Lynnette offered her a grin and wiggled her brows.
Chapter sixteen
Unwanted Answers
“You want me totake my truck to a mechanic that was recommended to you by a guy you only met earlier today?”
Lynnette’s question was entirely reasonable, and Jon was just grateful enough to her for everything she’d done for Jenna that his waning patience held steady. It’d been a long fucking afternoon and he was ready to put it behind him.
Jon nodded with a learned calmness. “Unless you’ve got a guy you trust to do the work and keep quiet, yeah.”
Lynnette folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t make a habit of needing a regular mechanic, so no, I don’t ‘have a guy’. But why are you so sure we can trust this one?”
“The Army guy I met this morning says he works as a mechanic by trade and rebuilds older-model cars as a hobby. And he’s, quote, damn good.” Jon paused. “I’ll cover the cost. Just let me know when the work’s done and I’ll meet you with the money.”
“I thought the different branches didn’t get along?” Lynnette frowned. “My dad was Navy. He always talked shit about Army, Air Force, a little less-so Marines.”
Jon felt his lips twitch. “We do talk shit,” he said. “We’ll give each other shit to our dying breaths. But we also have each other’s backs when it counts. It’s a big, fucked up, extended family mentality.”
Lynnette rolled her eyes, but he saw the grin tugging at her mouth. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll call that guy. But if he doesn’t answer, I’m finding my own. And you can keep your money.”
No way was he making his buddy’s girl pay for damages she’d incurred protectinghisgirl, but Jon figured there was no need to have that argument just yet.
Jenna slumped against Jon’s shoulder from her spot next to him on the bench. “Are we really sure it was okay to just … leave them there?” Her question was quiet, hesitant, and he hated it. He hated that she’d had to be anywhere near that type of violence, let alone the target of it.
Jon curled his arm around her back and pulled her properly against his side. “It would’ve been too much work to dig a large enough grave, even assuming we could successfully transport them somewhere with better dirt. But there’s no evidence of us left at the scene, and even if the two survivors squeal to the sheriff—which I doubt they’ll do—what do they really know?” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “They know they attacked you. Theyknow they brought weapons. They know they thought they had the advantage, and that they were in a three-on-one fight against an unarmed woman. She knocked their asses out, broke a couple bones, and when they wake up, they’ll find their buddies dead and targets missing.”
It was imperfect, but not the worst scenario.
Jenna nodded against him. She was still worried, still shaken, and there wasn’t much he could do for any of it.
After getting the cut on her leg bandaged, Jon had taken charge of the scene. He’d hauled the dead guy out of Lynnette’s truck, rolled the bastard toward the edge of the asphalt and dropped the guy’s knife beside him. He’d made sure to take some pictures of the distinctive tat around the guy’s neck because even at that point he’d already been planning to make a call to an old friend over in intelligence and see what kind of favors he could cash in. Then he’d washed out Lynnette’s truck bed, leaving no trace of blood or dirt or foreign finger prints.
Somewhere along the way he’d been obligated to explain his superpowered secret, but he’d long since forgotten the fear he’d once known of a stranger’s potential reaction. Lynnette had insisted he was the first person she’d ever met with such a power, and he’d had to bite his tongue. Apparently, Lance hadn’t found the right opportunity to share that particular secret yet.
He’d rinsed Jenna’s blood from the scene—off the ground, out of Lynnette’s truck, and off the other dead guy’s knife—for good measure. It may or may not come back that the women had been attacked, but he didn’t want her too closely associated with a corpse.
He’d made sure to gather his shell casings, washed away any gunpowder residue from his own skin and wiped clean his weapon. A few less bullets were of little concern. Jon grabbed pictures of each of the attackers’ IDs. Then they’d set about pilfering keys, carefully maneuvering vehicles, until finally thegirls’ vehicles were free. Assailant vehicles were re-parked, keys returned, and everyone had departed for a quiet picnic area on the outskirts of Klamath Falls.
Along the way, Jon made several phone calls. To Lance, to Alex, and to his old friend Dietz. Dietz didn’t immediately have anything to offer, of course, but he’d promised to call back with something. With names and thatVeracruztattoo, Jon was confident the man would come through.
For the moment, they were once again at a standstill.
Lynnette shoved from the table with a groan. “All right, I guess I’m making a call.” She pointed at the both of them. “Keep me in the loop. Those bastards came at me, too, and now my baby’s out of commission. Not to mention the looks I’m going to get, showing up to work tomorrow with these knuckles.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jenna asked. “Maybe take a day or two off? I can drive you home.”
Lynnette waved Jenna’s words away. “I’ll just have to rent a car, anyway. No sense putting that off.” But it was hard to miss the way she winced at the thought.
Jenna shifted at Jon’s side, keys jangled, and then she’d tossed a peeled off set of keys on a ring across the table. “Borrow mine,” she said. “I’m not exactly working right now, anyway. And if it was connected to that incident the other day, then those guys were only after me, so what happened to your truck is my fault.”
Jon scowled.
Lynnette scooped the detached keys off the table and shook them at Jenna. “If this is a guilt offer, I will drive your car straight back to your driveway and leave these keys in the glove compartment.”
“It’s a good-friend offer,” Jenna returned. “You did a solid for me, and yes, I feel bad that that ended up putting you in a bind, so the least I can do is offer a solid for you. I’ll be fine.” Her hand landed on Jon’s thigh without warning. “Jon will take mehome, right?” She turned and smiled up at him like it was ever in question.
Jon grinned, leaned in to press his lips to her hairline, and replied, “I was going home with you regardless.” He watched Jenna’s face flame for a second, tried not to think too hard about the way her grip on his thigh tightened, and turned his eyes forward. “I’ll take care of her. You just stay vigilant.”
