Chapter Nine

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Kit paced across Jace's living room, her phone gripped in her hand, while she listened to Deanna's rantings.

"This is all your fault, Kit," Deanna snarled, paraphrasing what the woman had already said multiple times.

Kit had expected the accusation and hadn't been at all sure that she would get any useful info from Deanna, but she'd still called her sister-in-law as soon as Jace and she had arrived back at his place.

Deanna had basically given Jace and her a recap of what Ruby had said when she'd phoned Kit at the police station. That the night before, Brandon had been treated for the cut on his head and had then been released from the hospital, telling his mother that he was going to stay with a friend. When she hadn't heard from him again by morning, Deanna had tried to call him, only to learn he never made it to the friend's house.

Kit had no idea why Brandon had taken that kind of risk, especially only hours after being shot at in his apartment. Brandon hadn't alerted either SAPD or Maverick Ops that he was leaving the hospital so that a cop or bodyguard could go with him to this friend's house. Her nephew had simply walked out.

And vanished.

According to Jace's calculations, Brandon had likely been taken shortly after leaving the hospital. There was camera footage of him exiting through the ER doors. In the feed, Brandon had glanced around the parking lot as if looking for someone. Jace had determined Brandon had called for an Uber. The Uber had indeed arrived, but by then, Brandon was nowhere to be found so the driver had left.

Approximately, twelve hours later, when Jace and she had been at the Bandera Bluff's sheriff's office, the ransom demand had arrived. It'd come in the form of a phone call from a burner, instructing her to pay a million dollars if she wanted to keep her nephew alive.

A million.

That was the same amount mentioned in the text on one of the burner phones. Was that a coincidence or merely a round figure for a kidnapper to demand? She didn't know yet, but according to the ransom note, the kidnapper was giving her twelve hours to come up with the money.

"If you hadn't agreed to testify against the security guard, then Brandon wouldn't be in danger," Deanna went on. "You need to talk to the police and tell them you're recanting your statement at this very minute." More rehashing. "You need—"

"Do you know who took Brandon?" Kit interrupted.

"Of course not," Deanna insisted, and she sounded insulted. "I wouldn't know the sort who would do something like that. But you do. You associated yourself with that kind of person by giving the statement to the police and agreeing to testify. Well, I want you to recant—"

Kit had had enough, and she ended the call.

Sighing, Jace got up from his desk where he'd been working, went to her and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry," he said.

He thankfully didn't launch into a spiel about Deanna being upset and therefore not knowing what she was saying. Kit wasn't in the mood to hear that because, in her mind, Deanna wasn't focusing on the right thing. She was trying to dole out blame for the kidnapping instead of focusing on what was most important.

Finding her son.

"I'll pay the ransom," Kit said. She had told Deanna that right at the start of the conversation, and while her sister-in-law had accepted that, she hadn't offered any thanks. "But I have to wonder if Trevor is desperate enough to have orchestrated all of this."

Jace lifted his shoulder. "It's possible, and if that's true, then you know Brandon is safe."

Maybe. But Kit recalled the shooting at Brandon's apartment, and the image of the blood on his head flashed in her mind.

"Maybe the plan is for Brandon not to be hurt, but things can go wrong," she pointed out. "I don't suppose the kidnapper has called back with info about the money drop or Brandon's release."

Of course, she knew there'd been no callback since that was something Jace would have immediately told her about. Still, she had to hope.

"No." Sighing again, he led her to the sofa and had her sit.

He went into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of Coke for her and a huge glass of water for himself. Jace set the glass on the end table and then dropped down beside her. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he slipped his arm back around her and pulled her to him. He even brushed a kiss on the top of her head.

All very TLC.

Of course, there was occasionally some TLC involved when they had physical contact. But mostly, it was, well, just physical. A kiss that launched into foreplay that then led to sex.

Jace didn't start that particular ball rolling though. The look he gave her was all business.

"While you were getting an earful from Deanna, I read the report Ruby compiled on Norm Pearce."

That got her attention. "Is he the one who took Brandon or was that Marvin just blowing smoke?"

"To be determined, but Ruby and her techs are digging hard and deep. Roy, put the report on Norm Pearce on the living room screen," Jace instructed.

Within a blink, the virtual painting above the fireplace disappeared, and the report popped on. A report with the man's photo front and center. Kit studied the photo of the heavily muscled dark-haired man but had to shake her head. She didn't recognize him, nor was his name familiar.

"Norman Pearce, forty-two," Jace read aloud, "and as you can see he, too, has worked as a security guard for your father. Briefly worked for him, that is. Your father fired him after only four months of employment when Norman got into a fist fight with one of your dad's office assistants."

