The Dragon's Secret Queen

by Jasmine Wylder

  “You?” Jo looked up in surprise, her mouth still full.

  Clayton nodded cheerfully and it was the first time Jo had seen anything close to real happiness or an unguarded expression on his face.

  “So you cook?” Jo prompted.

  "Lincoln and I switch off, it would hardly be fair to make him do all the cooking and it's only the two of us out here," Clayton leaned down to smell a bit of fish before transferring it to his mouth. He lowered his voice, "Lincoln is really a good deal older than he looks."

  Jo thought Lincoln looked rather old as it was.

  “Food is one of the great pleasures when you live remotely like this,” Clayton continued. Jo looked around at the various dishes. It really was quite impressive, she had to admit. She was surprised that a billionaire had time for such daily trivialities, but then most probably golfed or spent time with their children and families. Jo remembered the book she’d seen in the library.

  “And you read quite a bit?” she asked.

  “Mmm,” he nodded. “Who needs to travel when they have a library?” He smiled a rugged, boyish smile and Jo actually blushed. She shifted her weight in her seat. He was really so handsome, how come she hadn’t heard anything about his looks? Perhaps he’d only been a young man when he’d last been in the public eye. Still…

  "I'm sure there's a lot you already know about me but I'd like to hear a bit about you. Do you go camping often? Are you from Montana originally? What is your story, Josephine?" He put his fork down and picked up his wine as he leaned forward to look at her with a more evaluative gaze.

  Jo couldn’t remember the last time someone had insisted on calling her by her full name and it made her feel like a naughty school girl.

  “Born and raised in Montana,” she went for the easiest question then tried to shift tactics. “I’m afraid I’m not very interesting.”

  “Somehow I don’t think that’s true at all,” he peered at her with piercing, knowing eyes, “I have a feeling that you are very interesting indeed.”

  “Perhaps to someone who lives out in the woods,” she looked down at her plate. Clayton laughed loudly and again Jo was struck by the difference in the man from the library to now.

  “I’m not much for sweets so I don’t usually have dessert. I’m afraid you’ll have to go without tonight.”

  “Would you mind if I laid down for a few minutes,” Jo was feeling a pulsing wave of sleep ready to crash over her at any moment, “Or maybe for the rest of the night?”

  “Of course, Lincoln will show you where you can lay down,” Clayton sat back in his chair. The smile he had worn was gone again and he merely stared at Jo.

  “Thank you,” she stood from the table and couldn’t help but feel she was disappointing this man in some way. She tried her best to smile at him but he looked down at the food left on the table and not at her.

  She had a fleeting desire to tell him everything. To tell this man that she’d seen her friend shot, that Clayton’s own man was responsible, that… but it didn’t matter. She’d trusted handsome faces before and it had not always been a wise decision. He was powerful in ways she couldn’t even begin to comprehend and that kind of power often came with pitfalls, whole caverns of poor judgment.

  “Goodnight then,” she put her napkin on the table and left the room.

  Chapter Four

  Clayton put his own napkin on the table as he watched Jo leave. There was no denying that she was a beautiful woman. Her body was thick and curvy and when she’d come in to look at the paintings he’d found it difficult not to stare at her ass.

  He was a man deprived, there was no denying that, but there was something else as well. Clayton put a hand through his thick hair and over his face.

  A little warning bell had been going off ever since Jo arrived. What was it? She was lying, he was certain of that, but why? She was not dressed for camping, and the eyes of the girl he’d seen in the woods had not been the eyes of someone merely separated from her friends.

  Getting up from the table, he walked out of the dining room and down the hall. He stepped out onto his balcony where he could smell the trees. There was nothing like the smell of the forest. He left his window open every night to let the fresh air come in.

  As Clayton’s eyes scanned the darkening horizon he noticed a movement close to home. He stood waiting until a small group of men came into view. Clayton shifted his weight as he watched them approach his home.

  “Jack,” Clayton extended his hand as he walked out to meet the men. “What brings you out here?”

  “Hunting of a sort,” Jack’s hand felt like shoe leather in Clayton’s hand.

  “Hunting? Not out here I hope, I’d have to report you,” Clayton signaled for the group to follow him inside.

  “I meant that we’ve been scouting out raw materials, that sort of thing,” Jack’s voice followed behind him.

  “All the way up here? I think you’re on the wrong track, we are looking far south of here, are we not?” Clayton felt himself getting annoyed. One perk of being the big boss was not having to repeat himself. He employed people who understood his vision and understood it the first time.

  “Right, it just seems that there may not be the resources we are looking for down there,” Jack’s voice remained calm and persistent. Clayton stopped walking and turned to the men who pulled up short behind him. There was a pause as Clayton stared at Jack.

  “I’ll get you some refreshments before you head back down to the original site. That’s where we’ll be doing our business,” Clayton didn’t turn away from Jack but waited for the reply.

  “Yes, of course, sir,” Jack half smiled at Clayton.

  The group walked back into the house and Clayton was just about to call for Lincoln when he ran into Jo.

