Read Online Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) by Olivia Jaymes - Free Book Online

won’t be coming around here again any time soon.”
    Unfortunately Jason couldn’t agree with the sentiments. Someone was determined to get to Brinley.
    One way or another. But they’d have to go through him first.
    They chatted with Fran and Richard for a few more minutes before the couple took their leave. A deputy came into the living room holding a crowbar in a plastic bag.
    “Is this yours, Brinley?” West asked, holding the tool up for her inspection. “My deputy found this on your dining room floor.”
    “No, I’ve never seen it before.”
    “We’ll send it to the lab and see if we can get any prints off of it.” West sat down next to Brinley and scratched Huck on the neck, getting a lick in return. “The lab is done with your home. They’ve pulled a few fingerprints and of course we’ll need you to check if anything is actually missing, but tomorrow morning is soon enough for that. In addition, your front door is broken and will need to be fixed. I can recommend a good handyman if you like.”
    “Thank you—that would be helpful.”
    Jason hated hearing that broken tone in Brinley’s voice. He’d rather have her feisty or even angry than this… She just seemed sad and beaten.
    West glanced up at Jason and then back at Brinley. “You can’t stay there with a door that won’t close or lock. Do you have some place you can stay for the night?”
    She blinked a few times and then nodded. “I can stay at a motel.” Her eyes widened when she apparently realized that would mean sleeping at the motor inn where Roger was murdered. “Or maybe a hotel on the edge of town. Out by the interstate.”
    “You can stay here,” Jason cut in. The poor woman was dead on her feet and traumatized. He wasn’t that big of an asshole to send her to some motel where she’d be terrified and sit up all night staring at the locked door. “I have a spare room. You can even have Huck in there if you like.”
    He thought she might argue but her eyes filled with tears instead. “I think I’d like that. I can’t–”
    She choked up and buried her face against Huck’s fur. She didn’t want to be alone and Jason didn’t blame her in the least. What she didn’t realize was that he’d been in a few dangerous situations before. He wasn’t a rookie cop on his first big case.
    “Let me walk West to his truck and then I’ll show you to your room, okay?” Jason knelt down in front of her so he could look into her eyes. Her lips were trembling and she looked like a woman on the edge. When everyone got the hell out of here he’d let her cry or scream. Whatever she needed.
    “I’ll have my deputy board up your door, Brinley.”
    She managed a watery smile. “Thank you, West. I’m glad you were here. I’m sorry if I was mean to you last night. I really am.”
    “You don’t have to apologize. Just let Jason take care of you and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Outside the crowd was dispersing since there was nothing new or exciting to see and the deputy was pounding nails into a sheet of plywood over Brinley’s doorway.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow if we find anything.” West pulled open the driver side door of his truck. “Take care of her. She looks shattered. I’ve seen that before in burglary victims. They feel violated. She’s not going to feel safe for a long time.”
    “I’m sticking with her like glue from now until we find this guy. I’ll take her with me tomorrow. I’m going to talk to a friend of Gaines. Hopefully he’ll know something.”
    “That reminds me. What did his brother say?”
    Jason quickly reviewed what they’d learned, West taking notes and action items in his notebook.
    “I should have the autopsy report sometime tomorrow. I’ll call you since you’ll be on the road. Did you get any gut feelings talking to Stuart Gaines?”
    “Not really, although I guess you could say they have motive. Roger owed his brother money and was basically living above the garage sponging off of them