35. Jax

Jax

T oday is the day I'm allowed to go to the hospital and finally see Gideon. It's been three excruciating days. I struggle out of the bed that I've been confined to, glowering at the doctor that waddles out of the room.

She's far too happy to be a doctor. I don't trust her. But she is funny and growing on me, though. She smiles too wide and talks in this chipper voice that grates. But she's obedient. And when I say to stop, she patiently waits while I cry and get myself together. When I can stomach her hands on me again, she starts again like nothing happened.

Dane pushes off the wall and helps me undress. He even helps me in the shower, stirring me into an overheated frenzy, but refusing to do anything sexual. It does feel wrong with Gideon in the hospital, so I push my own libido down and ignore it.

Rafe has laid out a white sundress.

I stare at it. "What's that?"

"A dress."

"It's white."

"I can see that."

"I can't wear white. I might burst into flames."

Dane snickers and taps my leg. He helps me into a thong and then eases the dress over my head.

"I haven't got a bra on."

"No bra, baby, we want you exactly like this to taunt Gideon into waking up."

I heave a sigh of exasperation, but when I look in the mirror, I'm not horrified. In fact, I barely recognise the woman in the reflection.

There's a knock on the door, and when Rafe opens it, a maid puts her head in and bobs.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but you have a guest."

"I do?"

"Yes."

"Uh, okay, can we do the terrace? And can you bring up some things we can take to Gi- I mean, Mason? A gift basket of fruit, some nice drinks, snacks, clothes?"

"It's already done, ma'am, the staff were distressed to hear about Mr Lyons and took the initiative."

I beam at her, "Thank you, Melonie."

She blushes and ducks out of the room.

It takes another two minutes, but Dane and Rafe escort me to the terrace where we sit down at the table, awaiting our guest.

There's a knock at the door, and when I turn, my hope crashes, and a wall of caution rises inside me. Detective Maria Descario walks in like she owns the place.

She stands there and studies me intently.

"Take a seat, Detective. I'm still recovering."

She eases into the seat opposite me and studies me. "You look like shit, Blackwell."

"So do you, Descario, what are you doing, taking a hiatus on sleep?"

She snorts a laugh, but her face gets serious quickly. "I am not sorry for anything I did in my pursuit of the truth." We study each other, and I drop my chin in acknowledgment. I can't really argue with that, can I ?

"However, I am deeply sorry my actions caused you harm. And Wayland, I honestly had no idea." For a moment, there's a hard sheen in her eyes, and I realise that she's as much one of the victims as I am. "I find myself in awe of you, Jax Shade. You were telling the truth, and you were a victim. All my paperwork has made that clear. Including how Richard died when a beam slammed his knife into his chest. It's ruled an accidental death."

I blink at her. That is…unexpected. I know my fingerprints would be on that knife.

"There were no prints on the blade or handle, and considering how injured you were, it was ruled you couldn't fight back."

"Maria," Dane whispers. "Thank you."

She swallows hard and avoids our eyes.

"Richard has been acknowledged and accepted with proof and copious amounts of evidence as the real Black Dahlia Killer. Louis Falcon has been cleared of any wrongdoing, and it's a widely accepted theory that Richard killed Louis so that he had the perfect alibi." Descario exhales. "He kept copious notes about his torture techniques and burial sites, so we have been exhuming the remains and notifying families as the information becomes relevant." She hesitates here.

We look at each other and wait.

"Louis Falcon will always be the Black Dahlia Killer in my mind. It doesn't make sense."

I don't even blink. I don't dare.

She exhales and looks away. "Now for the hard part. Jax, while we were looking through the information, we found notes suggesting that Richard killed your mother when you were a child."

"What?" I whisper.

"She approached Richard so that she could make contact with, uh, Mr Harmon, and, uh, it looks like Richard got angry and strangled her. There was an account. It's, we believe, his first kill. "

Even stunned by that news, I know she's not wrong. How the twisted branches of fate have coiled around us. Louis' father killed my mother, and I killed him.

"It's not. You need to look further. The Banewoods. People who vanished in Hurricane. There are so many more. Probably more than we'll ever know."

Maria lets out a frustrated huff. "The department apologises for its handling of the case, Miss Shade, and wishes you a very healthy and happy future." She pauses, clearing her throat. "I'm heading home. I've been instructed to go on leave. Take time off while Internal Affairs checks into all my work. Honestly, I think I'm done. I'm tired. This case and Wayland have hit too hard, and I'm tired and disillusioned. So, I'm here, Jax, to say goodbye. I don't think we'll meet again."

She turns, but I call out. "Descario?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for what you just said, and as much as I hated every minute of your determination to ID me as the partner, I'm sure it gave the victims' families some consolation to know that someone out there wouldn't give up."

Descario looks at me, her eyes shiny. "Good luck out there, Miss Shade."

She backs out of the door and pulls it closed behind her.

I look up at Dane. "What happened to Gideon? I need to know exactly what you're both hiding."