Six-Gun Showdown

by Delores Fossen

  “Was anything else broken or taken?” Jax asked her, not only because he wanted to know but also because he would get them talking about this potential break-in rather than Paige.

  Belinda’s glare stayed on Paige for a while before she finally shook her head. “Nothing that I found. Nothing else seemed to be out of place.”

  So, why would someone break in only to destroy a photo of Paige? Jax figured he knew the answer to that, and it was an answer he didn’t like one bit.

  “You should go home now,” he told Belinda.

  She frantically shook her head. “But Matthew—”

  “Will be fine,” he interrupted. Jax hoped that was true, anyway. “I’ll call you later when I have some things settled.”

  Belinda took hold of his arm and opened her mouth as if she might argue about staying. But then she glanced at Paige, the anger returning to Belinda’s eyes. “You’d be a fool to get involved with her again. Just remember how she broke your heart and don’t let it happen again.”

  And with that crystal-clear warning, Belinda walked out. Or rather she stormed out.

  Jax went back to the window to watch her leave. “She’s not usually this, well, emotional.” Not the exact word he wanted to use, but at least it didn’t include any profanity.

  “She’s in love with you,” Paige provided.

  This would have been a really good time for him to deny it. But he couldn’t. Because it was almost certainly true.

  He was about to assure Paige that he hadn’t encouraged Belinda’s feelings, but he stopped himself. Saying something like that might only encourage this blasted attraction between Paige and him.

  That attraction already had enough steam without his adding more.

  “I didn’t break in,” Paige insisted. “And I certainly wouldn’t have done this to my own photo.” She paused. “But maybe Belinda did.”

  Again, it would have been a good time to deny that, but it was indeed possible. Jax hated that he could even consider that Belinda would do something like that. He trusted her with his son’s life. His safety. And if Belinda was coming unglued over the prospect of Paige’s return, then he didn’t want her anywhere near Matthew. Telling her that, though, would go over like a lead balloon.

  “Maybe the picture just fell the way Belinda suggested,” Paige added. “Maybe.” But she didn’t sound any more certain about that than Jax.

  Since the picture seemed to turn Paige’s stomach—it was doing that to him, too—he put it facedown on the counter. “I’ll have it checked for prints and traces just in case.” Though any evidence had likely already been destroyed.

  Paige shuddered and scrubbed her hands down her arms. “If the Moonlight Strangler was really here in the house...” She didn’t finish that. No need. Jax was right there with her at that sickening thought.

  Was this part of the warped game he’d been playing with Paige?

  Jax’s phone buzzed, and he was so on edge that the sound startled him. But it was only Jericho. Maybe calling with good news, because heaven help them, they needed it.

  “I got another text,” Jericho said the moment Jax answered.

  Damn. He knew from his brother’s tone that this was from the killer. Or else someone pretending to be the killer. Either way, it definitely wouldn’t fall into the good-news category.

  “Want me to send a screenshot or just read it?” Jericho asked.

  “Read it.” Jax doubted Paige wanted to see anything else that was stomach-turning. That’s also why he didn’t put the call on speaker. He could give Paige a sanitized version of the message afterward.

  “‘Tell Paige that I hope she’s enjoying her visit with your son’s nanny,’” Jericho read. “‘Guess it didn’t go well, considering how Belinda sped away.’”

  “He’s watching us,” Jax said on the tail end of a single word of profanity.

  “Yeah. And the CSIs used infrared to search the area around your house.” Jericho paused. “That means there are probably cameras somewhere. Small ones that the CSIs missed. There shouldn’t be any snipers because we set up sensors to alert us if anyone is hiding out in those trees near your house. If the sensors are triggered, the alarm at the main house will sound, and one of the hands will call you right away.”

  Good. Though it was a precaution that Jax hoped they didn’t need. Especially since he’d be moving Paige soon.

  Hell, he hoped so, anyway.

