“Did you see the person who broke in?” Jax asked Belinda. His tone wasn’t impatient exactly, but it was close. Probably because it was still morning and they’d already been through the wringer a couple of times.
Belinda took her time gathering her breath. “I didn’t see him, but I heard his phone ring. And then I heard him talking. I ran straight here.”
Jax and she exchanged glances with Jericho. It was Jericho who continued. “How long ago did this happen?”
“Fifteen or so minutes.”
Mercy. That was about the same time Paige had called the Moonlight Strangler. Was it possible he’d been there in Belinda’s house?
“Did you hear anything the intruder said?” Paige pressed.
Belinda shook her head, then she stopped. “I did. I didn’t remember it until now, but I did hear something.” She looked at Paige, her eyes suddenly narrowing. “He said your name.”
Oh, God. That’s the first thing the killer had said when he answered the phone. Paige. And that could only mean one thing.
Belinda was the Moonlight Strangler’s next target.
Chapter Eleven
Hell.
Jax wanted to dismiss all this as a really bad coincidence. But he couldn’t. The Moonlight Strangler had admitted he had another woman on his radar. A blonde.
Like Belinda.
And Jax wouldn’t put it past the killer to go after yet someone else close to his family.
“What is it?” Belinda asked, obviously picking up on the bad vibes.
Jax wasn’t sure how much he should tell her. This could all be part of the killer’s sick game, a ruse. Or Belinda could be lying to get some attention from him. But he couldn’t take that chance.
“The Moonlight Strangler could have been the person in your house.”
Belinda’s breath rushed out, and she looked ready to keel over. All right. That reaction looked pretty darn genuine.
“You’re responsible for this,” Belinda muttered several moments later. And she was looking at Paige when she said it.
“How is Paige responsible?” Jax asked, huffing. But Paige wasn’t huffing. She was a little thunderstruck.
“She drew him here.” Belinda made it seem as if the answer was obvious. Her anger was plenty obvious, as well. “He knew Paige was alive. He must have seen her like I did.”
Belinda froze, and her hand flew to her mouth. Jax got a really bad feeling that Belinda wasn’t talking about having seen Paige the day before.
“How long have you known I was alive?” Paige demanded, and it was a demand. Jax wanted to know the same thing.
Belinda glanced around, swallowed hard. “Two weeks. But I wasn’t sure it was her. I only suspected.”
Jax had to get his teeth unclenched. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I said I didn’t know for sure, and I didn’t want you to, well, get your hopes up or anything.” Belinda looked everywhere but at him. Her attention finally settled on Paige. “I bought this facial recognition software. I had a feeling in my gut you were still alive, so I started doing internet searches. The software matched your face to a photo that someone had taken at a store opening in Houston.”
Jax turned to Paige to see if that could have happened. And she nodded. “A toy store. But I didn’t know they’d taken my picture. I arrived there just as they were doing the ribbon cutting, and I guess I got in the shot.”
“Why were you there?” Leland asked.
“To buy Matthew something. I was going to have Cord give it to him, but Cord wasn’t going to say it was from me.”
A toy.
Damn.
“I wasn’t sure it was her,” Belinda repeated.
Yeah, she had been. Jax could see it in her eyes. Belinda hadn’t wanted him to know that Paige was alive because he would have gone after her and found her so she could give him answers.
Now he had those answers, but they weren’t ones that Jax liked.
“I know this is a lot to take in,” Leland said, “but it sounds as if Belinda could be in real danger.”
Jax could add another “yeah” to that, too.
“Belinda can’t go back to your place,” Paige insisted at the same moment Jericho turned to Mack.
“Why don’t you take Belinda to the break room and have her give you a statement. I’ll have Dexter go out to her house and look around.”
“Someone needs to go with Dexter,” Paige blurted out. “He might need backup.”
Jericho nodded, but since he was taking out his phone, he’d already considered that possibility. “I’ll call in one of the reserve deputies.”
