Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dean
Jessi held up a pair of jeans and a soft, silky top. “Will this work? These jeans are short on me, so they should be okay for Keira.”
I stood just inside the hotel room, while Jessi was on the other side of the threshold in the hall. Her little girl, Zoe, peeked out from behind her mom.
“Uh, yeah. I assume so. Thanks.” I waved at Zoe, whose big eyes disappeared as she hid behind Jessi’s legs.
“And these are Aiden’s. They should fit you.”
“Appreciate it.” I took the clothes from her.
“Let me know if you or Keira need anything else?”
“Thanks, Jessi. I think we’re good.”
She picked up Zoe, kissing the girl on the head, and then hesitated. “I didn’t mention it last night, since you were both tired, but if you want to talk to Trace or Aiden, they’re around. They’re worried about Keira. We all have been.”
“I’ll mention that to her.” Though I doubted she would take Jessi up on the offer. Keira wasn’t too eager for help from the Protectors, aside from River, and he was still in Denver with his wife.
When we’d shown up last night, Jessi had found us a room. They always kept a few open at the inn for last-minute needs. Everyone had already heard about the podcaster who’d been shot and how I’d killed the shooter. And about the likely ties to Keira’s attack several months ago.
There were a lot of questions and rumors swirling around.
Since Donny Phelan was famous in some circles, media requests had been coming in on Keira’s phone and mine. We’d been ignoring them. Good thing I didn’t waste my time on social media platforms, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
The media interest would die down soon. I wasn’t thrilled about having my name out there, but any threads between me and my former career were pretty tenuous at this point. Apart from the basic facts of my military service, the government had scrubbed the rest clean a long time ago.
As for the meeting today with Harris Medina and what he might reveal, well…
we’d just have to see. Interesting that he wanted to meet in public right here at the home of the Protectors.
If he’d wanted something more secretive, I wouldn’t have been comfortable with that after yesterday’s mess with Phelan.
After saying goodbye to Jessi and Zoe, I changed into the borrowed jeans and a fresh tee, courtesy of Aiden. Then set the clothes for Keira on the bed. She’d been showering before, but now the water was off.
When Keira stepped out with a towel around her, I crossed the room and rested my hands on her arms. I always felt compelled to touch her, but that urge was especially bad after what happened yesterday.
I kissed Keira’s damp forehead. “Jessi brought clothes for you.”
“Sweet of her.”
“You feel all right? Still want to do this?”
“Yes.” Her expression was serious, as it had been since we’d walked out of the sheriff’s department the night before.
She tilted her chin, and my next kiss was on her lips. I was truly going to miss this. Felt like we were on a countdown now. And every tick of that clock wrenched my heart.
We knew the identity of the second shooter: Ryan Garrett. Keira had explained it all to me last night. I understood now why Garrett had targeted her.
One thing was certain. I was going to kill that fucker.
“I’m almost ready,” she said.
“Take your time.” I reached for the bullet at my throat as she got dressed and fixed her hair.
Keira had been stressing over the fact that I killed Woodson. She’d thought I might feel some kind of conflict because I hadn’t killed anyone in so long. But the truth was far worse.
I felt nothing. No remorse. Technically, I’d acted in self-defense, but I would’ve done the same to Woodson even without that flimsy justification.
He’d hurt Keira, so he’d earned his bad ending.
I wouldn’t lose any sleep over him. I supposed I did have some kind of conscience left, but it was hardly worth protecting the way Keira thought.
That was the difference between me and Keira. She had a good, pure heart, and mine was tainted.
Together, we walked into the tavern just before noon. A hostess greeted us, but Keira told her we were meeting someone.
A quick scan of the tables didn’t reveal anyone resembling Harris Medina.
But as soon as we stepped onto the deck outside, there he was.
Sitting alone at a table, with one leg crossed over his knee, wearing khakis and a polo.
Smiling confidently like he’d expected us to walk out at that very moment.
“Deputy Marsh.” Medina stood. “Thanks for being here.” He shook Keira’s hand, then pulled out a chair for her. I frowned as he turned to me. “And Dean Reynolds. Pleasure to meet you in person.”
“Already knew my name, huh? Is that supposed to intimidate me?”
“Knowing your history, I doubt it would.” He held out his hand, and I shook it.
My history? I wondered what he meant by that. How much did he know? “I’ve heard a few things about your history as well.”