  “I’m sending the CSIs out there now to check for cameras,” Jericho continued. “I’ll have them go through the cruiser and the other vehicles as well, but you can have the hands go ahead and start looking, too.”

  It was something Jax should have already thought to check, especially since it wouldn’t have been that hard for someone to attach a camera or tracking device. However, it was possible someone had done that when they broke in.

  “I’ll need the house checked, too,” Jax added. “And I’m bringing in a photo that I need processed for evidence.” He was about to explain what had happened, or rather what had possibly happened, but a sound stopped him.

  Two cars were approaching.

  After the run-in he’d just had with Belinda, at first he thought the woman was returning for another conversation. But these weren’t vehicles he recognized. This was a sleek silver sports car and a blue pickup truck.

  “I’ll call you back,” he told Jericho and then glanced at Paige. “Stay away from the window.” And Jax drew his gun.

  But she didn’t stay back. She hurried to the fridge, took the gun that he had stashed there and looked out just as the man stepped from the car.

  “Oh, God,” Paige said under her breath. “What’s he doing here?”

  Jax intended to find out. And fast. Because their tall, blond-haired visitor was none other than Darrin Pittman.

  Hell. What now?

  Jax also recognized the other much smaller man who threw open the truck door. So did Paige.

  “Leland,” she grumbled, clearly not happy.

  Neither was Jax. This was yet someone else he didn’t want near Matthew, Paige or his home.

  Leland got out of his truck, and in the same motion, he drew his gun. And he aimed it right at Darrin.

  Chapter Eight

  Paige wasn’t in the mood to deal with either Darrin or Leland, much less both of them at once. And she certainly didn’t want to face them while still wearing Jax’s pajamas.

  “Will Leland shoot Darrin?” Jax asked her.

  “Possibly.” It was sad that she didn’t know for sure. “Leland knows that Darrin harassed and threatened me. And Leland’s got somewhat of a short fuse. Stall them. I’ll talk to them after I’ve changed.”

  Jax looked at her as if she’d sprouted some extra noses. “You’re not going out there.”

  She appreciated his attempt to protect her, but she was going to have to overrule him on this. “I want to find out if Darrin was behind the attack last night, and he’s far more likely to say something to me than to you or Leland. Even if what he says is out of anger.”

  Except it wasn’t anger when it came to Darrin. More like blind rage.

  “Make sure someone’s with Matthew,” she said to Jax, maybe insulting him, since it was so obvious.

  Still, she didn’t want to take any chances with Matthew’s safety, especially since there were so many other things about this dangerous situation that they couldn’t control.

  Paige didn’t wait for Jax to respond to or argue with her. She hurried back to the guest room and practically threw on jeans and a top. No change of clothes. She’d cleared all of her personal things out during the divorce, but Jax had washed and dried her things after lending her his pj’s.

  She kept the gun she’d taken from the fridge and prayed she didn’t have to use it. While she was praying, she added that maybe Matthew would sleep through all of this.

  “I’m ready,” she said, racing back to the kitchen.

  But Jax wasn’t there. Levi was, though. He was in the back doo
rway. She huffed when she glanced out the window and spotted Jax in the side yard. He, too, had his gun drawn.

  “Jax says I’m supposed to keep you inside,” Levi warned her.

  The flat look she gave him must have made him realize this was a battle he’d lose, because he cursed and stepped aside. She got another scowl and some unspoken profanity from Jax when she walked out onto the back porch.

  “You shouldn’t be out here,” Leland shouted to her. Other than a glance, he didn’t actually look at her. He kept his attention, and gun, nailed to Darrin.

  “He’s right,” Jax agreed, his gaze sweeping all around them. Levi and the ranch hands were doing the same.

  Paige didn’t go out in the yard. She stayed on the porch and wished that Jax would do the same. No such luck. He was right out there where he could be gunned down.

  If Darrin cared one ounce about being held at gunpoint, or being out in the open with a killer loose, he didn’t show it, and unlike Leland he kept his gaze on her.

  And Darrin smiled.

