“What about friends or family members?” the detective asked. “Anyone who might be angry with you, someone who might be holding a grudge?”
“I don’t have a lot of family. My mom’s in a long-term care facility. She was mentally impaired in the same car accident that killed my dad and brother.”
Jax’s jaw subtly tightened.
Gunderson asked about her finances, loans she might owe that hadn’t been repaid, gambling debts, anything and everything that might account for the kidnapping attempt, but nothing seemed to point to an answer.
Finally finished, the detective rose from his chair. “Kidnapping is a serious offense, Ms. Stewart. You need to keep your eyes open. Call us if you think of anything that might help us find the men behind the attack.” He turned to Jax. “I take it you’re on the case?”
“That’s right.”
The detective just nodded, clearly seeing something in Jax’s expression Mindy didn’t. Jax let him out the front door and locked up behind him.
“So you’re going to follow me home?” she asked as they headed for the parking lot.
“Oh, I’m not just following you home. If you don’t want me sleeping on your sofa tonight, I’ll be in my truck out in front.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Those men were deadly serious, honey. The way it looks, you weren’t a random choice. Which means there’s a chance they’ll try again. No way am I leaving you alone. Until we know what the hell is going on, you’ve got round the clock protection.”
“But I can’t pay for something like that!”
“Don’t insult me.”
Color washed into her cheeks. They were colleagues, friends of a sort. “I’m sorry. Thank you. And you aren’t sleeping out in your car. My sofa folds into a bed, so you won’t be that uncomfortable.”
He looked like he wanted to say something about their sleeping arrangements but didn’t.
“I do have a...um...cat. Her name is Muffin. She usually sleeps with me so unless you’re allergic or something—”
“I’m not allergic to cats. I’m more a dog person, but cats are okay.”
Mindy smiled. “She’s very sweet. I promise she won’t bother you.”
He just nodded. “I’ve got a couple of calls to make, then we can go.”
BEFOREITGOTany later, Jax wanted to phone Jason Maddox. Though Maddox worked mostly as a bounty hunter, he was also a licensed PI. Jax held the same licenses, and the two men often worked together. Add to that, they were close friends.
Maddox answered on the second ring, still clearly awake. Not unusual for the guy they called the Hawk. “Ryker, what’s up?”
“We had some trouble at the office tonight. Three guys in a white van went after Mindy.”
“What the hell? Went after her? What happened? Is she okay?”
“She’s pretty shook up, but she’s all right. I’m just glad I was still here when it went down.” He filled Maddox in on the abduction attempt on the cute little receptionist who brought out the protective instincts of every man in the office, and his plan to spend the night at her house.
“I can come over if you think those dickwads might show up at her place.”
“I think they’ll take a step back and regroup,” Jax said. “They had the attack well planned. If I hadn’t stayed late and happened to walk out when I did, it would have gone down like clockwork.” He thought of Mindy fighting off three hardened men, and a fresh wave of fury rolled through him. “But I have to say, our girl gave them bloody hell.”
Maddox grunted. “Good for her.”
Jax sobered. “She couldn’t have held them off much longer, Hawk. They weren’t pros, but they weren’t amateurs, either.”
“We need to figure out what’s going on,” Maddox said.
“Chase is meeting us tomorrow morning at the office.”
