Page 98 of Lethal Danger

Nev lifted one shoulder under the red terry robe she must’ve thrown on when she went to the bathroom. “It was Jazz’s business.” She glanced at Jazz.

Glad to know Nev didn’t tell Branson absolutely everything. Jazz hadn’t been sure. Now that they were about to get married, she knew Nev would want to share everything with him, and she’d wondered if that would include the private conversations Jazz and Nev had kept secret since they were seven. She should’ve known Nev wouldn’t go that far.

“Well, now it’s our business, too.” Branson put an arm around Nev’s shoulders. “I’m going to stay on the sofa here until I know you’re out of danger.”

Nev opened her mouth to protest, but Jazz beat her to it.

“I’ll just leave.”

Everyone’s attention swung toward Jazz.

“Seriously. I’m obviously going to go back to my apartment. Or a hotel or something. I’m not going to keep bringing hitmen to Nev’s door.”

“You’re welcome to stay with me at my house, Jazz.” Cora’s offer sent a jolt of surprise through her. Did Cora really want Jazz to stay with her? The woman was one of the sweetest people Jazz had ever met. She probably took in every stray, needy person she came across. But Jazz wasn’t that needy.

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I have Flash.”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Nev pushed off the sofa to stand, glaring at Jazz. “You are not going off somewhere to die alone.” She planted fisted hands on her hips. “We can handle this together. We just did.”

Jazz’s mouth quirked as amusement interfered with her desire to be firm. “I hadn’t really planned on dying, but…”

Nev relaxed her arms with a chuckle. “Good. Then you’ll stay?” She glanced down at Branson, then returned her gaze to Jazz. “We’ll need a chaperone anyway if this big bodyguard insists on sleeping on the sofa.”

“Oh, yes. We can’t have you sullying your Christian good girl reputation.” Jazz rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Glad that’s settled.” Bris perched on the arm of the love seat that faced the happy couple. “But if we want it to be temporary and not have another night like tonight, we need to figure out who’s behind this.”

Cora nodded, standing near the coffee table as she transferred her gaze to Jazz. “I’ve been looking into the family ties, and your father’s background appears clean. Lawrence Lamont had an impeccable service record, as I’m sure you know. He seems to have been well-liked and highly respected by his fellow servicemen that I’ve spoken with, as well. No one knows of any enemies he could have had.”

Impressive that Cora even talked to friends of Jazz’s dad. She’d known Cora was thorough but not that thorough.

“So I’m afraid I haven’t found anything useful yet. There is one possible anomaly that I needed to request more information on, and I’m waiting for that to come through.”

“An anomaly?” Did Cora mean about Jazz’s dad or something else?

“More of a curiosity at this point. I’ll keep you informed as soon as I know more.” Cora’s mouth pinched. Was she holding something back? She’d said she was going to look into Jazz’s mom, too. But Jazz wasn’t about to ask. Not in front of all these people. And probably never at all. She’d already been rejected enough.

“Nothing from Ramone either.” Sof walked closer to the love seat. “I’ll check with him again now that a new pair of goons were hired.”

“How did they even know I was here?” Jazz voiced the question that had been bothering her since they’d captured the hitmen. “I check for tails. There haven’t been any. And I’m checking for trackers, too. Every time I take my SUV anywhere.” She braced herself for someone to challenge her ability to find the tracker or spot tails.

“They likely watched your apartment until they concluded you weren’t staying there.” Phoenix finally spoke again, still standing guard by the door. “They would have then checked the addresses of your known associates from the agency.”

A sinking feeling trickled downward to Jazz’s stomach. “Which would’ve led them to my SUV in Nev’s driveway.” She should’ve thought of that and parked her SUV in the garage instead of Nev’s pickup. Now she probably looked like an idiot to Phoenix…again.

“Do you think it’s safe for Jazz to stay here?” Cora turned her blue eyes on the boss.

Jazz was wondering the same thing. The bad guys knew she was there. And even though they’d been caught, they could’ve first passed along the info to whoever had hired them. No way was she going to put Nev in danger, no matter how much her BFF insisted Jazz stay. Nev had been through enough hard times.

“With Nevaeh, Branson, and two protection K-9s, the results of any attack will likely end the same way.” Phoenix’s cap turned in Jazz’s direction, like she was fixing her gaze on Jazz. “It’s safer here than elsewhere alone.”

But Phoenix didn’t offer her own home for Jazz to stay in. She’d invited Cora in and let her stay at her house overnight when Cora’s life was in danger. As far as Jazz could learn, no one else on the team had ever seen Phoenix’s house. Everyone knew the boss had done that because she thought it was the safest place Cora could stay.

And Cora was her favorite. No one on the team seemed to know why, but they all knew it was true. Jazz just wished she knew what it took to be Phoenix’s favorite. Or simply to get on her good side.

Phoenix clearly didn’t want to get involved with Jazz’s protection at all. By the time their impromptu meeting disbanded, Phoenix still hadn’t even set up nightly patrols outside Nev’s house. Wasn’t that the norm when someone on the team was threatened? She’d done it for everyone else.

But not for Jazz. No matter how hard she tried, Jazz would never be part of the agency that Nev called a family.

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