him about it. The memory comes to me like it was yesterday.
“What do you mean we have to get married?” I asked him as we lay in my bed.
“If you are pregnant with my child.” He looked at me, getting up and grabbing his shirt. “It’s a given you are going to be my wife.”
“Why does it have to be a given, Jacob?” I asked, getting on my elbows.
“I don’t make the rules, baby,” he said softly and leaned down, kissing me tenderly. “I just follow them.”
“That’s barbaric.” I put my hand on his cheek. “I wouldn’t marry you.”
He smirked like he always did. Sometimes his dimple came out, and this was one of those times. “Lies.” He turned and slammed out of the room.
“I think we should start at the beginning,” Grady says, opening his notepad and leaning back in his chair.
I look over at Olivia whose hands start to shake. Casey leans over and grabs one in his, bringing it to his lips. I see everyone at the table look at each other.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Olivia says, her voice shaking just a bit. “Bottom line, I was dating a guy. We got engaged, and it was great, and then it was not so great.” I listen as she tells her side of the story, my own hands in my lap. “The detective called me.”
“Kallie.” I hear my name and look over at Grady. “Are you single?”
I’m about to smile at him when Jacob snaps, “What the fuck does that have to do with any of this?” I don’t look over at him, but I see him in my side view. His jaw gets tight while Olivia snickers beside me.
“Well, for one, we have to eliminate that it isn’t her boyfriend looking for her,” Grady says, tapping his finger on the table.
“I’m single,” I say. “We can eliminate me from this.”
“Good to know,” Grady says and smiles shyly at me.
“Well, if we’re finished with the dating game,” Jacob says, and I still don’t look over at him. “Olivia, do you know how many people we are talking about?”
“The last count was eighty-nine people,” she says, and she shakes her head. “I had no idea that he used their money for his lifestyle.”
“I am going to reach out to the detective on the case,” Jacob says, and the guys around the table nod. None of them really says anything, and if I can say, they all look like badasses. Each one of them is muscled, wearing a white T-shirt, and I have to wonder if maybe it’s the uniform. They actually look like they can do calendars. “I want all eyes open,” Jacob says. “I also want one car parked at the Barnes’ residence overnight. We will have a rotation,” he says, and I wonder if he will be there one night. “Other than that, we should be on the lookout for anyone we don’t know coming through town.”
“That should be easy,” one of the guys says, laughing, “especially with summer coming.”
“It’ll be hard, but we can have a couple of feelers out. I’m going to touch base with the fire commander also,” Jacob says. “I’ll have more tomorrow.” When the guys all get up, I assume the meeting is over, so I move to get up. I put my hand down on the table, and our hands touch. Even though I snatch my hand back as fast as I can, I can’t stop the tingle that remains from his touch.
“Before you guys go,” Jacob says, “I want to see you in my office.” He looks over at Casey and Grady. “Grady, can you join us?”
“Are you okay?” I ask Olivia, who nods her head.
“I could ask you the same,” she mumbles. We walk out of the office, and I wait for Casey to walk in front of us into Jacob’s office. I look around and spot a picture of his father’s official portrait on the wall with the recommendations he got when he was sheriff. Beside him is a picture of Jacob smiling.
I cross my arms over my chest, and my eyes find the picture behind his desk. His arm is wrapped around Savannah with their son in front of him. I try not to let it hurt. The perfect smiles on the faces of his perfect family. “Excuse me,” I say, “I need the restroom.”
“I’ll take her,” Grady says, and I look at Olivia, who looks at me, knowing I saw the picture. “This