Six-Gun Showdown

by Delores Fossen

  His brothers Chase and Levi were at Jax’s house standing guard. The ranch hands were patrolling the grounds and had already searched the perimeter for snipers. Added to that, the road leading to the ranch was a crime scene now and was crawling with Texas Rangers, CSIs, the bomb squad, firefighters and even two of Appaloosa Pass’s own reserve deputies. With all those people on the grounds, Jax’s house was on lockdown and would stay that way until he could get home and move Matthew to a safer location.

  Wherever that would be.

  Belinda certainly wanted to know that, too, because she’d called twice and then left a voice mail when Jax hadn’t answered her third call. He knew the nanny was worried, as well she should be, but right now he wouldn’t be able to do much to calm any of her fears.

  Jax walked closer, though he already had Paige’s attention. Cord’s as well because he ended his latest phone call and stared at Jax.

  “There wasn’t a body in the truck,” Jax explained. “The bomb guys have cleared the CSI team to go in and start gathering evidence, but the explosive device inside the truck appears to have been on a timer.”

  Paige released the breath she’d obviously been holding, and despite the fact that she was getting stitches near her hairline, she shook her head. “They didn’t find the Moonlight Strangler,” she said. Not a question. Probably because she knew Jax wouldn’t be scowling if they’d managed to nail the SOB.

  “Somebody drove that truck to the ranch,” Cord snapped. He had two nurses working on him, and they were stitching up his head, arms and even his left leg. They’d cut his jeans to get to the wound. “That means he escaped.”

  Jax nodded. Then shrugged. “But we don’t know for sure the Moonlight Strangler was even there. Do we?” And he made sure there was displeasure in his tone. Plenty of it. Because Jax was still riled to the core that he hadn’t been included in this stupid plan before it’d turned deadly.

  “He wants to kill me,” Paige stated. “He would have been close enough to make sure he could do that.”

  No displeasure in her voice, but there was plenty of frustration and pain, both physical and otherwise. She winced when the nurse added another stitch.

  “Sorry, Paige,” the nurse apologized. She was Misty Carlton, someone Jax and Paige had known their entire lives. Ditto for the other nurses working on Cord. With all the other folks coming in and out of the ER, Cord figured it was already all over town that Paige was alive.

  He’d have to deal with that, too.

  The other members of his family would have to be told. And Matthew, of course. His son was too young to remember Paige, but Jax doubted he could keep Paige from Matthew. Well, not forever, anyway. But for now, he pushed that problem aside and went with the most obvious one.

  Jax shifted his attention to Cord. “You couldn’t talk Paige out of going through with this plan to meet with your birth father?”

  Cord’s jaw muscles flickered and tensed. No doubt because of the birth father reference. Yeah, it was a petty dig, but Jax was pissed off that a trained DEA agent—supposedly a top-notch one, too—had allowed a victim to arrange a showdown with a serial killer.

  “Have you ever been able to talk Paige out of anything?” Cord countered.

  That was a petty dig, as well. But it was the truth. To say that Paige was hardheaded was like saying the sky had a little bit of blue in it.

  “Don’t blame Cord for this,” Paige spoke up. “If he hadn’t come with me, I would have done it alone.”

  Jax was certain that tightened some of his own jaw muscles. “Of course you would have, and look where it got you.” His gaze went back to Cord. “Have you tried to find a personal link between Paige’s biological mother, Mary, and the Moonlight Strangler?” Especially since Mary was one of the Moonlight Strangler’s first known victims.

  “Of course,” Cord snapped, clearly insulted that Jax had asked the obvious. “I haven’t found one yet. And yes, I did alert the FBI when Paige’s DNA test came back as a match to Mary’s.”

  “Any reason you didn’t tell me?” Jax pressed.

  “Because I asked him not to,” Paige volunteered before Cord could say anything. “I thought if too many people were trying to make the connection between Mary and me that the Moonlight Strangler would suspect I was alive.”

  Jax was already riled six ways to Sunday, and that didn’t help. “I’m not ‘too many people.’” He nearly added he was her husband.

