He set a hand at her waist, letting her know he was there for her, walked her out to his Dodge. He’d made a fool of himself this morning. He was supposed to be doing his job, nothing more.
But he’d broken that code by sleeping with her. Then when Candace had shown up, the look on Mindy’s face had reached inside and caught him right around the heart. He was back in control—thank Christ for that. Especially after the Shipman murder.
“Are we going to my apartment next?” she asked as he started the engine.
He glanced over at her and smiled. “Good news on that front. Chase called. He drove Harper and Lissa over there this morning. Chase talked the manager out of a key and the three of them cleaned the place up. Muffin got fed. She’s doing just fine.”
Mindy’s eyes glistened behind the lenses of her glasses, making them look even bigger and bluer. “They didn’t have to do that.”
Jax reached across the center console and caught her hand. “They’re your friends. They wanted to help. That’s what friends do. Everything’s okay at your place. We’re heading down to the office, meeting Chase, Hawk and Lissa. I talked to Gunderson. I want to run the Shipman murder past them, see what they think.”
The two men and Lissa Blayne, the only female detective currently working in the office, a pretty blond former detective in the Dallas PD vice division, were sitting in the conference room drinking coffee from the thermal pot sitting on the side table.
Jax grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Mindy, filled a foam cup with coffee for himself. They carried the drinks over and sat down at the table.
“How are you holding up?” Chase asked Mindy.
“I’m all right, I guess. Considering...” Mindy’s gaze went from Chase to Lissa. “I want to thank you both for what you did this morning. I can’t believe you cleaned up my apartment.”
Lissa reached over and squeezed her hand. “With all of us working, it wasn’t that bad.” She smiled. “If my house gets vandalized, you can come over and clean it up, and we’ll call it even.”
Mindy relaxed and smiled. “Deal.”
Jax took a drink of his coffee. “With Shipman’s death, we may have another piece of the puzzle.” He had explained to Chase on the phone about Ryan Shipman’s murder and the man’s vague connection to Mindy.
“I filled Hawk and Lissa in after you called,” Chase said.
Jax went on to tell them the details of Ryan’s death. “Shipman’s body was buried. I don’t think the killers expected it to be found, but apparently, wild animals dug up the grave. The thing is, he was tortured before they shot him.”
“Oh, God,” Mindy said.
Jax glanced her way, felt a pang at the pallor of her face.
“Payback or information?” Maddox asked.
“I’m thinking information,” Jax said. “He was beaten, but they only got as far as taking a finger before he gave them what they wanted.”
A muted sound slipped from Mindy’s throat. He wished she didn’t have to hear this, but her life was on the line.
Chase’s attention swung to her. “I assume the work you did for Shipman involved bookkeeping.” Part of her job at The Max.
“Yes. It was several months before I came to work here.”
“A temp position while you were working for DeMarco Staffing?” Chase asked.
“No. I did it on the side to make a little extra. Susan referred me to Ryan as a favor to help him save money.”
“What did Shipman do for a living?” Lissa asked.
“He owned a small construction company. He worked out of an office in his house. With the different subcontractors, it required a lot of bookkeeping, and he got behind.”
“You work at his house or yours?” Jax asked.
“Both.”
“His computer or yours?” he asked.
“I used my own. I worked off the flash drives he provided. He kept financial information on a number of them.” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think—”
