CHAPTER TEN
– SEAMUS –
Jaxie shakes her head at the question the sheriff just threw at her and steps closer to me. I reach out and slide my arm around her waist to tuck her tightly against my body. Leaning in, I brush a kiss on the crown of her head.
The action doesn’t go unnoticed by the sheriff while I acted without thinking. Dammit. I don’t know where Jaxie and I stand, while she clearly seeks my comfort.
The sheriff gives me a nod of approval. He’s no stranger to me. Stalwart Ridge Security has worked with Orson Samuels for years. He knows exactly who she is, and it’s why he asked her earlier if he needed an ASL translator.
Not talking is definitely working in our favor now.
Jaxie didn’t want to call the sheriff, but I convinced her to bring him in.
He needs to be aware of the fact Jaxie’s life is at risk.
A first step to let law enforcement know something isn’t right, and it started with Dax’s death not being an accident.
Well, the file we found clearly proves shit hasn’t been right for a long damn time.
I only thumbed through it and read some highlights.
It’s something Jaxie and I need to go through before we can share those things with the sheriff.
It’s why the file is hidden safely under the dogs’ blankets in the backseat of Jaxie’s vehicle.
Jaxie signs and I translate for her, catching a few words to know what she’s saying. “She wants to stay at the cabin. Elodie was going to join her in two weeks...”
“Murray called me earlier,” Orson states, cutting me off.
“I gave him some highlights about what happened to her. I definitely feel better knowing she’s leaving town and staying with a bodyguard for the time being.
Do you think it’s connected? Since she was going to join Jaxie.
” He throws a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the house.
“They were searching for something, lashing out at her best friend could be to put pressure on a threat. Are you sure you’re telling me everything? ”
Fucker’s smart. “We’re still trying to figure shit out. Once we know more we’ll reach out. It’s why I insisted on bringing you in.”
Orson puts his little notebook back into his pocket.
“Smart choice. I trust you won’t wait too long.
If you think of anything that might help, or don’t feel safe, be sure to reach out.
Killing a horse is taking a life. It’s a good thing we’ve worked together on cases for years, otherwise we’d have a different conversation.
Take care of your girl.” He dips his chin. “Ma’am.”
“Will do,” I automatically grunt, liking the sound of it more than I should.
Jaxie places the keys into my hand and signs, “You lock up.”
I give her a tight nod and watch how she opens the back door to pet Benny. Macy demands the same attention. Seeing her give both dogs comfort while getting the same in return makes my chest tighten.
In all my life there hasn’t been a moment where I thought about the future along the lines of a woman, a family, settling down. Now? Watching Jaxie with our dogs? The forced proximity definitely makes me aware of what could be, and what I’ve been missing.
I shake my head at the way my mind keeps drifting in another direction than keeping her safe. Feelings, emotions...the kind of shit that shouldn’t interfere with an assignment. It’s also why I reached out to Murray when Elodie wanted to come live with Jaxie earlier than planned.
Locking the house, I stalk back to Jaxie and hold out the keys. “You should drive. I want to go over everything in the file.”
She eyes the keys. “I w-wanted to r-read it.”
“No way. The first page was enough to turn your skin as white as a damn sheet. I don’t want you to read the information first. It’s clear they killed your father for whatever information he had.
They trashed your place in an effort to find it.
Probably the one we saw in the woods a few days ago.
Maybe he was a lookout, to make sure you weren’t anywhere near the house so they could go through it. ”
“S-so y-you’re g-gonna k-keep me o-out of it?” she stutters.
Her stutter is clearly worse when she’s stressed. The glare she directs at me? She’s implicating I’m doing the same as her father; cutting her out of the business.
I try to soften my tone and step closer. “It doesn’t mean I don’t trust you, or won’t tell you shit, Jaxie. Let me read it first, and we’ll go from there, okay? Your safety comes first, and I’d rather have you informed instead of keeping you in the dark.”
Moving closer to her, she tilts her head back to stare at me. It would be so damn easy to lean in and capture her mouth with mine. Jaxie licks her lips, as if she’s thinking the same thing.
“S-so, I’m y-your girl,” she breathes.
Not a question, a repeat of what Orson mentioned. This right here is the moment to put a stop to things burning between us or embrace something that for sure as shit will change everything.