  But he wasn’t. Not anymore.

  However, he was still a lawman and the father of her son. That alone should have earned him a place in the inner circle of information.

  “The FBI decided to keep it secret, too,” Cord went on. “Until they can look for a possible link. The lead investigator said there were already too many hands in this particular case.”

  No surprise there. The FBI had been keeping lots of things about this close to the vest. Not that it’d helped. The Moonlight Strangler always seemed to be in the know.

  Especially when it came to Paige.

  Jax was on the verge of questioning her about that, but his phone buzzed before he could say anything. Not Jericho this time, but it was another family member. Or rather a soon-to-be family member. Levi’s fiancée.

  “It’s Alexa,” Jax relayed to Paige.

  That didn’t help Paige’s already pale color, and Jax didn’t have to guess why. Alexa Dearborn and Paige had been best friends, and Paige had even worked for Alexa’s security company when Alexa had been investigating the Moonlight Strangler. It was Paige’s involvement that led to her nearly being killed.

  Jax answered the call but didn’t put it on speaker. “Is it true?” Alexa asked right off. “Is Paige really alive?”

  Even though Paige couldn’t have heard her old friend’s voice, she no doubt guessed what Alexa had asked. “Tell her I’ll call her first chance I get,” Paige said.

  “She’s alive,” Jax told the woman. “And she’ll call you later.”

  Silence. For several long moments. Followed by a hoarse sob from Alexa. No doubt a sob of relief. Later, she’d have questions, but for now Alexa was likely glad that the past months had been just a nightmare and that her friend was alive.

  Jax ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket. “Alexa’s engaged to Levi now.”

  More surprise went through her eyes. Then approval. Alexa and Levi had always had a thing for each other, but until recently Levi—and Jax—hadn’t been able to get past Alexa’s connection to what’d happened to Paige.

  Or rather what they had thought had happened to her.

  “Alexa’s been beating herself up about your ‘death.’” Jax hadn’t said that to make Paige feel any guiltier about what she’d done.

  All right, maybe he had.

  Hell. This sliced into him like a knife, and Jax wasn’t sure where to aim these old and new feelings. Old because he remembered the obsession that’d torn them apart. An obsession in part because of Alexa’s investigation into the Moonlight Strangler.

  The old attraction was still there between Paige and him, too. Jax had gotten a reminder of that when she’d stripped down on the road. Thankfully, she was dressed now in the jeans and shirt she’d been wearing when she had first arrived at the ranch.

  And she was also sporting that pained look on her face.

  That’s where the new feelings played into this. He’d never seen Paige afraid and in pain. But she was now.

  Their gazes held, and things passed between them. Unspoken things that only former lovers could share.

  “I need to see Matthew,” Paige said.

  Well, that took care of any reminders of the old attraction. “It’s not safe.”

  “Make it safe.” Her voice broke. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Please.”

  Until she’d added that please and he’d seen the tears, Jax had been ready to flat-out refuse. He still might. But the trouble was, Paige had a legal right to see their son. Well, unless he could force Paige into protective custody wit
h the marshals. Or he could whisk Matthew away to a safe house out of her reach. Either or both of those things might happen, but Jax was a long way from making that decision.

  Since Jax couldn’t figure out what to do right now, he turned back to Cord.

  But Cord didn’t appear to be in a conversing kind of mood. Even though he was still getting stitched up, he stood when his phone rang. He only glanced at the screen but didn’t answer the call.

  “I have to go,” Cord insisted. He looked at Paige and added, “I’ll be in touch. And remember, don’t do anything stupid.”

  The nurses and Paige looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “We’re not finished,” one of the nurses pointed out, but she was talking to the air because Cord started for the door. He would have just walked out if Jax hadn’t stepped in front of him.

  “You might want to take this drive for justice down a notch,” Jax advised him.

  Cord met his gaze head-on with eyes that Jax recognized because they were a genetic copy of Addie. It was strange to see Addie’s usually loving eyes stare back at him with this raw intensity.

