Off Limits, Brother's Best Friend Chapter 207

Chapter 207: I Don't Feel Good About This 

Brianna

“I don't know yet, so don't get too excited. I don't want to upset you if I can't.” I warned Jane and she nodded profusely but I saw the glint in her eyes. She isn't even listening to me.

We started walking a little bit until I paused mid sentence and looked past her. Out of curiosity, she looked. In a casual pair of jeans and polo top came detective Nasa with no flashy badge on his hip this time. Why is he still in the city? I thought Callan's lawyer came forward and I had scared him away. My heart started thrumming in my chest.

“Who is that?” Jane whispered but I didn't have time to answer her because he got to us.

“Miss. Fletcher fancy meeting you here. The weather is great, isn't it?” He played it like some coincidence. I didn't buy that.

“Detective,” I nodded my head but swallowed the lump in my throat.

Jane's eyes went up into her hairline when she put two and two togethers. I had obviously told her about this guy and everything that happened with the lawyer. I would really like him right now. Detective Nasa shoved a hand in his jeans pocket and used the other to sweep down his cropped hair.

“Brianna, I had been meaning to ask you but I didn't think we would be crossing paths again. Are you related to Vicky Fletcher by any chance?” He asked, my stomach dropped and I grabbed Jane's hand like I needed something to keep me grounded. I barely kept my ice cream in my hand as it began melting over my fingers. I nodded yet but scolded myself in my head. Maybe I should have lied. He snapped his fingers.

“See, I thought you looked so damn familiar and the name rang a bell but I couldn't pin it at first. I go to the same country club as your father, we have met.” He told me, I don't remember him.

“You were much younger, that is probably why.” He added.

I was feeling so unsettled right now. First, the detective showed up in the most random place I just so happened to be in and second, he knows my father. Jane could see how shaken I was so she spoke up for me.

“Can we help you with something, officer?” His pitted eyes flashed over to her and the scumbag checked her out.

“It is a detective,” he corrected her.

“Detective,” she emphasized his title. I squeezed her hand asking her to shut up.

“I am just following up on a few leads, I assume you also know Mary. She had a lot to say.” He was trying to unnerve me.

“I know her in passing, yes.” I didn't lie.

“She seems to think Ezekiel would have definitely come to see you when she told him where you were.” He dropped those little tidbits of information to see how I would react. Blank face, Brianna. Don't show him anything.

“Are you trying to coerce my friend into speaking about an ongoing investigation without her lawyer present?” Jane sounded the most serious and studious I have ever heard her. He licked his teeth and adjusted his body slightly, so he wasn't directly facing me but was instead tilted to face her head on.

“And may I ask who you are, Miss?” He sounded annoyed. He looked annoyed too, his deep set eyes make him look menacing and I am so uncomfortable here.

“You may ask, doesn't mean I will answer.” Jane deadpanned. She has an attitude and I know she is feisty but I didn't want to antagonize him into looking further into all of us.

“Jane,” I whispered a quiet plea for her to stop. He chuckled though but I doubt he found anything funny.

“I wish you would make things easier for the both of us, Brianna and you would just have a chat with me. But suit yourself, I am sure I will be seeing you.” He nodded to me and then specifically to Jane as if to bug her. She flipped his back off when he turned away from us and left.

“Okay, sketch, what the hell was that about, Brianna?” She looked as unsettled now as I did.

“I don't know but I should call Bryce.” I ended up just tossing the ice cream and wiping my hand with all the napkins. It melted and I also just lost my appetite as soon as he said my father's name.

“Should I call Callan?” Jane asked, even just his name makes my gut flip.

“Umm, no, I think Bryce is just fine.” I shook my head. She nodded and waited for me to ring him up. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. I huffed and put the phone away.

“Let's just go back home.” I told her.

We linked arms and started for the sidewalk but I gasped when three large men approached us, practically circling us.

“No, Brianna. It is okay. These men are our protection.” She reminded me. I completely forgot to even tell Bryce's men I was going out so these must be hers.

“Why didn't they come over when the detective was around?” I quietly asked her.

“Because I had a signal gesture that alerted them I needed help and I didn't give it to them. They won't run up on any seemingly random person and make themselves known to those who could be watching. They will come when I call for it or if it is obvious I am in danger.” She explained.

So that is how it works. The men I had with me were probably waiting for me to react the same way and I never did. No wonder they always keep their distance, we walked to a large car and we both got in it instead of walking how we had been. I don't mind the giant that is here with us because I feel so unsettled that I just need comfort where I can find it.

“Listen, I want to call Callan and tell him so he can talk to his lawyer. I feel like he should know about this, I know you don't want to deal with him directly. So that is why I am going to do it.” She said, I hesitated but ultimately agreed she could call him. If my brother isn't even answering, I guess one of them should know the detective isn't gone.

Besides, it is probably smart for Callan to inform his lawyer. Maybe the man will want to speak to me or give me advice on how to handle these little pop ups he seems fond of. First, my actual apartment and now in the park. That makes me believe I am being watched by this man and I am so unsettled by that. I am around criminals all the time and I don't want to accidentally lead this man to any of them. I also just don't trust men in general and this guy is friends with my father, so he is probably just as big of a prick as my father is. How can the world even be this small? I have had the worst luck with this kind of stuff.

Mary, having seen me that day, alerted Ezekiel, him googling all the tattoo shops in the area to find me and then my father found my social media accounts and to top it all off the detective who is investigating my missing ex-boyfriend is friends with my father. I am cursed, I will never be able to breathe some fresh air and not have some subtle worry in the back of my mind that my father might find me or that Ezekiel might find me. I remember when I first left them, I was so paranoid. I looked for their faces in a crowd even when I moved across the country.

“Brianna?” Jane's hand came down on my leg and I flinched and shook my head.

“What?” I asked.

“You look spacy and afraid. Don't be scared.” She told me.

Easier said than done. She has never had a man psychologically and physically abuse her. She has been untouchable her whole life and again I envy her.

“I am fine,” I lied, she nodded and picked up her phone to call her brother.

Because she was seated right beside me and her phone was on the ear between us and I could hear his deep voice when he spoke up.

“Hello?” My gut flipped.

“Umm, Callan. Do you have a second?” He practically huffed at her. She rolled her eyes knowing he thinks she wants something.

“I was with Brianna in the park having an ice cream and that detective guy showed up and started kind of intimidating her.” She told him.

“Detective Nasa?” He asked like he needed to be sure.

“Yes, and we didn't feel like it was a coincidence running into him. He felt so sketchy to me.” She told him.

“Where are you now?” He asked her.

“I am in the car with the guards.” She replied.

“And Brianna?” He asked, hearing my name come off his lips stupidly made my heart hurt.

“She is with me.”