Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-one
Cormac
Javier knocked on my office door Monday morning, and I waved him in as I scanned a spreadsheet on my monitor.
“Got a minute?” he asked.
“Sure. What’s up?”
He took the seat opposite me, steepling his hands between his knees. “I just got off a strange phone call I think you should know about.”
That got my full attention. Elbows on my desk, I leaned forward. “What kind of phone call?”
“It was regarding Zara Vasquez. While you’re not technically her boss, I know you’re friendly, and”—he hesitated—“I figured you’d want to be aware.”
My stomach tightened. “What about Zara?”
“The call was from a man named Ryan Mercer, claiming to be a private investigator out of Portland. Have you heard of this man?”
“I have,” I said evenly. “I was with Zara when he called her a couple weeks ago. What did he want from you?”
“At first, he asked for basic information about her employment at the ranch.” He held my gaze. “I didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.”
“And then?”
“He started asking about her schedule. Whether she keeps consistent hours. Who she spends time with outside of work.”
Heat crawled up the back of my neck.
“I told him we don’t disclose employee schedules.”
“Good.”
“He asked if we had a current address on file.”
My hands stilled on the desk. “He asked for her address?”
“He did.”
“For what purpose?”
“He wouldn’t say, and of course, I turned him down.”
I stood and moved to the window, looking out over the corrals without seeing a damn thing.
“What else?”
“He asked about emergency contacts—whether we verify them.” Javier’s voice was steady, but there was a protectiveness beneath it I was happy to hear.
If he heard from this guy again, he’d shut him down as firmly as he already had.
“He wanted to know if she’s dependable…and if we’ve had any issues with her conduct. ”
A low, controlled breath left me. “That’s a hell of a lot of questions.”
He nodded, worry creasing his features. “I don’t have experience with private investigators, but his line of questioning caught me off guard. It didn’t feel right.”
“No,” I agreed. “None of this is right.”
I admired that he didn’t press me for further details. He had to be curious, but it was clear he saw this for what it was: a gross invasion of Zara’s privacy.
“I gave him nothing,” Javier reiterated. “And I won’t. I’ll let the office staff know any outside inquiries come straight to me.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I mean it, Cormac.” His eyes held mine. “Zara is a good person. A great employee. Whatever’s going on, she shouldn’t have strangers calling around trying to map her life.”
My jaw tightened so hard, it ached. “Did he say who hired him?”
“No. I asked, and he said he couldn’t reveal that.”
I had a hundred more questions, but Javier had shared all he could. He’d done the right thing, cutting Mercer off without giving anything away.
Turning away from the window, I moved to the other side of my desk. “If you hear from him again, put him through to me.”
Javier stood, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Of course. Should I let Zara know about the call?”
“No.” I rubbed the space between my brows. “I’ll talk to her.”
“She’s leading a horseback ride this morning then taking a group out climbing. She should be done with her day around four.”
“Thanks.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Really, Javier. Thank you for your discretion.”
“It goes without saying.” He stopped at the door, his hand on the knob. “Zara’s great at her job. She knows the ranch like the back of her hand, and she really likes being a guide. We don’t get many like her.”
There was no one like Zara.
Javier shut the door softly behind him, leaving the office too quiet.
I stood there a long moment, staring at nothing.
My jaw flexed.
Zara had fought too hard for her peace. This was her fresh start, and her ex’s business was trying to invade.
That wasn’t going to happen. Not while I was still standing.
I had some calls to make. Courses of action to consider.
If Mercer or Jackson—hell, if anyone showed up wanting to map her life, they were going to find out very quickly every road led through me.
Zara picked up her phone then put it right back down. This wasn’t the first time she’d done that. Or even the second. But I didn’t blame her for her reluctance. I’d dropped this bomb in her lap the minute she’d gotten home from work. She deserved to know what was going on.
Her dark gaze shone on mine. “I never want to hear his voice again.”
“I’ll talk to him if you want me to.”
“No.” She let her head fall on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her into my side. “Let me complain about it for a minute, then I’ll do it.”
