Jaxson: A Romantic Suspense (V Mafia Series Book 3)

by Karice Bolton

  “Innocent until proven guilty.”

  “Exactly. Even when they’re holding the smoking gun when the cops show up.”

  I had to agree.

  “Let’s enjoy our porterhouses.” He smiled a kind smile and I nodded in agreement. “Some people split steaks this large.”

  “Nah. That’s taking the easy way out.” I sliced into the steak. “And I’m certainly not losing this bet.”

  I didn’t know how many ounces I’d consumed so far, but I wasn’t going to lose this battle. We’d managed to stay on safe topics while we mainly focused on the meal, and I had to say it was the most delicious steak I’d ever had. It melted like butter with every bite.

  “I’m impressed, but there’s no way you’re making it through the last of it there.” Jaxson took his last bite and sat back proudly.

  “Just because I’m slower doesn’t mean it’s not happening.” I took another bite as he watched me carefully.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman eat like you.”

  “Then you haven’t seen a real woman.” I laughed, taking another bite.

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  I looked down at the two last bites and sucked in a deep breath. I could do this.

  “So, when should I expect the paper clip story?”

  He glanced around the restaurant. “It’s probably best back at the apartment.”

  “I kind of guessed that.” I slipped the last bite on my fork. “Well, I hope you’re not a sore loser.” I ate the last bite of steak and sat back in the chair. If I were to really think about it, I was probably numb from the stomach down.

  “I don’t lose, so it’s kind of new territory for me.” He glanced at the server, who was working his way over. “Would you like dessert?”

  I laughed. “That’s probably not a good idea.”

  He laughed. “Yeah. You don’t want to look like that girl.”

  I chuckled, feeling completely at ease with Jaxson, which only made me feel like an awful person. I felt completely fine hanging out with a murderer.

  The server delivered the check, and Jaxson took care of it. Before I knew it, we were on the way back to my apartment. I didn’t know if there’d be a kiss, a story, or what to expect.

  But the moment we stepped on the elevator, I didn’t have to wonder any longer.

  Jaxson pulled me into him and brought his lips to mine. His hands slid along the hem of my skirt until he found the slit, his fingers quickly running up my thigh. Feeling his gentle touch glide along my bare skin sent chills through me as his kisses deepened.

  Warmth and desire swam through my body at lightning speed, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop at the door.

  This felt too good to end.

  The elevator landed on my floor, and we barely disconnected to walk off, more like stumble off. He pushed me against the wall next to my door, his mouth moving along my neck and his fingers working along my thighs.

  His touch felt so good. It was only a matter of time before he pushed my skirt over my hips, but I couldn’t think of anything better.

  I slid my hands under his shirt, feeling the hardness of his muscles under my fingertips as he brought his mouth back to mine. My hand searched for the door, but something scratched it. I turned my head, breaking from our kiss, and saw a note hanging.

  “There’s a note on my door,” I murmured.

  He took a step back, his eyes stirring with longing as he grabbed the note from the door and handed it to me.

  My hands were shaking from everything we’d started, but my eyes fell to the handwriting on the envelope.

  FOR THE ONE WHO DIDN’T LISTEN

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jaxson

  “How can there not be security cameras in the hallway?” I asked, talking to building security over the phone.

  Elena’s hands trembled as she stared at the note claiming her sister had been kidnapped.

  I hung up and sat next to Elena, holding her.

  “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find her if she’s missing.”

  “I should have kept trying her cell tonight, but she always lets it die. I just assumed—”

  “And that could still be the case.”

  Elena stood and shook her head. “When are your people getting here?”

  “They should be here any second. Joel, one of our best IT guys, is already getting her cellphone information.”

  It looked as if she was going to ask how he could do that, but she nodded instead. “I’m going to change out of these clothes and call my parents. They need to know about the note I found.”

  “Did they know you tried texting and calling your sister today?”

  “I can’t get ahold of her more times than I can count, so I didn’t really think anything of it. If I contacted my parents every time Sadie couldn’t be tracked down, they’d be in the grave already.” Tears quickly came and she turned toward her bedroom. “I’ll be right back.”

  I nodded and walked over to the window. Glancing down at the street, I noticed a few of my men climbing out of a car.

  “About time,” I muttered under my breath and started toward the front door when I heard Elena telling her parents that hopefully everything is just a hoax, but she’d received a note about Sadie.

  My chest tightened hearing the quaver of her voice, the usual strength in her words completely gone.

  I opened the door to see several of my men coming down the hall. Joel was holding a laptop as he walked, only looking up briefly to acknowledge my location.

  “Find anything?” I questioned.

  Joel’s expression remained unchanged. “Not what I was hoping for.”

  He and the other men came into Elena’s apartment. Two went directly to the kitchen counter to spread out their laptops while the other two went over to the coffee table to spread out their equipment.

  “The last location her cellphone pinged wasn’t even outside the city. The calls and texts that Elena sent have all been received on Sadie’s phone, which—”

  “Means the phone isn’t dead.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Where in the city does it show her?”

