“Be on the lookout for Chad Sharp and Hoyt Reynolds…” Mary Landers’s voice said from the radio.
“Shit,” Bennett said under his breath.
The panic coursing through Jax was beyond overwhelming, but after hearing those two names it intensified tenfold. Chad and Hoyt were involved with all of this. One of those two assholes had shot somebody. If it was the last thing he did he was going to make them pay. And if it was Grace they shot, they’d be lucky if he didn’t kill them.
He needed to be next to Grace. He had to see that she was okay. He had to know that he hadn’t lost her. Lost the only woman he ever loved.
He pulled into the parking lot and barely put the truck in park before he was out the door. Rejuvenate’s alarm was blaring as Jax sprinted to the building. As he mounted the steps, Grace opened the front door.
The relief at seeing her was knee weakening. He was surprised he didn’t fall to her feet and start crying. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. But that wasn’t a reality in the current situation. She might not have been hurt, but somebody else was.
“Jax.” She said his name through a sob. “It’s Mel; she’s been shot.”
He grabbed her hand and brought her to his side. He pulled her into the building, Bennett following closely behind them. A small table lamp let off a dim glow. Harper was kneeling above Mel, pressing a blood-soaked scarf into Mel’s shoulder.
Bennett was wearing a flannel shirt over his T-shirt. He pulled it off as he crossed the room, glass crunching under his boots. He came around to Mel’s other side and kicked back some glass before he knelt to the ground. “Mel, it’s going to be okay,” he said calmly as he put his hands and shirt over Harper’s trembling ones. “Understand? You’re going to be fine.”
“Okay,” she whispered as tears streamed from her wide, terrified eyes.
“I got it,” Bennett said, looking up into Harper’s face.
Harper nodded and pulled her hands out from under his.
It was when Harper turned away that Jax saw it, the flare of barely contained panic in Bennett’s eyes. It was a look that said, not her, anybody but her. But Bennett got it under control as he looked back down to Mel.
Harper slowly got to her feet, and when she stood, Jax saw that her knees were cut and bleeding. She’d been kneeling in the glass. She’d taken about two steps before her knees buckled. Jax let go of Grace and lunged forward, catching Harper before she hit the ground. He braced her back with one of his arms and put the other behind her knees.
“What’s the glass from?” Jax asked as he carried Harper to the couch in the corner.
“A bottle of wine,” Grace said as she followed him.
“Harper,” Jax said as he sat her down. “Are you okay?”
“I just…I got a little light-headed,” she said, blinking her eyes rapidly.
“You’re in shock. It’s okay. Just sit here,” he said, kneeling down in front of her.
“It was Chad and Hoyt,” Grace said softly.
“I know,” Jax said, looking up at her.
“How’d you know to come?”
“Baxter called. He knew you guys were here, and he was ten minutes away. Grace, who was it? Who pulled the trigger?”
“Chad.”
Jax took a deep breath trying to calm himself. It really wouldn’t have mattered who’d pulled the trigger, Jax would’ve hated the stupid fucker no matter what.
Jax looked up as a new set of flashing lights pulled into the parking lot. Baxter was getting out of his truck as the ambulance pulled in. The paramedics came into the room and loaded Mel onto a stretcher. Harper was going to need stitches so she went in the ambulance to the hospital. Neal Sanders, the other deputy working on the burglary cases, showed up just as the ambulance pulled out.
“Grace,” Jax said, turning to her. She’d been glued to his side, but he needed to wrap his arms around her, to bury his nose in her hair and inhale deeply. So he did just that.
“Hmm?” she mumbled as she pressed her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
“Bennett is going to drive you to the hospital in Harper’s car,” he said as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.
“Where are you going?” she asked panicked as she looked up at him.
“I have to stay here for a little while. As soon as I take care of things I’ll be there, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Jax, I—”
He didn’t let her finish. No, he’d needed to press his mouth to hers. Grace’s hands gripped his hips as he held on to her for dear life. His mouth slanted over hers and he kissed her with every ounce of himself, with all the need that had been building in him since she’d left, with the desperation that had almost killed him in the last twenty minutes.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.
“I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered.
He pulled back and looked at her, palming the side of her face in his hand.
“There are a thousand things I need to tell you. I—”
“Jax,” Baxter called from the front door. “We’re going to need you to get in here.”
“Okay,” he said, sparing Baxter a glance before he turned back to Grace.
“It’s okay,” she said, putting her hand over his. “We’ll talk later.”
“Later,” he nodded as he brought his mouth down to hers for one last kiss.
* * *
The same scratch marks that had been on all the locks for the other burglaries were on the locks at Rejuvenate. Chad and Hoyt had broken in through the back door. The alarm had the same sixty-second delay as the others, so Chad and Hoyt had gotten into the building less than a minute before the girls had.
Rejuvenate sold a fancy line of jewelry that cost about one hundred dollars for a bracelet, and almost one fifty for a necklace. The makers of the jewelry claimed that different stones would help the wearer with different traits, such as patience or memory. It was all a load of crap in Jax’s opinion, but apparently the stuff sold like crazy. Rejuvenate had over ten thousand dollars’ worth of the stuff, but Chad and Hoyt hadn’t had a chance to get it before they were interrupted.
