Page 21 of Triple the Danger

Saylor was quiet for a moment, and Jax could hear the wheels in her head turning. He shot Fury a quick, grateful look. At least someone was thinking with a cool head around here. Finally, after another long moment of silence, Saylor said, “You’re right.” She looked at Savage and said stiffly, “I’ll apologize for threatening you, but the fact remains that I don’t trust you, and if I want to go, no one is going to stop me.” Savage gave her a curt nod of acceptance.

Jax relaxed slightly. One hurdle down, one to go. “Aren’t you tired of running, Saylor?” he asked her seriously. “You said you’ve been going for a month straight, and that’s damn tiring. Here, you can relax and do your work. You don’t have to stay here forever, but at least let us look into who’s after you, so you have the information you need to decide what to do next. Then if you want to leave, you’ll be free to go.” Not that he planned on letting her get very far, but if he needed to give her that illusion then he’d gladly lie.

Saylor eyed him suspiciously. “And how long will it take you to figure it out?”

“Depends on how fast we can get the information,” Code answered for him. “Me and Glitch will work on it, but these things take time. It will be faster if the two of us work together, but she has another job that can take her away from this stuff for long stretches of time. Hopefully we can have an answer within a week, and then make a plan.”

“A week?” she repeated doubtfully.

“Might be more, might be less, but a week is a safe bet,” Code replied.

“It’ll take me a week to get your car done anyway,” Jax reminded her. “So really, it’s no different than what you were planning.”

“But that’s to find the information, correct? Not to actually do anything about it?” Saylor asked.

“Depending on what we find, it could be a quick and easy resolution, but if it’s not, then you’re welcome to stay here until we figure it out,” Savage told her, seemingly having calmed down. “But previously, we’ve been able to handle things pretty damn quickly, and we have allies to call if we need more bodies to take care of the problem.”

Code and Razor groaned, earning chuckles from some of the others. Saylor arched a brow at Jax in confusion. “I’ll tell you later,” he promised her. “Now, are we done fighting? Because we need to get as much information from you as possible so we can get started.”

Saylor didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she slowly looked around the room, her eyes lingering on each brother. Not in a lustful way, but in an assessing one that said she was taking each man’s measure. Most held her stare, but when Ink grinned and winked at her Jax shot him a glare. Finally, her gaze came back to him. “I’ll stay until the end of the week. After that, we can discuss it.”

Jax so badly wanted to argue, but he forced himself to nod. “Alright.” Then he looked at Savage.

Savage’s gaze was hard, and Jax could tell he wanted to argue as well, but he must have realized the futility because he nodded and said, “Fine. You can continue to use the apartment over the warehouse, and you’ll have use of the clubhouse and bar while you’re here. I’m placing you under Jax’s supervision.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he continued, “That’s how shit works, so you’ll have to deal with it. You fuck up or do something that gets you in trouble, Jax will be the one to answer for it. So think about that before you create problems.”

“See, now that just makes me want to cause one,” Saylor sniffed.

Savage glared at her but then looked at Jax. “You really want to take that on?” he asked him.

Jax nodded. “I got her. I’ll keep her out of trouble.” A few snorts sounded, which earned a glare from Saylor.

“Your funeral. Now, why are these assholes after you in the first place?” he asked Saylor.

Saylor sighed. “Because when Leon made the mistake of beating me, I punched him back hard enough to make him pass out. When he was unconscious, a little black book fell out of his pocket, and when I picked it up, I saw it was notes he was using to cheat at the casinos. He brought it out during dinner too, but I kind of forgot about it while he was wailing on me. His gambling was what started the whole fight, so I decided to take it and make a point. I was going to burn it, but then I found a piece of paper with names and numbers in a secret compartment, and I figured out they had to be names and amounts owed to this Frank guy by the clients that Leon oversaw. Leon wants the book back, and I assume so does this Felix guy. I don’t understand the third guy, but maybe he’s another one of Frank’s hired goons, trying to get me out of the way faster.”

No one said anything for a moment. “Where is the book?” Rogue asked her.

“Safe,” she replied, though Jax saw the stiffening of her shoulders.

Rogue narrowed his eyes at her. “We can’t help you for shit if you’re holding out on us,” he barked. “So where is it?”

Saylor looked like she was going to argue, so Jax put his hand on her leg, stalling her. When she looked over at him, he said calmly, “You agreed to stay for the week until we can track these guys that are after you,” he reminded her. “You want to get out faster, then we need all the information. Including that book.”

She didn’t reply for a long moment. Finally, she answered tightly, “It’s in my bag in the apartment.”

“Have a Prospect go grab it,” Savage told Fury, who nodded and stood, rounding the table to head for the door. “Alright, anything else?” he asked her.

Saylor shook her head. “I’ve been running for a month and have been able to stay ahead of them, other than that whole business in Florida, and today. I tried to take random routes to throw them off, but I guess it’s not working too well if Leon found me so fast.”

“We need to check her car for trackers,” Steel suggested. “Could be he managed to slip something in her car, or on her, and that’s how he’s keeping up with her.”

“Wouldn’t that mean he would always be right on her ass?” Ink pointed out.

“Not if he’s stopping to sleep, eat, or piss,” Steel replied. “How long did you usually stay around the places you stopped at?” he asked her.

“Sometimes for the night if I needed sleep, but mostly I have been constantly moving,” she answered. “There were a few times that I would stop at a hotel and then walk somewhere to get something to eat. When I got back, I could have sworn someone was in my room, but no one ever approached me. I saw a few different vehicles following me, always far enough back so I couldn’t get the plates or models of the cars, but I could see the colors.”

“Was it always the same color, or at least the same shape?” Jax asked her.

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