County Sheriffs 3: Conquering Evil (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

  There had been a time in her life when she’d had reprieve from the nightmare, but being a profiler and having to try and get inside a killer’s head as well as dealing with the violence and death at a crime scene, stirred those buried memories up. She kept those memories locked down tight and she had a feeling the stored up pain inside her was manifesting itself at night.

  Jasmine had put those terrifying memories in a steel vault in her mind and hoped to never have to think about or deal with them again. She was afraid that if she opened that door and all those ghosts came tumbling out she would end up losing her mind, and that scared the absolute fuck out of her.

  After making sure the bar was wiped down, the dishwasher was running and everything else was put away, she glanced at the clock and saw it was five minutes after her knock-off time. With another weary sigh, she grabbed her purse from beneath the bar, pulled the keys to Misha’s car out, and waved good-bye to the bar manager.

  The moment she stepped outside she knew she wasn’t alone. She glanced about trying to find wherever it was they were hiding but didn’t see anyone. With a shrug of resignation, she walked toward the car at the back of the parking lot.

  Jasmine was only feet away from the car when she heard a boot scrape on the ground. She spun around and wasn’t totally surprised to find the guy who had tried to pick her up earlier in the night coming toward her. She took the last few steps toward Misha’s car, dropped her purse on the hood, and loosened her muscles in preparation. She held her hand up palm out, hoping to stop the guy in his tracks, but he ignored the action. “You don’t want to do this. You’re going to end up getting hurt.”

  He frowned but then gave her a wide smile. “Come on, you know you want me.” He held his arms out wide as if offering himself up for her delectation, but Jasmine felt nothing but contempt.

  “Look, you ass, I’m already in a relationship. Just because I work in a bar doesn’t mean I’m desperate. Go home and sober up.”

  “I’m not drunk.” He was only standing a couple of feet from her now, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. From the stench emanating from him, she was surprised he was still able to walk in a straight line, let alone stand.

  “Let me call you a cab.” Jasmine backed up to the hood where she’d dumped her purse, keeping an eye on him while she rummaged for her cell phone.

  “I don’t need a cab. My buddies are going to drive me home.”

  Jasmine squinted as she glanced about the parking lot but didn’t see anyone. Maybe the guy was so drunk he was imagining things. When she heard a whisper of a sound behind her car, she glanced in that direction. Her heart flipped in her chest and her breathing began to escalate when she saw his three friends were creeping up behind her. She should have known the coward in front of her wouldn’t have approached her by himself.

  She could take out a couple of the guys, and the first one would be the idiot with the cheesy pick-up lines, but she wasn’t sure she could take them all down. One of the men was taller and more muscular than the others. He was going to be a problem, but she was determined to take out as many of them as she could. Four against one wasn’t great odds, but if she had to bet on the outcome, she was going to come out the winner, even if she didn’t come out of this unscathed.

  Jasmine stepped sideways toward the front of the car, giving herself more room to move. Dickhead, the man who’d tried to pick her up, moved with her. When she was a few feet from the vehicle, she glanced toward the other men to see where they were and cursed under her breath when she saw that they had moved closer. The big guy leaned against the driver’s door of Misha’s car with his arms crossed over his chest and his ankles crossed looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. She just hoped he stayed out of the fracas because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to do much damage to him. The others were creeping forward, and though they were all around six foot, she didn’t think she’d have any trouble taking them down. That was if they came at her one on one. If the other two decided to rush her at the same time, she could be in real trouble.

  “Come on, baby. You know you want it.” Dickhead cupped his groin lewdly.

  “Leave now before you get hurt,” Jasmine stated in a calm voice, her body relaxed as she waited for him to make his move.

  He threw his head back and laughed as if he’d just heard the funniest comment in the world. If she had her way, he would be laughing from the other side of his face very soon.

