15. Jaxson
CHAPTER 15
Jaxson
“ T here are no plates,” Elijah tells me. “But this person followed Reyna and Margot out of the diner parking lot.”
“Anything on the phone?” I ask him.
“Nope. It was a burner and has since been turned off. We can’t locate it, but the last ping was in that parking lot.”
“And the pin they sent?”
“Easy to do. Anyone can send a pin anywhere without being in that location. It was a trap.”
The front door of the lighthouse opens, and Lance strolls in alongside a furious-looking Michael.
“Chad has an airtight alibi,” he growls.
“How airtight?” I’ve seen criminals have seemingly strong alibis, only to have them broken the second I get them across a table.
“He was sitting in a jail cell after being picked up for drinking and driving,” Lance tells me .
“How are they?” I’d left them at the hospital so I could try and make headway on who was responsible for the call and the accident, but I’ve been desperate to get back to Margot ever since I left.
“Reyna has a concussion and some bruising, but is otherwise okay. Margot has a concussion and lacerations on her hands and abdomen, courtesy of whoever tried to rip her out of the car.”
“Matty?”
“He’s good. He’s staying the night with my parents so Margot will hopefully take things slow.” Michael looks beyond furious, and I’m certainly right there with him. He could have lost his wife and sister in one accident, and we can’t seem to figure out how or why.
“I was out at the scene of the accident this morning,” Lance tells us. “Looking for a card.”
“You think this is tied to Lanetti?”
“I didn’t find one,” he tells me. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not. It just seems far too suspicious that Lanetti is still missing, we have no leads whatsoever, and now someone targets Margot.”
“I should have moved out. The second I thought this could be tied to me.” Furious at myself, I begin to pace.
“No. You’re right where you need to be. If you hadn’t been there, someone could have grabbed Matty, too.” Michael steps in front of me.
“No one came after Matty, though.”
“Because you were there with him. If someone is targeting my sister on Chad’s behalf, grabbing Matty would be the way to go.”
It was my thought, too, and why Chad was my first suspect. “And if this is tied to Lanetti?”
“We’ll get it figured out. But you’ve been up all night.” Lance clasps a hand on my shoulder. “Head back to the B&B, get some sleep, and we’ll keep you updated.”
“I can’t sleep until we get some answers.”
Alaric even called earlier to let me know that he’d found nothing notable but he would keep digging. However, I know him well enough to read his tone, and he doesn’t think there’s a connection.
As improbable as it is, there’s someone else out there using Morah’s calling card to taunt me. But why? Who?
“You need sleep,” Michael says. “So do I. We’ll link up later, okay?”
“Sure.” But I don’t feel good about leaving.
“Margot needs you,” Michael tells me. “Go check on her and make sure she’s safe. Please? It will help me rest.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.” I turn back to Lance. “Call me the second you have something?”
“I will. Silas is out on an install, but he’s going to stop by the scene of the accident and look, too. See if we find anything the police may have missed.”
With a nod, I turn and leave the lighthouse, Michael beside me .
We step out into the sunlight, and Michael stops on the porch. “We’re friends.”
“Yeah. We are.”
“Then I want you to know that if your interest in Margot is more than friends, I’m okay with it.”
“What are you—what do you mean?”
“I saw the way you looked at her last night,” he tells me.
“What do you mean?”
“Like you were willing to tear apart the entire world if it meant keeping her safe.”
Exhausted, I step into the B&B.
Margot is standing behind the front desk, and the sight of her catches me off guard. Her face is bruised, one of her eyes encircled in black, the white of it bloodshot. There’s a bandage at her hairline, and both of her hands have white gauze wrapped around the palms, leaving her fingers free.
“What are you doing?” I demand. “You should be resting.”
“I’m fine,” she insists.
“Margot—”
“I needed to do something,” she insists. “My mom kept Matty tonight so I would rest. But I don’t know how to rest. How can I rest, Jaxson? Someone tried to kill me. What did I ever do? I don’t?—”
“Margot,” I interrupt, closing the distance between us. I reach out and cup her unbruised cheek, and she stops speaking.
“I’m scared.”
“I know. But you need to rest. We’re going to find whoever did this.”
“Reyna could have died, too.”
“But she didn’t.”
“But she could have.” She closes her eyes, and a tear slips free. “What if this is because of Chad? What if somehow?—”
“It’s not him,” I tell her. “He was in jail last night. Sleeping off an overindulgence of alcohol.”
She relaxes slightly. “Is it bad that I’m relieved it wasn’t him?”
“No.” And because I can’t help myself, I pull her against me and wrap my arms around her. Margot envelops me back and we stand in the lobby holding onto each other for longer than friends typically would.
Holding her feels as familiar as drawing breath. “I almost lost you last night. I don’t know what I would have done if—” I pull away.
“I’m okay, though. Michael scared off whoever it was, and we live to fight another day.”
Footsteps on the stairs carry down happy chatter, so I step aside as Mr. and Mrs. Avery from room two stop in front of the desk.
“Margot! What happened to you?” Mrs. Avery asks, the grandmother of seven immediately coming around the desk to get a closer look at her hostess .
“I had a car accident.” Margot smiles. “But I’m okay.”
“Thank God. Are you sure? Do you need anything? Honey, you should not be on your feet.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” I say.
