LITMIR.BIZ

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thoughts connecting? How did that happen...and why? That was scary as hell. So far she hadn’t had anything to say, but he knew she was listening attentively and carefully observing everything that was going on. So was he. He couldn’t wait to hear what Carson Boyett had to say.

      He opened his door to find two tall, muscular men standing there. They looked like real ass-kickers. “Yes?”

      “We’re here for Carson’s meeting,” one of the men said, seeming to stare him down.

      Dalton started to ask for their names and even thought of asking them to present their ID. But what would be the point? It was late. He wasn’t in the mood, and he had a feeling they weren’t, either. So he just moved aside and said, “Welcome to the party.” He led them toward the living room.

      The moment they entered the living room, Caden glanced their way and was out of his seat in a flash. “Striker?”

      Striker? Dalton glanced at the men behind him, and one of them actually smiled.

      “Yeah, man, it’s me.”

      “Wait a minute.” Jace stood and glanced at Caden and then back at the man Caden had just called by name. “Isn’t that the name of the guy who saved your life that night Grover tried to run you over?”

      “Yes,” Caden said, nodding. He then looked over at Carson. “I want to know what’s going on.”

      Carson inhaled deeply. “What’s going on is that your father believed your lives were in danger, and he requested bodyguards be assigned to each of you,” she said, addressing the three brothers.

      “What?” the Grangers and the wives asked simultaneously, not believing what they were hearing.

      “Are you kidding us?” Dalton asked. “Why would Dad think that? Was this before or after that attempt was made on Jace’s life?”

      “After. Someone sent him an email in prison and told him that if the three of you reopened his case, bodily harm would come to you. He felt he wasn’t in a position to call the person’s bluff, so he told me what to do.”

      “Trust me,” the man standing beside Striker said. “Had I been there, that bastard wouldn’t have gotten close to you, Jace.”

      “But you were there,” Caden said, staring over at Striker. “And you didn’t happen to be out walking like you claimed, did you? You were guarding me that night.”

      Striker nodded. “Yes.”

      “You saved my life. You pushed me aside—would have taken the hit to protect me.” Caden shook his head slowly. “Amazing. You would have lost your life for a job.”

      “No,” Striker said, holding Caden’s gaze. “Not for a job. For Shep. I would do just about anything for that man, especially protect his sons. Your father is one of a kind.”

      Thinking the mood was getting kind of sappy, Dalton said in a lighthearted tone, “Don’t tell us that Dad kept you from killing guards and fellow inmates, too.”

      Striker moved his gaze from Caden to Dalton. “No, he didn’t keep me from killing any of the prison guards or fellow inmates. What he did was keep me from killing Stonewall.”

      Dalton’s throat tightened. Damn, the man was serious. He couldn’t imagine his father keeping Stonewall and this man called Striker from coming to blows. There was a lull in the conversation in the room, and he understood why...at least with his brothers. They were probably wondering how their father had endured being incarcerated for fifteen years.

      He switched his gaze from Striker to the big hulk of a guy standing beside him. “And you are?”

      “Quasar. Quasar Patterson.”

      Dalton decided not to ask what Shep had kept him from doing. Instead, he asked, “And you’ve been guarding my brother? Jace?”

      “Yes, ever since Roland told us what Shep wanted.” He chuckled. “Nice honeymoon, by the way. I enjoyed South Africa.”

      “Let me make sure I understand what you’re saying,” Jules said.

      Dalton rolled his eyes. Why did she feel the need to clarify anything? She wasn’t in the family, so she needed to just keep her mouth shut like she had been doing up to this point. He was about to say so, but when he glanced at Jace, he got his older brother’s warning glance and held his tongue.

      “Are you saying that someone sent Sheppard Granger an email threatening to do bodily harm to his sons if they reopened his case?”

      “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Carson said, meeting Jules’s intense stare. “Sheppard immediately requested that I hire bodyguards. I agreed to do so with the understanding that if a situation came up in which I needed to reveal the truth to his sons, I could make that call.”

      “And you made that call tonight,” Jules clarified, understanding completely.

      “Yes. Bobby’s cover had been blown, so I had no choice.”

      “Who wouldn’t want Jace, Caden and Dalton to reopen their father’s case?” Shana asked.

      “Sheppard has no idea, but he wasn’t writing the email off as a prank. He loves his sons too much to do that.”

      “So Quasar has been guarding Jace, Striker has been guarding Caden and Stonewall has been guarding Dalton?” Caden’s wife, Shiloh, confirmed.

      “Except for tonight,” Stonewall answered. “I had personal business to tend to, and Bobby was my replacement.”

      “And I made a mess of things,” Bobby said, with regret in his voice. “I should have been more cautious.”

      “You were cautious,” Jules reassured him. “But I’m a private investigator and an ex-cop. I’m suspicious by nature. When Dalton arrived home, it was easy for me to pick up on the fact that you had followed him. Someone else might not have noticed. Dalton clearly didn’t.”

      She would have to remind him of that in front of everyone, Dalton thought, frowning. He knew how to fix that. “Had I known you were parked outside in the cold waiting on me, Jules, I would have hurried home,” he said in a deliberately seductive tone.

      “Yeah,” Bobby chimed in, grinning. “If you ask me, that was some kiss you laid on her before she could even get inside your house.”

      Dalton frowned. Well, nobody asked him. He didn’t have to meet anyone’s gaze to know their eyes were on him and Jules. Speculating. Wondering. Assuming. He glanced over at Carson. It was time to get the conversation back on track.

      “Regardless of that email my father received, we’re reopening his case. My brothers and I have already discussed it.”

      Carson shook her head. “Sheppard won’t allow it. Like I said, he won’t take a chance with your lives.”

      “Why would anyone not want Sheppard Granger cleared?” Jules asked, her mind turning with all kinds of questions. Dalton could see it in her eyes. Spinning like a whirlwind. Just like the name he’d given her.

      “Only Sheppard can tell you why he assumes that,” Carson said after a brief hesitation.

      “Doesn’t matter,” Dalton said matter-of-factly. “Dad has served fifteen years in prison too long. Granddad made us promise to do what we could to get him out.”

      Carson shook her head. “Sheppard wouldn’t want you to do that. He’ll be eligible for parole in a few—”

      “We don’t care about that,” Caden interjected. “He didn’t kill our mother, and it’s time we proved it.”

      “He does not want the case reopened,” Carson stressed again.

      “Do you think we’re wrong in wanting to clear our father?” Dalton asked.

      “No,

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