“Bishop is a keeper. You can tell. Maybe I’ll ask her out. I did save her. To the victor goes the spoils.”
Lucian glanced up and his face said it all. “She’s not a fucking trophy. She has feelings. She…”
Then he realized what the Marine was doing.
“Screw you, Jagger.”
He laughed.
“If it’s any of your business, I didn’t want her to lose her career for me. I’m not worth it.”
Jagger popped a piece of gum into his mouth. “That’s not up to you to decide. She gets to decide if you’re worth it, not you. You took her choice away, and to hurt her—that makes you a dick.”
He was aware.
“Fix it. Oracle is NEVER wrong. If she’s telling you to do one thing, do it. If you don’t, this shit happens. We learned that on our last case, where someone nearly died.”
“Thank you for saving her.”
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t save her. I bought her some time. You have to do the saving. You’re up to bat.”
He heard the heels.
They were angrily heading their way. Jagger knew he wasn’t the one going to be on the shit end of that stick. He’d done his job, and he’d saved the girl.
This was all about Lucian meeting hurricane Roxy. Lucian was about to get an ass kicking by proxy.
As Roxy rounded the corner, it was all over her face. She was headed right toward Lucian.
Both men stood.
Jagger almost wanted to warn Lucian.
Almost.
Then again, he’d pulled a shitty stunt, and when you did things like that, you had to have a reality check. He’d been the victim of that look more times than he could count.
Yeah, he was about to be leveled by a woman five foot seven, full of anger, and ready to kick his ass.
This should be fun.
When she got within arm’s length, Jagger, unlike Lucian, saw the intent.
He stepped back.
The mighty was about to fall.
To the floor.
Roxy glared at Lucian.
“You asshole!” she declared, reeling back and swinging with all she had.
She hit her target.
She clocked Lucian so hard, he fell backward over the row of chairs and landed flat on his back. The nurses behind the desk actually stood up, as did the doctors.
It was one hell of a punch.
Jagger was a little impressed by her form.
Then he had to grab her to keep her from going over the chairs and onto the downed man. The intent was on her face. Lucian was a dead man.
“You stay away from her! If I see you even come near her, I’m going to get her gun, shoot you in the ass with the entire clip, reload, shoot you all over again, and then dance around your body as I watch you bleed! Doctor’s oath my ass! I won’t even save you after what you did to her!”
Lucian touched his jaw.
Roxy kicked him in the shin to add insult to injury.
“You spineless, dickless weasel! You had the balls to tell her you don’t love her and that you’re going back to that man-whore Wendy? For that alone, I should tear out your spleen and feed it to you.”
Jagger started laughing.
He couldn’t help it.
Roxy was pissed, and she’d leveled the man with little effort. He had never seen a sexier, angrier woman than he did right now.
It was hot.
She was the female him.
Here was more proof.
“Jesus! I think you broke my jaw,” muttered Lucian.
Roxy went to go for him again, and again, Jagger caught her around the waist. “Hold on, honey, he’s already down for the count. Anything more would be overkill.”
She didn’t care.
“I need to see her.”
Roxy had enough. “Oh, you’ll never see her again! I’ll make sure of that!”
With that, she stormed off.
“I’m screwed,” said Lucian, not even getting up.
Jagger didn’t disagree with him. Lucian obviously didn’t know the first law of women.
When one was pissed, they were never alone.
The babes were mean.
Plus, they always brought backup. Angry women traveled in packs, and if you hurt one, you incurred the wrath of them all.
Lucian was screwed.
On top of that, he had one hell of a fight ahead.
Chapter Eighteen
He dumped the vehicle.
It had served its purpose for the night, and now he was going to move on with his plan. Tonight was going to be special. He was going to head to Wendy Lockwood’s house to have some fun.
Since the FBI and sheriff thought she was involved, he was going to help her out. It would be easy getting in and out of her place, especially since he’d been there before.
Wendy was a whore, but she had her uses. She thought she was the only one who used people to learn things.
Well, she was wrong.
She was a plethora of information. Sometimes, just watching her told people everything they wanted to know. She’d flaunt herself on the news, but she made it easy to track her.
She traveled with an entourage.
Watching her was easy.
He blended in.
Now that she was ‘detained’, like he’d seen on the news, he’d have free reign of her place. He could plant what he wanted, dig around, and maybe she might have more on the last victims to come. He had the sheriff’s files, and they were filled with useful information.
More importantly, this was a fact finding mission on Lucian Monroe. He didn’t doubt that Wendy would have it. She was a sneaky viper and a reporter.
They were all the same.
They were piranhas in the pool of society.
He was so glad he’d started this mission of his for justice. He loved that she was making it easy.
What he loved even more was that she was just as guilty as the rest of them.
He didn’t forget what she did.
