Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Nerves prickling with concern for Chloe and whatever Jaxon wanted to tell them, and annoyance at the young officer, Davin followed Chloe into the sheriff’s office. He received a head bob from Jaxon as he bypassed him in the doorway.
Could he still call the sheriff Jaxon as they were here on official business? Was this about Garcia? Was Jaxon going to confirm that it was indeed Davin’s fault that Chloe was in danger?
Davin would make a vow to keep her safe. Like an old west cowboy or a present-day military hero. He’d researched both roles and could act them out with decent proficiency.
He’d take her to a beach hut on Dominica or a village in the Swiss Alps. He’d hide her from Garcia and protect her. He’d always wanted to set a series on the ‘Nature island of the Caribbean’ or the picturesque Alps with peaks soaring into the sky and quaint, ancient villages to explore.
Hiding out would be a tax write-off and a great excuse to be virtually alone with the woman he wanted to grow closer to and get to know better.
He’d loved teasing her as they drove through Eureka about how well he knew her.
He wanted to become more intimate with her—mentally, not physically.
Truthfully, he wouldn’t complain about some intimate kisses, if he could secure those without revealing how hopeless he was at dating.
He appreciated that Chloe was a faith-filled and moral Christian.
Her dedication to her faith and a moral lifestyle made her even more appealing to him.
Unlike the only realtor on the island, Robinette Valentine, who was becoming more aggressive every time they looked at a house or ate a meal together.
The curvy redhead was always trying to touch his leg or his arm.
She’d suggested a couple days ago that they could ‘try out’ the bedroom of the house they were touring, then laughed and claimed she was ‘only joking’ when his face pinched.
Brash. The complete opposite of the pure and always teasing Chloe. She claimed she and Officer Campbell were only friends. She might see it that way, but Davin didn’t believe the officer did. He’d glimpsed the gleam in the man’s dark gaze.
He and Chloe sat side by side facing Jaxon, who sat behind his desk.
“What’s going on, Jax?” Chloe asked. “I’d like a hot bath with bubbles, some makeup, and my own clothes on before I deal with some spooky suspense angle you look like you’re going to share with us.”
“She needs out of these scrubs,” Davin threw in, earning a conspiratorial smile from Chloe.
“Apologies, Chloe. This couldn’t wait. You can soak in your bubbles after. Maybe,” he added, giving Davin an ominous look.
Davin vacillated between the heat in his chest created by all this talk about Chloe bathing and the worry that Jaxon somehow knew about Garcia.
Even worse would be finding out that the man had instigated Chloe’s attack and now was going to personally come after her.
On the ferry he’d received a text from Agent Florence stating that all but two of the inmates had been recaptured.
Unfortunately, Balam Garcia was on the short list of at-large, dangerous criminals.
Could he already be here? If he’d found a private charter, it was possible.
Jaxon pushed out a heavy breath and focused on Davin. “You want to tell me about your connection to Balam Garcia?”
Here it was. Jaxon hadn’t wasted any time, and it was exactly the angle Davin dreaded. His stomach dropped to his heels.
“How did you find out?” he asked. He didn’t want to tell the sheriff anything, but he knew he needed to tell both him and Chloe about the threat, even if it was far-fetched.
“Find out?” Chloe squeaked.
“I wasn’t trying to hide anything,” he assured her, wishing he was one of those men who was comfortable reaching out to touch a woman’s hand. He kept his hands clenched into fists and tried to explain. “I’ve been praying your attack wasn’t instigated by him.”
“We’ll have to figure that out,” Jaxon said.
He appeared as calm as a mountain lake, the polar opposite of how Davin was feeling.
“Agent Florence reached out. When I requested a background check on you, it sent him a notification, something he set up for your protection. He felt this was information I should have.”
“I see.”
“Your connection to Garcia?” Jaxon requested.
The sheriff probably knew some, if not all, of the story already but wanted to hear Davin’s side or study him for clues as he relayed the information.
Davin nodded, not one to fight against authority, yet hating this had to surface. What if Chloe did think he was hiding from her? Worse … what if Garcia injured her to torture him?
“I met Garcia in prison two years ago.” Dylan studied the grains of wood in the desk. “In his mind, he has reason to want to kill me, and he escaped from prison yesterday.”
