2. Chapter Two #3
Tasha and Maria shared a look. “I wasn’t planning on heading back to the apartment tonight,” she said, glancing at the front windows. “I doubt Victoria was behind Jessamyn, but after an incident like that, you ought to have someone keeping watch.”
“You’d do that for me?” I asked.
Tasha grinned. “Maria and me’ll do shifts,” she said. “Assuming your couch is free…”
I was just about to tell her yes when the front door opened.
It was Jessamyn. Again!?
Except she wasn’t alone.
A hand gripped the blonde’s shoulder. Standing beside her looking about as intense as I’d ever seen her was Mona Isringhausen.
Despite the late hour, she looked as fully alert as if she’d never gone to bed.
The effect was spoiled only somewhat by the fact that I could see a pair of puffy pajama pants under her tailored coat.
No one looked more upset than Jessamyn by the fact that she was back inside the Avery home. “Why the hell can I not leave?” she asked, glancing at Mona.
“Because I haven’t gotten an explanation yet.
” Mona was cold and businesslike, none of the warmth she occasionally shared with me visible on her face.
Shark Mode, in other words. She took a sip from the thermos in her other hand and regarded me evenly.
“You want to tell me what the hell I missed, Jack?”
I stared at her in amazement. “Okay, how the hell did you know about Jessamyn?”
Mona just scoffed. “I know everything,” she said. “Miss Fawkes tells me she was attempting to offer you some kind of deal tonight?”
I nodded. “She’s got a folder—”
“Give it to me.”
Wordlessly, I handed the document to Mona. It took her all of fifteen seconds to scan it. When she was done, she nodded.
“Interesting,” she said, snapping the folder closed. “Tell me the rest of it.”
We needed to get Jessamyn out of here. “I’ll tell you about it after Morning Harbor—”
“You’ll tell me about it now,” Mona said firmly. “I need to vet this, Jack. You and your wives are going to go back to bed after this conversation; I most certainly am not.”
I bit back a sigh. As much as I hated to admit it, Mona was right. She usually was.
As quickly as I could, I went over the details of Victoria’s double-cross and what Jessamyn was offering to do about it.
Mona listened intently, her face giving nothing away.
In my arms, Samantha looked fiercely pleased to hear about her former friend’s misfortune.
The wheels turned behind Yukiko’s eyes as she processed.
The only part I left out was the bit about Daniel Ramsey. If I let Marcie know about that, she’d never manage to get back to sleep. And we didn’t know anything was going on. Jessamyn could have been saying whatever she could think of to save her own skin.
When it was over, Kiki turned to me. “If she’s telling the truth, we can use this,” she whispered, sounding tentatively excited. “There’s things we can do I don’t even think Jessamyn’s thought of yet. Jack, this could be huge.”
“Don’t get too tied up in it right now,” I said, putting my free hand on Kiki’s lower back. “You’ve got to get some sleep, princess. Morning Harbor’s more important than whatever Jessamyn’s offering.”
She nodded. “I know.”
Mona rubbed her sinuses. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. Miss Fawkes, you’re leaving…”
Jessamyn sighed. “Finally—”
“…but you’re not going home.”
The blonde blinked. “What?”
Mona was already turning to Tasha. “Miss Davis, if I give you an address, can you escort Miss Fawkes there and make sure she stays safe and out of trouble?”
I watched Tasha process it. “Can do,” she said, sounding every bit like the calm, professional woman I remembered from the Stillwell Police Department. “You operating a safe house I don’t know about, Mona?”
Mona chuckled. “No, but there are a couple of hoteliers in the area who know me by name and are very discreet.” She looked at Jessamyn. “You’re my guest until the Avery Company decides what to do about your deal. Miss Ruocchio will not find you, I promise.”
Jessamyn swallowed hard. The way Mona said guest sounded an awfully lot like prisoner. “Alright.”
Mona pocketed the retraction folder, sliding it into her coat. “We shouldn’t have any further trouble tonight, but I’ll remain here,” Mona said around another sip of her coffee. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Tasha nodded. “Sounds good.”
Mona turned to Maria. “Miss Alvarez, I’d like you to take these,” she said, tossing the Latina a set of keys.
Jessamyn’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Those are my car keys!”
“I told you Miss Ruocchio wouldn’t find you,” Mona said smugly. “We’ll be hiding your car, as well. Don’t worry, Maria won’t let anything happen to it.”
“I’m an excellent driver,” she purred, giving Jessamyn a smug look.
“Sheesh,” Jessamyn whispered. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
Samantha stiffened in my arms. “Oh, you’re just figuring that out?”
Spots of color appeared on Jessamyn’s cheeks. “Sam, I—”
“You don’t talk to her,” Mona said quickly. She always did know how to work a room. “Come along, Miss Fawkes. Jack, go tuck your girls back in, then come back downstairs. I want to speak with you for a minute before you go back to bed.”
“I should be part of that discussion, too,” Yukiko said.
Mona was already shaking her head. “No, you should have been back in bed ten minutes ago,” she said. “Rest assured, Mrs. Avery, we won’t make any decisions without you. All of this is tabled for after Morning Harbor.”
My princess didn’t entirely like the sound of that, but she understood. It was triage—the TV appearance first, then the rest of it.
“Okay,” she said. “As long as you keep me in the loop.”
“I will,” Mona promised.
“So will I,” I agreed.
Like I could’ve done it without her.
The second I let Samantha go, she started back up the stairs. “I’m going back to bed,” she announced to everyone and no one in particular. “Don’t wake me up unless you’re going to give me five minutes alone with Jessamyn and that baseball bat.”
I watched her go, my heart aching for her. “She’s upset,” I whispered. “Oh, babygirl…”
“She’s not mad at you,” Yukiko said. “She just needs some time.”
Marcie hugged me, hard. “I really thought it was a burglar,” she said, shaking her head. “I was going to beat the shit out of them if they’d tried to hurt you, Uncle Jack…”
I laughed for the first time since I saw Jessamyn on the Ring camera. “You did good, babygirl. You looked fierce.”
“I won’t let anybody fuck with our family,” she said, giving Jessamyn a final look. “Believe that.”
“Come on,” Yukiko said, resting her head against my shoulder. “You heard Mona. Come tuck us in.”
“And no funny business,” Mona said without turning around. “You can bang each other’s brains out after you wow Morning Harbor’s audience.”
Yukiko rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue.
“Hey, can we get a kiss?” Maria asked. “We didn’t come down here in the middle of the night for nothing, you know?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t thank you two…?”
I went to Tasha and Maria and let both of them feel the full force of my appreciation.
Tasha’s professional demeanor melted for the exact length of time my lips were on hers, then came back just as quickly.
Maria was bolder—she grabbed my hands and put them both on her ass as we kissed, as if she wanted to remind me of her best feature.
By the time we were done, Jessamyn Fawkes looked mortified—and Yukiko was panting slightly in my dress shirt. No matter how many times it happened, it never failed to floor me how much my princess didn’t just condone but got off on watching me with my other women.
She arched an eyebrow as I returned to her. “You sure about that funny business…?”
Mona wasn’t having it. “Go take them upstairs. Then come right back down. You and I have business to discuss.”
So we did. I nodded.
As Tasha and Maria took care of Jessamyn Fawkes and her automobile, I escorted my wives up the stairs arm-in-arm, taking them back to bed. The crisis was over.
Our dealings with Jessamyn Fawkes, unfortunately, were just getting started.