CHAPTER ONE
LASTWEEKITwas murder. This week it’s stolen diamonds. Mindy Stewart loved working at The Max. Her job was never dull.
Seated behind her desk in the reception area, Mindy reached over to answer the phone, then directed the call to Jonah Wolfe, one of the agency’s detectives.
Mindy had only been working at Maximum Security a couple of months. Originally hired as a temp to fill in for the receptionist who had retired, and do some bookkeeping. She managed to impress Chase Garrett, the owner, who had offered her a full-time job.
In the weeks since then, the private investigators, bodyguards, and bounty hunters who worked out of the office had accepted her as a member of the team. It felt really good to be part of such an interesting crew.
She checked the time on her computer. It was well past five o’clock, but everyone worked their own schedules, so people were in and out at all hours of the day and night. Mindy got overtime pay, and she didn’t mind working late. Part of her job was reorganizing office ledgers and updating Chase’s QuickBooks, so there was plenty for her to do.
She glanced across the office at the men still working. The open area was decorated in a Western motif, a tufted dark red leather sofa and chairs up front in the reception area, with antique farming tools on the walls.
Jonah Wolfe was a former police detective, incredibly handsome with his too-long black hair and dark eyes. He was involved in a serious relationship, but even if he weren’t, the man was too intense and brooding to appeal to her.
Jason “Hawk” Maddox was a big, good-looking man, but he was somehow overwhelming to her. Like Wolfe and Chase and the other guys in the office, Maddox was protective of the women who worked there, even the female detectives. He waved at Mindy as he and Wolfe headed out the door, and she waved back.
Along with a female PI, there were a number of single men in the office, guys who worked part-time. It seemed like all of them were attractive, but it was Jaxon Ryker who made her adrenaline spike and her pulse speed up whenever he glanced in her direction.
Which, fortunately, wasn’t that often. Jax probably went for tall, svelte blondes, not petite, curvy brunettes. Even if he were interested in her—which clearly he wasn’t—a disastrous affair with the former Navy SEAL-turned-PI would ruin everything.
Mindy loved her job. She wanted to keep it.
Still, she couldn’t deny the man pushed her buttons. Six feet of wide-shouldered, solid male muscle, military short dark hair and deep brown eyes, Ryker was handsome as sin yet seemingly unaware of his masculine charms.
And he was nice. Always polite, always considerate. He never flirted, never teased, and constantly kept a respectful distance.
Sometimes it drove her crazy.
Finally satisfied with her progress for the day, Mindy shoved her round tortoiseshell glasses up on her nose, slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder, and headed for the door to the parking lot behind the office. She managed not to glance at Jax as she left, but it wasn’t easy.
The early April weather was humid, warm but not hot, the last of a pink-gold sky fading to darkness. She spotted her little red Volkswagen Beetle, one of the few vehicles left in the lot, and started in that direction.
If she hadn’t been working for a security firm, listening to crime stories on a daily basis, she might not have noticed the white Chevy van whose motor sparked to life and began idling in the shadows not far from her car.
When her steps unconsciously slowed, she told herself she was being ridiculous, a paranoid response to the guys’ sometimes gruesome, often frightening tales.
Pausing to dig her car keys out of her purse, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. When the effort failed, she forced her feet to move, closing the distance between her and her vehicle. She had almost reached her destination when the van doors slid open. Three men dressed head-to-foot in black, wearing black ski masks, jumped out and started running toward her.
Terror struck. Mindy let out a terrified, high-pitched scream, dropped her purse, whirled and started running.
JAX’SLONGDAYwasn’t over yet. Before he picked up a pizza and headed home for a couple of beers, he had a meeting with a client on the other side of Dallas, a cold case he had been working where the mother of a murder victim had discovered new evidence she believed would help find her daughter’s killer. The police weren’t convinced, but Mrs. Donahue had hired Jax to prove it. Or at least find out the truth.
He checked his heavy black wristwatch. If he wanted to make his appointment on time, he needed to get on the road. Grabbing his laptop off the desk, he headed for his dark blue Dodge Ram pickup, parked in the lot behind the office, his mind on the case he figured would earn him a nice fat fee—and maybe help bring a killer to justice.
He had just stepped out the back door when a blood-curdling scream cut through the sticky evening air. A petite young woman with long dark hair and glasses struggled with three masked men.
Adrenaline shot into his blood.Mindy!Even as he bolted into a run, Jax registered the men’s appearances: one tall and lean, one average height and weight, one big and beefy, thick-shouldered and muscular. He was flat-out running by the time Mindy spotted him and started screaming his name.
“Jax, help me! Jax!” Kicking and biting, she fought like a wild thing, but she was no match for the men. As they hauled her toward the open van doors, Jax grabbed the taller man and pulled him off her, pounded a fist into his face and slammed another into his stomach, doubling him over. A hard right hook sent the guy careening backward, hitting the ground on his back and sliding across the asphalt.
The second man, Mr. Average, stepped in and swung a punch Jax ducked. He shot out a kick, knocking the assailant into the side of the van, then heard the sound of a switchblade snapping open behind him.
“Jax, watch out!”
As the second guy ran for the van, Jax whirled toward the new threat, dodged the flashing blade of the big beefy man and shoved Mindy toward safety, then went back in for the kill. Rage burned through his usual calm. She worked with him; as far as he was concerned, she was under his protection. More than that, she was kind and sweet, and he cared about her far more than he should. Jax wanted to end the bastards who were trying to hurt her.
“Run!” he shouted. “Go back to the office and lock the door! Call 9-1-1!” A knife flashed. Jax dodged the sweep of gleaming silver wielded by a big, thick-fingered, extremely capable hand and jumped back, out of the way of another slashing attack as he and the beefy man crouched and circled each other. From the corner of his eye, he saw the tall, thin man back on his feet and rushing toward him.
