Authors: Chloe Lang
“Shit.” Dallas’s eyes narrowed.
“My sentiments exactly.”
“Well, I can meet you both at the mine,” Phoenix offered. “I think she needs at least two of us with her in public from now on.”
“Agreed. I know we thought taking her to the club might give us a lead on who might be after her, but I’m not willing to take her back there until we have the killer.”
“Yep. You’re right, bro.” Jackson’s head turned. “Hold on. Mom’s knocking on the door.” His picture disappeared.
Denver heard his mother’s voice. “Jackson, dinner will be ready in thirty minutes.”
“I’m not hungry,” his little brother answered. “Thanks though.”
“You staying here tonight?” she asked.
“No. I’m finishing up some work, and then I’ll head home.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll fix a plate for you to take with you for later.”
“Okay, Mom. Thanks.”
Jackson’s video popped back up. “I think Mom knows we’re up to something. That’s the fifth time she’s come up.”
“She would be fine with everything we’re doing, less one.” Denver hated to ask, but he had to. “What did you find out about Austin?”
Jackson’s face darkened. “He has been meeting with Malcolm, in fact, several times. He’s also moved a big chunk of the club’s money to a new account in Las Vegas.”
“Vegas? That doesn’t make sense.” Denver’s gut tightened.
“Neither does that memo with his signature,” Dallas pointed out.
“I have a possible answer for that mystery, boys.” Jessie’s tone was sharp.
Denver jerked his head around. He’d gotten so focused on what his brothers were telling him that he hadn’t heard her leave the bathroom and come down the hall. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel and her body was covered in his robe that was way too long for her and touched the floor.
Well, too late to try to fool her now. “Come.” He motioned her forward and shifted the laptop so she could see the images of his brothers.
Jessie moved next to the chair. “So, you guys were going to hold out on me. Nice.” She was pissed, and he couldn’t really blame her.
“Darlin’, we don’t want you to get too deep into this. There’s a killer on the loose who is gunning for you. Leave this to us.”
“You said you had an answer about the memo, sugar.” Denver fixed her with his best Dom stare, daring her to refuse to answer.
She folded her arms over her chest. “Now you want my help? That requires a two-way street, guys.”
There was a long pause, and then Dallas spoke. “I think she deserves to know.”
“Me, too,” Phoenix concurred.
“Okay.” Jackson nodded.
Denver didn’t like where this was going, but he couldn’t figure a way out of this mess. “We tell her only if she agrees not to do anything stupid.”
“Done,” she answered.
“And if she promises to let us take the lead on this.”
“I promise.”
“And she won’t fight us when we say something needs to be done to make sure she’s safe.”
“Like what, Denver?”
“Like telling you to stay away from the mine.”
She sat on the arm of the chair. He inhaled her scent. “Not possible. My boss needs input from my investigation. I’m not willing to jeopardize my career here.”
Phoenix snapped, “You won’t need a career after we’re married.”
“Slow down, cowboy. I love you, but I’m not the kind of woman who doesn’t have a mind of her own.”
“You can say that again.” Denver chuckled.
Jessie frowned. “Seriously, let’s table any discussion of me leaving my career to be barefoot and pregnant in your kitchen.”
Denver liked the image she was creating in his mind. “Okay. For now. But at least two of us will be with you whenever you’re at the mine.”
“I can handle that.”
“And you will stay with one of us from now on at all times.”
“Denver, are you proposing?”
“You’re too much, Jessie.” He would propose to her, but when he could do it right. Now wasn’t that time.
“Have no doubt, angel. You will marry us.”
“Well, we’re not engaged yet. I promised to give you all a chance. I will. But Austin is part of the equation.”
Denver growled, “Unless we find out he’s behind all of this.”
“Okay. Show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”
He had other ideas of what that game would be, but that had to come later. If she knew something that might be helpful, he wanted to know it, too. In fifteen minutes, he and his brothers had shared what they’d found out about the cut brake line, the explosion, the memo, Austin’s meetings…everything.
“So, we really don’t know much,” she said.
“What about the memo, honey?” Dallas asked.
“The original is lost. I asked myself
why.
If Austin didn’t create the memo, then who did, and how did they do it?”
“Go on,” Denver prodded.
“It would be easy enough to get a scan of your brother’s signature off another document and then paste it into a memo of your choosing. Then all you have to do is print or make a digital copy of it, and presto, you have a valid document to lower the mine’s standards below the agency-acceptable safety guidelines.”
Jackson rubbed his chin. “That makes sense.”
“Our girl is really smart.” Phoenix smiled.
“Sure is,” Dallas agreed.