"So, a violent streak," she muttered, and it sickened her to think that maybe Trevor had unleashed this SOB on Brandon.

"Very much so," Jace confirmed. "Roy, scroll through to Pearce's police record."

She cursed when she saw it was multiple pages. He'd started out with petty stuff as a teenager in inner-city San Antonio. Shoplifting and trespassing and had progressed to car theft and assault. As an adult, he'd been in jail twice, but because of prison overcrowding, he'd gotten early releases on both and had spent less than four years in jail.

"So, why did Marvin believe Pearce was the one who's after me?" she came out and asked.

"Roy, scroll to page six," Jace instructed.

Kit saw the photos load onto the screen. It was Pearce, and he'd been captured on a traffic camera very near Brandon's apartment complex.

"Pearce doesn't live anywhere near here," Jace explained. "And Ruby hasn't been able to connect him to any friends, family or business dealings in the area. Roy, go to page seven," Jace tacked onto that.

Another photo appeared on the monitor. Not of Pearce this time but of an older man with a wrinkled face and unkept gray hair.

"That's Arnold Cassaine, better known to his friends as Rattler," Jace added. "He likes to hunt and capture rattlesnakes, and he just happens to be good friends with Pearce."

So, it all fit. Or rather the pieces of it did anyway. There was still no solid answer as to why any of this was happening. Was it Trevor's desperate attempts to get his hands on some money? Or was this actually about her intended testimony against Marvin?

Of course, even if she knew the motive behind the attacks, it didn't mean they'd stop. Nor would it necessarily lead to an arrest. Proving motive was a start, but it wouldn't be enough for the cops to build a case. They'd need proof, and so far, everything they had found was circumstantial.

"Has Ruby found any proof to connect either Rattler or Pearce to my father or brother?" she asked.

Jace drew in a long breath and slowly released it. The sound of frustration that matched what she was feeling.

"No. So far, no financial link and no camera feed proof that Trevor or Ramsey has met with Rattler or Pearce to set this plan into motion," he explained. "Ruby's next step is to try to find out where the burner phones were purchased and try to get footage of who bought them."

"That sounds like a needle in a haystack," she concluded.

Jace made a sound of agreement and looked at her. "Pretty much everything at this point is until we hear from the kidnapper," he admitted.

And there it was. He had just spelled out her worry and the sense of dread stirring around her. Jace no doubt picked up on that because he looked over at her. Not that he had to look far. She was still pressed right against him.

Their gazes locked.

The heat came.

Yes, even without any more contact, it was there, and even though they both knew this was a distraction they didn't need, they apparently did need the kiss.

Jace leaned into her at the exact the moment she leaned into him, and their mouths met, the pleasure causing an immediate flashfire inside her. It was always like this. Always this intensity, and while it was almost certainly a mistake, Kit just went with it anyway.

She set aside her Coke so she could frame his face with her hands, and she just went for it.

A bull blown kiss. Hot and deep.

Jace went for it, too, and his mouth moved over hers. A cure-all for the dread and worry. Of course, it was temporary, but for now, she took everything he was giving her.

He pulled her even closer to him, angling their bodies so her breasts were against his chest. All those muscles. All that strength. All hers.

For the moment anyway.

She sank into the kiss and into the delightful sensations of having him touch her. Not only with the contact of his chest either. Jace slid his hand between them and cupped her right breast, flicking his thumb over her nipple.

Even though the kiss was still raging on, she managed to make a sound of pleasure. A sound of need. And the delightful sensation took on an urgent edge. Demanding more and more and more.

She sated that edge by doing some touching of her own, sliding her hands down his back. Drawing him yet even closer. He did some maneuvering of his own by pulling her onto his lap.

That edge cheered.

But Jace stopped.

There was so much need in his eyes. So much heat. And she knew if she just touched her mouth to his, that would be enough for the edge to take over. No going back from that kind of push.

Kit forced herself to remember the lousy timing. Forced herself to remember the whole consequences of the loss of focus. Her arguments were good.

However, she was quickly losing this battle.

Then, Jace's phone rang.

That seemed to snap them both back and gave them a much needed jolt of restraint and common sense.

Because it could be word about the ransom demand.

She quickly moved off his lap so he could take out his phone. Not an easy task what with his erection pressing hard against his zipper.

"It's Ruby, and she wants a video call," he relayed, and he put the call on the monitor while Kit tried to steel herself up for whatever she was about to hear.

When Ruby appeared on the screen and spoke, Kit realized she hadn't steeled herself up nearly enough. The woman said four words that shook Kit to the core.

"SAPD found a body."

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