Page 158 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Jaxson,” I say, pulling his attention back to me. “Where’sKristi?”

“Dunno. With her mom, Ibet.”

I nod at that. So the guy knows Kristi, and knows her well enough to guess right. Either that, or he actually does fucking know where she is rightnow.

Still, this means he knows her, and probably prettywell.

“Were you close with Atticus before he died?” I ask him, changing thesubject.

“The guy hung around me and my boys, but no, fuck him,” Jaxson says. “And fuck you too, Wyatt. I’m not talking toyou.”

“Why not?” I askhim.

Jaxson must suddenly realize that he has no reason to answer my questions. “Because fuck you, that’s why. You come here again, I will go back for that gun and murder you dumb ass. You getme?”

“You shouldn’t toss around threats, Jaxson,” I say. “I’ve beennice.”

“Fuck your nice, bitch.” He turns to Cora. “And you, well, you better stay safe,yeah?”

He cackles and heads back to the trailer. We stand and watch him go. I cross my arms and only relax when he’s finallyinside.

I grab Cora’s arm and pull her back to the car. We get inside as fast as we can and we pull out of therequick.

“Nothing,” she says softly. “We got nothing. Why were you asking him about Kristi? We already sawher.”

I turn to her and grin. “Think about it,” Isay.

She screws up her face. “Don’t be anass.”

“I just showed that your theory might actually beright.”

She chews her lip a second, and I see it suddenly click. “He knows her,” she says. “He knows her well enough to guess where she is, or he actually doesknow.”

I grin huge. “Either way, that means that they both could be involved in this. And that ‘J’ your mom mentioned might actually beJaxson.”

“Damn,” she says softly, laughing. “That’sdevious.”

“It’s about the best we could hope for,” I admit. “More than he wanted to give us, atleast.”

“What now?” sheasks.

I shake my head. “Now, we keep working thecase.”

She grins at me and we drive in silence. My mind’s working on a ton of levels, but most of me is thinking about how beautiful Cora looks when she smiles, and how easily she’s taking to this investigation stuff. She’s smart as a whip and sexy on top ofit.

I should be able to say no to her. But my god, I really can’t. I just wantmore.

But that threat Jaxson threw at her still lingers in my mind, and I’m torn all overagain.

11

Cora

When I’m back home alone in my apartment, I can’t help but think one thing: he’s going to leave mesoon.

I know it’s irrational. That’s part of the deal. Wyatt has his own life back in the city, he couldn’t just put everything on hold and just live out of that motel. It’s costing him money, time, effort, and I can’t repay him for any ofthat.

Still… I had hoped he’d stay. We’re getting somewhere already, and he’s only been here a few days. I feel like we’ve done more investigating together than the whole Mason police department has since Atticus died. We’re actually making inroads, getting thingsdone.

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