Cade Creek 12 - Heart of a Mountain by Stormy Glenn Page A

be to you in about ten minutes. We’re going to check the surrounding buildings first to make sure there still isn’t an active shooter in the area, and then we’ll come for you.”
    “Thank you, Sheriff.” Jonah handed the phone back to Buck before glancing down at Aldrin. “Just a few more minutes, baby.”
    Aldrin’s eyes rolled dramatically. “By the time we get done here, the diner is going to be closed and we’ll never get our dinner.”
    “I’ll cook you up something, Aldrin,” Buck said as he held up a key ring. “I have the keys.”
    “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Aldrin insisted.
    A little flush filled Buck’s cheeks. “I don’t mind. You’d do the same for me.”
    Jonah was pretty sure Aldrin would, but he still didn’t like the look Buck gave Aldrin. It was heated, but it didn’t exactly feel sexual. Of course, Jonah knew he could be wrong. He had a paranoid personality with PTSD issues. He was used to seeing things where they weren’t.
    Then again, why anyone breathing wouldn’t look at Aldrin as if he wasn’t the sexiest guy ever to exist, Jonah would never know.
    Jonah stiffened for a breath of time when he heard footsteps before pressing Aldrin more firmly beneath him. Whoever was coming would have to go through him before they got to Aldrin.
    “It’s all clear, Jonah.”
    Jonah recognized that voice. He tilted his head back to look. Some of his tension faded when he saw Sheriff Riley standing on the sidewalk in front of the parked cars. “Did you catch the shooter?”
    “No.” The sheriff’s jaw clenched. “We found where he was sitting on the rooftop, but there’s no other sign of him, whoever him is.” The sheriff did not sound happy. Jonah couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t particularly happy about the situation either.
    Jonah climbed to his feet and then reached back for Aldrin, pulling the man up into his arms. He made sure he kept Aldrin tucked in close to him as he made a quick survey of their surroundings and then turned to face the sheriff.
    “This needs to stop, damn it.” He was tired of people trying to hurt Aldrin.
    “It will.” The sheriff looked out over the parking lot. “One way or another.”
    “I need to get Aldrin somewhere safe and then I want to see where the shooter was located.” Jonah wasn’t sure he would be able to find anything that the sheriff couldn’t spot, but he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, not with Aldrin in so much danger.
    “I can take Aldrin to the diner with me if you want,” Buck said with a shrug as if he didn’t care about the answer one way or the other. “I need to get back there anyway. My lunch break is just about over.”
    Jonah was hesitant. As much as he wanted to go with the sheriff and track down the shooter, letting Aldrin out of his arms might be impossible. As long as he was holding Aldrin, he knew the man was safe.
    Aldrin turned in his arms, peering up at him. “I’ll be okay, Jonah. I’ll go with Buck over to the diner. You do whatever it is you need to do with the sheriff and meet me there when you’re done.”
    “I don’t know, Aldrin, maybe I should just—”
    Aldrin’s hands pressed flat against Jonah’s chest. “Jonah, I’ll be fine. Before last week, I spent five days a week hanging out at the diner and I was perfectly safe. Buck and Trudy will both be there and neither of them will let anything happen to me.”
    Jonah didn’t like it, but he wasn’t sure he had another choice, not if he wanted to track down whoever was after Aldrin, and stop him…or her.
    He grabbed Aldrin by his arms, making sure he had the man’s attention. “You won’t go anywhere else?”
    Aldrin held up his hand. “Swear.”
    Jonah chuckled despite the tension cramping his muscles. He leaned in and rested the side of his face against Aldrin’s head. “I need you to be safe, Aldrin,” he whispered. “I can’t lose you now.”
    “You won’t lose me,” Aldrin whispered right back. “You