I feel sick to my stomach.Pieces of the puzzle are falling in place.Seamus’s satellite phone rings and he gets up to answer it.I’m still locked inside my mind, thinking over the blanks Edna just filled in to give everyone the full picture.
We still don’t have proof my mother, or my father’s death was murder instead of random accidents.
“Jaxie, come on, we need to go,” Seamus says.
He’s standing in front of me and the look he gives me shows it’s not the first time he said it.
“What?Why?” I sign.
“Murray and Elodie are at the cabin, it’s been trashed.Someone was probably in there looking for the file while we were gone,” Seamus states and my eyes go wide.
CHAPTER TWELVE
–SEAMUS –
The flow of information points directly at Burk, giving him more than one motive.I’ve never liked the fucker.Working for Stalwart Ridge security for me was mostly due to my mother, Dax, Royce, Murray, and Ballard.
I never had to deal with Burk because he was more the guy behind the scenes, trying to secure new assignments.Dax and Royce were the ones to assign people and talk through the assignments with clients when needed.Hell, if it wasn’t for my mother I’d probably either still be serving my country or be in law enforcement.
All of ‘what could have been’ is in the past.It doesn’t do shit for where I am now.Though, one look at Jaxie makes me forget my own issues and focus on hers.This goes way beyond the assignment Dax gave me.Over the past couple of days, it’s rapidly become personal.Jaxie is my woman, and I’ll gladly lay down my own damn life to pull her from the shit she’s wrapped in.
Parking her vehicle beside the cabin, I get out and hold the door open for both dogs to jump out.I scan our surroundings and notice nothing out of the ordinary.There’s only one explanation for someone getting into Jaxie’s cabin without triggering the security I’ve put in place.
Someone with inside knowledge about the security system I installed.A fucking rookie mistake on my part.I should have changed things up and should have seen it coming.Though, I never expected the threat to come from inside the company.A company that almost took my life.
The reminder of my accident...what I always thought was a damn accident, is now exposed as the first attempt on Dax’s life.I grit my teeth and step closer to Jaxie to pull her against my body as I guide her to the cabin.
The dogs start to bark and are excited to see the two people inside they both know.Murray and Elodie are standing on opposite sides of the room.I frown and bounce my gaze between them.They both try to cover up whatever was going on between them when Elodie gives her attention to Benny and Murray signals for me to follow him out.
Glancing down at Jaxie, I tell her, “I’ll be right back.Stay inside, and don’t clean up the mess yet.I want to walk through the scene first.Okay?”
Jaxie tilts her head back and whispers, “Okay.”
Leaning in, I brush my lips against hers.She instantly welcomes my tongue and I deepen the kiss for a few heartbeats before pulling back.Ignoring both Elodie and Murray’s expression, I stalk out and this time it’s me signaling Murray to follow me outside.
“What the hell is going on, man?”Murray hisses once the door falls shut behind us.“You call me to pick up this chick whose horse was killed.And fuck, the animal is not just killed, he was slaughtered.Someone took a machete and...do you remember when I reported Nolan?The goat he chopped to pieces?”
