Chapter 6 #3
Garrett looked toward the ceiling for one brief second, as if asking someone above for patience, then lowered his gaze. “Retrieval of the documents is important, but it’s risky, Ms. Townsend. Jasper and I can handle it after we have you at SPS.”
Katherine grabbed her jacket from the hook near the back door and took one step toward Jasper.
Even after everything, she still looked like the kind of woman who would argue a Supreme Court justice into checking his footnotes.
“I understand what happened to me. I understand the risk. But those records are under my custody. I control them. I need one part of tonight to happen because I decided it. And like I said, the reason for the attack is buried in them. I want those boxes.”
Control. She needed to take back some form of control.
Jasper exhaled slowly. He wanted to put her in his truck, take her to the compound, and lock every door between her and the rest of the world. To keep her there until he had a name, a face, and a location for the man who had put a gun on her.
That was not what she needed from him. Not entirely.
He looked back at Garrett. “Our suspect is either laying low, dumping evidence, or making contact with whoever sent him. She’s right—we need answers, and those boxes might have them.”
“The attacker won’t expect her to go there tonight,” Garrett said. “And from what you said, he didn’t bother with the files on the table. He wasn’t after them. It might actually be our best move to retrieve the documents now.”
“We’ll need eyes to watch the perimeter while we do.”
Garrett nodded. “I’ll call Sebastian and CB. Sebastian can take exterior surveillance and routes. CB can meet us there and help move boxes.”
Katherine’s brow furrowed. “Who are these people?”
“Sebastian is former Secret Service,” Jasper told her. “He’s got the best radar of anyone I know when it comes to sensing when an assassin is going to strike.”
“CB’s our grizzly,” Garrett added. “Big guy. Hard to miss. Tough as nails.”
“Grizzly,” she echoed. “That’s reassuring.”
Garrett winked. “He grows on people.”
Jasper snorted. “Like mold.”
Despite herself, Katherine let out a breath that almost became a laugh. It was small and frayed, but it was there.
Garrett stepped away to make the calls, and Jasper turned back to her. “When we get there, if I tell you to stay in the truck, you stay in the truck. If I tell you to move, you move. You can argue with me later at the compound.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m not staying in your truck.”
He rolled his eyes and murmured, “Of course you aren’t.”
Her expression softened in a way that made him want to reach for her again.
“Jasper,” she said quietly, “I’m scared.
” She looked down at Priss in her carrier.
“I’m scared of this house, of the bedroom.
When I close my eyes, I see his mask, hear his voice.
But if I let him take this from me completely, if I sit somewhere safe while everyone else handles the boxes, I’m letting him win. ”
Jasper felt the last of his resistance shift—not vanish but change shape. He didn’t like this, but he understood it. When his best friend Deacon had taken his own life, Jasper had needed some form of control, too. “Okay,” he said. “You come with us.”
She sighed a relieved sigh.
“But you’re not doing this alone anymore.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” He stepped closer, keeping his voice low enough that Garrett wouldn’t hear.
“You called me tonight. That means something. Whether you meant it to or not, it means something. So from here on out, you let me help. You let the team help. You keep your authority over the records, but you do not walk into danger—that’s my job. That’s the deal.”
She held his gaze for several seconds. “A voice, not a veto?”
He nearly smiled. “Don’t use my own negotiation language against me after an attempted murder.”
“That seems like an excellent time to use it.”
There she was. Shaken, cut, scared, but still Katherine.
His chest hurt with relief. “A voice,” he said. “And within certain limits, a temporary veto.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Yes, temporary,” he said. “You can file a complaint afterward.”
“I’ll draft it carefully.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Garrett joined them again, phone in hand. “Sebastian’s on his way. CB, too.”
Mallory appeared in the kitchen doorway, notepad tucked into his coat pocket. “You’re cleared to leave. I’ll have an officer follow you if you want.”
“Not necessary, but thank you,” Garrett said.
Katherine looked like she wanted to remove Priss from the carrier and hold her in her arms, but didn’t.
The cat protested the indignity of the carrier, then settled, glaring at all of them.
Jasper picked up the document bag, her clothes, and the first-aid kit.
Garrett grabbed the carrier and bag of cat supplies.
At the front door, Katherine stopped and looked back into the rental.
Jasper waited.
She nodded, stepped through the door, and let him guide her to his truck.
Garrett moved ahead, on alert. Jasper kept one hand lightly at Katherine’s back as they crossed the yard. She leaned into the contact for half a step before catching herself, and he pretended not to notice.
At the truck, he opened the passenger door and helped her in. Next came Priss in the carrier to settle in her lap. Katherine stared through the windshield at the night beyond the police lights.
Jasper shut the door and looked across the bed of the truck at Garrett.
Garrett’s expression had gone hard. “Library?”
“Library,” Jasper said.
“Then compound.”
“Then we lock her down.”
Garrett glanced through the rear cab window at Katherine. “Good luck with that.”
Jasper followed his gaze. Katherine sat in his passenger seat, bandaged, with a cat in her lap, and her eyes sharp enough to cut glass.
For the first time since the phone went dead, Jasper felt something besides fear move through him.
Admiration.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m definitely going to need more than luck.”