Chloe sucked in a breath. Davin wished he knew how to reach out and reassure her. Curse his lack of dating for the past ten years.
“Do you think he could’ve instigated Chloe’s attack?” Jaxon asked.
“I don’t know how or why.” Davin shrugged. It was a nonchalant movement, but he was feeling anything but. “How would he even know I’m on the island?”
“The book signing you did was highly advertised on the internet and well attended,” Jaxon pointed out.
“True.”
“If he has enough resources, he could track your credit cards.”
Davin frowned. “Since he threatened me, I’ve been very careful. I opened credit cards in a shadow corporation name.”
“That’s smart.” Jaxon flipped the pen with his fingers. “You don’t think he came after Chloe?”
Davin looked at Chloe, who appeared confused and afraid.
“I suppose he could’ve hired someone or had one of his men come after her, knowing he planned on escaping and heading this direction.
He might have been sending me a warning, toying with me, or trying to get information about me from Chloe.
It fits his mode of operation.” Shaking his head, he admitted, “If I don’t give up my source, he’s going to ‘carve my heart out with a spoon’. ”
Chloe smiled at the Robin Hood reference.
“And since I don’t have any source as the series is not about Garcia, no matter what he’s twisted in his narcissist mind, I can’t give them up.” He splayed his hands, queasy. The two-year threat from Garcia might hurt Chloe.
Jaxon nodded and leaned back in his swivel chair. He set the pen down and rubbed at his jaw. “Why don’t you start at the beginning of how you met Garcia and why he’s after you.”
“All right.” He looked to Chloe. “You know how I deep-dive research.”
“Yes.” She looked him over. “Because I know everything about you, apparently.”
Jaxon whistled low, looking between them. “Everything?”
“Don’t you make anything out of that,” she warned the sheriff with a raised finger.
He only smirked and arched his brows. “Sounds like something to me.”
Davin wished it was. He hoped to grow closer. Maybe if he was required to protect her from Garcia, they’d have that opportunity.
Yet the handsome and charismatic sheriff would likely nominate himself for the job or maybe his flirtatious officer. They both were the type who knew how to charm a woman. Davin was not.
He could experiment with deep-dive research on dating and relationships.
With Chloe. The idea made his entire body too warm, and he began imagining the lines he could use on her and the moves he could make, all in the name of research for his books.
She loved his books. She told him that all the time, and she was an all-around book lover. She’d help him.
What an inspired idea. He prayed he could make it happen. Heaven above would want him with an angel like Chloe.
“Deep-dive research?” Jaxon prompted.
Davin rubbed at his neck, chagrined by how quickly he’d let his mind wander. Chloe was in danger and needed protection, not romance. “One of my series was set in prison, it was called Lock Down.”
“I thought you wrote Christian action adventure.”
“I do, but it’s gritty. Real life. No pulling punches.” He smiled. “I did have to omit the language from that series and get creative with things like ‘he cursed’ or ‘he muttered an oath’.”
“That would be rough to scrub all the language from prison scenes and inmates’ vocabulary,” Jaxon commiserated.
“It was, but my readers expect action, suspense, and even some death and torture, but no cursing or sex.” He grimaced at saying that word out loud and hurried on. “As a Christian, I want it to be clean as well.”
“I can respect that,” Jaxon said. “I’ll have to read some of your books.”
“You’d love them,” Chloe said. “They’re intense, provocative, and well-written.”
“Thank you, Chloe.” Davin was certain she’d be willing to help him with some ‘clean’ romance ideas.
He drew in a breath and tried to focus. “I interviewed prisoners, worked with some of them on wildland firefighting crews, the textile mill and cabinetry shop in the prison, and the dairy and food processing plant they were allowed to work at outside the prison. I even got special permission to stay the night and eat dinner and breakfast with them.”
“Garcia was in an American prison and they let you stay the night?” Jaxon asked, his brow wrinkling.
“No,” Davin said. “The series is partially set in Central America. I did my research in Guatemala.”
“Sheesh.” Chloe stared at him, her eyes full of an awe that boded well for his hopes of her liking him. “That was brave.”
“‘You don’t want to get mixed up with a guy like me. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.’”
Chloe laughed at the Pee Wee Herman reference, but he realized he shouldn’t have said he was a loner and she didn’t want to get mixed up with him. Though both were true.
“Are you fluent in Spanish?” she asked.