Page 91 of Kiss Marry Kill
If the morning was a sign of things to come, today was going to suck.
* * *
Jax was in his office back in Miami when Jason called. He was supposed to report back directly twice a day; he’d reported upon arrival yesterday and now again today. Jason explained how Megan had dodged them again that morning as they walked into the venue for sound check. It seemed she wasn’t so much evading them as ignoring them. But that didn’t surprise Jax. His Megan was feisty when she was mad, or when she was told what to do. It was fine. So long as they had eyes and ears on her and she was safe she could be pissed if she wanted.
God, he missed her.
He was being an idiot.
When Joey walked right into Jax’s office without knocking, Jax’s love life took a backseat. He knew Joey well enough to know something was going on. The hair on the back of his neck stood as Joey made his way to him, but instead of sitting down in the guest chair, he stood, placing his palms on Jax’s desk.
“Got the prints back from the box, the one with the dead rat.”
“Yeah, what about it?” He felt his jaw tick.
“You wanted them matched to Ryan.”
Jax nodded, his eyes intent on his friend. Yes, he wanted all his t’s crossed and his i’s dotted. Protocol for ICS made it mandatory, and his feelings for Megan made it urgent. With Ryan in custody, Jax had instructed the team to cross-reference his prints with the ones found on the box. The crime scene lab in Miami was backlogged, and with their suspect in jail, waiting on the prints to go through the official channels would take too much time. With Megan’s safety on the line, Jax didn’t want to wait for concrete evidence that Ryan was responsible. ICS didn’t have the same bullshit to deal with.
“Get to it, Josef.” The conversation had made his stomach drop.
“It’s not him. The prints don’t match.”
Jax stood up so abruptly that the chair fell back. “What?”
“So, I called Chief Martinez, and get this: Ryan admitted to breaking into Megan’s house. Admitted sending that one letter after meeting her in Amsterdam—the original one that came by mail. Had no choice but to admit he planned to kidnap Megan, since everyone saw him do it. Swore he wasn’t planning on hurting her. Said it got out of control once the police got involved. He just wanted to talk to her, he said, be with her the way she wanted to be with him. He said they were in love. But he played dumb about the texts and about the dead mouse.”
“He’s crazy. He could be lying. What the hell are we missing, Josef?”
“Martinez thought Ryan was lying too, which is why he didn’t call and tell us. Guess he didn’t think it was important. Until now that the prints came back.”
Jax ran his fingers through his hair. “So what the fuck does this mean? There’s two stalkers? Either Ryan has a copycat or he has a partner? What the fuck?” He slammed his palms on the table.
“I don’t know yet. I have the guys working on it. Got Annie trying to crack the code off the phone. Martinez is getting a warrant to search Ryan’s house and hopefully there will be something there that can explain what the hell’s going on.” Joey squeezed his shoulder. “This is one fucked up situation, brother.”
Jax almost threw up.
He’d sent her off to Atlanta without him, and there was still someone out there who wanted to hurt her. “She’s still in danger.” It was said in long exhale.
“Sure looks that way.”
He swiped his wallet and keys from the top drawer of his desk. “Book me the first flight to Atlanta. And brief the guys. Tell them to keep a close eye, but not to let Megan know anything yet. I don’t want her to panic before I get there,” he yelled from the hall, already halfway out of the compound. He needed to grab his emergency bag from his house and get to Atlanta as soon as possible.
Especially since the stubborn woman wasn’t listening to Jason or Ben. She probably wouldn’t listen to him either, but at least he could pick her up and tie her down if it meant keeping her safe.
As soon as the plane landed in Atlanta, Jax hopped a cab and went straight to the venue. By the time he arrived, TNT was already performing. He was unable to take his eyes off Megan on stage—thank God she was safe. The last few hours he’d been alternating between trying to see the missing piece of the puzzle and fighting off the terrible what-ifs that filled his head.
After the last song was over and they yelled their good-byes to the audience, Megan reached for a towel hidden behind one of the speakers and wiped her brow as she walked offstage, not even looking at her surroundings. Her breasts heaved up and down as she breathed heavily and her cheeks were pink. She barely looked like the Megan he knew in that hair and makeup. She still hadn’t seen him and he was standing right there.
She needed to keep her eyes open, watch for danger.
Her carelessness upset him.
Jax stood with his arms crossed over his chest, unmoving, as she barreled right into him.
“Ow!” she yelled, and once she looked up, she took an unsteady step back, her eyes wide. “Jax? Wh-what are you doing here?”
“You didn’t see me. I could’ve been anyone, and you didn’t see me. You need to watch where you’re going and keep vigilant, Megan.”
