Nicole Edwards - Zane

“All right. Well, I’ll talk to you later?” Blake spoke to Ethan, but before Ethan said anything, he turned and walked away.

“What’s going on between you two?” Zane inquired, knowing Ethan was going to give him the glare that told him it was none of his business.

Yep, there it was. Perfected by so many of them over the years, that Walker glare pretty much said, “Shut the fuck up”.

“Well, I’ve got to go. Meeting Beau at the gym, then hoping to meet up with Sawyer later this afternoon,” Zane said when it was clear Ethan was finished with this discussion, no matter how one sided it had been. “Look, if you need anything, just let me know.”

Ethan tipped his head in understanding but didn’t say anything. So it would seem, there was something fascinating in his coffee cup. Zane shook his head in confusion as he walked out of the office. “Nice to meet you, Blake!” he hollered toward the man on the other side of the room as he left, barely hearing the man’s response.

♀♂

By the time evening rolled around, V was exhausted. Somehow they’d managed to knock out three houses that day because Zoey made the decision that she was ready to move on. Instead of doing one house a day for the next three days, they’d managed to squeeze them all into one. Although that meant they were officially through with their little cleaning business, it didn’t make V’s feet feel any better.

She’d even turned down Zoey’s celebratory suggestion at Moonshiners, opting instead to go home. Which was where she was now. It had only taken her twenty minutes this time to get inside her house after the panic attack had left her all but paralyzed. She’d sat in her car with the doors locked, peering around and half expecting Jake Sanders to jump out of one of the bushes. He hadn’t though.

Finally, after what seemed like an incredibly long time, V made it into her house, locked all of the doors, checked all of the windows – twice – and had now locked herself in her bedroom. She needed a shower, and then hopefully she could just fall into bed without another thought. Doubtful, but maybe.

A short while later, V was showered and in her pajamas. She checked her cell phone to see if she’d missed any calls from Zane, but there weren’t any. She hadn’t heard from him that day. Not one time. For some reason, ever since they had gotten back from Dallas, there’d been a little distance between them. She wasn’t sure whether that was her fault or his, but she would admit she hadn’t pushed it. They needed the time apart anyway. V was getting way too close to him.

On her way to the kitchen, V glanced around the living room, trying to see if something was different. It felt different. She wasn’t sure why. Everything looked the same. Apparently she was just paranoid. But, since her freak outs were fairly consistent, V carried her cell phone in her hand just in case.

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and V started to hyperventilate. She flipped on the kitchen light, only to find that everything in there appeared the same as well. She was there just that morning, so what could have possibly changed when she was gone for a few hours? V impulsively wished she had a dog. Maybe her mother was on to something there. At least a dog would let her know whether she was crazy or not.

Opening the refrigerator, V grabbed a bottle of water and then closed the door.

That was when she saw it.

Her heart pounded like a bass drum in her ears, her chest constricted painfully, and she wondered if she was going to pass out.

I can get you or him any time I want.

The note on the refrigerator was scrawled in bold, black ink. V gripped her cell phone so tightly she was surprised it didn’t crush in her fingers. The pain reminded her of where she was, and she glanced down at the screen, then up at the words in front of her. Without another thought, V called the sheriff.

Fifteen minutes later, there was knock on her door, and V told Zoey to hold on. After she called the police, she instinctively called Zoey, praying she’d be able to keep herself together. Before she managed to get any words out, Zoey had known something was wrong. Thankfully her friend agreed to stay on the phone with her until the police arrived.

With the phone against her ear, V glanced through the peephole in the door. There on her front porch was Sheriff Endsley. She opened the door, trying to focus on breathing and told Zoey she would call her back in a little while.

“Vanessa?”

She vaguely heard the sheriff’s voice, knew he was talking to her, but the panic had set in long ago. She’d managed somehow to remain lucid for the last half hour, but now that he was there, she wasn’t sure she could hold it together much longer. In an instant, V felt herself falling, her brain going fuzzy and the last thought she had was whether or not Zane was ok.