It had taken four hours to get a search warrant for Chad’s and Hoyt’s houses. When Jax and the deputies searched their places they found enough evidence to put the guys away for a long time. They had pills from the pharmacy, merchandise from the specialty shop, paintings and antiques from the beach houses. They’d accumulated quite a collection. And to top it all off, Preston’s wallet was found in Hoyt’s house.
* * *
It was after six in the morning by the time Jax got to the hospital. Grace was curled up on a couch wearing green scrubs. Her head rested on the back of the couch and her eyes were closed. Mel’s fourteen-year-old brother Hamilton was next to her, his head resting in Grace’s lap as he slept. Grace’s hand was in his hair, like she’d been soothing him to sleep and had fallen asleep herself.
Bennett was sitting across from Grace, also wearing a set of green scrubs. They’d apparently gotten more blood on themselves than Jax had. He’d only had some on his T-shirt but he’d had a spare in his truck. Bennett was awake, nursing a cup of coffee. He stood when he saw Jax and crossed to him.
“How’s Mel?” Jax asked.
“Out of surgery. The bullet didn’t hit anything vital. She woke up a little while ago to talk to Deputy Hough. He already took everyone’s statement. Mel’s parents are with her in the room.”
“Good,” Jax said as some of the tension left his shoulders. “Where’s Harper?”
“Preston took her home. There wasn’t really anything else to wait around for.”
“Really,” Jax asked, raising his eyebrows. “Then why are you still here?”
Bennett hesitated for just a second before he spoke. “I was waiting to talk to you. You find anything?”
“Just the stuff they stole. Not them,” Jax said, shaking his head in disappointmen
t.
Bennett’s mouth flattened into a thin line and anger flared in his eyes. “If I ever come across that son-of-a-bitch I’ll kill him.”
“Get in line, man,” Jax said, clapping Bennett on the shoulder before he walked over to Grace. He leaned over and pressed his mouth to her neck. “Baby, wake up,” he whispered.
She stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the hospital’s florescent lights.
“Hey,” she said, straightening and reaching for him. She placed her hands on either side of his face and brought his mouth to hers. When she pulled back a second later she rested her forehead against his.
“How you doing?” he asked.
“Better now that you’re here.”
“You ready to go home?” he asked, pulling back.
“I don’t want to leave him,” she said, indicating Hamilton.
“I’ll stay with him,” Bennett said.
“You sure?” Grace asked, looking over at Bennett.
“Absolutely.” He nodded.
And there was a look in Bennett’s eyes that said he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
* * *
The second they were in the truck, Jax reached across to Grace and she climbed into his lap gladly. He held her to him, and his mouth found hers. He kissed her passionately, his fingers winding into her hair and his tongue moving against hers. God she’d missed his hands on her. His mouth on her. He pulled back a couple minutes later and buried his face in her hair. It felt so good to be back in his arms. Like she was home again.
“I don’t want to let you go, but we need to talk and I really don’t want to do it in a hospital parking lot.”
“Then let’s go,” she said, looking up at him.
He kissed her softly on the mouth before his arms loosened and she climbed out of his lap. She settled on the other side of the truck missing his arms already. When she was all buckled in, he put the truck in reverse and backed out of the parking lot. When they were on the road, he grabbed her hand in his and rubbed his thumb back and forth across her knuckles.
A thousand thoughts had gone through Grace’s head all night, and she’d barely had a chance to process anything. She didn’t know what Jax was thinking. Where his thoughts were on where they stood. What he wanted. How he felt. But with the way he’d been holding her, touching her, and kissing her, she thought that maybe he wanted to be with her, that maybe he loved her.
But until those words came out of his mouth, she wasn’t going to risk her heart again. She couldn’t be with him if he didn’t love her. She couldn’t put her heart into something knowing it was just going to get broken.
Grace was surprised when he turned off and started driving toward Mirabelle Beach, but she didn’t say anything.
When they pulled into the parking lot, the sun had just started to make an appearance over the water. Jax helped her out of the truck and they both slipped off their shoes, leaving them in the cab of the truck before they walked out to the beach. The waves crashed against the shore and the warm breeze blowing from the Gulf blew Grace’s hair around her face. The sand was still cool under her feet, and it felt good running between her toes.
Jax was quiet next to her. Her hand was in his again and he’d picked up the rubbing motion across her knuckles. When they reached the wet sand they turned and started to make their way down the beach, the water lapping up around their feet as it rolled in and out. She knew him well enough to know he was trying to figure out where to start. So she patiently waited and gave him his time.
“I screwed up,” Jax said after they’d walked for a couple of minutes. He stopped short and she turned to him. She settled her hands on his chest as he put his hands on her waist and pulled her into his body. “For so long I thought I only wanted you. I’ve never really gotten anything that I’ve wanted, so I never thought I’d get you. And then when I finally did, it didn’t seem real,” he said, shaking his head.