Her lips part and my heart skips a beat when her pupils dilate. She’s just as affected as I am. Neither of us might know where this is going, but at least we’re on the same page when it comes to wanting one another.
“You’re mine,” I gruffly tell her, and take her lips to make sure she feels I’m not simply throwing some words at her.
She moans and I swallow it down, swirling her tongue against mine. Fuck. Jaxie has the ability to light up my whole body. She already made me come in my damn pants once today.
Regretfully, I end the kiss and murmur, “Let’s go back to your cabin. I don’t like having you here out in the open.”
Jaxie takes the keys and rounds the vehicle to get behind the wheel. I pet both dogs and grab the file beneath their blanket before shutting the door and getting into the front seat. It’s a long drive to the cabin and it allows me to go through everything Dax collected.
There are medical files, crime scene pictures, handwritten notes, documents. The names highlighted catch my attention. Hate fuels my veins and makes my damn leg throb. I get to the last piece of paper, and it’s clear it’s the very thing kickstarting Dax’s research.
Swallowing hard, I try to push away the memories flooding my brain from six months ago.
The argument I had with Nolan. The fucker walking away from his assignment as Dax’s assigned driver and leaving me to take his place.
Dax’s distress call about Jaxie’s panic attack.
He needed me to take over his meeting and cancel the rest of his appointments for the day.
Nothing out of the ordinary, it happened once or twice a month.
I was his right hand. Was. Until I got in that car instead of Nolan, without Dax.
Fuck. Back then we assumed it was a random accident.
A truck plowing into the car. I barely got out and then the explosion hit.
They say the gas tank blew, knocking me straight into a pole, my leg getting the brunt of the impact.
I stare down at the file in my hand. The handwritten notes scribbled on the layout of the scene of the accident that’s edged into my mind releases an icy chill up my spine.
Dax secretly had the car investigated a few weeks ago.
Traces of Semtex, a plastic explosive, were found.
He researched the truck driver who caused it.
Fucker died two days after the accident, a broken neck from a fall down the stairs.
Motherfucker. That’s the exact way Dax died.
While my anger is focused on me, the accident being the first attempt to kill Dax, I have to push it aside to see the bigger picture. Medical files of Nolan, a blood test proving...fuck.
“E-everything okay?” Jaxie asks. “Y-you don’t look g-good.”
I snort and rub a hand over my face. “No. I don’t think shit will be okay for a long damn time.”
“I-it was Burk,” Jaxie states, keeping her eyes on the road in front of us.
She must have gotten a good look at the first few documents inside the file. “I think he was the one who planned everything, yes. Though, the one doing the actual killing and cleanup?”
Jaxie cuts me off by stating, “N-Nolan.”
“Yes. According to your father’s research, my accident was the first attempt at his life.
Nolan was the one who was supposed to drive him to his next appointment.
He usually handled business in the backseat, using his laptop.
I was coming back to the office when Nolan handed me the keys.
Told me he had to leave. Fucker wanted me dead along with your father because I filed an official complaint against him.
It’s a good thing you had a panic attack that day, it’s what saved your father’s life.
Instead of taking the company car with a driver, he took his own car home. ”
She throws a look my way, and focusses back on the road when she says, “But why? T-they were partners. They served t-together.”
While my blood boiled reading about my accident actually being a hit on Dax, on me...I hardly thought about the details Dax found about Jaxie’s mother. The name did ring a bell, but she died when I was about six years old. My mother mentioned the name a few times, but only in reference to Burk.
Ava Ricker was his fiancée. I had no damn clue she was Jaxie’s birth mother. Which means Dax would have slept with his partner’s woman. That’s motive right there. Though, Dax doesn’t strike me as a man who would fuck another friend’s woman.
We’re driving up the mountain and instead of following the road up to her cabin, I tell Jaxie, “Turn right here. We’re going to have a little chat with my mother. She might be able to shed some light on certain things.”
Jaxie frowns as she takes the turn. “W-would she know t-things about Burk?”
“No.” I release a deep sigh, hating to rip open a can of worms.
Though, I have no clue if there are even worms in there or something worse.
“I want to ask my mother about your mother, Ava Ricker, Burk’s former fiancée.”
“What?” Jaxie squeaks.
Yeah, a can of worms for sure, because Jaxie clearly had no clue either.