He swore. "I knew it. I fucking knew it. You and Tatum set the stadium on fire when you guys sang together. Where are you guys?"
Brody paused for a moment to consider strategy, then answered. "We're at my ranch in eastern Oregon." Tatum's face paled, and Brody put his hand on her knee to reassure her. "I took her to the hospital out here last night to get her wrist casted. She's all right. She's safe for the moment."
Jackson paused. "Some guy really broke her arm?"
"Yeah." Brody rubbed Tatum's leg. "If he's willing to break her arm, he's probably willing to hurt you and Ace, too, so don't go around asking questions. You don't know what you'll stir up."
"I don't want you to get hurt," Tatum added.
"I was in the Marines for five years," Jackson said. "I can handle myself. What can we do?"
"Listen," Brody said. "Someone knows something, and you may overhear something. People on her side will want to find her to make sure she's safe. Whoever is stalking her will want to find her so they can get to her. There will be a difference in how they talk about her, even if it's simply the emotions underlying their words. Listen."
"I can do that. What else?"
"That's it for now. Once we get some leads, we'll have you leak her location to whoever we suspect. We'll see what they do. But not yet. We need to get prepared."
"Got it. Where can I reach you?"
Brody rattled off his phone number. "That's my phone number. Text me your number so I have it."
"Right on. Got it."
Tatum leaned forward. "Can you grab my phone and all my stuff? I left it at the stadium."
"You bet. Nora probably grabbed it, but I'll find it and send it to you. What's the address?"
Brody gave it to him.
"Got it." He paused. "Tatum, be careful."
She looked at Brody. "I am."
"She's not alone," Brody said. "She's safe here."
"For now, but you both are celebrities. Someone had to have seen the two of you together. Someone's going to spill, and people are going to find you. I'm guessing you maybe have twenty-four hours before people know the two of you are together."
Brody swore under his breath, but he knew that Jackson was right. "Keep us posted as people figure stuff out. We'll be ready."
She took a breath and nodded. "Yeah, we will."
"All right," Jackson said. "I'm going to call Ace now, and then head over to find your stuff. We'll see what we can find out."
"Be careful," Tatum said. "I love you guys. I want you safe."
"We love you, too, baby. Don't worry about us. No one's going to mess with me or Ace. Call or text if you need anything. We'll be in touch." He disconnected.
Brody picked up his phone and shoved it in his back pocket, watching Tatum. Her face was tense. "How are you doing?"
She let out her breath. "I'm a little freaked out that the ball is already rolling, honestly. It makes me nervous that someone on my team knows that I'm here. You even gave him the address."
He frowned. "You don't trust Jackson?"
"It's not that. I absolutely believe he's not my stalker, but I don't want him to get hurt. He's always very protective of Ace, and I'm worried he's going to go into protector mode for me as well, and get in trouble."
"If he's been in the Marines, he's not helpless, but yeah. We need to find out more, fast. He's right. It won't take long for people to track you here."
"And then someone will come for me." She searched his gaze. "Someone from my team. It's so weird not to know who I can trust. I mean, I'm guessing it's Donny, but I don't know for sure."
He wanted her to be right about trusting Jackson, but life had taught him that it was easy to get fooled if your heart was involved. "We'll find out soon enough."
She bit her lip. "So, what do we do?"
"We'll bring in the rest of my family. Alert people and—" He stopped when she grimaced. "What?"
She paused. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not bring your family into this. Can I just lay low at your house?"
He frowned. "Why?"
Her gaze flicked to him. "I didn't leave under the best of circumstances."
There it was. The past. Finally laid out between them. Tension flooded him. He wasn't ready to rock their fragile reconciliation by going back into the ugly past. "You're part of us, Tatum. You always will be. They know that. Especially Bella. You guys were so close."
She shook her head empathically. "No, I don't think—"
There were sudden footsteps in the hallway, but before either of them could move, his sister Bella appeared in the doorway. She was wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a Bella's Café tee shirt. "Brody, I heard you up here. Do you have—" She stopped and stared at them.
Brody realized the covers were still tossed, he was barefoot and shirtless, and Tatum was wearing his shirt and no pants. It didn't take a genius to realize what they'd been doing, and he knew Bella wasn't going to pretend she hadn't figured it out. "Hey, sis—"
"Holy shit. You guys are back together."
Tatum scrambled to her feet, near panic on her face. "No, we're not," she said quickly. "I just—"
"What were you thinking?" Bella spun to Brody, her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to go to Portland to finally get her out of your system, not bring her back here!" She glared at Tatum. "Keep away from my brother. You've done enough damage already."
Then she spun around, stalked out, and slammed the door behind her.
Chapter Ten
Tatum felt like running for Brody's truck. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, and she fumbled for Brody's sweats, tears blurring her eyes. "I shouldn’t have come. It was stupid. I'll call an Uber or something—"
"Tatum." Brody's hands closed over hers, holding her still. "No."
"No, it's fine. I know that your family is your priority. I don't expect anything different." Of course she knew that. She'd been stupid to think that she had a chance putting herself back in his life again. "Go talk to her. She's upset."
"This isn't about her. It's about us."
Tatum tried to get her foot into the sweatpants, but they kept swaying out of the way. "There is no us, Brody. There can't be an us—" She tried to grab the waistband with her broken arm, and pain shot through her. She gasped and went down to her knees, holding her arm to her chest. "God, that hurt."
"Let me help."
"No!" She staggered to her feet, still clutching her arm to her chest to protect it. "It's fine. I don't need anything. Jackson will take care of me—"
"Tatum." He caught her good elbow, his fingers closing gently around it. "It's okay."
"It's not! Not at all. I thought it was. I pretended it was, but it's not. I can't—"