“Listen to that man,” she scolds Margot, who shoots a smile my way.
“I will. Soon. How has your stay been? Is there anything you need?”
“We’re just fine,” Mr. Avery says. “You go get some rest. We’re headed to the diner, then to do some antiquing.”
“Oh, you should stop by?—”
“We have a plan,” Mrs. Avery interrupts holding up a piece of paper. “You go rest. Now. I insist.”
“Okay. Fair enough. But please come knock on my door if you need anything,” she says.
“We will.” Mrs. Avery offers me a final wave before looping her arm through her husband’s and heading out the door.
“Well, you heard her. So let’s go get you some rest.” Forcing her to leave her work behind, I guide her toward her apartment, then hold open the door for her.
She stops just inside the door and turns to me. “Are you going upstairs?”
Something in her tone catches me off guard. “I can stay on the couch if you need me to.”
“Yes, please. I don’t—I don’t want to be alone.”
“Then I’ll be right here.” In demonstration, I plop down on her couch. “Yell if you need me, okay? ”
She nods. “Thanks, Jaxson.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Margot. For you and Matty. No matter what.”
My phone rings, the shill tone ripping me from sleep. “Payne,” I answer, tone gravelly. It’s dark, nearly pitch black in the living room of Margot’s apartment.
“Andie and I just pulled up to the B&B, can you let us in?” Elijah asks.
“Sure thing. Is everything okay?”
“We found Lanetti.”
“I’m coming.” I end the call and rush to the front of the B&B, then open the door for them. He hands me a paper cup of coffee as he passes by. I lead them to Margot’s open apartment, then flip on a floor lamp. “Is she alive?” I ask, dreading the answer but desperate for it at the same time.
“She is,” he says. “But she’s pretty bruised up and is asking for you.”
I set my coffee aside and pull on my boots.
“How’s Margot?” Andie asks as she shrugs out of her jacket.
“I checked on her about an hour ago, and she was doing okay.” Truthfully, I’d only nodded off about thirty minutes ago, since I’d been checking on Margot every hour.
“I’ll check on her soon. Are you okay?” Andie asks me.
“I’m not the one who almost died,” I tell her .
She rolls her eyes. “You men and being afraid of your feelings.”
“Come on, you can hammer him later. We need to get to the hospital.” Elijah kisses Andie, then heads for the door.
“Have her call me when she wakes up?”
“Will do,” Andie replies, then settles down on the couch with a book.
Elijah and I get into his truck, and I sip my coffee. “Where was she found?”
“She wandered into the hospital,” he replies. “Has a broken rib and some nasty bruises.”
My heart aches for her. “Was she assaulted?”
“We don’t know,” he replies, jaw tight. “She won’t talk to anyone but you.”
“Why me?”
“Not sure, she won’t say.”
The drive to the hospital is thankfully a short one, and we’re pulling into the parking lot ten minutes later. I down the rest of my coffee and jump out, then head toward the front doors beside Elijah.
Did she get a good look at who took her?
Did they let her go or did she escape?
So many questions hammer through my mind as I follow Elijah down the hall. Sheriff Vick is standing outside a room, talking to one of his deputies. When he sees us, he dismisses the man and runs a hand over his graying hair.
“How is she?” I ask .
“Alive. But she’s not really speaking. Just asking for you.”
“I’ll let you know what she says.” I push into the room. Lanetti is sitting on her bed, her face pale and bruised. When she sees me, though, she breaks into tears and sits up.
“Jaxson. You’re here.”
“I am.”
“He told me you wouldn’t come for me. That I’d die there.”
“Who told you?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t see him. He always had a mask on. But he told me that you didn’t care about me. That you were selfish. I knew he was wrong.” The tears slide down her cheeks rapidly, and I reach out to take her hand.
She stills beneath my touch.
“How did you escape?”
Her expression darkens. “He was holding me in an old shed outside of town. I’d been tied in a corner, and he would lock the door from the outside every time he left. This time, though, he forgot, and I ran the second I knew I was alone.” Her eyes fill. “I was so scared. But I knew I had to get away.”
“You did great,” I assure her with a smile. “Truly, you were strong, Lanetti.”
She beams at me. “Thank you, Jaxson. Seriously. It means the world to hear you say that.”
“Have you told Sheriff Vick anything? You need to tell him everything you’ve told me, and if there are any other details you remember. Then we can catch this guy.”
She nods. “I’ll tell him everything.”
The door opens, and Lanetti’s mother rushes in. The change in the girl is subtle, but enough that I pick up on it.
“Lanetti!” her mother cries out as she falls against the side of the bed, wrapping her arms around her daughter.
I withdraw my hand, and Lanetti smiles at me, then hugs her mother. “I’m okay, Mom,” she says.
“Of course you are. Because you’re strong. What happened?”
“I’ll let the sheriff know you’re ready to talk to him, okay?”
“Will you come back?”
“I’ll visit you again.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Jaxson. Truly.”
“Thank you for escaping.”
I leave and shut the door quietly behind me, trying to figure out just how to explain the knot in my gut that’s saying the worst is yet to come.
Whoever went after Margot is the same one who took Lanetti.
I know it.
I feel it.
I’m the link between these two women.
So how do I prove it?