  His laughter died down, and he eyed her body up and down before licking his lips. Jasmine shuddered with revulsion. She kept her gaze locked to his, waiting for a telltale sign he was about to pounce. She didn’t have to wait long. She saw him clench his hands into fists, making his knuckles crack as if trying to intimidate her, but she wasn’t some damsel in distress. Jasmine sighed just as he came at her in a rush.

  She sidestepped him, lifted her leg, and shoved the heel of her boot into his knee. She heard a sickening crack just before he howled in pain, fell to the ground, and rolled around as he clutched his leg.

  “Get that fucking bitch,” Dickhead sobbed.

  Jasmine turned to face her next nemesis as they came at her at the same time. She danced on the balls of her feet, and when the first guy reached her, she swept her leg out, taking his feet out from beneath him. He hit the deck with a hard thud and loud grunt.

  The other man grabbed her arm, but instead of trying to tug away from him like an untrained person would, she stepped into his body, twisted his arm, and, using his own momentum, flipped him over her hip.

  She stepped back quickly and cursed when she came up against a hard body. She’d been so intent on the men rushing her she’d forgotten about the big dude. He wrapped his thick arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet. She wished he’d stayed where he was, but she should have known better. Stupidity seemed to be becoming more common.

  Jasmine waited to see what he would do, but he just held her aloft as if he really wasn’t interested in hurting her, but she knew that wasn’t the case. He was waiting for his friends to get their breath back and back on their feet. The two men she hadn’t incapacitated shoved to their feet and eyed her angrily. She made her move. She drew her head forward and then slammed it back as hard as she could. She didn’t hear the crunch of breaking bones this time because the giant holding her bellowed so loudly with pain he made her ears ring. Her move had the desired effect, though. He dropped her as if she was a hot potato.

  The two others rushed her at the same time. Again.

  She saw a fist coming toward her face and quickly blocked it with her arm before following up with a punch of her own. She didn’t muck about and slammed her fist into her attacker’s jaw. His eyes rolled back in his head, and before he hit the ground, she turned to face the other guy, but she wasn’t fast enough. His fist caught her in the chin. Her teeth slammed together over her tongue, and she tasted blood. A loud ringing sounded in her ears, and darkness began to encroach, but she wasn’t about to pass out and let the assholes win. She drew in a deep breath, and just as the prick tried to hit her again, she deflected his punch and slammed her booted foot between his legs. He went down to his knees with a gasp, cupping his damaged crotch, and then fell onto his side on the ground.

  Jasmine hurried to her purse, retrieved her cell phone, and called 911. Kent and Dawson were on call, and she knew the dispatcher would contact one of the men. She just hoped that they didn’t call Tanner and Cooper because, if the serial killer was watching and they arrived on scene, they were going to fuck up her plan to lure the psychopath out into the open. After ending the call, she dialed Cooper’s number.

  “Hey, baby, what’s wrong?” Cooper’s voice was more gravelly than normal, and she suspected he’d been asleep.

  “I’ve just had a little incident and called 911 but you can’t come out. You need to stay where you are, or you’re going to give the ruse away.”

  “What the fuck do you mean by little incident?” Coop asked. “Hang on a minute.�
��

  Jasmine sighed and hoped Cooper and Tanner didn’t go off halfcocked. She’d heard Tanner’s phone ringing in the background and was sure that Dawson or Kent had made that call.

  “Fuck!” Tanner yelled. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  “We can’t.” Jasmine heard Cooper say from a distance. “If the killer’s watching her, the jig will be up.”

  Jasmine cringed when she heard Tanner cursing again. “We’ll have to send Clay and Spence.”

  “Cooper,” she said loudly into the phone, hoping to get his attention. She heard his sigh of frustration just before he answered.

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t send Spence or Clay either. It’s late, and they’re probably asleep. Plus, I don’t want Misha left alone.”

  “I fucking hate this shit,” Coop snapped. “We need to catch this fucker so we can get on with our lives.”

