Obsession Falls (The Haven Brothers #1)

“Hey,” Josiah said. “Do you have a minute?”

I petted Max, stroking his soft fur. It helped me start to calm down.

“I’m putting you on speaker.” He tapped his screen and held the phone out. “I’m at Audrey’s. We just got here and someone vandalized her house.”

“What kind of vandalism?”

“Someone wrote on her door in squirrel blood.”

“Josiah, that’s not funny.”

“It’s not a joke. The word bitch is scrawled in big letters and there’s a dead squirrel out there.Anotherdead squirrel.”

“Where are you now?”

“Inside.”

“You should have stayed outside. The perpetrator could be there.”

“Doors were still locked. I don’t think he got in.” He glanced at Max. “The dog would have noticed, right? If someone had been here?”

“Yeah, he would have chased the scent of someone he didn’t recognize.”

“You still shouldn’t have gone in, but since you did, stay where you are,” Garrett said. “I’ll be there in a minute. Which house is it?”

“Next to the new one.”

“Got it. On my way.”

He ended the call and slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Are you okay?”

I took a deep breath and kept petting Max. “Yes? No? Maybe? I don’t know, I’m kind of freaking out. But also not, mostly because you’re here.”

His expression softened and he came over to sit next to me. “You’re safe with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Some of the tension in my body melted. I believed him.

“Do you think this means the other squirrel was on purpose?” I asked.

“Yes.”

As if he could read my mind and knew I needed his touch, he clasped my hand. His were warm and strong.

I was so glad he was there.

“I don’t understand why someone would do this. I don’t have any enemies. I know you’re thinking Colin, and maybe you’re right, but why would he do this now? Our relationship ended so long ago and he’s been married for years.”

“Yeah but you didn’t live here. Now you’re back.”

“But I’m not even in his town. He can still strut around and be the biggest fish in the tiniest pond in Pinecrest and I’m not there to bother him.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me either.”

“I guess it wouldn’t. We’re talking about someone who’s willing to murder poor defenseless animals.”

“You’re worried about the squirrels in all this?”

“Of course I am. They didn’t do anything to deserve being a pawn in some madman’s horrible game. What did they ever do to anyone?”