  “Sorry…” she put her hands on him to steady herself and his skin felt like it was burning under her touch. Jo stopped talking when she saw Jack. Her face went white and her fingers gripped Clayton’s arms.

  “This is Jack Henderson, he works for me,” Clayton meant to turn toward Jack in his introduction but he was too interested in Jo’s expression and grip to change anything.

  "I think we've met before," Jack's voice was that of a guy at a bar. Clayton looked at Jack then back to Jo. Jo seemed to notice her hands clutching onto Clayton and she quickly let go.

  “I should…” Jo didn’t take her eyes off of Jack but began moving away from the group toward the stairs.

  “Are you feeling ok Ms. Wentlandt?” Jack asked as Jo backed away.

  Clayton watched as a look of complete fear took over Jo’s face as Jack said her name. Jo didn’t even try to respond but continued moving out of sight until she’d rounded the corner leading to the staircase. Clayton turned his attention back to Jack.

  “You know Josephine?” Clayton asked.

  "I know her well enough. She's not all there, that one," Jack nodded his head in the direction Jo had just gone. There was a sparkle in his eyes that Clayton didn't understand. A lover maybe? "I think she might even be a little scared of me."

  Clayton watched Jack. There could be no doubt that Jo was scared of this man. But why?

  “I thought we could stay the evening here, looks to be plenty of room, since we came on foot,” Jack gave a half smile to Clayton.

  “You came on foot?” Clayton asked.

  “Hmm, what with our scouting,” Jack looked brazenly back at Clayton.

  “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, there is no extra room here. I will have Lincoln drive you back to town…tonight,” Clayton said with a straight face.

  Clayton arranged for the men to leave shortly after they arrived.

  “I already looked at his company profile,” Clayton said into the library phone, “but there is something I don’t like about that man. See if there’s anything else you can pull up about him.” He shifted his weight before hanging up.

  “You might be the only person who still has a landline,” Jo’s voice came from behind him
and Clayton turned to see Jo peering around one of the large brown leather chairs.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to listen in,” Jo leaned back into the chair. Clayton walked around to the twin chair.

  “I thought you would be fast asleep,” Clayton studied the woman next to him.

  “I’m not all that tired anymore.”

  “Since Jack?” Clayton watched Jo but she gave little away.

  Jo tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair then looked back up at him.

  “Can I trust you?” Jo’s blue eyes flicked to Clayton and he saw something raw and exposed in them.

  "Yes," Clayton said before thinking the question over. Had he thought more about it, he would have said maybe, he would have said that it depended on what Jo was about to tell him, but somehow he already knew that he would protect Jo with his life.

  “That man,” Jo wrapped her arms around her chest, “I’ve never officially met him before in my life.”

  She paused and looked to Clayton.

  "He knew your name, though." Clayton remembered the way her face had changed when Jack had said her name.

  “He did something…” Jo searched Clayton’s face.

  “What did he do?” Clayton felt himself growing tense. He began to imagine things he didn’t want to imagine. He saw Jack hurting Jo, he saw… he closed his eyes. His jaw tensed and he leaned forward, opening his eyes again. “What did he do to you?”

  “Not me…it’s much worse. I…I came out with a group of people to protest your new project,” Jo licked her lips and waited. Clayton said nothing. “Rick organized everything, he was a friend of mine and he was causing a lot of disturbances. He…” Jo shook her head.

  “Do you need some water?” Clayton was about to stand.

  “That man killed Rick,” Jo’s voice was almost a whisper and Clayton wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

  He let his full weight move into the chair, “Say that again.”

  “My friend and our group we were causing problems for your company…problems for that man… I saw him shoot and kill my friend.”

  This time Clayton had heard everything.

  “When did this happen?”

  “The morning before I came here,” a tear shot straight down her cheek. “After I saw it I ran, that man…Jack…he chased me. I went into the woods and…”

  “That’s why you were crying,” Clayton said to himself but Jo heard him.

  “When was I crying?” Jo paused in thought.

  Clayton realized his mistake too late, “When you arrived, it looked like you’d been crying.”

  Jo studied him for a long time before nodding.

  “We need to tell the police,” Clayton stood turning back toward the phone.

  “But what if he’s already paid the police off?” Jo stood behind him. He could hear the fear in her voice.

  He looked back at her, “You are with me now…you have nothing to worry about anymore. I have friends in high places.” He turned fully to her and looked her right in the eyes. “You will be safe here.”

  “What if he says you told him to do it?”

  “Then it’s my word against his,” Clayton looked at her.

  Jo shook her head slowly.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s just,” she looked into the empty fireplace, “well it’s your company right? He hardly has a good enough motivation for murder unless he’s being coerced by you.”

  “Coerced by me?” Clayton moved back to the chair but didn’t sit. “You think I had something to do with your friend’s murder?”

  Jo looked up to Clayton. She held his gaze for a long time, “No…I don’t.”

  “Then there’s nothing to worry about,” Clayton waited to hear what was running through Jo’s mind. “What is it?”

  “Well, someone else isn’t likely to believe that, are they?” Jo shifted in her chair. “Maybe we should…maybe there is something else going on…maybe we should find out what.”