“Then we’re on an even playing field. Just the way I like it.”
I didn’t believe that for a second. But Keira wanted to talk to this guy, so I sat in the chair beside her.
We were in a quiet part of the outdoor seating area, and some families sat on the other side with kids running around. The beefy men sitting at a nearby table were certainly Crosshairs bodyguards. Neither Keira nor I was armed.
I really hoped this wasn’t a mistake, meeting Medina with innocent people around, but he’d be a complete fool to start trouble here. The man was probably capable of plenty, but a guy who’d been Army Special Forces and a PMC for two decades was no fool.
Then again, we probably should’ve told the Protectors about this meeting as a courtesy. Keira hadn’t wanted to. She’d worried Trace or Aiden would show up and try to take over, which probably wasn’t too far off.
“I ordered a few things from the menu for our table already,” Medina said. “Hope you don’t mind. But I assumed you’d like to talk sooner rather than later.”
Keira nodded. “Definitely. I’m not that hungry, actually.”
“Understandable, given yesterday’s events. Though I do love the food here.”
I reached for her hand under the table and tangled our fingers together.
After a server brought glasses of water and iced tea, Medina clasped his hands on the table.
“I’ll get right to it. I heard last night about the tragic death of Donny Phelan, a Crosshairs client, at the hands of one of my men.
I assure you, I was shocked and outraged when I found out. It’s a mess, and I do not like messes.”
“You didn’t order Phelan’s death?” Keira asked.
He didn’t flinch. “No, ma’am. I did not.”
“What about my death? Did you order that?”
Damn, my woman had nerves of steel. I was proud of her.
“Certainly not. But I’ve just become aware of a number of things, some of which concern the attack on you, and that’s why I wanted this chat. To clear the air.”
Keira waved her hand. “Go right ahead.”
Smiling, Medina took a sip of iced tea. “Nox Woodson brought in Phelan as a client, so I gave him leeway. My trust was misplaced.”
“You had to know Woodson was a convicted drug dealer and suspected of a multiple homicide,” I pointed out, keeping my voice down. Luckily the kids on the deck were drowning us out.
“I was aware, yes. My bodyguards need a range of skills.”
Keira snorted. But Medina just kept smiling.
“A range of skills,” he repeated, “like your boyfriend has.”
I held his stare when he glanced at me. Okay, so he knew that part of my past. Given his likely connections within the higher levels of the military and government, it wasn’t that surprising.
The server brought a couple trays of appetizers, and then Medina went on.
“Overnight, I spoke with some of the lower-level Crosshairs employees working under Woodson. They confessed the whole plot to me.”
“Spoke to them?” Keira interrupted. “And they just decided to come clean?”
“I’m very persuasive.”
Yeah, we all knew Medina had probably used more hands-on methods.
He shrugged. “Apparently, Woodson was running a side hustle of his own. Prostitution, drugs. He operated out of a—” He cleared his throat, casting a look at the families enjoying lunch. “Strip club.”
“They laundered the money through Phelan’s Real Man Formula business?” I asked.
“Indeed. I had no knowledge. No part of it.”
That would explain the odd shipments going to and from Phelan’s home.
And it explained why Woodson would kill to keep the truth quiet.
Keira had seen Woodson at Phelan’s house and potentially overheard something incriminating, so he’d tried to run us off the road that afternoon.
Then yesterday, he’d killed Phelan to keep him from talking.
Woodson had feared the police and Medina finding out,
But Medina hadn’t even gotten to Ryan Garrett’s part in this yet. Did he know?
“The reason I’ve contacted you, Deputy Marsh, is that I understand Nox Woodson and a close friend of his targeted you as well. It’s a…regretable situation.”
That nonchalant tone of his set me off. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed. “They put on demon masks to terrify her, broke into her home, and meant to kill her.”
Medina’s bodyguards at the nearby table shifted.
“Calm down, Mr. Reynolds. You don’t want to draw attention.” Medina took a bite of a French fry. “I hear the staff at Last Refuge can be sensitive about such things.”
Gah, I did not like this guy. Keira squeezed my hand under the table, and I commanded my heart rate to drop back down.
“Do you know where Ryan Garrett is?” Keira asked.
“So you already know his name.”
“Phelan mentioned Garrett yesterday before he died. But I knew that name before.”
