Authors: Chloe Lang
“Yes, sir.” Denver thought about asking what he was planning on talking about with her in private but then thought better of it. He didn’t need to know, and he trusted the old man as much as his dads. What Denver did know was that though Pappy Jack’s room was on the second floor of the hospital. He’d already surmised that the potential for someone to climb up and get through the window did exist. That kept him from moving into the hospital hallway.
“Denver, I’ll be fine. Promise.”
“Son, I saw you looking at the window. If by some slim chance an asshole tries to break into my room, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a .45 pistol. “I’ve got Dependable Smoke Pole.”
Jessie’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got a gun in the hospital?”
Pappy Jack laughed. “Figured that out all on your own did you, city girl?”
The look in her eyes showed shock. “How did you get that in here?”
“I’d rather not say.” But his eyes jumped to Jackson, then back to Jessie.
She whirled on Denver’s youngest brother. “You brought him that?”
Jackson looked as guilty as a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. “You need to understand something before you pass judgment, darlin’.”
“Enlighten me.”
Jackson opened his mouth as if to speak but then shut it. Denver loved Jessie’s power over his brother.
“What are you grinning about, Denver?” she asked. “You think this is funny? I bet you would’ve brought Pappy Jack a weapon, too. All of you Wilde brothers are a mystery to me. What in hell does he need a gun for here?”
“I’m smiling because my grandfather looks good. And you need to be careful with your tone, sugar.”
“Oh.” She looked down, repentant. Her head popped back up, and she cocked up one eyebrow. “Well, would you have delivered a gun to Pappy Jack or not?”
“You’re way too much, Jessie. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“That’s BS. You know, but you’re just not telling me.”
“No. Not true. My mind is busy at the moment.”
“On what?”
“Nothing to trouble that pretty little head of yours with. Just business stuff. Keep pushing me and you might get yourself into trouble. Understand?”
Jessie glared at him with a sweet defiance that called to him to tear down. Before he could whisk her away to a nearby supply closet to begin, she turned to Jackson. “So, cowboy, fill me in on why you brought a gun to your grandfather while he’s recovering from the Old Mine’s explosion.”
As Jackson began his tale of Pappy Jack’s gun delivery, Denver rubbed his chin, contemplating his reactions to Jessie. Had he actually been grinning? Damn, he needed to stay guarded or Jessie could, and probably would, top him from the bottom. They weren’t in play here, so she could call him by his name or anything else she wanted. Still, if he and his brothers were able to clear Austin from being a conspirator for the cut brake line and Old Mine explosion, she needed to be more subdued in public. Austin was twenty-four-seven. Denver decided that he would run Jessie through a twenty-four-hour exercise and see how she took to it.
He watched her turn her gaze to Pappy Jack. “All that true that Jackson said?”
“Every word,” his grandfather answered. “Every word.”
“You can’t sleep without a gun under your pillow?”
Jackson gathered up the cards on the bed. “Neither can I, darlin’.”
She turned to Denver. He shrugged. “Guilty.”
“There’s a gun under your pillow?”
“Yes, sugar. There is. This isn’t New York or DC. This is rural Nevada.”
“Amen, son.” Pappy Jack nodded. “We protect what is ours by any means.”
She asked, “Don’t you mean
deadly means
?”
His grandfather answered, “If necessary, Jessie. Yes, we do.”
“And what is in this hospital room to protect, Pappy Jack? The bed? The IV? I thought you didn’t give a damn about this place. If someone wants to ransack it or steal from it, why not let them?”
The old man opened his mouth then shut it tight. Denver had never seen his grandfather be stumped with a comeback. Then Pappy Jack howled with laughter.
Jackson roared and pounded the rolling table. Jessie’s former irritation about seeing the gun clearly evaporated, and she cracked up. Denver couldn’t help but bust out himself. It felt so good to laugh. For a moment, all was right with in the world.
A nurse ran in. They all stopped laughing. Denver watched his grandfather deftly put the gun back under his pillow before the woman spotted it.
The nurse frowned. “You need to keep it down in here.”
Pappy Jack nodded, and then they all died laughing.
“Well, I never.” She turned on her heels and left the room.
The old man whooped and snorted. When he got his breath back, Denver’s granddad said, “Now, they’ll finally let me go home, I bet.”
“I bet you’re right, Pappy Jack.” Jessie smiled. She looked so beautiful.
Denver knew this was a moment he’d relive and tell his children about, along with the night he’d sung to their mother at his house for the first time. He wanted many more moments with Jessie. The brief amusement dried up inside him at the thought of the unknown killer stalking her. It was time, by whatever means necessary, to smoke him out of his hole, whoever he was.
* * * *
The pictures were attached to the email. The person at the laptop clicked on “Send,” and the message was delivered to the two intended recipients.
“Now, Jessica Greene, let’s see you wiggle out of this.”
