Page 86 of Guarded Secrets
The view over the valley showed clouds obscuring the top of Payback Mountain. A flock of birds, ducks, she thought, flew north in a V formation.
She leaned against the rail and sipped from her mug. Then set it on the railing with a clunk. A vehicle was parked on the road in frontof the house, all but the rear bumper obscured by a clump of live oak. She thought again about what had awakened her. Had it been a car door closing?
Cars could park on the street. That was perfectly legal. But why on a residential road so early in the morning? And why in front of the address where she was staying?
She chewed her bottom lip. She didn’t want to be paranoid, but Jaxon had made bail and was free to be his weird and foreboding self.
The Ravagers had given her a reprieve but could’ve decided to pay her a visit. She supposed motorcycle gang members might also drive cars. It’d be hard for Mr. Paulson, aka Nero, to take his granddaughter to school on a motorcycle.
She needed Owen. She picked up her mug and turned to the house.
A man stood with his back to the closed door. He must’ve crept around the porch from the side without her noticing.
In the periphery of her vision, she was aware his shirt was bloody, his face bloodier still. Her focus narrowed so all she saw was the black muzzle of the pistol he held, pointing at her dead center. The mug slipped from her fingers to smash to the floor and the smell of coffee permeated the air.
“Where’s the asshole?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s not a good idea to piss me off, Keeley. Where is he?”
“Owen’s still in bed, Jaxon. Asleep.”
“Good. We’ll keep it that way. Now tell me where the flash drive is. Give it to me and you’ll never see me again. I wouldn’t be here if you’d handed it over when I first asked.”
She clutched the blanket tighter around her like it would shield her from a bullet. She took a step toward the stairs.
“You never asked me for it, Jaxon. You said I had something of yours but not what it was. I didn’t know you were looking for a flashdrive.” Another step. She froze when broken crockery scraped the wooden floor, but Jaxon didn’t appear to notice.
He looked haggard, like he hadn’t slept in days, and his face had fresh bruises on top of older bruises. He’d always been fastidious about his personal grooming, but the mustache he’d kept carefully waxed was bristly and looked like it’d been smashed into his face.
Half his hair had fallen loose from the bun at the back of his head. Keeley’d bet her next cup of coffee the Ravagers had caught up with him and demonstrated their displeasure with his behavior.
“You know now. I had a flash drive I needed to keep in a safe place. I put it in the inner pocket of your purse.” He spoke slowly like he was speaking to a child. She struggled to hear past her heart pounding in her ears.
She took another careful step toward the stairs from the porch. If she could get down the stairs, she could dart away. She’d run to the back of the house and find a way to alert Owen. There were construction materials and the rollaway. Maybe she could find someplace to hide.
Jaxon moved toward her, wagging the muzzle of the gun. “Into the house.” He gestured toward the door with the gun. “Don’t even think about alerting the asshole. He shows his face? I’ll shoot him dead.”
His words chilled her to the bone. He waved the gun again. “Pam brought me your purse, but the flash drive wasn’t there. You must’ve found it, and I need it back. It’s the only leverage I have over the fucking Ravagers.”
“You killed Pam.” Keeley no longer felt surprise at the knowledge he was capable of such depravity. “You were using her. She stole my purse, then you killed her when the flash drive wasn’t there.”
“She wanted me.” He smiled and Keeley shuddered in revulsion. “You saw her at that party. She could hardly keep her hands off me. She got herself into trouble.”
How could she have ever thought him charming? Keeley couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen him for what he was. When they’d first met, Jaxon had put on an act of being affable and easygoing, and she’d bought it.
“I would’ve been forced to kill her even if it had been there. She’d have blabbed to someone.” He shrugged. “Whatever. She deserved what she got. Pam failed, and it’s caused me nothing but grief. She was supposed to bring the purse with the flash drive, and she failed.”
He seemed distracted and Keeley risked another step toward the stairs. Then Jaxon lunged forward and grabbed her arm, taking her elbow in a vise-like grip. He jerked her to the door. “We go in quiet. Get me the flash drive, and you and I will never have to see each other again.”
Keeley kept her eyes moving, and her mind racing, looking for a way to escape or something she could use as a weapon.
There were other ways Jaxon could’ve used the information he’d stolen for his extortion bid beyond storing it on a flash drive. Like everything else, he wasn’t good at being a criminal.
She wasn’t about to tell him she didn’t have the device. He was convinced she’d found it and therefore must still have it. He’d killed Pam so she couldn’t identify him. He’d kill Keeley for the same reason. But if he thought she had the flash drive, she was safe. She hoped.
He shoved her at the door. “Open it.”
