Blade’s Edge, page 9
part #1 of L.A.S.T. Defense Series
Emi
Emi
Jasper sits at my breakfast bar, frowning at his phone, with a fresh cup of coffee at his elbow.
“Is everything all right?” I tug at my sweater, one of my many bruises protesting against my bra strap.
“My brother needs a permanent attitude adjustment,” he mutters. “AJ made some calls to his contact at Austin PD. Have you heard from a Detective Mitchell?”
“He called twice this morning.” I show Jasper the transcripts from the voice mail messages.
“That fucking idiot should know better than to leave such a useless goddamn message. That ain’t much more than I got from AJ. Sombitches. Both of them.”
I lean against the counter next to him. “Tell me how you really feel.”
Jasper laughs, a rich sound that vibrates his entire being. I could fall for that laugh. Easily. Hell, I’m already falling for it—and him.
“Mitchell and my brother would probably get along like two pigs in slop.” He runs a hand through his hair, tugging on the dark brown strands. “You call him back?”
“I tried. But I might as well just go in. It’ll be faster.“ I move to the fridge, rummaging inside for a container of yogurt. “Wait. You put my groceries away?”
“Yes, ma’am. Might have eaten some of your cheddar cheese popcorn, though. I missed dinner last night and left my groceries in the truck.” He nods toward his hat and keys resting on the counter. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll drive you to the station.”
“You will do no such thing. For fuck’s sake, Jasper. You have a life to get back to. I’m fine.”
“I’m not askin’.”
Well, hello. Over-the-top Jasper is sexy as hell. Even if I do want to give him a piece of my mind. “I’m a grown-ass woman, Jasper Blade. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
He growls—actually growls—and it does something to me I’m not prepared for. I’ll need to change my panties if he keeps this up. But I won’t back down either. He does not get to tell me what to do and expect me to be happy about it. I ball my hands into fists at my sides so I’m not tempted to grab him and kiss him senseless.
“If you want to drive me, you can ask. Nicely. Maybe I’ll say yes.”
A vein in Jasper’s temple throbs. To his credit, he only blows out a breath and closes his eyes for a beat. “Emi, will you please let me drive you to Austin PD?”
“Why, yes. I would love a ride since my car isn’t…operational at the moment.” I offer him a sweet smile, then pop the top of the container of yogurt. “Want some?”
He wrinkles his nose. “Got anything that ain’t healthy?”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Besides the cheddar cheese popcorn? Not at the moment. There’s oatmeal? Or smoothie ingredients in the freezer?”
“Waffles, pancakes, muffins…” he says, longing in his tone.
“I’m in front of a camera anywhere from three to five nights a week. I rarely have time to cook, and broadcast news requires me to maintain certain physical…standards. Every couple of weeks, I splurge on the enchilada plate at Bar Roma. The rest of the time, it’s yogurt, kale, and two handfuls of popcorn a night.”
His blue eyes darken. “I’d say that’s no way to live, but my standard grocery order is two boxes of frozen lasagna and a couple of cases of Shiner. So I guess I’m not in any position to judge.”
“You’re right. You’re not.” I only make it through half the yogurt before my stomach twists into a knot. “I’ll be ready to go in five minutes.”
Jasper
Emi is glued to her phone on the drive to Austin PD, but between text messages, she steals glances at me.
I can’t read her. She doesn’t think she needs a bodyguard, but she’s got one—at least until I hear the bomb squad’s report on her car. AJ was less than helpful when he finally called me back this morning.
“The detective on her case is Nolan Mitchell. He’s an ass. But he’s a decent detective with a high close rate. He wouldn’t tell me anything, but he did let it slip that he’d gotten a call from the FBI.”
If the FBI’s involved, the explosion wasn’t an accident. Emi was targeted. But did they want to kill her or merely scare her off the story?
I ease the truck into the parking spot with the best visibility in the lot. It’s a police station, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking any chances with Emi’s safety. No one’s sneaking up on us.
She throws her door open, but I reach across the cab to take her hand. “Wait for me to come around, sweetheart.”