  “I’m getting the coordinates now.”

  I gave a tight nod and glanced toward the bedroom, noticing the door had been cracked open since my men arrived.

  “Let me know what you find out, and we’ll get out there. Hopefully, she decided to kick up her heels on her way out of town.”

  “We can hope.” Joel took a seat, balancing his laptop on his knees as he typed away.

  I made my way to the bedroom door and knocked lightly when I didn’t hear her talking to her parents any longer.

  “Elena, my men are here.”

  She immediately swung open the door and nodded. “I know. I heard them. Did they find anything out?”

  “Her cellphone isn’t dead, and the last ping came from inside the city. Joel’s looking up the coordinates, and we’ll head over there to see what’s going on.”

  Horror spread across her face. “This isn’t good. I can feel it in my bones.”

  “It’s good to be realistic, but we aren’t at the point where you need to be thinking the worst.”

  “I know. You’re right. It’s not usually how my mind works. Have they checked my blog and all the comments?” she asked softly, her eyes not meeting mine.

  “As we speak.” I squeezed her shoulders gently. “I really think we need to involve the authorities.”

  Her eyes flashed to mine. “I don’t trust what’s going on with—” She stopped herself. “I know. You’re right.”

  Elena was as stubborn as ever, but I respected it. The police would give her the runaround since forty-eight hours hadn’t passed anyway.

  “I’ve got the place,” Joel yelled from the other room, and Elena froze.

  “I want to come with you.”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  “Let me come.” She glanced toward her bedroom door. “Ei
ther you let me come or I’ll just grab a cab and follow you anyway.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.” I nodded, loving the fire behind her gaze but hating what had put it there.

  She grabbed a sweatshirt and followed me into the living room.

  Joel was about to tell me what he’d found until he saw Elena behind me.

  I glanced at Elena and then at Joel, introducing them quickly and prompting him to continue. I knew he was hesitant to tell me what he had since she was here, which only amped up my anxiety.

  “What do you have, Joel?”

  “The coordinates show here.” He zoomed in on the map, but he had outlined in red a quadrant of the city I immediately recognized. It was where all the murdered women had been found.

  “Isn’t that near where we were the other day?” Elena asked, her voice coated in urgency.

  “Yes.” I gave a quick nod.

  “You don’t think…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

  “Don’t go there. It’s a big city and that’s in the direction to leave the city anyway.”

  But I knew there was something more.

  “You’ve got the blog handled?” I asked the two guys on the couch.

  “We do.”

  “Good.” I pointed at the other two. “Joel, George and Alan, come with us.”

  They shot off the couch and I saw Elena’s body stiffen.

  “You sure you want to go with us?” I whispered.

  “Without a doubt.” She pressed her usually full lips into a thin line. “If my sister’s at some bar, I want to give her a piece of my mind.”

  “That’s the spirit.” I smiled, knowing that wouldn’t explain her blog threats or tonight’s note.

  I motioned for the men to follow us out of the apartment. We were all silent throughout the elevator ride and climbing into my vehicle.

  I told Viktor where to take us and a quiver ran through Elena’s body. I pulled her tighter to me as the city blurred by in silence.

  It wasn’t until we got closer to the location that I felt her body tense, and she began looking out the windows for her sister’s car.

  “She drives a new white Lexus RX.” Elena had already mentioned it back at the apartment, but I just nodded.

  Viktor slowed as we scanned the area. There weren’t many parking garages in this area, but there were some. I craned my neck to get a look at the upcoming street sign.

  “Joel pinned her to this exact area.”

  Elena shook her head, not seeing any sign of the vehicle. “There’s not much here, but there is a bar.”

  “I think I’ve got our vehicle,” Alan said, turning in the front seat as we passed an alley.

  “There it is.” Elena’s voice went up an octave. “That’s her car.”

  Viktor pulled the car over, and before he’d even put it in park, Elena had nearly climbed over me to get out the door.

  Joel somehow managed to move faster than her and was crossing the street to the alley with us on his tail.

  Joel quickly checked under the car and looked in the windows while still holding his small laptop.

  My chest constricted as we came up on the car. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. No windows were broken and there was no sign of a struggle.

  “Her purse is in the car.” Joel’s eyes fastened on mine.

  “My sister wouldn’t leave her purse in the car. She might be a little flighty, but I can guarantee she wouldn’t do that, especially here.”

  “That’s my sister’s earring.” Elena pointed to a flash of diamond right under the front tire.

  “Don’t touch it.” I pulled her back. “It’s time to get the police involved.”

  Unable to speak, she stayed silent and moved her head up and down robotically as she stared inside the car at her sister’s purse.

  “I’m assuming her luggage was in the trunk.”

  She continued to nod as the color drained from her face.

  “The cellphone moved,” Joel said, staring at his screen.

  “How’s that possible?” Elena asked. “Her car’s right here.”

  “Maybe she’s got it on her,” Joel offered. “But it’s blocks away.”