  “My birth father’s a serial killer who’s targeted your wife,” Cord said like a warning. And Jax doubted Cord was stating the obvious to hear himself talk. This was a reminder that Jax had no say in this as far as Cord was concerned.

  “Ex-wife,” Jax automatically corrected, and hated that it was nitpicking.

  Cord continued to stare at him. “He’s targeted Paige and God knows who else. I want him stopped.”

  Jax did his own stating the obvious. “Everyone wants him stopped. But you need to take some precautions. You nearly got yourself killed tonight.”

  “Nearly is good enough. I’m walking out of here alive, and I will find him.” With that, Cord pushed past Jax. Past Jericho, too, who was coming in as Cord was going out.

  “Mr. Sunshine,” Jericho grumbled, upping Cord’s scowl with one of his own.

  That was a little like the pot calling the kettle black, since Jericho wasn’t exactly a cheerful sort of guy. The nurses must have thought so as well because the one working on Paige quickly finished up, and she eased out of the room along with the other two who’d stitched up Cord.

  Jericho’s attention, however, didn’t remain focused on Cord. He turned toward Paige. Or rather glared at her. “Do I want to know why you faked your own death?” Jericho asked.

  She took a moment, probably because she needed it. It’d been a helluva long night, and it was just starting. “At the time, I thought it was the only option I had. Don’t say I told you so,” she added.

  Jericho didn’t say the words, but his shrug and flat look conveyed it. Jax agreed. Paige had had other options, but she hadn’t taken them. She could have let him know she was alive so he could have arranged protective custody for her. For Matthew, too.

  “Please tell me you found the Moonlight Strangler,” Paige said.

  “Afraid not.” And Jericho glanced at a note he’d made on his phone. “Do the names Luca Paulino and Brady Loveland mean anything to you?”

  Paige repeated them and shook her head. “No. Who are they?”

  “They’re the men who attacked Jax and you. Paulino’s the dead one. Loveland’s still out cold. Both had mile-long rap sheets so we were able to match their prints, but neither has an obvious connection to the Moonlight Strangler.”

  Jax didn’t bother to groan, because it was news that he’d expected. The Moonlight Strangler had avoided capture for over thirty years, and he wouldn’t have left a paper trail or any loose ends to lead back to him. And Loveland was definitely a loose end.

  “You have a guard on Loveland?” Jax asked his brother.

  Jericho nodded. “Dexter and Mack.”

  Both deputies. Good. Because if the Moonlight Strangler tried to silence Loveland forever, then Dexter and Mack would be there to stop him.

  “The Moonlight Strangler’s never used hired guns before,” Paige said. It sounded as if she was thinking aloud.

  Both Jericho and Jax made a sound of agreement. This particular serial killer was usually a loner. Yes, he frequently texted, wrote or even called people connected to the investigation, but to the best of Jax’s knowledge, tonight was the first time the Moonlight Strangler had hired thugs to help him.

  Why?

  “He probably knew we wouldn’t just hand Paige over without a fight, so he could have come prepared.” Jax was thinking out loud, too.

  Except he clearly hadn’t given it enough thought because he’d made it sound personal. It was, in a way. But Jax wouldn’t have handed over anyone to the Moonlight Strangler. Paige included.

  “You believe someone else was behind the attack?” Jericho asked, studying him.

  “Maybe.” The Moonlight Strangler was still his top suspect, but Jax wanted to add another possibility to the list. “Darrin Pittman could have put this plan together.”

  Jax could tell that Paige was startled just by the mention of the man’s name. She opened her mouth and looked ready to dismiss it, but then it must have sunk in that he could be right.

  “Pittman,” she repeated in a hoarse whisper.

  Paige was no doubt reliving a different set of memories. Not as nightmarish as those the Moonlight Strangler had given her, but Pittman hated Paige enough to do something like this.

  “That’s the rich college football player who accused you of planting false evidence at a crime scene,” Jericho said to her.

  She nodded. “I gathered his DNA from a rape scene. A frat party gone terribly wrong. He said I put the DNA there. I didn’t.” Paige pushed her hair from her face and then winced when she brushed her fingers over the stitches. “Anyway, Pittman threatened and harassed me.” Her gaze slid to Jax. “Please tell me he was convicted of those rape charges and is in jail.”