Goddammit. Why can’t I stop with the “sweetheart” shit? Emmylou Marsh is not my girlfriend. Hell, she’s barely a friend if the glare she’s giving me is any indication.
“Are you always this overprotective?” she asks when I wrap my hands around her waist to help her down.
“Yes. No. Fuck. I don’t know. I haven’t spent a lot of time around people since the explosion.” Scanning the lot, I note the half dozen cars, the mom pushing a stroller on the sidewalk, the clouds gathering on the horizon. Tonight’s storm is gonna be a toad strangler.
“Why not?” She lets me keep my palm at the small of her back all the way to the station’s front doors. “You’re a nice guy, Jasper. Handsome too. Any woman would be lucky to snap you up.”
A hint of sadness lingers in her tone. I don’t have time to figure out why before she marches up to the information desk and asks to talk to Detective Mitchell.
I should offer to sit in the lobby until she’s done. Instead, I reach for her hand. “I’m goin’ in with you.”
Emi’s brow wings up. “Why am I not surprised? Fine. But if you try to talk over me even once, we’re done. I get enough of that at work.”
“I wouldn’t dare try.” Holding my Stetson to my heart, I wait for her to turn those big brown eyes to mine. “Emi, I’m not stayin’ with you because I think you’re weak. And it damn well ain’t because you’re a woman. I’m here because I care.”
Her gaze softens. Does she squeeze my hand a little?
“Ms. Marsh?” An older man—late fifties if I had to guess—lumbers out from behind the security glass. His detective badge is clipped to his belt. From the way his jacket hangs, he’s tucked his gun into his shoulder harness. “I’m Detective Mitchell. If you follow me, we can talk in one of the conference rooms.”
Mitchell doesn’t even toss a glance in my direction until Emi clears her throat. “This is Jasper Blade, detective. He’s with me.”
“We really should speak privately, Ms. Marsh,” Mitchell says.
As if she knows I’m about to give the man a piece of my mind, Emi wraps her hand around my elbow and squeezes gently. “I trust Jasper. He was a Ranger until he retired last year, and he’s…a friend.” With a sweet smile, she adds, “I’m going to tell him everything less than five minutes after I walk out of here, Detective. Save me the trouble?”
The look Mitchell gives me could melt the polar ice caps. Yeah. He knows who I am. And he’s not happy I’m here.
We follow him through the bullpen, down a hall, and into a conference room. “Wait here,” the detective says, then shuts the door with enough force to rattle the windows.
“What crawled up his ass?” Emi whispers.
“Ain’t no love lost between Austin PD and the Ranger Division. They think we’re cowboys who don’t play by the rules.”
She smirks, her brow arching in the cutest way. “And what do you think of them?”
Mitchell stalks back into the room, and I give Emi a quick wink. “One of these days, I’ll tell you.”
Sinking into a chair across from us, the detective flips open a folder. He spreads half a dozen photographs out on the table. The remains of Emi’s car, some burned wires, and a blasting cap. “So, Ms. Marsh. Do you have any idea who might want to kill you?”
Chapter Twelve
Emi
I hold it together until we’re back in Jasper’s truck. But once he starts the engine, I stare out the window while Detective Mitchell’s words play on a loop in my head.
“We found the remains of a cell phone detonator. The techs estimate a quarter pound of C4 under your right wheel well—close enough to the gas tank, it was guaranteed to burn.”
“Emi? Talk to me.” At a stop sign, Jasper reaches over to rest his hand on mine. The warmth of his touch grounds me, though it doesn’t make it any easier to find my voice.
“I thought for sure it was an accident,” I say softly. “But someone really did try to kill me.”
Jasper squeezes my fingers once, then returns his hand to the wheel. “Fowler won’t get away with this, sweetheart. Mitchell might not have much to go on, and he’s a colossal ass, but he has a respectable close rate.”
“We don’t even know that it is Fowler.” I stifle a snort. “Ignore me. Of course it’s Fowler. Or someone he’s connected to.”
“Do you always go to the grocery store on Thursday nights?” Jasper asks. “Or right from the station?”