While he might not be able to get his hands on her to kill her, now that she was in jail, he could still destroy her.
Just like she’d helped destroy him.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Crime Scene
Midnight
Nate knew how to work a crime scene in his sleep. He’d done more of them in his life than he liked to recall. When he got there, the sheriff’s department was holding down the fort, keeping everyone away from the body.
Not that it was hard.
It was dangling over the water by a noose. The killer was definitely trying to tell them something, and this was going to be a tough one.
The CSI’s had done their job, taking pictures, gathering the fallen wallet, and getting the body over the rail and back onto solid ground.
Now it was up to the coroner to do the autopsy—later, when she was finished with her friend.
“Excuse me?” came a voice.
They turned to find a deputy there.
“Yes?” Nate asked.
“I found where the vehicle was before it hit the sheriff. I tracked it back to the point of origin.”
Nate read his badge. “Thank you, Deputy Garcia.”
“No problem. We all love the sheriff. She’s a really good person. I hope you find the person who hurt her.”
They followed him until they found where the car had been. There were tracks in the soft dirt.
“It looks like it hid here, waited for them to pass, and then hit the bridge at the right moment,” Alonzo said.
“How long have you worked for the sheriff’s department?” Nate asked.
“Fifteen years. I served with Bishop’s father. He was a good man. His daughter has his balls.”
“Great find. We can get someone to check these treads and then run them. We might get lucky.”
Luke knew he wasn’t going to be that fortunate. If this killer used his own vehicle, he was a fool. SO far, up to that point, this killer had been flaw
less with yanking their chains.
“I can get someone to do it,” Alonzo said, whistling. Another deputy and a CSI raced over.
They immediately got to work.
“They’ll handle it, sirs.”
Nate left it to them. He had other things to think about, like a profile. It looked like he needed a little help on this one, so he made a call.
This whole thing had him thinking about his sister.
Watching Jagger all confused, Avalon pregnant, and then the fact that Bishop nearly got killed.
He wanted to check in.
Plus, he had to deliver the news.
“I’ll be back,” he said, patting Luke on the back. “I need to make a call to Callie.”
He grinned at the mention of her name. They went way back, and he missed seeing her. “Tell her I love her.”
He would.
When he got far enough away from the crime scene, he leaned against their vehicle. The night was illuminated with lights, and he almost felt bad about calling and waking her up.
Then again, she was a Fed.
They were always prepared for a nighttime call. It was the nature of the beast.
On the third ring, she answered the phone.
“Who’s hurt?” she asked, fully alert.
He laughed. “No one, Callie. I needed your help.”
She relaxed.
“Did I wake you up?”
“No, I was up with Honor. It’s feeding time at the boob,” she teased.
“Gross. Really, Callie, I don’t want to think about you and boob in the same sentence.”
“I think about you being a boob all the time,” she teased, catching him off guard.
This was his sister, and he missed her so damn much.
He laughed. Hearing her was good.
“So what’s up, Nate? You don’t call at midnight to socialize.”
He went with the good.
“I actually do sometimes.”
She snorted.
“Avalon’s pregnant.”
That shut her up.
“Are you moving up the wedding?”
His sister was astute. “Yeah, we are, so be ready. We’re doing it in Fire Bay as soon as we get back, so bring the kids, bring the dog, and bring mom and dad. Don’t give her the heads up because she’ll be there planning it for when we get back.”
He thought about it.
“On second thought, tell her to plan it. I want Avalon to have her dream, even if it’s only with the family.”
“Can do, darlin’, and I’ll help. I’m so happy for you,” she offered. “Avalon is a treasure. You take good care of her, Nate, or I’ll hurt you.”
He was well aware.
“Okay, now the other reason I called. I need a speedy profile on the fly. Are you up for it?”
“Sure, hit me with it.”
He told her everything from the killer leaving notes, to the bodies being people who worked in law, justice, or for the local government. Then he told her about how Bishop nearly bit the big one.
“Okay, you need to keep your eyes on her and on Lucian Monroe.”
“You think they’re tagged?” he asked.
“She was in his way, so he tried to kill her. He’s going to keep trying to get to his goal. As for Lucian, if he knows all the victims, and he’s getting bodies on his front step, you know it’s personal. That’s a message.”
“Care to tell me what?”
“Yeah, look into his cases. Look at the ones he didn’t win.”
“But the killer took out a defense attorney too,” he stated, thinking about the two suspects they had—Haas Newman and Nolan Parker. “Why would he kill the men who got him off?”
“Even if he won their cases, he’s going to think this is justice. He’s killing judges, attorneys, and going after cops. That’s totally the classic judge, jury, and executioner spiel. To him, he’s going to be doing the work they failed at doing, so I don’t think it’ll be someone who went to jail, but rather someone who got away with it.”
