The House That Built Me (Strawberry Inn Book #3)

Chapter 13

CHAZ

“Who the fuck are they?” Harrison verbalized the question that I was just thinking. I sped all the way home from the bar, not giving a shit about any traffic laws. I didn’t have any information except a 911 call was made from my house for the police. My truck skidded to a stop behind a black SUV, blocking them in slightly. 

They didn’t look like the police to me and when I saw the way they were manhandling Kelsey and she was fighting back, I know that these weren’t the good guys. “I don’t know, but they messed with the wrong guy.”

Harrison and I jumped out of the truck at the same time, but I reached into the side compartment of my door and grabbed my gun. I’d always kept a gun locked away in my truck for personal safety reasons. When I was working construction in Sacramento I would be arriving at sites in the early morning hours and I never wanted to feel too helpless. Once I moved the Strawberry I thought more about animals than I did people. More than once there were paw prints throughout the property that didn’t come from anything domesticated. 

In all my time carrying a weapon, I’ve never pointed it at another person though, yet here I was, with the gun pointed in the direction of the man that looks like he was trying to kidnap my unexpected houseguest. “Get your fucking hands off her right now unless you want me to blow your head off.”

“Chaz!” Kelsey’s scream was full of terror. My finger was set firmly against the trigger and I knew if they made any move that looked like she was going to be hurt, I would pull the trigger. 

“Whoa, whoa,” the guy standing closest to the car put his hands up in the air. “We don’t need to be getting violent here.”

“Pretty sure he’s only violent because you’ve got your hands on a woman in that way.” I was glad that Harrison was with me at the moment, especially since we had arrived before law enforcement did. Unfortunately, that didn’t surprise me at all. We only had two officers that were local to Strawberry and just like Harrison’s fire department will oftentimes be called to cover an emergency in another town, the same thing happens to the police here.

“Steven, why don’t you release your grip just a bit so these fine men don’t do something we’d all regret.”

Although he follows the orders of the younger man, he still holds her in a way that she cannot move away from them. “Why don’t you let her go all together and we won’t have a problem?”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but this is a family issue. We’re not trying to get anybody else involved in this. You two can just move along and we’ll leave and we can all live happily ever after,” the older man replies.

“That’s where you’re wrong here, my man. You are on my property with your hands on my friend, so until you let her go and get your ass in the car and get off my property, we have a fucking problem.”

“She doesn’t belong to you, she’s coming back home where she belongs.”

He starts to push her in the direction of the car again, but she’s resisting hard. I don’t know who these people are and my desire to protect Kelsey is too overwhelming to ignore.”

“I don’t belong to you either, Dad, just let me go!”

“Dad?” I look at Harrison and he shrugs his shoulders. Why is Kelsey’s dad here and why is he trying to kidnap her? All these questions I have and the only person who could have answers is being forced into the back of an SUV. The sound of sirens adds to the tension of the situation. The three men and Kelsey hear it too as their body language changes dramatically. 

I glance at Harrison and I hope he can read my mind because I’m making one last-ditch effort to get Kelsey out of harm’s way before the cops show up. If this turns into a standoff situation, I need her safely out of the way. He nods his head to acknowledge my non-verbal queue and then we both charge the men. The third guy who hasn’t spoken yet pushes in front of the younger guy and takes the force of Harrison’s charge. 

My sight is set on this guy who is apparently Kelsey’s dad. He drops her to the ground and braces for my impact. My shoulders push against his and I shove him back into the car with a rounding thud. He groans when his back collides with the metal and then again when my fist hits his stomach. I can hear the chaos going on around me, but I can’t make any sense of the words. I feel my weight being pulled off of the guys and the three of them scramble into the SUV and pull off towards the baron farmland. Harrison gives the vehicle one last kick, but he hits the air and we’re both left out of breath.

“Kels!” I panic for a split second, worried that in the scruffle they ended up getting her, but she’s curled up on the ground in the fetal position crying. I fall to my knees next to her and pull her into my arms. She tucks herself in tightly, sobbing into my shirt. “Are you hurt?”

I can feel her shake her head against my chest, “No, I’m okay. Thank you, Chaz, thank you for saving me.”

Two police cars pull up, sirens blaring, and the officers jump out with weapons drawn. Harrison steps into quick action, calming the situation and letting his fellow first responders know that the threat is not currently in front of them. I take the opportunity to stand up with Kelsey still tucked in close to my body. 

“Who called you guys?” I asked both the responding officers.

“I’m pretty sure that it was Mrs. Barlow. Is she here?”

I felt like the worst son ever, in the moment I forgot that my mom was here and she might be in danger. “Shit, where is my mom, Kels?”

“She’s supposed to be in the basement. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“That was good thinking,” I kiss her forehead, “I’m going to go get her, are you okay with Harrison?”

“I…I…” she stutters and I realize that she’s never met him before, she might not even remember his name through conversations we’ve had about him. 

“This is Harrison Thatcher, Angela’s husband. Probably a shitty time to meet him.” Kelsey nods her head.

“We’ve got this, Chaz. Go find your mom.”

I don’t want to leave her, but I need to make sure my mom is okay. I give her another hug and leave her in Harrison’s care. He knows these guys and I know he’ll keep her safe even if she doesn’t know who he is. I run through the house, yelling for my mom. “Mom! Ma, where are you?”

I hit the kitchen and halt to a stop, I hear the door to the basement shut, and my mom turns to me with tears falling down her cheeks, “Charles, please tell me she’s okay.”

“Kelsey?” She nods her head. “Yeah, she’s okay. She’s out talking to the police right now. You called the cops?”

I make my way to my mom and wrap my arms around her to calm her down as well. “I didn’t know what else to do. The vehicle just showed up out of nowhere, but she knew who it was. She made me hide in the basement. I was so glad I had my phone with me so I could call the cops.”

“I’m glad too, Mom. Dalton heard the call at the fire station and called Harrison. You did good, Ma. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

“This wasn’t your fault, Charles. You can’t be here all the time. I’m okay, I’ll be okay. Is Kelsey okay?”

“She’s shaken up, but I don’t think she’s physically hurt. Will you come outside, I’m sure the cops want to talk to you as well.”

“Yeah, yeah I can do that.”

I tuck her arm into mine and escort Mom outside. Harrison stands with his arm around Kelsey, protective just like I am. I can’t hear everything she is saying, but she keeps looking off in the direction where the SUV drove off with fear in her eyes. She doesn’t feel safe here anymore and I don’t know how I’m going to fix that for her.