He falls silent and shakes his head.All while his Nolan comment snags my full attention.What if Nolan killed Elodie’s horse to make sure Jaxie got out of the cabin?He couldn’t have known Elodie had no way to reach Jaxie, because her messages came in when we were coming down the mountain.Jaxie mentioned she forgot to give Elodie the satellite phone number.
It could be another coincidence, and for sure as shit was Jaxie’s decision to go home a spur of the moment thing...but what if we didn’t?Would someone...would Nolan or Burk have tried to sneak in while we were there?
I shove the thought away when Murray smacks my shoulder.“Did you hear me?What’s this all about?The girl said she doesn’t have enemies, while there was written ‘you’re next’ on the stable’s wall.I looked at the crime scene pictures Orson gave me.Nasty shit.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I try to decide what’s best.Trusting the wrong person can be a huge risk.Not trusting anyone can have the same result.
Fuck it.“I think it’s related to Jaxie.”
Murray crosses his arms over his chest.“Explain.”
I start to rattle off some of the important highlights.Until movement, and the sound of a vehicle draws our attention.We both glance in the direction to see a truck approach.
Murray voices my thoughts exactly when he states, “What the fuck is Ballard doing here?”
Ballard parks his truck and jumps out, his face showing the same surprise.“What are you guys doing here?”
“What the fuck are you doin’ here?”I snarl.
He holds his hands palms up.“Calm down, Seamus.Royce asked me to swing by and check on Dax’s daughter.Wait.Did he ask you two to do the same thing?”
Murray places his hands on his hips.“When did he ask you to swing by?”
“Royce called me into his office when we came back from our assignment, remember?”Ballard waits for Murray to nod.“Well, he expressed his concerns about Dax’s daughter, being all alone after her father’s death.I offered to visit, but he told me to wait, said he’d call when it was a good time for me to swing by.”
Murray and I share a look.Royce has to be in on shit.Why else would he make Ballard go by the cabin after it’s been trashed?And why Ballard?
“Are you just following orders or trying to get into her panties?”Murray asks.
A low rumble flows through my chest.
Ballard narrows his eyes at me and then bounces his gaze between Murray and me.“Look, I have no clue what the hell is going on here, okay?I’m just following orders, and to be honest?I was a bit concerned about her myself when I overhead Burk.He was on the phone with someone when he said he was done waiting and wanted the cunt’s share of the company because it was his right.”
I turn to Murray and murmur, “He must have been talking to Nolan.”
“Nolan Lowell?”Ballard frowns.“What the hell does Nolan have to do with it?”
“Burk is Nolan’s bio-daddy,” Murray states.
Ballard rears his head back.“Say what now?Burk is Nolan’s biological father?Daaaaamn, that makes so much sense.No wonder Nolan had nine lives when it came to not being thrown out on his ass after screwing up assignments time and time again.Well, until your accident when he left you to handle the assignment.Fucker.It should have been him instead of you.”
I might as well give him more details too.“Nolan was responsible.Dax had information it wasn’t an accident.Dax was supposed to be in the vehicle too, and I was the only one who knew he cancelled the ride due to Jaxie’s panic attack.Nolan replaced himself with me because he wanted me to be gone as well ’cause I filed a complaint against him.With everything we discovered through the information Dax gathered?It’s pretty clear Dax saw his own death coming.It’s why he gave me the assignment to protect his daughter.”
Ballard bobs his head and murmurs, “Dax used you as his personal assistant the way Royce uses me.Shit.Do you think Royce is in on it too?They want the piece of the company that’s now in Jaxie’s name.But...why would Royce send me over here to check on her?”
“Guilty conscience?”Murray grunts.“Fucker.I’m not buying it.Maybe to cover his own ass, who knows?All of this smells fishy and to me it looks more like two sharks circling the bait.We need to protect Jaxie.If Burk or Nolan, or Burk using Nolan, whatever...killed Dax, and now have their eyes set on Jaxie?We have to prevent it from happening.Not just because both of us still work there.Damn.I don’t know if I’d want to work at a place knowing one boss killed the other or at least is responsible for his death.”
“Agreed.”Ballard gives him a tight nod.
I release a sigh.“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.Royce might be in on it, or he has his suspicions and concerns.For now, I haven’t found anything indicating he’s in on it.Like you said, our main concern is keeping Jaxie alive while we dig deeper to connect everything.We’d need hard evidence against both Nolan and Burk to end them.”
“Sounds like a plan.So, what am I reporting back to Royce?”Ballard asks.
I throw him a glance.“Stick to a level of truth.You found me with her.She’s mine.Easy enough with my mother always taking care of the cabin when they’re not here.I stocked the place before she came here, and I came to check.Someone saw us that day, so they already know I’m here.”
“Which means they would have to come up with a new plan.Killing two people and making it look like an accident is harder than taking a woman out in a lone cabin.”Murray winces.“I guess I’ll take Elodie with me to my cabin, safer for all of us to split up.”
“Who’s Elodie?”Ballard questions.
