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  OBSESSED

  Everyday Heroes Series Book Two

  Margaret Daley

  Obsessed

  Copyright © 2018 by Margaret Daley

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  All texts contained within this document are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons (living or dead), is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Nine years earlier

  I stood over the lounger and splashed the bottle of liquor all over the man, knocked out after drinking alcohol laced with sleeping pills. Someone had to protect her from men who weren’t good enough for her. He didn’t protect her nor care for her. One day she would thank me.

  When I emptied the alcohol, I molded his hand around the bottle, laid it on his stomach, then set a matchbook on fire. I stepped back and tossed it into his lap then raced from the house. The flames flared into a roaring blaze, and by the time I was outside, I glimpsed the bright light growing in intensity as the fire spread quickly.

  I moved back into the trees at the edge of his property as people on the street streamed out of their homes. The sound of sirens filled the air. The fire department wouldn’t make it in time. I took care of that. As a crowd assembled to watch my justice, I sank farther into the darkness of night and the woods, transfixed by the growing flames consuming the evil in the house.

  I’m the only one who can protect her, care for her, and love her.

  The first fire truck came into view as the heat reached the propane bottle. I braced myself, clinging to a tree trunk. An explosion rocked the neighborhood, and fiery debris shot outward from the structure. What a beautiful sight to behold!

  My job was done. I turned my back on the chaos and walked away.

  Chapter Two

  Serena Remington drove into her garage, turned off the engine, and sagged back against the seat. She didn’t want to get out and see the foot-long scratch on her new cherry red sports car someone kindly left for her to discover when she came out of the school after a very long day of teaching. Obviously one of her students was showing his appreciation for all the hours she put in preparing the lessons on Macbeth.

  What more could go wrong today?

  First, she was berated by her principal for not being out in the hallway during the passing of the students to their next class. It didn’t matter that she’d been helping a teen with her college admission essay. Second, she’d been in the corridor when a fight broke out, and while one of the male teachers ignored it, she was left to break it up. She was afraid she would be sporting a black eye with the fists flying all over the place. Third, tomorrow was her birthday, and she would be spending it alone because the man she’d been dating for six weeks sent her a text breaking their date then left town without a word. She’d thought they were at least good friends, but he never gave her an explanation for canceling on her nor had she seen him since she received the text two weeks ago. Was he still gone? Maybe his departure was for the best. The last guy she’d dated seriously hadn’t worked out either. It had taken her a long time to start dating again and look what happened.

  So maybe it was best that Mark had called their date off. No more pity party, Serena.

  She finally slid from her front seat and refused to look at the ugly mark on the driver’s side of her car. Plainly, whoever did it wanted her to know right away. When she made her way through her house, she called her poodle’s name. Susie was always waiting to greet her at the door from the garage.

  The sound of a deep bark echoed down the hallway from the den at the back. She hurried her pace and entered the room to find a Great Dane, obviously standing on its hind legs, peering inside. On the window seat, Susie wagged her tail and returned the bark. Then she pawed at the pane.

  “I don’t believe this!” Serena rushed to her white poodle and snatched her away from the beast, only a thin piece of glass between them. The huge dog could have Susie for dinner and still be hungry. Hugging Susie against her chest, Serena leaned forward to figure out how the Great Dane got into her six-foot wooden-fenced backyard.

  That was when she saw the sunken ground in her new flowerbed that was now destroyed. He must have dug his way under the fence from her new next-door neighbor’s yard. The man just moved in a few days ago, and she’d been so busy with school she hadn’t met him yet. Did he own this monster who clawed at her window, ripping the screen?

  “You can’t come in,” Serena said as though that would stop the Great Dane.

  Susie wiggled in her arms, wanting to get down to see her new friend. No way!

  Serena marched from the den, put her poodle in the bathroom on the right side of the house, then trekked over to her new neighbor’s.

  She rang the doorbell. But after a minute with no answer, she pounded on his door in frustration. He had to be home. Otherwise, what would she do with the beast in her backyard?

  The sound of his garage door rising drew her attention toward the driveway. A black SUV with a dark-haired man behind the steering wheel pulled into the garage.

  Serena charged down the porch steps, intending to catch him before he went inside. When he emerged from the garage, his smile was possibly the only bright spot in her day. She slowed her pace and took in his tall, muscular build. Certainly a man who could handle a Great Dane.

  “Don’t you live next door?” he asked in a deep voice that shivered down Serena’s length.

  “Yes, I’m Serena Remington.” She glanced at his left hand to see if he wore a wedding ring. Nothing. Her day brightened a little more.

  With his blue eyes twinkling, he cut the distance between them and held out his hand. “I’m Quinn Taylor. I’m glad we could finally meet. I just moved to town.”

  She shook his hand, and the reason she’d come to see him fled her mind. The warmth of his touch and that smile centered her focus on her new neighbor. Maybe today wasn’t so bad after all.

