Under the Marshal's Protection. Kathleen Tailer

nodded without looking at him. It was hard to meet his eyes now that he’d seen the damage and would undoubtedly want an explanation. “That’s why I didn’t want you to go in there.”

      “Yeah, I guessed that.” He paused. “Do you know who did it?”

      “No.”

      “Do you know why they did it?”

      Jessica took a deep breath. She didn’t have any proof, but she had her suspicions. She didn’t want to lie to the man, but until she knew more, she couldn’t tell him the truth either. She chose to evade the issue. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my problem, okay?”

      “No, it’s not okay. Would you like for me to call in the crime tech guys and have them search for fingerprints? They might not find anything, but I’ll make the call if you want me to.”

      For the first time, she met his eyes, deep gray and so gentle and concerned that she almost cried. But she couldn’t trust him. She couldn’t trust anyone when there was so much at stake. “No. I’m not filing a report or pressing charges. I’ll deal with it myself. Like I said, it’s my problem.”

      “Is that why you pointed your gun at me?”

      She looked away again, embarrassed. She was a schoolteacher, after all. She didn’t usually go around threatening people with a high-powered rifle, especially law enforcement officers. Deputy Dominic Sullivan was no small man either, and had broad shoulders and a muscular build that testified to his strength. His closely-cropped blond hair and chiseled features gave him a tough, military appearance, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized how foolhardy her actions had actually been. This man was a formidable foe. “Yes. I’m sorry about that.” She could tell he wouldn’t leave without a better explanation, but she also knew she’d have to keep it vague. “I was working out in the barn earlier when somebody hit me over the head and knocked me out. When I woke up, I came up to the house and found it like it is now. Then I heard you out on the porch, and I didn’t know what to think.”

      Dominic gave her a friendly smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He paused, as if considering his options, then pushed forward. “I came here today because I’m looking for your brother Michael Blake. I need you to help me find him.”

      Jessica looked up quickly, her eyes filled with suspicion. “Why?”

      Dominic drew his lips into a thin line. “Well, that’s actually rather difficult to explain.”

      Jessica crossed her arms, undaunted. Why was a U.S. Marshal looking for her brother? She had to find out and make some sense out of everything that was happening to her today. “Why don’t you try and simplify it for me?”

      Dominic paused a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I can give you the basics. Michael Blake has been working at a company called Coastal up in Atlanta.”

      “Coastal? I’ve never heard of them before. What kind of company is that?”

      “Pharmaceuticals. Sales and distribution, mostly.”

      “And?” she pressed.

      “And he’s gotten into some trouble with his employer, and I need to ask him some questions.”

      “Some questions about what?”

      Dominic grimaced. “That’s between me and your brother.”

      Jessica shook her head. “That’s not good enough. I need to know what’s going on.”

      Dominic raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on, Ms. Blake, is that I have a warrant for your brother’s arrest.”

      Jessica glared at him, then quickly stood and headed back in the house. She would have slipped back inside but Dominic was right at her heels and wouldn’t let her avoid the situation by running away. He grabbed her arm gently and held her from escaping his questions.

      “Ms. Blake. Please help me. Your brother’s life may depend upon it.”

      She scowled at his hold, then raised her angry eyes to meet his. “You need to get off my property, Mr. U.S. Marshal. I have nothing more to say to you.”

      TWO

      “Look. My name is Deputy Sullivan. Deputy Dominic Sullivan. I’m not the enemy. My job is to find Michael Blake and bring him in before he gets hurt. He’s in a lot of trouble right now.” He let go of her arm but remained blocking the doorway. “If you care about your brother, you’ll help me.”

      “Goodbye, Mr. Sullivan. Thanks so much for stopping by.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and her glare burned straight through him. Maybe from her point of view, he was the enemy after all.

      “Wait,” Dominic stated quietly, holding up his hands again in a motion of surrender. He couldn’t just let her walk away. And he certainly wasn’t going to leave her alone in that disaster area of a house. He changed tactics. “Are you sure you’re not going to report this mess?”

      Jessica nodded. “I’m sure.” Apparently the last thing she wanted was even more policemen on her property.

      “I’ll help you clean up then.” Before Jessica could even protest, Dominic passed into her house again and the screen door banged shut behind him, not quite masking the sound of Jessica’s exasperated sigh behind him.

      By the time she came back in, he had already righted the couch frame. With the cushions shredded, there wasn’t much he could do for it beyond that, so he started putting books back on the shelves. “Any particular place you want these books?”

      “What do I have to do to get you to leave?” she asked icily.

      “I’m not going anywhere,” he answered with another innocuous smile. He held out a stack of books. “So, where do you want these?”

      Jessica shook her head wearily. Apparently she’d finally gotten the message that he wasn’t going to go away. This was about more than finding Michael, however. There was no way he was going to leave Jessica Blake alone and terrified in her own home, especially without verifying who had done this to her house, and why.

      “You don’t give up easily, do you?”

      Dominic grinned, hoping to thaw her resistance a little. Many people had told him he had a wonderful smile. He hoped that by using it now, he could break the ice with the woman before him.

      He shook his head. “Now you’re getting it.”

      The smile must have worked because she gave in with a sigh. “Just stack them back on that shelf, if you don’t mind. I’ll go get some trash bags and a broom.”

      Dominic smiled again, pleased at her surrender, and looked at some of the titles as he placed the books back on the built-in shelf. She seemed to own a large collection of mysteries, as well as an art history book or two and several books on drawing and painting. It appeared that Ms. Blake was an aspiring artist. He was pleasantly surprised by the revelation and actually a bit curious about her talent. He had a deep appreciation for art, even though he was convinced he had absolutely no talent of his own in that department.

      Jessica returned with a medium-sized cardboard box and a large box of trash bags, then pulled out one of the bags and opened it with a snap. She handed the bag to Dominic. “Are you sure cleaning up my house is in your job description?”

      He shrugged. “It is today.”

      If she couldn’t get rid of him, she’d just have to ignore him. Turning her back on the marshal, Jessica started picking up the larger pieces of glass and other debris off the floor and tossing them into the cardboard box.

      She hadn’t owned anything of great monetary value, but she had attached great sentimental value to quite a bit in her home, and it was difficult to see it all destroyed. Nothing had been spared, including the decorative flowerpots that her fifth grade class had given her last year and the shiny blue ceramic bookends