“Find that man,” Belinda said. To Jericho. “And arrest him.”
“If he’s still there, Dexter will find him,” Jax told her. But he seriously doubted the Moonlight Strangler would be hanging around waiting for the cops to show up.
Belinda caught on to Jax’s hand when Mack tried to lead her to the break room. “Jax, I want you to take my statement. I want you to wait with me. Please.”
Jax wasn’t immune to the fear she was no doubt feeling, but he had to shake his head. “I can’t stay.” It wasn’t safe for Paige to be here, and he didn’t want to be away from Matthew any longer. “But Mack will take good care of you.”
Belinda looked as if he’d slapped her. And then Jax saw the shock morph to hurt. Then, a glare. Maybe even hatred.
The hatred wasn’t aimed at him but at Paige.
Okay, that helped with the guilt he was feeling over not staying there with her. What was going on? Was this just a case of jealousy or something more? He hoped like the devil that Belinda hadn’t made some kind of contact with the Moonlight Strangler so that the killer would go after Paige.
“I’ve been good to you,” Belinda added, still sounding more angry than hurt.
He didn’t respond, though Belinda was obviously waiting for something. But Jax wasn’t sure what to say. He was emotionally spent right now, and he needed to focus his mind and energies elsewhere. Later, if it turned out that Belinda was completely innocent in all of this, then he would owe her an apology.
Belinda didn’t put up a fuss when Mack led her up the hall, but she managed to work in one last hard look at Paige.
Jax immediately turned to Leland. “You were supposed to come in a couple of hours ago. Where were you?”
Yet another glare, and it was Jax who got a dose of it this time. “I had work to do.” He tapped his badge that was clipped to his belt. “I’m a cop, remember.”
“You’re also a suspect in the attack last night.”
Judging from the sound of surprise Paige made, she hadn’t expected Jax to spell it out in no uncertain terms, but there it was. Jax didn’t have time to sugarcoat it. And Leland didn’t care for it one bit.
“The Moonlight Strangler was behind that,” Leland insisted.
“Not according to him. Paige just got off the phone with him, and he said someone else is responsible. He’s not very happy about someone using his name, either. He murdered the last person who tried to do that.”
Leland had no doubt heard all about it, but it still took a moment for it to sink in. Or maybe it just took him some time to realize that Jax had just told him that he might be on the killer’s list, too.
However, Leland didn’t respond to Jax. He turned to Paige. “Your ex has already turned you against me.” It wasn’t a question, and he didn’t wait for Paige to say anything. He looked at Jericho. “Are you ready to do that interview?”
Jericho didn’t usually look stressed, but he sure did now. He huffed, then hitched his thumb to the hall. “Wait in the second interview room on the right.”
Jax waited until Leland was in the room before he said anything to his brother. “I don’t think Belinda has the resources to hire gunmen, but I’ll check. I’ll check on Leland, too.”
Jericho nodded. “It doesn’t always take money to hire thugs. Both of those gunmen had records. It’s possible they owed favors to Leland or someone else.” He pause
d, groaned softly as if very uncomfortable as to what he was about to say. “You didn’t know Belinda was in love with you?”
Paige decided it was a good time to go to the water cooler and get another drink, but Jax didn’t lower his voice. Because this was something she probably should hear.
“I knew,” Jax admitted. “But I never led Belinda to believe she could be anything more than a friend and Matthew’s nanny.”
Jericho made a sound of agreement. “It’s that pretty face of yours. Women just can’t resist you.” Jericho probably meant that as a joke, to help with the raw tension in the room. It didn’t. But Jax was thankful for it, anyway.
“I don’t think Belinda would have tried to hurt me,” Jax went on. Hurting Paige, though, might be a different matter. Belinda could have been so distraught over hearing Paige was alive that she did something stupid.
Like convincing two men to scare Paige away by making her believe that the Moonlight Strangler was after her again and that her presence at the ranch put Matthew in danger.
