper away. Eventually, I hear cussing and splashing as they make their way back across the creek to their land.
Idiots.
I don’t like them on our river, where Bailey and I first spent a night together. It seems like an intrusion, so I’ll be running electric fencing along that side of my property too. With a labored sigh, I stand and head inside. I check every door and window on the main floor and set my barely ever used alarm system before trudging upstairs to the girl who feels like she’s the part of me that’s been missing for too damn long.
When I get to my room, she’s standing at the window, looking ashen.
“Thought I told you to stay on the bed.”
She nods. “You did.”
“And yet, there you are, at the window.”
“I wanted to watch.” She shrugs. “And you’re not my boss anyway.”
I smirk. “Yeah, I am.”
She rolls her eyes before letting the curtain go and making her way back to the bed. I meet her there, lifting the covers so I can tug her closer and cradle her in the curve of my body where I know she’s safest.
Silence surrounds us until she whispers, “Paint your driveway with their brains?” A soft snort leaves her, and her shoulders shake on a laugh. “That is so romantic.”