♂♀

“Where is she?” Zane didn’t even wait for Sheriff Endsley to get the door open completely before he pushed through the door, heading straight for the living room.

“Son of a bitch.” That was the greeting him and his brothers received as he walked right past the sheriff in his haste to get to V. Kaleb, Sawyer, Brendon, Braydon and Beau were behind him, he knew. He had been at Beau’s when he got the phone call, and since Zoey had been the one to call, he hadn’t been surprised to see his brothers pulling in behind him when he arrived at V’s house.

There in front of him was V, sitting on the couch, holding something against her forehead while Greyson Cutler spoke softly to her. He hadn’t been on the phone with Zoey for more than a few seconds before he was in his Jeep and disobeying every traffic law as he made his way over to the house. Apparently the ambulance beat him, which was surprising.

“What the hell?” Zane rushed to her side, easing himself down beside her and trying like hell not to pull her into his arms. He looked up at Greyson and saw the concern in the other man’s eyes.

“I think she needs to go to the hospital,” Greyson said, his voice calm and reasonable. He didn’t sound urgent, so Zane relaxed a little.

“Baby?” Zane leaned over, placing his hand on V’s shoulder as she turned to look at him. She appeared disoriented for a second, but as soon as recognition dawned, she threw her arms around him and began sobbing into his neck. Zane’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest. Now he had a hard time breathing, and it wasn’t from the way V clung to him.

Raising his eyebrows in question, he silently asked Greyson what was going on. Instead of answering, Greyson stood up and went into the kitchen where Sawyer and Kaleb were talking to the sheriff. Zane noticed that Brendon, Braydon and Beau were standing near the front door, all three of them looking out the door.

“V?” Zane whispered into her ear, holding her head against his chest, his body shaking from the impact of her sobs.

“I can’t let him get to you again,” she whispered, and Zane’s heart broke right then and there.

The stress was finally too much for her. He couldn’t imagine what she’d gone through the day he was attacked. By the time he woke up in the hospital, many of his injuries had healed, at least those on the surface. But Zane had seen pictures of what those bastards had done to him. Yes, it was, quite frankly, probably a miracle that he had lived. Knowing that V witnessed the entire thing as it happened still pissed him off.

“He’s not going to get to me, V. I promise you that,” Zane reassured her as he kissed her hair, holding her close. He wasn’t giving her false promises either. Jake Sanders would not have the chance. Zane was ready for him. His brothers were ready for him.

“I don’t give a shit!” Sawyer’s voice bellowed from the kitchen, causing Zane to look up, and V to flinch in his arms.

“I want him arrested.” Zane watched as Sawyer pressed his fingers up against Sheriff Endsley’s chest in a move that was likely going to get him arrested. “If he lays one hand on my brother again, you won’t like what happens. I promise you that. You find that bastard. Or we will.”

The silence that followed Sawyer’s statement was deafening. Zane knew this was beginning to wear on them all. Travis had eyes out in town, and they knew Jake was back. However, no one had found him yet. He wasn’t staying at his house, and he hadn’t been to his parents’ house either. But he was there, they knew that much. He was getting braver, or maybe he was just getting stupider. Either way, Zane knew this was going to come to a head sooner rather than later.

Right now, he wasn’t worried about Jake. He was concerned about V. It was obvious by Greyson’s body language as he stood across the room talking to Kaleb that he was concerned too.

When the front screen door slammed, V jerked in his arms, and Zane barely saw Sawyer’s back as he went out, followed by a very pissed off sheriff. It was a damn good thing that Sawyer knew Sheriff Endsley’s daughter because he might just need her to protect him right now.

“Hey,” Kaleb’s voice caught Zane’s attention as he sat across from him, followed by Greyson.

“What’s up?” Zane knew what he was about to hear.

“She needs to go to the hospital,” Greyson stated at the same time V began shaking her head against Zane’s chest. “At the very least, she needs to go see a doctor.”

Zane knew that Greyson wasn’t referring to a physician. V needed to see someone who could help her to cope with what had happened. Zane wasn’t able to help her as much as he hoped he could.