However, the huge problem with that was the same warning he’d given Leland. The Moonlight Strangler didn’t care much for being used.
Jax was ready to try to get Paige out of there again, but he’d barely got her moving when he heard a door open in the hall. At first he thought he was going to have to go another round with Belinda.
But it was Darrin.
“Good news,” he said. “You don’t get sued today. We have to reschedule this little chat because my chief lawyer just called, and he’s been involved in a car accident in San Antonio. He can’t make it.”
“You don’t look broken up about that,” Jericho remarked.
“I’m not. I fired him, of course, which means I’ll need to get a new lawyer before you can grill me with your lies. Or rather her lies.” He shot a glance at Paige before turning to Jax. “Besides, you don’t have any grounds to hold me.”
“Not yet,” Jax warned him. “We’re waiting on some lab results.”
Maybe it was Jax’s expression or his tone, but Darrin actually seemed to take notice.
“Lab results?” Darrin questioned. “Ones that Paige faked?”
“Paige had nothing to do with this. A cop found the evidence, and the crime lab is processing it.” At least it soon would be once Levi brought it in. “Paige hasn’t been near the lab.”
Darrin’s jaw tightened. “What did you find? Or what is it you think you found?”
No way would Jax tell him about the print on the camera, but it would make all this so much easier if the print turned out to be Darrin’s. Or if a money trail for those hired guns led right back to him.
“You can go,” Jericho said, not answering Darrin’s question, either. “I’ll call your lawyer when the lab results are back.”
Darrin suddenly didn’t seem to be in such a hurry to leave. He stood there, volleying glances at the three of them before he cursed and headed out. Jax went to the window to make sure he did indeed leave and that he didn’t try to tamper with the cruiser.
“Don’t let Belinda go back to her place,” Jax said to Jericho. “I know we have a lot of manpower tied up, but—”
“Already taken care of,” Jericho interrupted. “The other reserve deputy will put her in protective custody.”
Good. He doubted Belinda would try to go back, anyway. Heck, she might never go back, but he didn’t want to risk it. The Moonlight Strangler might have targeted Belinda simply because of her connection to Jax.
Jax waited until Darrin had driven away and his car was out of sight before he motioned for Paige to get moving. Every second outside was a huge risk, and he tried to minimize that by going out ahead of her to open the door. He practically stuffed her into the cruiser and then hurried to get behind the wheel. He drove off as fast as he could. However, he’d hardly pulled away from the station when his phone buzzed.
Chase.
Jax couldn’t answer it fast enough.
“Matthew’s fine,” Chase said the moment he came on the line. “We all are. But a ranch hand spotted someone climbing over one of the fences.” Chase paused. “The guy’s armed with a rifle.”
Even though he hadn’t put the call on speaker, Paige must have heard what Chase said because she gasped. “Hurry,” she told Jax, but he was already doing that.
“We’ve moved Mom and the others into the playroom, and Levi and the ranch hands are going after the guy.”
“Paige and I are on our way back to the ranch,” Jax let him know.
“Just be careful when you get here. The ranch hand said the rifle had a scope on it.”
Which meant the shooter could go into sniper mode. He could set up cover behind one of the barns or trees and start shooting. Of course, the question was—who was his target? Someone inside the house? Or was it Paige and him?
“I’ll call you when the situation’s contained,” Chase added before he hung up.
“The playroom?” Paige questioned the moment Jax was off the phone.
“It’s safe, in the center of the house. We set it up a few months back after there was some trouble at the ranch.”
It wasn’t a panic room exactly, but there were no windows, and if someone did start shooting, the bullets would have to make it through multiple walls to hit anyone. Still, Jax wanted to be there to make sure this guy with the rifle didn’t get inside. He didn’t want a gunfight right on his family’s doorstep.
Jax was already going well over the speed limit, but he pushed the accelerator even harder. Each minute felt like hours.