“Payback?”
“Yeah, start digging into Lucian’s files, and in the meantime, cover your bases. You know this is mostly guessing with a little gut thrown in.”
He was aware.
Then again, she was damn good at it.
“I also have another issue.”
“What?”
“It’s not a case kind of thing, but something I need your advice on, and I was hoping you could help me.”
“Is it Avalon?”
“No, we’re solid. I finally feel secure. I know this is going to sound wrong, but since I found out that she’s pregnant, I’m not worried. I see how she’s touching her belly and talking to a baby that’s barely the size of a pea, so I’m not worried she’ll leave me. I feel like I’m home.”
That was all Callie wanted for her big brother.
“Then what has you worked up?”
He told her about Jagger. She’d read his case files, and so had he. This was worrying him because Jagger had a rough past. That had to make him into what he was, and he didn’t need it to blow up around them.
“Ask Avalon, but I think he’s falling in love. You might want to make it as easy for him to get this under control.”
Yeah, with Jagger, nothing was easy.
“Thanks.”
“Anything else before I go back to bed and molest that sexy cowboy of mine?”
“Jesus, Callie. You just had a kid. Turn it off and stop talking about it.”
She laughed. “Oh, you wait, Nate. You’ll see.”
“I love you, sugar. You be a good girl until we see you for the wedding.”
“I love you too, Nate. Watch your back. Kiss Luke for me right on the lips.”
“I’d rather kiss a rabid groundhog with a thirst for blood than do that, but I’ll tell him you sent some lip action his way.”
She snorted.
“He sends his love. Catch you later, Doc.”
With that, he hung up.
At least now, he had reconfirmed his feelings about the direction of this case.
They were looking for someone seeking justice. Now they could focus on that.
Something would pop.
It always did.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
County Lock Up
They finally got her released.
The newspaper’s attorney’s had her bailed, free, and on her way after a few hours of total humiliation. She was beyond pissed at everyone.
She’d been forced to wear the disgusting orange uniform as she sat in a cell with three scumbag women.
It was beneath her.
Oh, when she got home, she was going to make Bishop Killion and Lucian Monroe pay. She was going to put Lucian’s life, his inadequacies, and that sheriff all over the map.
And not in a good way.
They would bleed.
She’d trusted Lucian, making a deal, but now it was going to be about cutting him and laughing while he bled out. If he thought she’d tolerate this shit, he was wrong.
He’d learned nothing.
Oh, he was nothing more than a has been, a waste of flesh, and when she was done, he was going to wish that the car bomb killed him.
That gave her an idea.
It made her smile.
Oh, it would be poetic justice.
Pulling out her phone as she walked toward her racy Mercedes, she made a call. On the third ring, he answered.
“I thought I told you never to call me?”
She laughed. “Remember how you owe me something for keeping your secret?” she asked. “You know, for not ratting you out to the cops about you blowing Lucian’s car and nearly killing him?”
He was silent.
“Well, do you?”
“Maybe. What do you want?”
“I have two people who need to go. You missed one of them the first time, so think of this as payback. I want them blown to kingdom come.”
“I don’t do that sh
it anymore. I’m retired.”
“Well, then I hope that file I have doesn’t get into the sheriff’s hands—especially since she’s sleeping with Lucian. I’m betting she might be pissed enough to throw you in jail after all these years. You know, since you tried to blow up her man.”
He knew she had him over a barrel. While the cops never figured out he’d been involved, the nosy reporter had.
Great.
“Are you sure?”
Oh, she’d never been more sure of anything in all of her life. “I want you to blow him, and his skanky dick jockey to bits. I’ll be there to watch and record it all.”
“Then you’ll forget my name?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’ve already forgotten it.”
He thought about it.
“Deal.”
That was exactly what she wanted to hear. Oh, the sheriff would pay for screwing with her. This was the big leagues. If she thought that Ravenswood was clean, she had another thing coming.
It was dirty.
You had to learn to play who was in charge of the game.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
When the hospital staff would finally let him go back, he was too late. Roxy had moved her from the ER, taking her home. He’d lost his chance to speak to her.
It was eating him up inside.
“What do you want to do?” Jagger asked.
He was on the man until this was over, so he had to stick like glue.
“Can you find her?”
Jagger knew where he would take an injured person. So, they’d head to her place.
“Let’s go.”
“I’m going to make this right,” he said, making a vow to anyone who’d listen.
He believed him.
As they headed out of the ER, the cameras were going off around him, but Lucian didn’t care.
He didn’t hide his face.
He didn’t try to avoid them.
As they kept snapping pictures, he faced the white fury going off around him. If this was what it took, so be it. He was done hiding from the world.
He was claiming life, and stepping back into the fray. He was going to do battle for the only thing that mattered to him.
Not his ego.
Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) Page 33