Page 22 of Too Close To Home

“Appreciated.”

“Aye, don’t make me regret it.”

Harrison gave a nod, then angled his head at Calder and ducked beneath the cordon. The tape brushed his shoulder as he stepped into the trees. And he felt Jake’s gaze on his back. Hated that he noticed it, too. Hated more that it wasn’t unwelcome.

Calder fell into step beside him on the path. “You handled him well.”

Harrison glanced sideways and caught Jake still standing beyond the tape, arms folded, watching through the thinning mist. Those blue eyes hadn’t moved. Unblinking. Measuring.

“What’s the history?” Harrison asked.

Calder’s jaw set. “He don’t like me.”

“That I picked up myself. I was more asking the why?”

“Because I arrested him.”

Harrison drifted his gaze back to Jake, taking him in properly. The build. The coiled stance. Yes, there was heat there. Temper. But it wasn’t the cold volatility of someone who hurt for sport. He’d responded to direction. Pulled back when pushed. Came across as cheeky rather than the profile of a repeat aggressor.

He turned back to Calder. “For what?”

“Burglary and GBH.”

Jesus.

Grievous bodily harm.

“Did three years.” Calder stepped over a fallen log without looking back.

Harrison slowed a fraction. It didn’t align. Not cleanly. He’d seen men come out of prison harder. Sharper round the edges. Jake’s anger felt… contained. Focused.

“Who did he assault?”

Calder kept his eyes on the narrowing trail ahead. “The man he reckons abducted his sister.”

Harrison’s stride faltered. He looked back. Jake was still there. Watching.

“Thirteen years ago.” Calder sighed as the mist thickened around them. “From this path.”

Harrison halted. Glanced back at Jake.

Fuck.

Suddenly, everything about this case changed.

This wasn’t just a missing girl.

This was a wound that had never closed.

Chapter four

Hidden Foundations

Jake stayed on the verge, chewing the inside of his cheek.

He wasn’t sure what to make of all that. Especially this DI Harrison Black. New. Not local. Walking straight onto ground that had already taken enough from this town without even knowing where he was putting his feet.

Yet, somehow, he’d cooled Jake down quicker than anyone had managed in years. Quicker than his mum when she still tried. Quicker than the screws inside who’d learned the hard way that pushing him only made him push back harder.