  Jasmine knocked her sore chin when she brushed stray strands of hair back from her face and sucked in a breath.

  “What’s wrong?” Tanner asked.

  Jasmine figured Coop must have put his phone on loudspeaker. “Nothing, just tired.”

  “Dawson and Kent will be there any minute. Are you sure you aren’t still in danger?” Coop asked.

  “No. I took care of it.”

  “Who and how many?” Tanner asked.

  Jasmine didn’t want to have this conversation over the phone, not when her guys were already angry at the situation and not able to be with her. Thankfully, she saw the red and blue flashing lights coming toward her quickly. Seconds later, Dawson and Kent pulled into the lot in two separate vehicles.

  “Kent and Dawson are here. I have to go.” Jasmine didn’t give Tanner and Cooper any chance to reply and quickly disconnected the call.

  Dawson reached her first and looked at the men writhing on the ground as well as the one she’d knocked unconscious. The giant with the broken nose was stealthily making his way toward the road.

  “You might want to go and catch him.” Jasmine pointed toward the big man.

  Kent, who’d come up behind Dawson, cursed and took off after him. The injured guy must have been hurting too much to run very fast because Kent had him in cuffs seconds later.

  “What the hell happened?” Dawson asked as he eyed the men on the ground.

  Jasmine recounted the incident. “You might want to call the paramedics. That guy could have a concussion.”

  “Shit!” Kent pulled his cell from his pocket and made the call.

  “This is the guy who started it all?” Dawson nudged the guy with the dislocated knee in the thigh.

  “Yeah.” Jasmine winced when her chin throbbed.

  “You’re hurt?” Kent asked.

  “Just a bruise. Two of them came at me at the same time. One of the fuckers got in a lucky punch.”

  “You should probably go to the hospital, too.” Dawson eyed her chin. “From what I can see, you already have some swelling and your skin is red and already bruising. You’re probably going to have a hell of a bruise.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re stubborn,” Kent retorted.

  Jasmine smirked. “That, too.”

  “You could have a fracture.” Dawson gave her a hard look.

  Dawson and Kent patted her attackers down and after checking their ID’s secured them all in cuffs.

  Jasmine turned toward the road when she heard the siren of the ambulance. She was glad the paramedics arrived. She was tired and wanted to get back to the ranch so she could sleep. And though she’d never admit it, her face was hurting and she was getting a doozy of a headache. Kent had called for two ambulances. All four of the idiots were loaded into the back of the vehicles, two in each.

  “Come on.” Kent swept his hand out toward the car. “We’ll drive you to the hospital so you can get an x-ray.”

  “I don’t need an x-ray. Nothing’s broken.”

  “Cooper and Tanner won’t let you rest until they know for sure that you aren’t hurt badly,” Dawson said.

  “Shit,” Jasmine muttered because Dawson was right. “I’ll follow you. I’m going to need the car for my shift tomorrow.”

  “Jasmine—” Kent began but halted when she held her hand up.

  “Save it, Kent. I’m driving.”

  She grabbed her purse from the hood of Misha’s car, pulled her keys out, and unlocked the door. Kent and Dawson were striding toward their cars as she pulled out of the parking lot. It was going to be a very long night, and she wasn’t looking forward to facing Cooper and Tanner. She already had the headache from hell and didn’t want to have to deal with any angst from her guys when she got home, but she knew that was wishful thinking.

  They weren’t going to let her sleep until they heard the whole story, and she still had to wait her turn at the hospital to get the x-ray.

  Jasmine sighed with frustration. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. She was seriously thinking about making a career change.

  She was sick and tired of trying to get into the heads of sociopaths, psychopaths, and other evil bastards. She’d thought tending bar was a safe job, too, but tonight had proved her wrong.

  Jasmine began to wonder if she was some sort of magnet for trouble.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cooper paced from the living room to the kitchen and back again. He wanted to roar his rage to the ceiling, but that wouldn’t make him feel any better. Tanner was slumped on the sofa sipping from a bottle of beer, and though his friend looked relaxed, he wasn’t. He was gripping the bottle so hard his knuckles were white.