“How did you know I’d come from work?”
He chuckles. “You were dressed to the nines, perfect makeup, heels…”
Oh. Right.
My cheeks heat, and I fiddle with the hem of my sweater to give myself something to focus on. “Saturdays. I normally shop on Saturdays.”
The trees pass by in a blur of green and brown. Why do I suddenly feel like my whole life is nothing but a blur? I work all the time. Mama died when I was twenty-three. Every year, my sister asks me to visit her in London for her birthday, but there’s always been a story. Or at least that’s what I’ve told myself.
What if I never get the chance to see her again? I don’t remember my life flashing before my eyes last night, but if it had, would I have seen anything but work?
“Emi?” Jasper brushes his hand along my arm. “We’re here.”
I jerk away from him, but the seatbelt traps me with nowhere to go. “What happens now?”
“I’m gonna walk you inside and make sure you’re safe. Your boss hired bodyguards, right?” he asks.
“Y-yes. The building is secure, but he stationed two rent-a-cops in the lobby. My cameraman, Kyle, has a family. He was okay with a bodyguard following him home at night. I wasn’t.”
“Dammit, Emi. These guys aren’t playing around. If you had been two steps closer to that car—”
“I know!” Tears well in my eyes. “I’ve worked in network news for almost twenty years. Death threats have always been part of the job. They never bothered me before. But they were never so real before either.”
“They’re real now, sweetheart.” Jasper cups my cheek and skates his thumb gently below the bruising. “Once you’re inside, I gotta go see my brother and slap some sense into him. But I’m only leavin’ if you promise me you won’t go anywhere alone.”
“I’m not taking one of Nelson’s bodyguards to the bathroom with me,” I say with a gentle shake of my head. “I draw the line there.”
Jasper laughs, the sound so rich and almost happy. “Good. But, I’m serious, Emi. You don’t leave the station. Not for lunch, drinks, a walk…nothin’. I’ll be back at seven.”
“You don’t need to babysit me,” I bristle.
“Yes, ma’am. I do. Hell, I’d stay with you all day if you’d let me. But I reckon you’ve had about enough of my overprotective ass for a few hours. So you stay inside while I do what I’ve gotta to, and when I come back at seven, I’d like to take you to dinner. If that’s okay with you.”
I pull my hands away. “Jasper Blade, are you flirting with me?”
“No ma’am. I’m tryin’ to ask you out on a proper date. Somewhere quiet, easily secured. Maybe even a little romantic. After that, we’ll see what comes next.”
Jasper scoots closer so only the center console separates us, slides his hand into my hair, and cups the back of my head. His kiss sends goosebumps racing along my arms, down my back, and all the way to my toes. Strong fingers gently caress the column of my throat. I moan into the touch.
His lips follow the curve of my jaw until he finds the shell of my ear. “I want you, Emmylou Marsh. Sleeping next to you last night—who am I kiddin’, I was countin’ stars the whole time.”
I shudder. Jasper toys with the top button on my blouse. Shit. Anyone could walk by and see us… “Stop,” I whisper. “Not…here.”
He pulls back by inches. First his lips. Then his hands. Then his bulk and heat.
My breath stutters in my chest. I’m so damn needy, I’m tempted to suggest we find a hotel. Or go back to my place. But then I remember the photos of my mangled car. Of the remains of the cell phone that set off the bomb. I have work to do.
“Tonight. Okay. A…date,” I manage. “At seven.”
Jasper reaches over and cups my cheek. “I need to hear you say it, Emi. You won’t go anywhere alone.”
I want to rail against his demand. To tell him I’m not a child and I can protect myself. But I don’t. Because he’s right. I’m in trouble, and I need to be careful.
“I’ll stay inside.” I cover his hand with mine. “I promise.”
Jasper
This day has been goin’ downhill ever since I got out of Emi’s bed this morning. I shoulda’ stayed there. Made her stay with me. Then we might be able to pretend everything’s normal. That no one’s out to kill her.