I smiled into her hair. She smelled like sunshine, sweat, and Zara. “Complain all you want.”
I didn’t want her to call Jackson, but after talking it over with my dad, followed by our family’s lawyer, it seemed to be the right starting point.
This was Jackson’s problem. He needed to be the one to handle Mercer.
And while I sincerely doubted Jackson would do the right thing, there was a small chance he might.
So we were going to start with him and go from there.
Zara gave herself a full minute before sitting up and grabbing her phone off her couch. “Okay. I’m ready.”
She punched in his number, and a small, jealous part of me relished that Jackson wasn’t saved as a contact in her phone. In fact, she’d had to unblock him in order to dial—that was how completely out of her life he was.
She held the phone between us. Two rings before he picked up. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jackson. It’s me,” she said.
He made a disgruntled sound through the speaker. “Christ, Zara. I’ve been trying to call you for a while. You had me blocked, didn’t you?”
She ignored his question. “I’m assuming you know there’s a private investigator looking into you. He’s called me and my job asking questions. What are you going to do about that, Jackson?”
“He called you?” He cussed under his breath. “Why would he call you? You have nothing to do with…look, it’s all a misunderstanding. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“That’s not true, and we both know it. Whose money did you take?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m handling it.”
“It doesn’t seem that way. The PI called my job today—did you hear that part?”
There was a long pause before he asked, “Where are you working? No one checked with us for references.”
Her chin jutted, stubborn and proud. “That’s none of your business.”
“Everything about you was my business for a long time. It wasn’t my idea for that to change.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Look, I’m only calling about this PI. He threatened to fly out here to speak to me in person, and I really don’t want that to happen. I need to know you have an actual plan to fix this misunderstanding.”
I covered her hand with mine, and she leaned into me even harder.
That this conversation was difficult for her—that this man had her feeling anything still—killed me.
But the reality was she had a past, and he was a big part of it.
All I could hope for was for him to stay where she’d left him so she could keep moving on.
“You’re not in Portland?” he rasped, sounding shocked. “Where are you?”
“I have a summer job in another state. That really doesn’t matter. I’m—”
He cut her off. “You’re in Wyoming, aren’t you? On that fucking ranch? I should’ve known you’d go there the second you left me. Should’ve seen it coming a mile away.”
Her spine straightened, and her cheeks flushed pink. She opened her mouth, like she was gearing up to tell him off, then clamped her lips together and took a few deep breaths.
“I’m working with a lawyer, Jackson.” Her voice changed, losing its tremor and smoothing out, like glass cooling into something solid.
On the other end of the line, Jackson huffed a laugh. “Oh yeah? And what did your lawyer say?”
“He informed me of my options and reminded me I have no obligation to protect you and your brothers since anything tying us was severed the second our divorce was finalized.”
Dell Rivers had been handling the ranch’s affairs longer than I’d been alive.
Hell, he handled most of the legal needs of Sugar Brush.
He was the call I made after speaking to my father.
While Zara had been out leading a trail ride, I’d laid it all out for him, and he’d gotten to work, looking into Jackson and Mercer.
By the time she was done for the day, we’d come up with a game plan.
She’d only spoken to him for a few minutes, but he’d given her the buttons to press when speaking to Jackson.
The path of least resistance had been his first choice, and he’d been hoping leaning on Jackson would get him to do the right thing.
I wasn’t so sure—especially not after hearing how he was talking to her, but this was only the first step. If Jackson didn’t come through, we were armed with a plan on what to do next.
“I don’t need you to protect me,” Jackson said after a long pause.
“Maybe, maybe not. I do know I’m not willing to protect you from the mess you made all by yourself.
Well, with your brothers.” She flipped her hand over and curled her fingers around mine, holding on tight.
“My lawyer and I are preparing a statement for your investor. I don’t know much, but I’ll tell them what I know. ”
Jackson let out a sharp breath. “You don’t need to do that. You don’t know anything, Zara. I made certain of that. What could you possibly have to say?”