  That sick smile she’d seen him dole out too many times before he issued a veiled threat or called her some vile name. She’d told Jax the truth about Leland having a temper, but it was as cold as ice compared to Darrin’s.

  It’d been a year since she’d seen Darrin. He certainly hadn’t been smiling at her then. He’d been threatening her with yet another lawsuit and with bodily harm. But other than that, he hadn’t changed. He was still driving a pricey car. Still wearing those high-end preppy clothes. Probably still living off his trust fund and assaulting women any chance he got. There was a string of women who’d made complaints against him for sexual assault, but the complaints always disappeared when his daddy paid off people in the legal system.

  All but one.

  The rape charge where Paige had collected the evidence. That was the start of this whole nightmare with Darrin.

  “Why are you here?” Paige asked, aiming the question at Darrin, but she also glanced at Leland to let him know she wanted an answer from him, as well.

  “Visiting you, of course,” Darrin said, that smile still on his face. The morning breeze tossed his fashionably rumpled hair. “Back from the dead, I see, but you’re looking a little beat-up there, Paige. What? Did you piss off the wrong person and get smacked around? That bruise and scar look good on you.”

  “Shut up,” Leland warned him. He continued to stand there, his gun aimed at Darrin.

  “Both of you shut up,” Jax warned Leland and Darrin right back. “Neither of you should be here. This is private property, and you’re trespassing.”

  Leland flinched as if Jax had slugged him. Maybe because he expected cooperation from a brother in blue? But after the attack, Jax wasn’t in a trusting mood, and it probably didn’t help that Leland was her old flame.

  “Just taking a detour,” Darrin said. “Your brother, the sheriff, told me to come in for questioning.” Now his gaze narrowed when he looked at Paige. “Guess you’ve been telling lies about me again?”

  “No need. The truth will get you in more trouble than any lie I can make up. You raped a woman.”

  “Not according to the law.” Darrin outstretched his arms. “I’m free as a bird.”

  “Not for long if I have anything to say about it,” Leland volunteered. “I was on my way into town to talk to the sheriff, and I spotted this clown heading out here. I figured he was looking for Paige so he could cause some trouble.”

  “I was looking for her,” Darrin readily admitted. “But not to cause trouble. I just wanted to welcome her home. And to let her know that I’m ready to do whatever it takes to clear my name. That involves getting her to tell the truth about that so-called evidence.”

  Paige couldn’t help it. She laughed. Not from humor, but from the absurdity of his threat. “Someone wants me dead. Clearing your name isn’t anywhere on my list of things to do. Unless, of course, you’re the one who orchestrated the attack against us last night.”

  Darrin shrugged, but she thought maybe she’d hit a nerve. Of course, Paige had no idea if that was because he was truly innocent of the attack or if he was riled that she’d figured him out so easily.

  “Let’s end this so that Paige can go inside,” Jax said. He tipped his head to Darrin. “You get back in your car now and leave. Go straight to the sheriff’s office so you can be charged with trespassing and any other charge I can come up with.”

  Paige thought Darrin would argue with that, but he glanced around at the five guns aimed at him and must have considered that staying just wasn’t a bright idea.

  Darrin threw open his car door, his glare going right to Paige. “This isn’t over.”

  The words went through her like knives. Because it was the exact threat the Moonlight Strangler had made to her.

  Or had he?

  She’d been so certain that the texts had been from the true serial killer, but maybe it’d all been a hoax set up by none other than Darrin. Of course, it didn’t make this situation any less deadly.

  Darrin started his car and sped off, gunning the engine so that the tires kicked up some pebbles right at Leland. Leland sidestepped them, but what he didn’t do was get in his truck and follow Darrin. Instead, he came closer to the porch.

  “I need to talk to Paige,” Leland said. His tone wasn’t that of a tough cop. Nor was it directed at her. He looked at Jax when he spoke, and he was clearly bargaining with a fellow officer.

  “Why don’t we all go inside,” Leland continued, “so Paige isn’t out in the open? There could be snipers in the area.”

