He made his way into the kitchen, quietly checking cabinets and around corners. Checking under anything capable of hiding a body.
When still he found nothing, he moved down the hall and into his bedroom.
Little things immediately pinged his attention. The way the drawers on his bedside table weren’t completely closed. The sheets on his bed were tossed up at one corner.
Someone had been in here. Someone had searched this room.
Quietly, he inched forward, first checking under the bed, then stepping into the connecting bathroom. When both proved empty, he focused on the walk-in closet, eyes narrowing on the half-closed door.
His steps were silent as he inched forward, closing the space between him and the closet. Then in one swift move, he swung the door around and aimed his Glock behind it.
Elle gasped, hands shaking as she thrust his gun forward and aimed it at his chest.
Her eyes widened as they took him in. “Jace!”
She was alive…Thank God!
He lowered his hand and tugged her into his chest. Holding her. Breathing her in. Fucking drowning in her. “You’re okay.” He wanted to repeat those words again and again to convince himself they were true.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
For a moment, neither of them moved. It was like they couldn’t. Then a noise sounded in the hall. It was the smallest creak of a floorboard. Elle stiffened, while Jace pushed her behind him and stepped back into the bedroom, Glock once again lifted.
Stephanie stepped into the room, her own gun raised. Anger narrowed her eyes as she flicked her attention from him to Elle before returning her gaze to him.
“Jace. I should probably be pissed that you’re here. I’m not. Because now you can watch as I destroy your life—like you destroyed mine.”
CHAPTER 30
Jace remained perfectly still as Stephanie aimed her gun at his face. At least it was pointed toward him. He took another step forward, making sure to shield Elle with his body.
“It won’t bring him back,” he said quietly. “No matter what happens today, Dean will still be gone.”
“Shut up!” she shouted. “Don’t talk about him. Don’t even say his name!”
“Why not?”
Her eyes darkened. “Because youkilledhim!”
“That’s not true. I didn’t pull the trigger on the gun that took his life.”
“No, but you should have protected him and youdidn’t, which is as good as pulling the trigger. You wrote it in that pathetic letter you sent his family.” She stepped forward, a wild look in her eyes. “I didn’t actually come here to kill you, you know. I didn’t have a plan at all. I just had to see the man Dean worshipped. The man who was right there when he died but did nothing.”
“So what changed?” he asked, needing to keep her talking until his brother found them.
“Whatchangedis that I saw you withher. I saw the way you looked at her. The same way I looked at Dean. And it made me angry. So fucking angry! Because you got to keep the love of your life, while minediedbecause of you. That’s not fair!” she screeched. Then she took a deep breath, like she was trying to calm herself.
“Did you hire Boyd?” Jace asked.
Her eyes flared, and he had his answer before she said a word. “I found him through a friend. He did odd jobs for money. After I saw you together, I wanted you to feel the pain of losing her like when I lost Dean. But the moron fucked up. I knew he was right on the verge of being caught. I couldn’t risk him outing me, getting me arrested beforeshedied. So I tampered with his car.”
“What about Casper?” Jace asked. “Why kill him?”
“I was aiming forher. He’d just smashed into her car and was chasing her into the woods. It would have been an easy out for me.” She shrugged. “He got in my way.”
“Don’t do this,” Elle whispered from behind him. “They’ll know it was you.”
She straightened, seeming to pull herself together. “I don’t care. I don’t care if I die or if I’m arrested. I just care about getting justice for Dean. I owe him that.”