“You were the dream, not the reality, and it was just a matter of time before I woke up and you were gone. But when that happened, when you left, when I let you walk away…forced you to walk away,” he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. When he opened them again a moment later they were filled with so much pain that Grace’s heart hurt. “I was in a nightmare without you. I was wrong when I thought I only wanted you. I need you. You’re the most important person in my life. I love you, Grace King.”
Finally.
Grace threw her arms up around Jax’s neck and pulled herself up so she could bury her face in his throat.
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “So much.”
He took a deep breath and held her to him.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, kissing her temple. “I wish I could go back to the first time you’d told me, that I could’ve appreciated it fully, that I’d told you I love you, too. Because I did, I loved you then.”
“It’s okay, Jax,” she said, pulling back so she could look up into his face.
“I’ll never take you for granted again. I swear.”
“Jax?”
“Yes.”
“Kiss me,” she pleaded.
And he did just that.
* * *
Jax brought Grace back to his house, where they made love. It was different that time. So much more than all the other times they’d been together. And it was all because of those three little words. Except those words really weren’t so little; they were monumental and they changed everything.
He loved her.
And he proceeded to tell her that over and over again as he touched her, and kissed her, and moved inside of her. He hadn’t been the only one saying it, either. Every time she said she loved him he thought his heart was going to burst. It was the most wonderful feeling to hear those words coming across her perfect lips.
For Jax, finally admitting that he loved Grace, letting her love him, was undeniably the most life-changing experience he’d ever had, and he never ever wanted to go back.
* * *
Something was ringing over and over again. When it finally stopped it was replaced by a heavy pounding that got louder and louder.
Then the ringing was back.
Ringing. Hammering. Ringing. Hammering.
“Jax,” Grace moaned into his chest. “What’s going on?”
“Hmm?” he said, turning into her.
“What’s that noise?”
“Someone’s at the door,” he groaned as he pulled away from her and got out of bed.
“Tell them to go away,” she said, and she grabbed a pillow to hold on to since she couldn’t hold on to Jax anymore.
A drawer opened and shut and the sound of Jax walking down the hallway was drowned out by the incessant noise coming from the front of the house. It stopped a moment later and voices echoed down the hallway.
“Grace,” Brendan bellowed. “I’d like to talk to you.”
Grace bolted up suddenly wide awake.
Fantastic. Brendan sounded pissed.
Grace got out of bed and grabbed one of Jax’s T-shirts and a pair of shorts from the drawer that still held some of her clothes. She walked down the hallway, passing the trail of clothes that she and Jax had left behind as they made their way to the shower when they walked in the door that morning. They’d stayed under the warm spray for a good while before Jax turned off the water and carried her, dripping wet, to his bed. She never even had a chance to get cold before he covered her body with his and made love to her. Twice.
“What’s different this time?” Brendan asked a tad bit aggressively.
“I’m in love with her. I realized I always have been.”
Grace paused just before she rounded the corner. Jax had told her he loved her more times than she could count within the last few hours. But every time he said it, her heart fluttered. And the fact that he was telling Brendan was a big deal.
“So you finally figured it out?” Brendan asked, sounding slightly mollified.
“Yeah. I screwed up pretty big. And not just with her. I’m sorry, man.”
“I’ve had my head up my ass before,” Brendan said. “We’re good.”
Grace rounded the corner just as they slapped hands and came in for a quick man hug.
“Does that mean I’m off the hook, too?” Grace asked.
Brendan pulled back from Jax and looked down at his little sister. The pissed-off look was back in full force for only a moment before it crumpled and was replaced with a look of worry, followed by relief. He crossed over to her and pulled her into a breath-stealing hug.
“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked, holding on to her.
“It was the middle of the night,” she said, and wrapped her arms around him.
“I don’t care.” He pulled back and held her shoulders in his hands. “You’ve had everybody freaking out. Grams called me on the verge of a nervous breakdown because Mindy Trist came into the café this morning talking about the shooting.”
“Shit.” Grace winced.
“Yeah, Grams thought that maybe you’d just stayed out late with Harper and Mel, and that’s why you weren’t in, but when you didn’t answer your phone, she started to panic. I think Pops is on the verge of a coronary. So unless you want to kill our grandparents, please call them.”
“All right, all right, I get it. Next time someone shoots at me, I’ll call you.”
“That isn’t funny,” Jax and Brendan said at the same time.
“Brendan, I’m fine.”
“It could’ve just as easily been you that had gotten shot,” Jax said from behind them.
Grace turned and looked at him, his face dark and foreboding.
“What happened?” Brendan asked.
“Why don’t I fill you in while Grace calls your grandparents?” Jax took a step back toward the kitchen. “You want some coffee?”
“Sure,” Brendan said, giving Grace a quick peck on the forehead before he let her go and followed Jax.
It took Grace a good twenty minutes to reassure her grandparents. She called in and checked on Harper, then Mel, who was awake and doing pretty good for someone who’d just been shot. Grace promised to stop by the hospital later that day. When Grace hung up she went to the kitchen to join Jax and Brendan.
Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) Page 28
