Chapter Sixteen

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"Hell," Jace muttered.

There were a lot of moving pieces to this investigation. And he wasn't getting the answers he needed.

He'd just poured through the camera feed, looking for the whereabouts of all their suspects. So far nothing.

After the courthouse nightmare, Brandon had gone back to his parents' house to be with his mother. Jace hadn't picked up any feed of them leaving the estate, but there was more than one way in and out. Either Brandon, Deanna or both could have left through an exit that wasn't covered with any camera surveillance.

Finding answers about Marvin had been a bust, too. After the courthouse shooting, he'd left with his attorney, and the camera feed had lost them shortly thereafter. Marvin could be anywhere.

Ditto for Trevor.

He wasn't showing up on any feed at all and wasn't responding to texts or calls. Jace was starting to wonder if the man was dead. If so, then he obviously would no longer be a threat to Kit, but it was possible that he was just hunkering down somewhere and waiting until he could take a shot at her.

Literally.

That was the downside of living out in the country, where the house was surrounded by woods. No way to secure all of that, and a would be killer simply had to climb over the fence and come through the pasture to try to get to Kit. His security system was damn good, but it wouldn't stop a full-scale attack.

Then again, there was no place they could go where they could be one hundred percent certain that a killer couldn't strike. Money opened doors to all sorts of things. Signal jammers, hired guns, and the types of weapons needed to murder.

Frustrated with the lack of results, he moved from the sofa where he'd been working and back to his desk where Kit was using the computer to try to dig up some financials on Marvin. Jace took the chair next to her and was ready to see if she'd found anything when the monitor alerted him to an incoming report.

"Roy, load report," Jace instructed.

It popped onto the screen, and he immediately saw it was an update from the CSI team leader. Obviously, the investigators were working late since it was already eight, past normal duty hours. But he was thankful they were pressing hard on this.

Because Kit and he still needed those answers.

Her father was under heavy guard at the hospital, but Jace knew that didn't mean the man was out of the picture. With all the planning he'd done to orchestrate the courthouse shooting, Ramsey might have also arranged for hired guns to finish the job for him.

Trevor could have done the same.

There weren't any signs of that so far, but it was enough of a threat to stay vigilant. Which meant he really needed to keep his hands off Kit.

Of course, that wasn't easy with her right there, next to him, while she read the report along with him.

She had no doubt noticed the info in the report about the antivenom search in Rattler's van. There had indeed been some in the form of freeze-dried vials which meant they hadn't needed refrigeration. The vials had only recently been sealed so they were at prime potency.

"The antivenom was in a case in the glove compartment of the van," Kit read aloud, and then she looked over at him. "So, maybe Brandon didn't know they were there. Maybe," she repeated in a mutter, not sounding at all convinced of that.

Neither was Jace. Still, it was possible Brandon was a victim and not the perpetrator.

After all, Rattler and Marvin were friends, and Marvin still had top billing to have been the one to set this kidnapping in motion. And the motive could have simply been money.

Two million was a hell of a lot of incentive to kidnap Brandon.

Added to that, the cops would almost certainly believe the kidnapping was linked to the upcoming trial. And not Ramsey's desperate attempt to silence Kit. If the cops were focusing on Ramsey, then that would turn the attention away from Marvin's possible personal gain.

With two million, Marvin could have planned on doing what Ramsey had—leaving the country so he couldn't be extradited. That way, he wouldn't have to pay for his crimes and would cut down on the risks of retaliation from Ramsey, Trevor or anyone else who could end up getting snared in a plea deal.

The monitor made a buzzing sound to indicate another incoming report, and Jace immediately put it on the screen.

"Harland Culpepper," Kit and he said unison when they read the name at the top of the report.

This was the person who'd been found dead in Ramsey's office. The CSIs had been able to ID him through his fingerprints.

Culpepper's photo was beneath his name and that bit of info, and Jace studied it, looking for any signs that he recognized him. He didn't, and judging from the sound Kit made, neither did she.

Jace didn't see any immediate facial similarities between Ramsey and him, but the two did have the same hair color and build. The blunt force trauma to Culpepper's face would have obliterated his features enough that it explained why the assistant hadn't quickly realized this wasn't her dead boss.

But rather someone her boss had killed.

Jace scrolled down to the man's bio and saw the arrest record. Saw, too, that Culpepper had once worked for Ramsey as a security guard.

"Hell," Jace said when he got to the next part. "Marvin knows Culpepper and gave him a job recommendation when he applied to work for Ramsey. And Culpepper knew Rattler."

Kit sighed. "So many connecting pieces, and we still don't know if Ramsey was pulling all the strings on the kidnapping or if someone else was involved."

Yeah. And that gave Jace a fresh punch of guilt.

"I've screwed up," he told her. "I broke the number one rule of being a bodyguard by getting personally involved."

She managed a slight smile and pressed her hand to his cheek. "The personal was there before I ever went to Ruby and asked to hire you for a bodyguard. It's still there," she added in a mutter.

It was. No denying it. The sex had been fueled by lust and so much more. With Kit the so much more was always there. Still, that didn't mean he hadn't screwed up by taking her case.

Now, he only hoped that didn't turn out to be a fatal mistake.

Her phone rang, cutting through the silence that had settled between them, and Kit sighed when she saw the name on the screen.

"Deanna," she muttered. "She probably wants to yell at me some more for endangering her son."

Since that had been the gist of Deanna's other calls, Jace figured she was right. He could also see the debate Kit had with herself as to whether or not to answer. She finally hit the answer button and put it on speaker.

"God, Kit, you have to help me," the woman blurted. Jace could hear her breath gusting. "It's Trevor. Kit, he's trying to kill me."

And Deanna screamed.

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