Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher Page A

opening his mouth and stopping her from making what would undoubtedly have been a huge mistake.
    Exhaustion bore down on her. She hadn’t slept well last night, and had spent the entire day knotted with nerves. Attackers with lethal intent had a way of taking the energy out of a woman like nothing else could. Sure, the adrenaline rush kept her high for a while, but the crash was brutal, and Bella was definitely crashing.
    She took several deep breaths and forced herself to get out of her truck and go inside. Her legs were heavy. Her feet felt like they weighed ten tons each. The stairs leading to her door seemed more like scaling a mountain than a quick climb.
    The lights were on, reminding her that Franklin was in there, waiting for her return. All she had left to do before falling into bed was to smile and thank him for his efforts.
    Even that seemed like almost too much work.
    She unlocked her front door and stepped inside. The smell of lemon cleaner filled her nose, telling her the team had taken a bit of extra time in their efforts to make sure her house was free of danger.
    Franklin came out of the kitchen wearing yellow rubber gloves. His gray T-shirt was stained with bleach spots, and there were smudges of dirt on his face and forearms. The knees of his jeans looked like they’d been used to clean an engine.
    As soon as he saw it was her, all the color drained from his face. He looked genuinely afraid, and he wasn’t a man who scared easily. “I know you’re going to be pissed, but please understand I had no choice.”
    She wasn’t going to be pissed that he cleaned. Saved her the trouble of caring enough to do the job herself. “Let your neat freak flag fly at my house all you like, sweetheart. I don’t mind.”
    He looked at the gloves as if just realizing he wore them. “It’s not that. It’s . . . the other thing.”
    Bella stifled a growl. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day. Whatever the other thing is, we’ll talk about it in the morning.”
    She headed for the kitchen to grab a glass of water, but Franklin stepped in her path. His voice was a mix of fear and apology. “Payton’s in there.”
    â€œOh,
hell
, no.” She shoved past the young man, and sure enough, Payton was sitting at her kitchen table, sipping hot tea. “Get the fuck out,” she ordered.
    â€œI tried to call. Apparently you’ve blocked my number.”
    â€œYou think? Perhaps because I didn’t want to talk to you.”
    â€œThat’s enough, Bella. Your childish tantrums aren’t going to help Gage.”
    She opened her mouth to show him what a real childish tantrum looked like when his words finally registered through the fog of her exhaustion. “What about Gage?”
    â€œWe have reason to believe he’ll be moved soon.”
    â€œMoved? From where? How do you know this? And who the hell is
we
?”
    â€œNorwood contacted me an hour ago. He’s been working his own angles.”
    â€œAnd you hid this from me?”
    â€œNo. I swear I didn’t. He didn’t tell me anything until tonight. He knew I might share with you, and he wasn’t ready for that.”
    Bella turned to Franklin just long enough to say, “Thank you for watching the house. Now go home.”
    â€œAre you sure you don’t want me to stay?” he asked. “Play referee?”
    She lifted her eyebrows and stared at him. That was enough to send him scurrying away.
    â€œWere you worried about what he might hear?” asked Payton. “Or about having a witness to your impending violence?”
    â€œDon’t flatter yourself. As much as I want to punch you in the face, you’re not worth even a single night in jail for assault. Now spill. Where is Gage?”
    â€œWe don’t know. All Norwood got was a bit of chatter between two people we know work for Stynger.”
    â€œWhat
do
you