  “I hate meeting under these circumstances, but there’s a Great Dane in my backyard. I think he belongs to you.”

  Her neighbor’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s Brutus, and I’m sorry. I was at the fire station finishing the paperwork for my new job. I don’t like keeping him cooped up on the days I’m not working. The fenced-in backyard and its size were what sold me on this house.”

  “You’re a firefighter?”

  He nodded. “Until a few days ago, I worked in Dallas.”

  “What brought you to Cimarron City?”

  “My grandma. She was moved to an assisted living center, and I wanted to be closer in case she needed help. She forgets a lot, but she likes where she’s staying, and she has several friends there with her.”

  “That’s always a plus.” How sweet. He wanted to be near his grandmother. He intrigued her, but then her record with men was rocky at best even with her move from Mobile, Alabama. She would start to get close to someone, and suddenly, it would fall apart. In Mobile where she’d grown up, she’d had a stalker who made her life a nightmare. No wonder she was still guy-shy even with a new identity and three years of peace.

  “Let me get Brutus’s leash, and I’ll come get him. I don’t start work for a couple of days, so I’ll try to reinforce the fence and find a way to keep him in my yard. Be right back.”

  Serena waited in the garage, looking at the five-foot wall of stacked boxes. She’d lived in her house for the past three years since she started teaching at the high school not far away. And she was pretty sure she still had several boxes she hadn’t unpacked yet. Obviously, she
didn’t need the items in them.

  Quinn returned with a long, black leash in his hand. For a few seconds she appreciated, again, her neighbor’s well-built body, probably from the physical job he had. His navy-blue T-shirt highlighted his muscular arms, capable of carrying a man from a burning house. But his best feature was his smile. It lit his whole face.

  She gestured toward the stacked boxes. “I don’t envy you the task ahead.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve already emptied over half my stuff. I should get the rest done in the next two days before I start my job. Once I set my mind on something, it doesn’t take me that long.”

  Serena started walking toward her side yard. “Which firehouse are you assigned to?”

  “Firehouse 14. I was glad to buy a house near it. Less commute time.” He chuckled. “In Dallas, I drove fifty minutes to work. It feels good to be back home and only ten minutes away from the fire station.”

  “Home? You used to live here?”

  “I grew up here, but I’ve lived in Dallas for the past eleven years. Have you always lived here?”

  “No. I actually grew up in Savannah, and after going to college and getting my teaching degree, I ended up moving to Oklahoma three years ago.” She’d never tell anyone about that last year before coming to Cimarron City. She couldn’t even state where she really came from because of her stalker.

  Quinn rounded the corner of her home. “Brutus.”

  The huge dog bounded toward them. She stepped behind her neighbor. She had intended to open the gate then wait there for him to capture his dog, but she hadn’t realize she’d entered her backyard and walked beside him while he talked to her. When the Great Dane came to a halt in front of Quinn, he clipped the leash to Brutus’s collar.

  “Heel.” Quinn glanced at the shredded screen, winced, then headed toward the exit. “I’ll measure your window, replace your screen tomorrow, and put your garden back together.”

  “Thanks.” She strolled next to Quinn on the opposite side from Brutus, his name giving her pause. “He’s over three and a half feet tall.”

  “Yeah, bigger than most male Great Danes. He just kept growing taller. Thankfully, he hasn’t gotten any bigger in several years.”

  At the border of her yard with Quinn’s, she stopped. “It was nice meeting you.”

  He paused and twisted toward her. “May I come and measure your screen and take it down later?”

  “Sure, so long as Brutus doesn’t come, too. He had my dog frantically trying to get outside. Susie’s a small miniature poodle,” she indicated twelve inches, “and hyper at times. But worse, she thinks she’s in charge. I don’t think Brutus would agree.”

  Quinn laughed. “He might be big—”

  “You mean huge.”

  “Yeah, but he’s a big baby. He loves everyone.”

  Before she ended up standing on their property line and quizzing her new neighbor about himself, she turned and glanced over her shoulder. “See you later.” She headed for her house, a bounce in her step.

  * * *

  Quinn smiled as he went into his house with Brutus at his side. “I should be mad at you.” He unhooked the leash and walked through his home to a window that overlooked the backyard to inspect the damage done. His Great Dane followed. “Especially with the crater you dug in my yard, but our neighbor is…” he searched for the word to describe their meeting, “…interesting.”

  What a bland word for Serena Remington. She was attractive with her short blond hair and two dimples when she smiled. And how could he ever forget her blue eyes that reminded him of the bright color of the Caribbean waters when he last snorkeled off a barrier reef?

  Good thing he needed the exercise. He headed for the garage and searched for his yard tools until he found his shovel then made his way out to his backyard to fill the hole.

  He frowned at his pet. “Bad dog.”

  Brutus lay down on the ground with his head tucked down. He wished that would be all he needed to do to keep his pet out of the neighbor’s yard, but Brutus could be determined when he put his mind to something. “A poodle? Really, Brutus.”