  I slid my phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed Captain Jenkins and explained the situation. After we jostled about over the typical missing person routine, he agreed to send over units.

  After hanging up the phone, my eyes rested on the trunk and I prayed she wasn’t in it.

  “We should probably get back to your apartment. My men can handle—”

  “I want to wait. I need to make sure she’s not inside the trunk.”

  I shook my head. There was no debating what she did for a living. Her mind worked like a detective’s.

  “All right.” I brought her closer in to me as I waited for the squad cars to arrive. “Do you have the note?”

  “I do.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the Ziploc bag she’d placed the threat inside.

  If I felt confident we’d find her alive, I wouldn’t have her turn it over, but if her sister went the way of Missy, the more evidence we could get against the guy, the better.

  “You sure you don’t want our people to look it over?” Joel asked.

  “I’m sure.”

  He gave a quick nod and stood against the brick wall. Three large dumpsters were about twenty yards in front of Sadie’s car, and ten or so bags of trash had been piled around the bin.

  Alan slowly walked along the building and turned the corner, looking up at the column of long windows above. This alley was next to an apartment building. He glanced at the diner across the street and I cocked my head toward it.

  He dashed across the street and went inside while George wandered in the other direction, pulling on locked doors and peeking in dirty windows.

  There was a drycleaner and a coffee shop across the street.

  “Would you like something to keep you warm while we wait?” I asked, and her shoulders sank.

  “I’m fine.”

  I felt so helpless as we stood waiting for the police. It wasn’t a position or a feeling I found myself in often.

  When the police cars showed up, I was relieved to see Johnson climb out of one of the vehicles.

  “What have we got?” Johnson asked, eyeing Elena, who handed him the note.

  “My sister is missing. I’m a true crime blogger and I’ve started writing about the Gotham serial killer. Since then, I’ve received threats to stop and then came home to this note telling me my sister had been kidnapped.”

  “Oh, yes. That story has gone around the station.” He nodded, his eyes staying on hers. “You don’t believe Missy’s murder is connected with the others?”

  “You read the article?”

  “Word spreads fast when someone starts disputing a high-profile case.” He scratched his chin before pulling on a pair of latex gloves to read the note.

  “They want you to delete the post.” His eyes flashed to mine and then to Elena’s. “Have you done that?”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t sure if it was just another hoax or—”

  “No, that’s good. We want everything intact.”

  “We already have our people tracking IP addresses and whatever else Joel is up to.” I pointed in the direction of Joel, who was jogging back over.

  Johnson nodded as his partner unlocked the car door and the other team went around to the back of the car.

  Elena’s breath caught as she watched the lid of the trunk open. She took a few steps forward.

  “It’s only luggage,” I assured her.

  She turned around, her eye glistening. “This is all my fault. If I had only listened and not posted about any of this stuff, my sister would be at home and safe in New Hampshire.”

  “You couldn’t predict this would happen.”

  “And we can’t be sure everything is connected,” Johnson added. “I’ll call this in, but you need to go home.” He looked at me. “Get her home to rest.”
r />   I nodded and knew we didn’t have a second to waste. I needed to call in Luke Fletcher’s team.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Elena

  Every part of my body ached. I didn’t sleep at all last night, and the Volkovs’ invitation to stay at their estate was a welcome one while the police tore up my apartment. My parents were on their way to Oyster Bay Cove as well.

  We were all in a state of shock. It had been twenty-four hours since I’d last seen or heard from Sadie. The police had no answers, and despite Jaxson pressing them to do more, there was only so much they could do.

  “My son will find out where Sadie is,” Mrs. Volkov said softly.

  My gaze flew to hers. We were both in the sitting room of her home, waiting for Jaxson to return from meeting with his brothers. For once, I didn’t want to be involved. I was too exhausted and irrational.

  “I firmly believe that, Mrs. Volkov.” And I did. I also recognized that she didn’t say he’d bring her back alive, and I knew that was because she knew more about the side of life that most chose to ignore. “I only hope we’re not too late.”

  “So do I, dear.” She walked over to where I was sitting on the couch and sat next to me, pulling my hands into hers. “I know what you do for a living. My sons told me. I find it to be an odd occupation, but who am I to talk? I also recognize you probably know more than most about my family’s extracurricular activities.”

  “I don’t—”

  “It’s best not to omit certain facts around me.” She squeezed my hands. “My only point is that if you try to hurt my son, your—”

  “Elena,” Devin interrupted our conversation, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Jaxson wants to talk to you in the kitchen.”

  “Go ahead, dear. We’ll catch up later.” She let go of my hands and I stood.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Volkov.”

  “Just call me Mama V.” She winked and a chill went down my spine.

  I was suddenly far more scared of her than any of her sons.

  I feigned a smile and followed Devin down one of the large hallways that led to the study. I could easily get lost in this home…well, mansion. When they’d briefly shown me around the main floor, I’d lost count of the number of bathrooms, guest rooms, offices, and other rooms. Not to mention, there were lower and upper levels and several other buildings on the property.