“It doesn’t completely clear Austin, but it does leave more than a shadow of doubt in my mind.” Jackson was in his lawyer mode.
“Guys, please don’t leave me in the dark anymore.”
“If you do what you promised, we won’t.”
Denver squeezed Jessie’s hand. “We keep digging until we find out who is behind everything.”
* * * *
Jessie worked through another pile of Wilde Mine’s files.
Like a bodyguard, Denver sat in a chair by the door of the office that Austin’s secretary, Selby, had secured for her. She glanced over at him. He was texting away on his cell. She didn’t have to guess to whom. His brothers, of course. They were frantically working every lead and theory. They wanted to get to her would-be killer before he got to her.
Jessie actually liked that Denver was there with her. He made her feel safe and protected.
Well, best to get back to work then.
She opened another file then jumped when she heard Denver.
“Who are you, and why are you here?” He was standing with his fist curled and ready for whatever came.
“Pardon me?” the man asked.
Jessie immediately recognized the person Denver was questioning. His hair was thinning and gray. His eyes were bright blue. He wore a dark suit and carried a briefcase.
Oh God!
“Denver, let me introduce you to Mr. Lee Carpenter, my boss and deputy chief of MSHA.”
Denver uncurled his fists and offered his hand to her boss. Mr. Carpenter, normally very cordial, didn’t take it.
“Would you excuse us, Mr. Wilde?” her boss asked in a curt tone she’d never heard from him before.
At Mr. Carpenter’s fiftieth birthday party a few months ago, he’d been so great to everyone, including the bitchy waitstaff who didn’t even try to provide even half-hearted customer service. Everyone else at the party didn’t want to leave a tip. Not Lee. He went into a long diatribe about how he worked his way through Columbia University to get his law degree waiting tables. Her father had gotten his law degree there, too, but he’d done it on his parents’ dime, not by waiting tables. Well, not only did the birthday boy and his partygoers give a tip, they gave a very generous one usually reserved for the stellar service.
“Mr. Wilde, I’d like to be alone with Jessie if you don’t mind.”
Denver didn’t budge. This was headed to a train wreck really fast.
“Please, Denver. Like I said, this is my boss.”
“I mind, but okay. I’ll be just outside the doorway.”
“Please close it behind you, Mr. Wilde.”
“Not happening, Lee. If you’re afraid of what I might hear, whisper.”
After Denver left the office, Mr. Carpenter pulled up the chair to the desk that Denver had been sitting in.
“Why are you here, boss?” she asked.
“I’ve told you to call me Lee. Isn’t it about time you started, Jessica?”
She’d never seen him like this before. Was he angry with her? “Have I done something wrong?”
“I need to show you something before I answer.” He opened his case and pulled out a file. “I got these from someone who called themselves ‘Concerned Citizen.’”
He slid the folder and its contents over to her.
She opened it up. The first thing she saw was a picture of Denver kissing her in the parking lot of The Masters’ Chambers. Her heart sank low in her chest.
Her career was over.
This was a complete disaster.
There were more photos. Most were kissing, hugging, or some other expression of fondness. One photo was of her and Jackson at the Horseshoe. A couple more were of her and Phoenix at Norma’s diner. Several photos were of her and Dallas holding hands. There were some from her first night...
Oh God! No!
Twenty-two photos filled up the folder.
Her throat was totally dry, and her heart raced in her chest. She’d been caught red-handed in the cowboy cookie jar. She squeaked out, “You looked at all these?”
“No. Just a couple of them.” Lee’s voice was soft but very scary. “The man who refused to shut the door behind him, he’s a Wilde?”
“Yes.” She bet that he’d only seen the less explicit photos since those were thankfully on the bottom of the pile.
“And the other men, Jessica?”
“They’re all brothers.” No sense lying now to the man who’d given her the job at the agency. More than that, he’d been the one who had mentored her and pushed her up the ladder. Now that was over.
“Tell me how this happened, Jessica.”
“Why go through this, Lee? Just fire me already and put me out of my misery.”
“Fire you?” Her boss looked as stunned as she felt. “I have no intention of doing anything remotely like that.”
A big blast of air slipped past her lips as relief filled her up. Still, he’d have to do something. “Censure?”
“No. I don’t like what you’re doing with the Wilde family, but there’s nothing in the agency’s employee policy that says you can’t date an owner of a mine.”
She knew he had every right to fire her, but he wasn’t. It didn’t really make sense, but she was glad. “They’re actually not owners. They are heirs.”
“Doesn’t change anything one way or the other.”
“It doesn’t?” she asked.
“No. Not in my mind. I’m worried about you, kiddo.” She always liked when he’d called her that, but not today. “You’re in over your head here.”