“You want a pain reliever and a hot bath? I’ll get it ready for you.”
The smile on Jagger’s face was breathtaking, and when he kissed my cheek, I had an ear-to-ear grin to match. “I can do it myself. Will you join me? It might be a tight fit, but I don’t mind being squeezed in against you.”
“I’ll do anything you want, baby.”
Look at that. He already had me wrapped around his little finger.
“Call me when you land. Please be careful. If you need me to come to Carson City for any reason, just say the word.” He meant it with all his heart, and it touched me inside.
Jagger came across as standoffish to others, but not to me. To me, he was a kind, loving person who wanted to make things work between us as much as I did. That was a relief.
We were sitting in the drop-off lane outside Harry Reid. I was sure the airport police were going to stroll over to the truck at any moment to demand that Jagger move on, so I was keeping watch. I wanted to kiss him before I got on a plane, and I was holding out hope that the cop had better things to do.
“I’ll call you. I’m hoping to be back by Sunday or Monday, at the latest. Are you working this weekend?”
“I’ll probably be on call so Sparky and Monty can get away early to go to Florida by Monday. We’ve got four guys in San Diego hunting a skip, so it’s just me and Fitz to handle business.”
I couldn’t hold my tongue. “Please don’t go barging into a situation without your partner. I don’t want to come home andfind you beaten up or shot or something. You owe it to me to stay safe.” Nothing like a guilt trip to seal a relationship bond.
Jagger grinned. “Okay, Master Sergeant Gregory—as if you never went into a bad situation without backup. Please be safe too. I don’t like you going off by yourself. If you need me, call. I’ll fly up.”
Two sharp raps on Jagger’s window broke our kiss, which was probably a good thing because I was about to tell him to take us to the closest motel. I gave the cop a thumbs-up and opened the door to get out. “I’ll call you later. I lo— I want you to please be careful.”
I almost said it:I love you.
Two fucking days. I’d spent two fucking days with Jagger Hansen, and I’d been thrown off balance by a man I barely knew. I’d mostly avoided the love bug my whole life, but here I was, already missing him.
An hour later, I was settled in my seat at the back of the plane for the ninety-minute flight to Reno. I’d arranged a rental car at the airport so I could drive to Carson City. It was at that moment that I remembered I hadn’t called Thomas’s office to see if he was in town, which I should have done before I got on the damn plane.
The Nevada governor had two offices in the state: one in Carson City, the state capital, and one in Las Vegas. How dumb was I not to have confirmed where he was? My mind was too full of Jagger to allow rational thoughts to seep in.
I went to the rental desk, got the car squared away, and then went to the parking lot. Once I had my bag in the back of a small SUV, I headed toward the governor’s office not far from the airport.
When had Mom sent the money to Thomas? Why did he have such a large amount at the mansion?
Depositing dirty money into a bank would have brought its own share of problems, but keeping the money at the house seemed like an extremely bad idea. I needed to find out more about the money—even if I had to beat it out of my baby brother.
Chapter Twelve
Jagger
I went to the office after dropping Bailey at the airport. My heart was heavy as hell, but I was holding out hope for my wish to come true. I wanted the man I loved to come back to me, safe and sound. Was that too much to ask?
The day ahead of me was a fucking burden, especially knowing Bailey wouldn’t be there when I finished work for the day. It was, however, better than stewing in an empty house with nothing to do. Fitz’s truck was parked in the lot, so I went inside and found him at his desk across from mine.
“Hey, Fitz. How was San Diego?”
Fitz glanced up and shrugged. “We barely got there before Sparky called us back. We had a bead on that asshole, I swear. Sparky called for Monty to come back—something about Florida and an old case of his? I’m just glad to be home. I thought you were taking a few days off to go to Carson City with Bailey.”
I took a deep breath, wishing I were in Carson City right now. “He needed to go alone. It’s a family issue.”
I hoped that was what it was. I didn’t want to think Bailey didn’t want me along because he was sick of me.
“Gotcha. Anyway, there are a few bail checks we need to make today. Sparky and Monty went to CCDC to bail out a DUI who was arraigned this morning. Sparky almost didn’t agree to it—the bail was set at a hundred grand because the guy crashed at Sands and East Desert Inn, taking out a bus stop. He killed one and severely injured two people. We all know Sparky doesn’t like bailing out idiots. Maria Ramirez was the perfect example.”
“Shit. That sucks. Did he mention that Maria Ramirez killed herself?” Her suicide was still bothering me.
If Maria had a death wish, shouldn’t her aunt have picked up on it while Maria was living with her? Bailey and I hadn’t stuck around to find out what the aunt had to say because it was out of our purview, but the cop in me wondered if there was more to it.