Instead, I’m checking every corner of the Channel 5 lobby. Their security ain’t half bad. No one gets past the front doors without badging in. A uniformed attendant monitors the reception desk, and from the way he carries himself, he’s former military.
“You’ve walked me right to the door,” Emi says, a little of the sass back in her tone. “No one would be stupid enough to come after me here. There’s always a camera on somewhere in this building.”
I don’t like leaving her. But we aren’t a couple. And she’s right. If the cartel is involved, there’s no fucking way they’d attack the station. No. They’d go after her and her alone. Make it look like an accident. Because that’s plausible deniability.
“I’ll be right back here at 7:00 p.m. When you hear from the FBI, you give me a call.” Leaning in, I brush my lips to her forehead. “You might be the most interesting woman I’ve ever met, Ms. Marsh. Stay safe today. I want to see what this is between us.”
With a smile, she walks backward all the way to the security doors. “So do I.”
“He’s not here, Jasper.” Sergeant Parker Elmore rounds her desk, her blond hair swinging in a high pony tail.
“Then where is he? The sombitch was supposed to call me back two hours ago.” The bullpen is mostly quiet this time of the afternoon on a Friday. Billings and McGrath are already gone. Parker’s surrounded by paperwork, which means my brother dumped it all on her before he took off.
Her blue and gold eyes darken. “The same place he is every Friday.”
Fucking hell. “I thought he’d rented that apartment to live in. Not as his weeknight crash pad.”
Parker rests her hip on the edge of AJ’s desk and rubs the back of her neck. “He’ll never give up the house, Jas. You know that. It’s his last connection to Grace.”
She’s right. The place on Lady Bird Lake was their dream home. Floor to ceiling windows, a fully outfitted custom outdoor kitchen, fire pit, an insulated man cave for AJ, and an art studio for Grace with a water view.
He stayed there for a year after she went missing in case she found her way home, but Billings and McGrath—two of his lieutenants—finally convinced him that living in that big house all alone wasn’t good for him.
“I’ll head out there next. But…I don’t suppose you know anything about Detective Nolan Mitchell over at Austin PD, do you?”
“Nope,” she says. “But I’ll put some feelers out—if you do something for me.”
“What?”
Parker’s no fool. She’s only been on the job for two years, but she’s got the best instincts of anyone I know besides my brother—and maybe me.
“Go see him. He won’t admit it, but he’s really struggling, Jasper. Every Saturday he goes out on the same trail Grace used the day she disappeared. I know you can’t run anymore, but maybe one day…you could go with him.”
Fuck. I didn’t know it was that bad. “I’ll talk to him. Don’t expect much. Big brother doesn’t give two shits about what I have to say. But…I’ll try.”
Dark clouds gather on the horizon as I park my truck next to AJ’s black SUV. His lake-front property has seen better days. Brown patches of dead grass dot the front lawn, the bushes are so overgrown, they’ve started to block the windows, and his gutters are chock full of weeds.
The doorbell echoes through the house, but he doesn’t answer. I give it one more try—and a good two minutes—before I head for the side gate. He used to keep a spare key under one of the planters by the back door.
Behind the house, the late afternoon sun hits the water. A stiff breeze turns the lake into a sea of glittering diamonds. I always loved this view. Hell, we’d sit out here for hours on a Saturday night with the fire pit going—back when AJ and Grace used to invite me over on the regular.
Belle, an Australian Shepherd/Bernese Mountain Dog mix, trots over to me and nudges my hand with her nose. The pup was so bonded to Grace that AJ had to give her anxiety meds for months. Belle didn’t want to be anywhere but at the front door waiting for her person to come home.
“Wasn’t sure you’d remember me,” I say as I scratch Belle behind her ears. “But you’re a smart girl.” I squint up at the house, and though the sun against the tall windows threatens to blind me, I can make out AJ sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs on the deck. “Come on. Maybe he’s got a tennis ball up there.”
The dog sticks close to my side until I find an old, faded ball next to the steps. Then she starts dancing around me until I throw the mangled thing halfway to the lake.
“What are you doing here?” AJ asks, his gaze pinned to the water. A bottle of Shiner sits at his elbow.