Keira had told me last night: she’d known Ryan Garrett’s name because his sister was Hadley, the woman Keira had saved.
Ryan’s buddies had nearly beaten Hadley to death after she reported her brother to the police.
Keira found her and brought her to Last Refuge.
But Keira never knew what Hadley’s brother looked like.
She was trembling. “Somehow, Garrett knew that I’d once helped his sister escape him. He must’ve recognized me when he saw me at the bar the night of the shooting. Garrett wanted revenge on me. This was personal.”
“You have my sympathies.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered. No, I wasn’t helping. But it had felt good to say it.
Medina dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “Garrett doesn’t work for me. Woodson brought him in separately.”
“But I saw Garrett wearing a Crosshairs ring. Phelan thought Garrett was part of your company.”
He glanced to the side, toward his guards. “It turns out Woodson and Garrett were plotting something else as well. They wanted to oust me as head of Crosshairs in favor of Garrett. As if he could waltz in and screw me over, and I’d simply sit here and let him do it.”
Damn. So this involved an internal power struggle within Crosshairs too, something that never had anything to do with us.
Keira leaned forward, dropping her voice. “Do you know where Ryan Garrett is?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I know you and Mr. Reynolds have been running your own investigation, separate from the sheriff’s office. Your boyfriend probably wants to do to Garrett what he did to Nox Woodson.”
“That was self-defense,” Keira protested.
Medina lifted an eyebrow and glanced at me like he knew the truth. That I could’ve left Woodson alive if I’d wanted to.
“We’re not running any investigation,” I said. Opting for a different lie.
“I’m aware you went to question Donny Phelan without Sheriff Douglas’s knowledge. You didn’t report that Nox Woodson chased after you in an SUV and, I assume, tried to kill you. Nor did you tell the sheriff about Ryan Garrett after Phelan must’ve given you his name.”
Hell. He knew way too much.
Medina placed his elbows on the table, tenting his fingers. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I will see to Ryan Garrett. I’ll make sure he never bothers you again, Deputy Marsh.”
“You’re admitting that in a public place?” she asked.
“I’m admitting nothing. All I’ve said is that I won’t let him get away with what he’s done. Garrett is mine, and I won’t tolerate any interference. As I said before, I don’t like messes. If you or Mr. Reynolds gets involved, especially Mr. Reynolds, I have no doubt things will get messy.”
I held the man’s gaze. “It sounds like you’re making a threat.”
“On the contrary. It’s an offer of friendship. You would both be wise to accept it.”
A shadow appeared over the table. “They’ve got friends already.”
Medina’s eyes shifted upward. “Trace.”
“Harris.” Trace Novo, the leader of the Protectors, crossed his arms over his chest. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your lunch. It’s time for you to leave.”
Medina grinned. “I was just about to ask for the bill.”
“It’s on the house.”
After Medina and his goons had left, Trace sat down in the man’s place. “Keira, Dean,” he said softly. “Good to see you both. I was sorry to hear about what went down yesterday. You’re mixed up with Crosshairs Security, somehow?”
Keira looked deep in thought. I had no clue what was going through that beautiful head of hers. “What do you know about them?” she asked.
River had already told us the Protectors had a file on Crosshairs, but neither of us were going to mention that to Trace.
“Enough to urge caution. This world is rarely black and white, but Medina dabbles in darker shades of gray than I’m comfortable with.” Trace looked from me to Keira. “Do you need us to get involved?”
Us, meaning the Protectors. Which only emphasized that she wasn’t one of them.
“No,” Keira snapped, getting up. “I don’t need anything from you, Novo. I’m going to say thanks again to Jessi before we leave. Dean, I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“Geez, what did I say?” Trace asked after she stomped off.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” I muttered.
“Still don’t know what I said.”
“You’re an idiot for not seeing what’s in front of you. You shouldn’t be offering Keira the Protectors’ help. You should finally be asking her to join you.”
He rubbed his jaw. “I know that’s what she wants. But Aiden, Owen, and I have known her a long time. Longer than you have. In some ways, Keira still seems like a kid. You really think she’s ready?”
“She thinks she’s ready. That’s what counts. And I…I want to see her happy. More than anything in the world.”
“Spoken like a man in love.”
Shit. “It’s not like that.” It couldn’t be like that.
“Then you’re the idiot who’s not seeing what’s in front of you.”