Oh.
Jaime’s ears started ringing. Unless Jeffrey Dugan was the one threatening him, because he was the one who had ordered Vera’s death. How stupid was he? Of course it was the husband, it’s always the fucking husband.
But Jaime didn’t know that, not in any way that mattered. He had no way of proving that in court—all he’d heard was the other end of a phone call. It must have been enough for Jeffrey Dugan to want him out of the picture, though. Or dead.
Still, that didn’t explain why these two clearly knew Finn and Silas, and how his bodyguards knew that Jeffrey Dugan was involved.
Had this all been a setup?
Jaime slammed the lid shut on that train of thought, trying to slow his erratic breathing. No. Finn wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t lie to him, not about that. He wanted Jaime to stay safe, he wanted to know Jaime—that’s what he’d said.
Unless he’s lying to you. You don’t really know him that well at all.
He knows Jeffrey Dugan. What are the chances that you were meant to meet up with him on the same night Jeffrey’s wife was murdered?
Before his thoughts could spiral anymore, or he did something rash like sprint out the other side of the truck andtake off into the trees before any of them turned and noticed he was gone, two vehicles pulled into the drive, boxing everyone else in.
DA Rivera and Detective Sutton stepped out of the first, striding toward Finn and Silas where they were gathered around the trespassers.
Cameron Sheppard, all wiry muscle and a ball cap pulled low over his brow, stepped out of the other car, first looking to Jaime where he sat in the truck, and then locking eyes with DA Rivera, who’d halted his approach at Sheppard’s appearance. Even though they weren’t speaking to each other, something about the way they were staring made Jaime look away. Like it was too intimate for anyone else to witness.
Apparently, everybody knew everybody here except for him, and he was goddamn tired of it. He was tired of running, and being helpless, and kept out of everything.
Yanking open the door, he stepped outside as Finn whipped his head around. “Jaime, please. Get back in the truck until they leave.”
Jaime didn’t even look at him, just strode up to stand with the rest of them. “No.”
Opening and closing his mouth before apparently deciding that arguing would be fruitless, Finn sidled closer, partially blocking him from the now very outnumbered intruders.
“Ah, hello, Jaime Lamont.”
“Don’t speak to him,” Finn snarled.
“Relax, and stop growling at us. He can speak to us if he wishes.”
Detective Sutton bodied her way between them all, her short, round form cutting through the crowd of overly large men. “No, actually, he can’t. Because I’m instating an emergency protective order, ceasing all contact between the two of you and Jaime Lamont. You’ll be required to appear in court in a few days tofinalize the order. Now, seeing as you’re now both trespassing and violating a protective order, I’m required to escort you off the property. Get into the back of the car, now.”
Jaime had never seen this side of Detective Sutton. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck, and her blue eyes were piercing as she took control of the stand-off that seemed to be one wrong move away from turning into complete mayhem.
Jaime was suddenly very glad to have never been on the receiving end of the look she was now leveling at the two trespassers.
DA Rivera and Sheppard had apparently moved past their stare-off, because Sheppard was now pulling Silas off to the side, casting a wary glance around before handing him a bundle of cloth. Silas shook it out, and swung the offered shirt over his head.
Still unsettled by the whole exchange, and unsure what to think regarding the way they all clearly knew each other, or that Finn had been keeping things from him, Jaime turned away from him and that confrontation for right now and found DA Rivera striding over. “Jaime. I’m sorry for the way all of this has happened. Are you ok?”
Jaime hadn’t ever met DA Rivera in person, he’d only heard his voice over the phone. So he was absolutely not prepared for just how beautiful he was. If Jaime wasn’t so caught up on Finn, he’d want to spend more time taking in this man’s stunning hazel eyes, shockingly bright against his deep russet skin.
“I’m fine. I was in the truck for most of the conversation, anyway.”
“Good, good.” The DA cast a glance around at everyone else, eyes catching on Sheppard where he stood off to the side, speaking quietly with Silas and Finn. Detective Sutton was notquite shoving the two smirking trespassers into the back of the police vehicle. “Can I have a word with you, privately?”
Jaime nodded, and motioned the DA up toward his house, crossing his arms and waiting for him to speak. “Do you feel safe, Jaime? Here, with Cameron Sheppard’s team?”
That set off the warning bells in his head even louder. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
The DA didn’t answer his question, instead asking another of his own. “Have you had any contact at all with Jeffrey Dugan?”
So, they do think her husband had something to do with it.