  It had been hours since Jasmine had called and told them not to venture out, but thankfully, Dawson was keeping him and Tanner updated with texts. The night was mostly over, and already he could see the tinges of pink on the horizon as the sun began its ascent into the sky.

  When he heard car tires on the gravel drive, he rushed to the door but paused, his hand hovering over the door handle with indecision. Jasmine would read him the riot act if he opened the door and exposed his face. Especially if the serial killer was watching the place. With a sigh of frustration, he combed his fingers through his hair and stepped back from the door.

  He heard her walking up the porch steps, and seconds later, she was stepping over the threshold. A low growl built in his chest when he saw the bruise and swelling on her chin and along her jaw, but he swallowed his anger back down when she quirked her eyebrow at him.

  She held her hand up when he opened his mouth to speak and closed the door behind her. “Before you ask, I’m fine. I don’t have a fracture, just some bruising and swelling.”

  Cooper took the two steps separating them and pulled her into his arms. “I was so worried about you. Why the hell didn’t you call for backup?”

  “There wasn’t time.” Jasmine’s reply was muffled against his chest. She sighed and sagged against him. Kent and Dawson had been alternately watching the inn all night, but they’d both been called out to a traffic accident and though she should have called Clay and or Spence, she hadn’t wanted to disturb them. Dawson had texted her to tell her what was up and though she had been grateful for the heads up, she was more than capable of protecting herself.

  “Where the fuck were Dawson and Kent?”

  Jasmine sighed again and answered as succinctly as possible.

  “Are you sure you’re all right, honey?” Tanner asked as he moved in behind her.

  “Yes.”

  Cooper drew back and nudged her face up so he could see her injury. Her eyes were squinting as if she was in pain, and from the way she had her lips pulled tight, she definitely was. “You need to sleep.”

  “Yeah, I do, but first I want some painkillers. I have a bad headache, and then I’m going to grab a shower and crawl into bed.”

  “Dawson said you took all four assholes out.” Tanner hugged her from behind and nuzzled his nose against the side of her neck.

  “I did. I dislocated Dickhead’s knee, broke the giant�
�s nose, kicked one guy’s balls into his throat, and knocked the other one unconscious.”

  “I can’t believe you took on all four of them by yourself,” Cooper said hoarsely.

  “Um, yeah,” Jasmine said.

  “Not good enough, honey,” Tanner snapped. “Next time you call one of us.”

  “Okay, I’ll make sure to ask anyone wanting to attack to wait until my boyfriends’ turn up,” Jasmine said facetiously.

  “Well, shit.” Tanner sighed.

  Cooper could tell that Jasmine was done in. She was swaying on her feet, even with his body supporting her. He glanced at Tanner. “Get her some Tylenol. I’ll help her in the shower.”

  “I don’t need help.”

  “Don’t fucking argue,” Cooper snarled.

  He wasn’t angry with Jasmine. He was angry that she’d gotten hurt. He wanted to remain attached at her hip until the killer was behind bars, but that wasn’t about to happen anytime soon. He and Tanner needed to lay low where Jasmine was concerned. Clay and Spence were the only men allowed to be seen with her out in public, and that just made his gut churn even more. He wanted to be able to take her out on a date. Hold her hand as he walked along the street and hug her sexy little body against his whenever he wanted. Sometimes life really sucked.

  Cooper bent and scooped her up into his arms. When she didn’t protest and just rested her cheek on his shoulder, he knew she was hurting more than she was letting on. His gut roiled with anger, but he pushed it back down. Right now, he needed to make sure Jasmine was comfortable so she could sleep, and if he had any say, she wouldn’t be working her shift at the inn later tonight. However, he had a feeling she was going to argue with him about that. Maybe with Tanner at his side, they could convince her to call in sick.