Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,35

in the kitchen with her, sipping coffee and standing guard. She didn’t miss the quick checks he was making in the backyard. In the front room, Eli was doing the same in between his pacing.

Owen reached down, brushed his fingers over Cora’s bare toes, causing the baby to smile again. “If you go back out with Eli when he questions the suspects, you’ll leave her here with Raylene and me,” Owen said.

It wasn’t a question, but Ashlyn nodded anyway. She wouldn’t take Cora out of the house, but the rest of what Owen said puzzled her.

“Is that what Eli’s doing—setting up another round of interrogation?” she asked Owen.

He nodded, sipped his coffee and studied his brother. “I don’t think his temper is going to help in the interviews.”

No, it wouldn’t. Eli had been forced to shoot two men who’d tried to kill them. Dealing with that alone was enough, but he had the added pressure of not knowing which of their suspects was behind this.

Remy, Dominick or Oscar.

All of them had means, motive and opportunity, which meant Eli and she weren’t any closer to learning the truth than they had been before this latest attack. She knew that Eli hadn’t had a choice about killing the gunman, but part of his anger and frustration had to be because now the man couldn’t tell them who’d hired him.

“You might want to try to calm him down a little,” Owen continued, tipping his head to Eli.

Ashlyn lifted her eyebrow. “Why would you think I could do that?”

“You always could,” Owen assured her. “I remember at the end of a football game when someone on the opposing team gave him a sucker punch as they were heading to the locker rooms. Eli punched back, and likely would have kept on punching if you hadn’t stopped it.”

She had no trouble recalling that. Or the fact that it’d happened a decade and a half ago. “High school,” she reminded him. “I don’t have that kind of...influence over him now.”

“Sure you do.” Owen gave her a wink.

Ashlyn would have disagreed with that, but Owen didn’t give her a chance. He scooped Cora up from her arms, kissing the baby on her cheek. Cora must have liked the move because she gave him a big smile.

“I’m good at burping detail,” Owen insisted, and he headed out of the kitchen just as Eli was coming in. Obviously, this was Owen’s ploy to give her some privacy so she could try to do the soothing that he’d just suggested. She wouldn’t.

Or rather she couldn’t.

But it certainly seemed as if Eli needed something. As he got closer, she could practically feel the anger radiating off him.

“What the heck is he smiling about?” Eli growled when he looked in Owen’s direction.

“Burping duty,” Ashlyn mumbled, causing Eli to snap toward her. “He says he’s good at it,” she added when he just stared at her.

Skepticism replaced some of Eli’s anger, and then his scowl deepened. “He told you to calm me down.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I’d try if I thought it’d do any good.” She took hold of his hand. “This wasn’t your fault.”

“The hell it wasn’t. I knew it was a bad idea for you to go back to your place.”

Ashlyn sighed. “All right, then it’s my fault because I’m the one who insisted I go.”

That didn’t improve his glare. Not at first anyway. Then he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut a moment. When he opened them again, she’d hoped to see less anger there. Nope. So she leaned in and brushed her mouth over his. Eli stiffened, but when his gaze met hers, his eyes weren’t nearly as narrowed as they had been.

Only then did she remember that she’d done that very thing the night of that football fight.

“You’re trying to distract me,” he grumbled. “But it’ll take a hell of a lot more than just a kiss to do that.”

Even though his tone was still rough, she relaxed a little because she could feel him doing the same. She wanted to push it even more. To say something light. But she still wasn’t feeling steady enough to do that.

And Eli saw that in her eyes.

He cursed softly, pulled her to him and brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “You’re going to have some bad dreams tonight,” he whispered. “Not much I can do about that, so I’m sorry for that, too.”

She pulled back, looked up at him. “I know there’s plenty you will do to help