  “The area’s been cleared,” Jax snapped.

  Maybe it would stay that way. Of course, the threat could be standing in front of them. Except Paige wasn’t sure she believed it. Darrin clearly wanted to do her harm. Ditto for the Moonlight Strangler. And Belinda probably just wanted her to disappear again. But Leland had actually helped her.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Paige told Jax.

  Oh, Jax did not like that, but she tried to silently convey to him that she wanted to question Leland to see if he knew anything about the attack.

  The seconds crawled by, and she watched Jax have a debate with himself. She also saw the moment he conceded.

  “Holster your gun,” Jax ordered Leland. “You’ve got five minutes, so talk fast. And you’re not going inside. Anything you say can be said on the porch.”

  However, Jax did come onto the porch, and he maneuvered her into the doorway so she’d be more protected. And so that he’d be partially in front of her.

  Jax leaned in closer to Levi. “Ask the ranch hands to start searching the cruiser and the other vehicles for cameras or tracking devices,” Jax instructed. “I need to make sure they’re clean in case we have to leave fast. I also want them to check the exterior of the house.”

  With that task out of the way, Jax turned back to Leland, but Leland was staring at her now. Maybe glaring, too.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” Leland told her. “I want to help you, something I’ve been doing for months now.”

  “Yeah, she told me all about that,” Jax snapped. “She also told me you two recently had a parting of the ways.”

  Leland flinched. Clearly hurt that she’d confided in Jax about something that he would see as a personal matter between them. And maybe she’d been wrong to tell Jax. Maybe her newfound concerns about Leland were the product of an adrenaline crash and too little sleep. If that was the case, then she would owe him a huge apology.

  But not now.

  Not until she was sure.

  “You need to be careful of Darrin,” Leland said, not to her but rather to Jax. “He’s fighting a civil lawsuit filed by the woman he raped. The DNA that Paige gathered at the crime scene is admissible in that particular trial, and Darrin wants Paige to admit she lied and planted evidence.”

  She’d known about the civil suit, of course, but with everything else going on, she hadn’t mentioned it to Jax. Of course, Darrin already had a moti
ve to come after her—revenge—but this only added to it. Maybe he believed if he killed her, or drove her crazy, then she wouldn’t be able to testify at the trial. Or be around to try to get him convicted of the original charges.

  “Did you come to my house yesterday?” Jax asked Leland. “Did you break in?”

  Leland huffed, clearly insulted, and tapped his badge. “I uphold the law. I don’t break it.” Another huff. “Look, obviously you have a beef with me because Paige turned to me and not to you after she was nearly killed, but I’m not the enemy here. Paige and I have a history together, and she trusted me. Not you.”

  Now it was Jax who was insulted. Or maybe just riled. “Paige turned to you because she thought that was the only way to save our son. It wasn’t.”

  “Maybe. But the danger’s still here, isn’t it? Your son is at risk, and that didn’t happen until Paige came back.”

  She hadn’t exactly had a choice about that, either. “The Moonlight Strangler found me,” she reminded Leland, though there was no way he could have forgotten something as monumental as that.

  Still, Leland shook his head. “I went to your apartment in Houston yesterday, looking for you. When you weren’t there, I used my key to get in.”

  Jax jumped right on that. “He has a key?”

  Paige nodded. Not her doing, exactly. “The apartment is in Leland’s name. He got an extra key when he signed the lease.”

  Something she hadn’t known about until weeks after she’d moved in, and Leland had surprised her one morning. After that, Paige had installed a swinging door bar latch and used it anytime she was inside.

  Leland nodded. “When I was there yesterday, I found a listening device in the kitchen. Someone must have broken in and planted it there.”

  With everything else that had gone on, that shouldn’t have chilled her to the bone. But it did. Someone had spied on her. And still was, judging from the texts she’d gotten.

  “The bug had been there a while,” Leland went on, “because there was some dust on it. My theory is that Darrin found you, broke in and planted the bug.”