  “That is what the police are for,” Clayton turned back to the phone and called out.

  Chapter Five

  It turned out that Jo hadn’t needed to worry about Clayton getting the blame for Rick’s death because there was no sign of Rick’s death.

  Jo had fallen asleep in the library chair, too afraid to go to a room by herself for the night. She was surprised that she’d been able to fall asleep at all. Her neck hurt from the odd angle of her head.

  She’d jolted awake from the sound of Clayton poking at the fire. It was nearing dawn and Clayton had stayed up with Jo in the library for the night. The two had said very little beyond what was being communicated to the police over the phone.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Clayton fixed the log that had nearly come rolling out onto the library floor. “How did you sleep?”

  Jo grimaced, “Not well. Did you sleep at all?”

  Clayton shook his head. Jo leaned back against the chair and gently massaged her neck with her hand.

  “Not the best sleeping chairs I’m afraid,” Clayton noticed the movement.

  “Since we’re both awake anyway maybe we should go in now?” Jo pushed the soft blanket off of her body. She’d adjusted to the extra warmth and her skin prickled as she exposed it.

  The police took Jack into custody after they received Clayton's phone call the night before but so far they'd been unable to locate a body, any blood, or evidence of a crime at all. Jo was asked to come into the station to make a statement today and take the police to the scene of the crime.

  She was feeling unsure of herself. Her mind wasn’t working correctly, she needed real sleep, and a chance to release the tumult of her thoughts.

  “Sure we could go early, we can get breakfast in town after you make your statement if you’d like?” Clayton was speaking again and Jo had to shake her head to make herself understand him.

  “I thought you didn’t do anything in town?”

  “I don’t,” Clayton stretched out his perfectly sculpted limbs with the hint of a smile.

  Once they’d gone to the tiny local police station Jo sat down in front of two very tired police officers, who had clearly been up all night. She told them everything she’d seen and everything that had happened since.

  With her statement made, they drove her back to the haphazard camp she’d been in only a few days earlier. It was empty as before but this time Rick’s tent and things were gone as well. Only her yellow tent remained.

  She walked the group around the site the same way she’d done as she’d been looking for Rick’s car.

  “His car is gone too,” she pointed in the direction of where his car had been. “I looked in his car and everything seemed normal, so I was walking back and then I saw something through the trees.”

  Jo gestured to the approximate area before moving into the trees with the three men behind her.

  It was light out now and when she’d been here before it had been dark. She moved forward, trying to recreate her own movements from that night.

  “I think,” she looked around for a sign that she was in the right area, but everything looked perfectly undisturbed. “Maybe over here…somewhere.”

  One of the cops nodded, “We did a real good search of this area last night, so far we haven’t found anything.”

  “There was blood from the shot, so there should be blood or something…unless he did an incredible job of cleaning up after himself. He obviously moved Rick’s car and tent so those should be somewhere as well.”

  Jo looked at the two police officers who nodded back at her.

  “Well,” the one closest to her put his hands on his hips and looked around, “we’ll give it another look around. See if we don’t find something new. Right now we don’t have much to go on.”

  “Well you have an eye witness,” Jo felt herself flush, “that’s got to stand for something.”

  “It does,” the other police officer spoke now. “It’s just that it would be smarter for us to have a
little more to go on before charging him.”

  “You didn’t charge him yet? I thought you had him in custody?” Jo looked to Clayton who had given her the news in the first place. Clayton looked to the two men for an explanation and Jo returned her focus.

  “There’s one hitch,” the officers exchanged a look, “Rick told at least two of the other protestors that he was closing up shop, going home.”

  Jo stared at the police officer, “Well, did you contact his home? Find out if anyone has seen him?”

  "We've tried but it was late by the time we got any good contact information on him. Hopefully, we'll hear something today," the police officer smiled at Jo in a way that made her feel like an infirm old lady.

  “What are they doing?” Jo shook her head at Clayton.

  The police officers had gone off, probably to sleep or eat donuts, and Jo and Clayton went back to her tent.

  “It’s unbelievable, almost like they don’t believe me or something!” Jo paced around her tent putting things together. “Would anyone make something like that up?”

  She turned to Clayton who shrugged.

  "I don't know, maybe they're just being practical—I'll make a few calls today, see what we can find out," Clayton's voice was reassuring and infinitely less patronizing than the two officers. Jo gave him a look of gratitude.

  “I guess I should get a hotel room or something, not exactly safe for me to stay in this,” she looked at the flimsy walls of her tent.

  “You’re staying with me, if you are the only witness to a murder then you’re not safe,” Clayton spoke in a way that left no room for argument.

  “But I…” Jo felt like she shouldn’t impose on Clayton, like she should be able to take care of herself, but she also knew the hard facts. She’d seen Jack murder Rick, it wasn’t theoretical to her, it was real. The only place she would feel safe would be with the man standing next to her.

  His eyes glinted as he looked around the campsite, then his gaze came back to Jo. She realized that he was already on guard. Clayton was surveying the area, keeping his defenses up. A wave of feeling curled itself over Jo and she forced herself to focus back on her possessions and not stare openly at Clayton.