  After inspecting the damage done, he would have to finish over at Serena’s. The thought brought a smile to his face, which he turned away from his dog, who still moped on the ground nearby. Quinn spent the next ten minutes shoveling the dirt back into the hole on his side of the fence.

  When he finished, he trudged toward his house. He couldn’t leave Brutus outside while he went to Serena’s, not until he anchored a chain in the ground to keep him from running free—at least for the time being while he figured out a better way.

  As Quinn strolled to the side of Serena’s house and went into her backyard, Brutus watched from the dining and living room windows, going from one to the next. After filling the hole in the middle of her garden, he realized he needed to get a few plants to replace the ones his dog destroyed in his great escape. Next, Quinn took down the shredded screen. The whole time, a fluffy white dog on a window seat inside observed his every move. He smiled and waved at the poodle, but he was almost positive that Serena’s pet narrowed her eyes as though frowning and growling at him. And a few seconds later, Susie confirmed that impression when she charged the window, barking and trying to claw her way through the barrier.

  “I see you’ve met Susie.”

  The sound of Serena’s soft Southern voice made him smile. He slowly turned toward her. “I don’t think Susie likes me.”

  “She takes a while before warming up to people. Come in. I fixed spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and I have more than I can eat. I know how it was when I first moved in even though the kitchen was the first room I set up.”

  “That sounds great. When?”

  “Now.”

  “Let me put up my shovel and this screen and get cleaned up. Then I’ll be back.” He grabbed his tool and the screen then started for the gate. “Should I bring Brutus to protect me from Susie?”

  She laughed. “Susie can be ferocious, but I don’t think you need Brutus to defend you. See you soon.”

  While Serena walked to the back door, Quinn slanted a glance toward her, admiring her petite frame. She appeared fragile, but he had the feeling she was tough beneath that façade. He’d caught a couple of vulnerable looks in the short time he’d talked to her. She could be a teacher anywhere. Why did she leave her hometown of Savannah and come here?

  Quinn hurried to his house, took a shower, and changed into jeans and a clean T-shirt before heading back to Serena’s place. He rang the bell.

  When she opened the door, her gaze tracked down his length. “I wondered what was taking you so long. I was contemplating sending Susie to find you.”

  “When I looked into the mirror, I realized how dirty and potent I was.” As he entered her home, he panned the area. “Where’s your dog? Lying in wait to attack me when I go by?”

  “One encounter and she has a bad reputation. She’s still in the window seat. I think she wants to see Brutus again.”

  “You’re kidding. No way. She would chew off his leg. Brutus is a pushover.”

  “That’s good to know.” She led him down the hallway. “We’ll be eating in the kitchen.”

  The scents of spaghetti and baking bread teased his stomach, arousing hunger pains. He’d been too busy to eat lunch, and he was starving.

  “Would you like iced tea or water?”

  “Water, please. Can I help?”

  “No. Everything is ready. You’re my guest. Take a seat.” She pointed toward the table already set for dinner with the dish of spaghetti and the basket of bread in the middle.

  He sat in a chair across from hers and filled his plate. “I appreciate this invitation. I’d been thinking about going out and grabbing a hamburger at the nearest fast-food place. Do you always fix a big dinner?”

  “I love to cook and usually prepare several days’ worth of a dish. Then during the week, I eat leftovers.”

  “I love to cook, too. In fact, I
think that’s why I was hired at the fire station. I could tell I had the job when I mentioned I cooked at my last one. Well, that and I worked as an arson expert for my previous department.”

  Serena buttered her bread. “Why did you want to be a firefighter?”

  He was asked that question all the time, but for some reason, he didn’t want to give her his pat answer that he’d wanted to be one since he was a child. “My little brother died in a fire. Our house burned down because of faulty wiring. I’d wanted to go back into the place and try to bring him out, but I couldn’t. I felt so helpless. My father had tried but couldn’t get inside. He held me against him and wouldn’t let me. The fire department arrived right after that and did their best, but it was a tinderbox.” The memory released recollections he tried not to remember—the loss of his brother nearly destroyed his family.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “No, I am. I shouldn’t have unloaded like that. We just met.” But there was something about Serena that made it easy to talk to her.

  “I became a teacher because in my senior year in high school, I was in a tutoring program where I worked with elementary students who needed a little extra help and attention. That was the best experience I had at school. It led to me deciding I wanted to be a teacher. And in my short career, I haven’t regretted that decision.”

  “What made you come to Cimarron City?” Quinn scooped up a bite of his spaghetti and meatballs, savoring it as he ate.

  For a few seconds, fear flittered across her expression. She glanced down, but when she looked at him again, all sign of anxiety on her face had been wiped away. “Would you believe I threw a dart at the map of the United States? The closest town where it landed was Cimarron City. I looked into the locale and liked what I read about the place, plus the fact they needed teachers. I like medium-sized cities.”