Page 101 of Deserving Maisy
“Can you give us a minute?” Jack asked.
Without hesitation, the paramedics stepped out of the back of the ambulance, giving them some privacy.
“We’re gonna have to talk to the cops again, but before they descend, I wanted to tell you how amazing you are. I was prepared to do whatever it took to buy some time for Brick, Tiny, and half of the Seattle police force to get to us, but I didn’t have to do a damn thing. You did it for me.”
“What were you even doing here? Did Don get you too?” Maisy asked.
Jack shook his head. He was kneeling by the gurney, one hand on her arm, his thumb stroking her skin, and Maisy wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not. She’d left a man behind in the hotel who seemed ready to break off everything between them, and now he was looking at her the way he had before he’d regained his memory. With love.
She had to be shellshocked or something.
“No, I walked up to the door and knocked.”
Maisy’s mouth fell open. “What? Why would youdothat?”
“Because I knew you were somewhere in that house.”
So many questions rattled around in Maisy’s head. “How?” she asked after a moment.
“I slipped a tracker into your pocket this morning.”
“What?” Maisy asked, truly shocked.
“Long story short, I talked to Ry, and we both agreed that just in case, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for someone to be able to know where we were at all times while we were here. After what happened to Lara and Owl…hell, most of the women at The Refuge…she didn’t hesitate to get me two trackers. It was all she could get her hands on at the time, otherwise Brick and Tiny would’ve gotten trackers too. When I pulled my head out of my ass and came back up to the room, you were gone. It was a simple matter of getting in touch with Ry and asking her to track you. I saw you were here, sent Brick and Tiny to the police, and I came straight to the house. I figured I could distract your brother long enough for the good guys to arrive. But again, you didn’t need me.”
Maisy shook her head. “I’ll always need you.”
Heat flared in his eyes and she prayed that was a good sign. His hand tightened on her forearm. “Also, you did what I didn’t think was possible.”
“What’s that?”
“You got your brother to confess. To everything. He’s going away for good, Maisy. He’s not going to ever be a problem for you again.”
“It’ll be my word against his.”
“Nope. Those trackers Ry gave me? They’re also small microphones. She activated them as soon as she heard you were gone.”
“But it was in my pocket. There’s no way she could’ve heard what Jason said,” Maisy protested, even as her hopes rose that maybe by some miracle, a recording of what Jason said would be audible enough to be used against him.
“Yours was—but mine wasn’t,” Jack said with a small smile. “I had it in my hand and planned to plant it in the basement. If anything had happened to us, eventually someone would’ve found it and figured out what it was. Even if they didn’t, Ry would’ve certainly sent the audio files to the authorities.”
The ramifications of what Jack was telling her began to sank in. “It’s over?”
“It’s over,” Jack confirmed.
Maisy closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
“With his own words used against him, plus the pictures you gave the detective, Martha’s wallet, and I’m guessing Don’s testimony—especially after he hears how Jason was going to frame him for your murder, and for leniency in his role in your kidnapping today and all the shit he’s done for Jason in the past—he’s done for.”
She felt his hand on her cheek and opened her eyes to stare into Jack’s beautiful brown gaze.
“I’m sorry. He’s your brother. I know this is hard.”
Maisy scowled. “He’snotmy brother. Not anymore. I refuse to think about him in that way for one more second. He’s a monster. A serial killer. I hate him. But, Jack…areyouokay?”
“Me? Why?”
“I said some things…I didn’t mean to say anything that might bring back bad memories for you.”