  Jax knew she wasn’t going to like his answer. “No. He got off on a legal technicality. Nothing to do with the evidence you gathered, but a goof-up in his interrogation with the cops. He didn’t get any jail time, but he lost his scholarship and was kicked out of school.”

  Paige groaned. “He’s dangerous and shouldn’t be on the street.”

  Jax agreed. He wouldn’t mention that he’d nearly punched Pittman in the face when he’d shown up at the sheriff’s office after Paige’s “death” to gloat about Paige “getting what she deserved.” Jericho had had to hold Jax back. But even Jax’s threats for Pittman to back off hadn’t stopped the man. Pittman had continued to demonstrate his hatred for Paige by posting slurs about her on social media.

  “And you think he could want Paige dead?” Jericho pressed.

  “Oh, yeah. He’d love to see her dead.” No doubt about that in Jax’s mind. “Pittman sent party balloons to Paige’s funeral, and the headstone on her grave’s been vandalized a few times. I’m sure he’s the one who did it.”

  Paige shuddered, maybe at the realization of how much Pittman hated her. Maybe at the reminder that she easily could have been in that grave.

  “I’ll arrange to have Pittman brought in for a little chat,” Jericho offered. “Is there any way Pittman could have found out you’re alive and orchestrated this botched showdown?”

  “No.” But she quickly shook her head. “Maybe. If Pittman suspected I was alive, he has the money to have hired plenty of PIs to locate me. But those first three texts I got weren’t from him. Pittman couldn’t have known those details of my attack. Those were from the Moonlight Strangler, and I’m not sure how he found me. It’s possible though Pittman learned through him or through someone else.”

  “Someone else?” Jericho questioned.

  She dodged his gaze. Not a good sign.

  “Leland Fountain,” she finally said. “He’s the sergeant at SAPD who found me after the attack and reported me dead.”

  “He’s the one who helped you fake your death?” Jax cursed. “I know him.”

  Paige nodded. “Leland and I dated for a while right after high school.”

  Yeah. Jax didn’
t need to be reminded of that. Paige and he had broken up for a few months right before she started college, and she’d met Leland. Jax didn’t think it’d gotten too serious between Paige and Leland, mainly because she’d come back to Appaloosa Pass and him. But maybe the relationship had been more serious than he’d originally thought.

  “And you think Leland could have told Pittman you were alive?” Jericho pressed.

  No gaze dodging or hesitation this time. “No. Not intentionally, anyway. But it’s possible he let something slip.”

  Jax thought there was something else she wasn’t saying. Something he wasn’t going to want to hear, but he didn’t get a chance to press her on it because Paige’s phone made a dinging sound to indicate she had a text message.

  She dug her phone from her pocket, her face bunching up with every little move. Probably because she was sore and bruised from the fall she’d taken during the attack. However, her forehead bunched up even more when she saw the screen.

  “Unknown caller.” Paige’s voice had little sound. “It’s from the Moonlight Strangler. He’s the only person other than Cord and Leland who sends me messages.”

  Her gaze skimmed over the screen, and with her hands shaking, she gave the phone to Jax so he could see it for himself. And what he saw was the string of profanity. Really bad curse words. All aimed at Paige. After that was a short warning:

  This isn’t over.

  Jax hadn’t thought for one second that it was, but it seemed to shake Paige to the core to see it spelled out like that.

  Jericho read through the message, too, and he stared at the phone a moment before looking at Paige. “How do you know this is actually from the Moonlight Strangler?”

  The question seemed to throw her for a moment, maybe because she thought Jericho was disputing what she’d told them. “Because the killer’s been texting me, and like I told Jax, he knew details about my attack that weren’t released to the press. Details that only me, the killer and Leland knew. Pittman certainly didn’t know so he couldn’t have sent the texts to set this up. Those had to have come from the Moonlight Strangler.”

  Jericho held up the phone for her to see. “And he used this much name-calling and profanity?”