“I’ll tell them I discovered what you were doing and kept documentation of the account numbers you were hiding—the ones I never had access to.
Not to mention the emails I sent to you and your brothers questioning the discrepancies.
It’s not proof of what you did, but it is proof I had no part in it. ”
“You were my wife,” he shot back. “Anything you say makes you look involved.”
“I don’t think so,” she said softly. “It makes me look stupid but honest.”
Something fierce and protective lit in my chest. She was far from stupid. She’d trusted her husband. Hadn’t she been supposed to? The problem was, she’d married a man who’d never been worthy of that trust.
“You’re really going to sell me out?”
“If you don’t take care of this yourself, yes, I will.
You didn’t care enough about me while we were married to be honest, and I sure as hell am not going to throw myself on a grenade for you now that we’re nothing to each other.
This is your problem, Jackson. You know I had no hand in any of this. ”
“We both know that,” he conceded. “I doubt anyone will believe it, though.”
“God!” She tapped her forehead with her fist. “Have you always sucked so much?”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Zara wouldn’t have appreciated it, and it would have alerted Jackson to my presence. But damn, I hadn’t expected her to say that. She was killing me.
I’d never wanted to kiss someone more in my whole life.
“You used to like me just fine.” Jackson sounded almost offended.
“And you used to be kind of charming. Now, you’re just…you’re a coward.”
A pause. Then, “A coward?”
“Yes. A spineless coward. You’d rather your ex-wife get tangled up in your screwup than own up to it and figure your way out. I’ve had enough. Pay back the money you owe, or I’ll take action.”
“Zara…I need time.” He exhaled hard. “It’s not something I can get sorted out easily. You’re good with numbers. You have to understand.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing to understand. You willingly put yourself in a very bad position. How you get yourself out is your concern. I want nothing to do with any of this.”
He blew out a long breath. “You have to give me time. Ignore the calls from Mercer. It’s not like he’s actually going to show up in Wyoming.
And if he does, I’m sure your little buddy, Mac, will protect you.
You know that guy tried to talk me out of marrying you, right? He probably wanted you for himself.”
Her jaw went rigid. “Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He did. He knew exactly what he was talking about.
I’d thought I’d hidden my feelings well, but apparently not from Jackson.
The fact that he had figured out she’d come to Wyoming and was with me was the only thing keeping me calm.
It meant this place, and maybe me along with it, had been on her mind, despite the silence and distance between us.
He barked a humorless laugh. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re with him, aren’t you? Christ, I should have known. All those times I caught him looking…oh, this is rich.”
Hell yes, she’s with me. You can eat shit, man. She’s never gonna be yours again.
Zara cut in before he could say anything else. “Hey, Jackson? Just so you know, I’ve recorded this phone call, and I’ll be sending a copy to Mercer. I’m sure he’ll be pretty interested in the part where you admitted I never knew what you were doing, so he can cross my name off his list.”
“What? Are you kidding me, Zara?”
“I’m not kidding. I don’t think anything about this is funny.”
He chuffed like an angry bull. “I said I need time.”
“What you need doesn’t have anything to do with me. If I hear from Mercer again, my lawyer and I will be moving forward.”
Silence went on for so long, I was beginning to think he’d hung up. Then, he let out a long breath that sounded an awful lot like defeat.
“We’ll have to ask Mom and Dad for money.”
Zara didn’t seem to feel any pity for him. “Then do it. I’m sure they’d rather give you a loan than see your kneecaps get broken or you get thrown in jail.”
“Probably,” he muttered. “Don’t block me when we hang up so I can let you know when I’ve taken care of it.”
“Text me. Don’t call.”
“It goes without saying you don’t want to hear my voice,” he bit out.
“You’re right. It does.”
She ended the call before he could say another word, tossing the phone on the cushion beside her.
I held my arms out, and she crawled into them, melting like wax on my chest. She was quiet, and I let her be, running my fingers through her hair and holding on.
Maybe this was going to be over soon. Maybe not. Either way, I would be here with her—standing beside her, behind her, or wherever she needed me.