The message read:
I think you’ll find the photos of Ms. Greene very enlightening. She’s been very busy in Wilde, Nevada, but not for the reasons you think. I would suggest you do something about the mess she’s creating here. We are a small community, and this kind of behavior won’t go unnoticed.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Chapter Five
Denver looked at Jessie in his tub. He’d lit candles, put the bath salts, soaps, shampoos, and oils he’d purchased for her today within easy reach, and then set up some music to play from his iPod dock. The tunes were soft jazz, which he’d learned she loved. So did he. The first selection began to play. Light vocals, a sax, snare drum, and piano softly vibrated the air.
He leaned down and kissed her. Her lips trembled slightly against his.
“You got everything you need, sugar?”
“Yes. Thank you, Denver.”
“My pleasure.”
“When are we going back to the club?”
He wasn’t sure. Had he been foolish to take her there? What if the killer had been there? He could easily surmise that she was staying with him. “I’m not sure. Soon, though.”
“I think I could let others watch now.”
“I think you could, too.”
“I just needed my first time there to be with you guys.”
“I know. You did great. Now, relax. I’ll be back to check on you.” Thankfully, his bathroom had no windows and only one door. No one could get to her without passing him.
“Yes, Sir.” She giggled, and he sensed his forever in that sweet little sound.
“Good girl.”
When Denver exited the bath, he closed the door behind him. He didn’t want her to hear the conversation he was about to have.
He sat in the big leather chair that gave him a clear view to the bathroom’s door. He opened up his laptop and logged into Skype. He clicked on Phoenix’s icon first.
The image of Phoenix popped on the screen. “Hey. We all here?”
“Nope. You’re first.” Denver clicked on Jackson’s icon next. The ringing sound went on and on. “Where the hell is he? I told you guys nine-thirty for this video conference, didn’t I?”
Phoenix answered, “Yes, you did.”
“Fuck.” He clicked Jackson’s icon again, and the ringing stopped. “Hopefully, Dallas is around.”
Dallas answered immediately. “Jessie’s out of earshot?”
“Taking a bath.”
“I think this is smart to talk this way, bro. Good idea. If we all came over there with our intel, she’d want to know everything. Sub or not, she’s not a pushover about these kind of things.”
“True, bro.” Phoenix nodded.
Denver agreed. A ringing sound and Jackson’s icon popped up on the upper left part of his screen. He clicked it. “About time, lil’ bro.”
“Sorry, guys. I’m at the mansion. Brought Pappy Jack here instead of his place at mom’s insistence. Granddad didn’t like that, but couldn’t figure out how to persuade mom otherwise.”
“So? That fucking doesn’t fly, Jackson. The woman you love is in trouble, and you’re making excuses for being late. You should’ve been here like the rest of us.” Denver’s aggravation grew. He loved his youngest brother, but sometimes his carefree ways pissed him off. “There’s Internet service at the mansion.”
“Hey, I’m here. And, yes, there’s service here, but that storm jacked up the parents’ wireless router the other night. It took me longer than I thought it would to get it reset and up and running again.”
Denver felt bad that he’d jumped down Jackson’s throat. “Sorry. I’m on edge knowing someone is still out there who wants to harm Jessie.”
“It’s okay, bro. Me, too.” Jackson’s face darkened. “We all want to find out who’s responsible for the explosion and the brake lines.”
“So, what have you found out?” Denver asked.
Dallas spoke first. “Rich, the teenager who broke his leg in the Old Mine, works as a mechanic at the gas station. It’s only a block from Jessie’s hotel, so he’d have time and the know-how.”
Jackson shook his head. “Circumstantial. What would be his motive to do it? I’d think the kid would want to let Jessie do her job just in case she could uncover some infraction by the mine. That way he’d get out of hot water for climbing over the fence onto clearly marked private property.”
Dallas shrugged. “I know. Just trying to fill out the list of possible suspects.”
“Keep digging.” Denver looked at the door of the bathroom. “What have we learned about the explosion?”
Phoenix frowned. “I’m checking the inventories of explosives at the mine, but so far nothing. I think your house is the safest place to keep her for now with its basement and surveillance cameras.”
“Oh yeah. Besides, I’ve checked. No sign anyone has been within a mile of my place but me and Jessie.”
“Bro, you didn’t leave her alone?” Jackson asked. “That wouldn’t be safe.”
“Chill, lil’ bro. I took her around the entire perimeter of the house on a ruse of showing her my property. What I was actually doing was looking for planted dynamite.”
“She bought it?” Dallas asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re a better liar than me.”
Phoenix snorted. “Everyone’s a better liar than you.”
Denver continued, “There’s a problem. Jessie does have a job here. I’ve been able to keep her away from the mine for a few days, but she’s made it clear tonight that she plans on getting back to work on her investigation in the morning. Without going completely Dom on her, she’s going back.”