“No. I’m like you. I help those that are hurting,” she said. “Some people aren’t meant to live on this planet. It’s better they move on.”
“At least give me your first name.”
More silence and then, “Looks like our time is up.”
“What do you mean?” Greer said. Less than two minutes. Two lousy minutes. “You haven’t told me your name.”
“Think hard enough, and you’ll figure it out.” A pause. “You should have dug the razor deeper when you sliced your wrists. You didn’t try hard enough to die.”
“Tell me your name!”
She chuckled. “You can fool yourself, but you can’t fool me.” The line went dead, and for several seconds she sat there, her heart pumping in her chest.
“Hey, are you okay?” The sound of Danni’s voice behind her made her jump.
She slammed the phone into the cradle and moved away from the cubicle as if it were a pit of snakes. “That caller gave me the creeps.”
Danni frowned as she moved toward Greer. “Hung up too quickly. The cops couldn’t trace it.”
Greer shook her head, trying to ward off a bone-deep chill. “I think she knew we were tracing her.”
“How?”
She fussed with the bracelets on her wrist. “I don’t know, but she said our time was up.”
Danni cocked her head, studying Greer closely. “What else did she say?”
Some people aren’t meant to live on this planet. “She kept asking me if suicide was a sin.”
Danni planted her hands on her narrow hips. “Judging by the color of your face I’d say she said more than that.”
“It doesn’t matter. We both know strange calls come into this place often enough. We are a hotline, and she was jerking my chain.”
“You’re shaken.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I’m fine.”
Some people aren’t meant to live on this planet.
Chapter Sixteen
Saturday, June 7, 10 P.M.
Bragg stepped inside his front door and immediately spotted Mitch asleep on the couch. And cradled in his arms was the ugliest damn puppy he’d ever seen. So ugly, he paused to stare. Mitch didn’t stir, but the pup opened his eyes, no, eye, and glared at him as if he were the intruder. The pup growled. Bragg smiled.
Before he could approach, his phone rang so he stepped outside to take the call. “Bragg.”
“Ranger Bragg this is Austin dispatch. We just received a nine-one-one call from the Crisis Center.”
Austin was a big small town and if you had connections word traveled fast. He quickly learned the crisis center had received a threatening call. Normally, he’d not have been alerted, but dispatch indicated the volunteer involved had been Greer Templeton. Days ago, he’d flagged her name, making it clear that if her name came up, he wanted to know about it.
“Thanks.”
He rang off and checked his watch. Ten minutes after ten. If he hustled, he’d catch Greer before she’d left for the night.
When he pulled up in front of the center, Greer stood by the glass front door with a young girl who looked to be about twenty. Greer walked the girl to her car, wished her a good night, and then headed for her own truck.
“Greer,” he said.
She turned, her expression wide-eyed. He stepped out of the shadows.
He saw her clutching her fingers at her side and realized she held a can of Mace. Dread seeped from her body. She’d struck him as many things, but never jumpy. The caller had done this to her. A primal urge rose up in him, and if he could hunt the caller right now, he’d tear him from limb to limb.
When her gaze met his, the stress eased from her face. He wasn’t sure why that mattered, but it did.
The reverse lights on the dark-haired kid’s car lit up, and she backed up her car. She rolled down her window and glared at Bragg.
She was a slip of a girl, but her eyes burned with ferocity. She held up her phone. “Greer, who is this guy? I have the cops on speed dial.”
Greer shook her head, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “Thanks, Danni, but he is the cops. His name is Ranger Bragg.”
“Ranger Bragg.” Danni eyeballed him a moment longer. “And you know him, Greer?”
“I do.”
Bragg held Danni’s gaze as Greer approached him. “We met a few days ago.”
Danni’s gaze didn’t flicker from his. “Name some of the Rangers that work in the Austin office.”
Greer clutched her backpack with her hand. “It’s okay, Danni.”
Danni didn’t budge.
Bragg arched a brow, not sure if he should be annoyed or impressed. “This is a quiz?”
“Yeah, asshole, it’s a quiz. Give up some names or tell it to the cops.”
“Danni,” Greer warned.
He rested his hand on his hip. He admired Danni’s spunk. “Santos, Winchester, Beck.”
“Beck.” The Ranger’s name eased most of the suspicion in her face. “I know him.”
“Were you at his wedding?” Bragg tossed in the detail knowing not many outside the Ranger circles would know about the marriage.
That mention deflated the last of her trepidation. “No. I had to go back East and visit my mother. I would rather have been at the wedding. Beck’s wife, Lara, is my favorite teacher.”
Bragg arched a brow. “Does that mean you’re convinced I’m not here to bother Greer?”
She didn’t answer right away. “Yeah.”
Aware Greer watched him closely, he kept the menace and growl from his voice. “Good. Now scram so I can talk to her.”
Danni’s eyes narrowed. “This about the call and the trace?”
“It is.”
“So, you’ll figure out who rattled her?”
“I will.” And he meant it. The urge to put hands on the guy remained strong.
“Fine. See you next week, Greer. Looking forward to working the harvest.”
“Thanks, Danni, for everything. You’re a rock.”
She grinned. “I know.”
Both watched the kid drive off.
When her taillights vanished around a corner, Greer eyed Bragg. “How did you know about the call?”
He met her gaze, noting the dark circles under her eyes. She worked hard, maybe too hard. Technically, her life outside his case was none of his business. But he’d never wasted much time on technicalities. “Word gets around.”
“Not that fast.”
“It does when I tell everyone with a pulse that I want to hear about it if your name comes up.”
She arched a brow as annoyance snapped. “Really?”
He didn’t mind the annoyance and preferred it to the fear that had flashed when he’d first called out her name. With no hint of apology, he nodded. “Until my case is solved and my nephew is off your property I’m keeping an eye on you.”
Her fingers clutched the strap of her backpack. “I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
Ignoring her statement, he said, “There’s a coffee shop a couple of blocks away. Let’s grab a cup.”
She combed long fingers through her hair. Bracelets rattled. “I have an early call at the vineyard.”
He wasn’t going to let her go that easily. “Me, too. But a half hour won’t make a difference either way. I’ll follow you.” Saying please didn’t come easily to him. He wanted to find out about the caller and to spend time with her. “Please.”
Finally, she nodded. “See you there in a few.”
In his SUV, he followed her the two blocks and when she climbed out of her truck, he was there. Inside he ordered a house coffee, black, and she ordered a latte. With soy. He reached for his wallet.
“I got this,” she said.
He shook his head. “No, I do.”
“I can pay.”
“Not while I’m breathing.” He tossed a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and a scrawny teen with spiked hair scooped it up.