“We have to move Matthew to the safe house,” Paige said.
No argument from him, and as soon as Jax was certain he could get them there safely, he would do it.
“Our security measures at the ranch worked. The ranch hand spotted the gunman,” he reminded her. Reminded himself, too. But then Jax saw something he didn’t want to see.
Smoke.
Not a small amount, either. It was thick and black and oozing over the road.
At first he thought someone had set a fire on the asphalt, and it took him a moment to realize it was coming from a house. Hell. It was the old Dawson place. A small house just off the road.
“Call the fire department,” Jax said, tossing Paige his phone.
He eased up on the gas, not only because of the wall of smoke in front of him but because he needed to see if Herman Dawson had gotten out. The man was eighty if he was a day and a smoker. He could have set the place on fire.
But Jax knew this could be more than just an accidental fire. That’s why he kept watch, or rather he tried to do that, when he slowed the cruiser to a crawl so he could have a better look. He prayed he’d see Herman in the yard, unharmed.
He didn’t.
However, Jax did get a glimpse of a man near the blazing house. Not Herman, either. The man lifted a rifle and shot right into the cruiser.
* * *
SINCE PAIGE HAD her attention on the phone call she was making, she didn’t see the shooter before the bullet blasted into the side window right next to her. The glass cracked and webbed, but the bullet didn’t go through.
Thank God.
She didn’t even have time to react to it before Jax took hold of her arm, unlatched her seat belt and pushed her down onto the floor. He didn’t get down, though. He drew his gun, and in the same motion, he got them moving again.
Or at least that’s what he tried to do.
But the shots started coming nonstop. Not just from the side. They came in front of them, too, directly from that wall of smoke.
Paige made the call to the fire department. Then she made one to Jericho and asked him to send someone immediately, but to approach with caution because of the shots being fired. Jax and she were only about ten minutes away from town, but it might take longer than that for Jericho to be able to make a safe approach.
And then Paige had a horrible thought.
What if there was an attack like this going on at the ranch?
She couldn’t press Chase’s number fast enough. But her heart crashed against her chest when he didn’t answer.
Paige tried to assure herself that it was because he was in pursuit of that rifleman, but that person could have been a ruse to lure Levi and Chase out of the house so that someone could go after Matthew.
“Stay down,” Jax warned her.
He didn’t go forward, probably because he didn’t know who was on the other side of the smoke. Maybe an entire team of hired killers. Instead, he threw the cruiser into reverse.
She did stay on the seat, but Paige also threw open the glove compartment and took out the gun that Jax had put there earlier before they’d started their drive to the sheriff’s office. When he’d done that, he’d mumbled something about it just being a precaution.
Now she might have to use it to help save their lives and get them out of there so they could hurry to the ranch to protect their son.
Even though they were in the middle of cross fire, Paige felt the panic attack threaten. Not solely from this attack, though that was a huge part of it, but also just because she had a gun in her hand.
The flashbacks came.
Not of the Moonlight Strangler’s attack. He hadn’t used a gun. But from the attack that had left her parents dead. She’d witnessed it. Had been there to watch them both die, and even though it’d happened a long time ago, just holding the gun made those memories fresh and raw.
“Level your breathing,” Jax said to her.
Only then did Paige realize her breaths were coming way too fast, and she was trembling. Get a grip. She’d worked her way through the panic attacks and didn’t have time to deal with her old baggage. If she wanted to stay alive, she had to focus on the here and now.
Just as Jax was doing.
With his gaze volleying from the rear to the front of the cruiser, he kept them moving. Away from the fire and the gunmen. Paige only prayed they didn’t have a wreck with any oncoming traffic. This was a farm road, but there were houses and other ranches all along it.
“Damn,” Jax spat out.
She didn’t have the time to ask why he’d said that. Paige quickly found out. When a bullet slammed into the back window of the cruiser. It was quickly followed by another one. Then, another.
Six-Gun Showdown Page 11
