Page 2 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“Cash stashed her somewhere and we still don’t know where?—”

“I don’t need to know the details, man.”

“I just thought you’d like to know that she’s still out there.”

I didn’t want to sound so callous, but how the fuck was this any of my business? “I’m not about to run off and find her. I have my own family to worry about. Do what you need to do, but leave me out of it.”

“She’s a big girl,” Patrick reminded him. “She’ll be fine.”

Holly turned to me, her eyes full of sympathy and regret. “If…if you need to go with them?—”

“Don’t even fucking finish that sentence. I’m not going to run off and chase down a woman I’ve already let go. They can handle the situation. There is absolutely nothing I can do that would help any more than they could.”

“Well, as touching as this is, I’d really like to get on that plane,” Wyatt grumbled. “You know, since my business basically went up in flames and I have to start over.” He winced slightly. “Kind of like your house.”

“I’ve been in contact with the insurance company. They’ve cleared us of all liability. Though, we might have to sleep in your shop with your cat.”

“Ew!” Noelle screeched. “I am not stepping foot in that shop if you two are gonna be doing the nasty all over the place. I put my foot down!”

“I’ll put my foot down on your ass if you keep thinking about them having sex,” Wyatt muttered.

I started tugging Holly to the door. “And that is our cue to leave before everyone around here gets a visual of…whatever the two of you are doing.”

Chase held out his hand, shaking mine in a firm grip. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Patrick, however, threw himself into my arms, burying his face in my neck. “I’m gonna miss you, man.”

I shoved him off, laughing at his theatrics. “Fuck off.”

Holly sighed, tucking herself into my side. “Are you sure you’re okay leaving?”

It wasn’t even something I needed to think about. This was my past, but my future was waiting for me, and that only required the woman by my side, her crazy parents, and our friends—all of whom knew nothing about guns, killing people, and the kind of camaraderie I once had with the men I was walking away from.

And it was refreshing.

“Yeah, baby. I’m absolutely certain.”

2

PATRICK

“This isthe last known location for Jade,” I whispered as I snuck around the outside of the house with Nick and Chase.

“Why are we doing this again?” Nick asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and glared at him. “Because he’s Asher’s ex-wife and she’s in danger by association.”

He held up his hands, shaking his head. “I wasn’t saying it’s wrong. I was just asking. She didn’t seem to want to be found.”

“She’s a pain in the ass,” I muttered, “but that doesn’t mean she should be wrapped up in this shit.”

I peeked in the window of the safe house, checking to see if anyone was inside. Smirking, I watched as Jade sat on the couch with the remote in hand, flipping through the channels.

“I’ll go in first. You two stay out here. The last thing we need is her flipping out.”

“Sure. We’ll just wait out here in the fucking cold,” Nick muttered.

“It could be worse. You could be with Fox right now, and he could offer to warm you up with a good musical number.”

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