“They were definitely searching for something.”
“Some of my flash drives are missing. That’s the only thing I noticed. The only information on them was my personal QuickBooks accounts, my tax records, stuff like that. I had photos on one of the drives, but they’re also on my laptop so I didn’t really lose them.”
“What about the trust account info?”
“The backup for my mom’s checking account was on one of the drives, but it’s just her monthly bills and personal expenses. There’s nothing about the trust fund, no mention of how much is in it, and nothing that would give them any way to access the money. That was always handled by Mr. Handley.”
“Must have been hoping to find something they could use.”
She glanced around and her shoulders sagged. “I guess.”
Jax mentally ran through possibilities, didn’t immediately come up with anything. “Call the bank and put a hold on your checking accounts, just in case. I’ll call Gunderson. As soon as the cops take our statements, we’ll head over to my place, spend the night there.” He’d call Chase and Hawk as soon as he got home. Maybe they could come up with a workable theory.
Mindy surveyed the mess around her. “What about my apartment?”
“We’ll come back in the morning, feed Muffin and clean the place up.”
Her eyes gleamed, and seeing her so close to tears made his chest ache. “I always go see my mother on Sunday mornings.”
“Not a problem. We’ll make it work.” He forced himself not to reach out and touch her. “Go ahead and make that call, then go pack an overnight bag.”
She walked a few steps away, pulled out her cell and phoned the bank, then started picking her way through the debris to her bedroom.
Jax sighed. As soon as they were finished talking to the police, he was taking her home with him. He had fantasized about Mindy Stewart spending the night in his bed.
He’d never dreamed if that night actually came, he’d be sleeping on the sofa in his living room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
MINDYWALKEDTHROUGHthe door of Jax’s apartment. He followed close behind her, a bag of groceries in his left hand, his right free to reach his weapon. She had never imagined having a bodyguard, but she was glad Jax had volunteered for the job.
On the way to his house, he had suggested they order pizza or Chinese takeout, but she figured as a bachelor he ate that a lot. He’d been disappointed that he didn’t get the home-cooked meal, so she’d persuaded him to stop at the market. They were having spaghetti and meatballs, French bread and a salad with herb vinaigrette.
Not that she was all that hungry.
Still, she needed to stay healthy and to keep up her spirits. She believed in Jax. He was working with Hawk, Chase and the Dallas police. They would figure out what was going on. In the meantime, Jax would keep her safe.
His one bedroom apartment was Spartan, with a dark brown tweed sofa and chairs in the living room, a coffee table made from the crosscut slab of a redwood tree varnished to a glossy sheen, and a huge flat-screen TV.
The place was masculine in the extreme and suited him perfectly. It was also immaculately clean. Jax was former military. The lessons he had learned had obviously stayed with him.
The kitchen was larger than her own. As Mindy started cooking dinner, water boiled in a pot on the stove, steaming up the room and the lenses of her glasses. She took them off and set them on the windowsill. She could see without them, just not that well, but certainly enough to cook. She returned to stirring the spaghetti sauce, simmering in the skillet, and looked up to see Jax walking in.
Her breath hitched. He was the hottest, sexiest man she had ever seen.
“Smells great,” he said.
Mindy looked down and stirred the sauce. “I hope you like it.”
“You cook for Wyman?” Jax asked.
“Sometimes. He preferred going out most nights.”
“If you were my woman, I’d have a hard time letting you out of the house.” He smiled. “And you can cook, too. How much better does it get?”
A flush stole over her.If she was his woman?She refused to let herself imagine it.
He grabbed the wooden spoon off the counter, reached around her to scoop up a bite and swore under his breath when he burned his tongue.
