Page 99 of Highball and Chain

Shanna

Standingoutside Jack’s bedroom door, I replayed our last conversation over and over like a looping GIF. Jack cupping my face. Jack telling me he loved me. Jack looking so damned hurt when I didn’t say it back.

“I can hear you out there. You may as well come in.” Jack called from inside.

Laughing through my fear, I peeked inside. My heart lurched. Had he not spoken, I wouldn’t have recognized him through the swelling and bruises. “Hi.”

He turned and limped into the bathroom. “I told Monty not to call you.”

Pull up your big-girl panties and deal. Following him, I said, “I would never have forgiven either of you if he hadn’t. Are you okay?”

“You should have seen the other guy.” He peeled back the bandage covering his nose and leaned closer to the mirror.

“Uh huh.”

“Relax. It looks worse than it is.”

“I looks pretty bad.”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” Jack drew a deep rattling breath and faced me. “But I’m glad you came. I need to talk to you.”

“If this is about what you said before—”

“I meant what I said, but you made your feelings for me…or lack thereof…clear.” He tossed the bloody gauze and tape into the trash before shambling back into the bedroom.

I reached out to help, but I didn’t know where to touch him without hurting him more. “What did the doctor’s say?”

“Broken nose, cracked ribs, and a shitload of soft tissue damage. Nothing major. I guess I was lucky.”

“Lucky?” The need to hunt down the people who’d attacked him and run them over with a bus became unbearable. “What did they take?”

“Nothing.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “That’s what I need to talk to you about. They were looking for something specific.”

I stiffened my spine and braced for impact. “Go on.”

“Your video camera.”

My hand flew to my throat as if it had a mind of its own. “My camera? Why?”

“It’s pretty obvious, Miss Private Investigator.” He gave me a lopsided grin that broke my already bruised heart. “There’s something on it they want.”

“Mayor Carter.” My mind reeled with the implications. All this time I’d assumed the mob had burned down my apartment. “I was filming him and his latest bimbo the night of the engagement party.”

“That would explain the henchmen. I wondered how many cheating spouses could afford to hire pros to do their dirty work.” His frown deepened. “You realize Carter is as dirty as Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday, right?”

Snap. Another piece fell into place. Only this piece scared the crap out of me. Taking pics of him cheating on his wife was one thing. Catching him on camera in the middle of a shady deal was another. “I bet Carter’s people threatened Alex. He left three messages the night he fired me. The first was asking for the footage. The second told me to destroy it. He canned me in the last one.”

Jack sighed. “Have you spoken to him since you’ve been back?”

“No. He hasn’t answered my calls.” This was my fault. I stopped wearing a rut in the floor and turned to him. “I could have prevented this if I hadn’t been too much of a coward to call him sooner.”

“That’s bullshit, darlin’, and you know it.” He held his hand out to me. “You had no way of knowing they’d connect you to me.”

I wrapped my fingers around his and he pulled me closer until I sat beside him. “How did they?”

“My guess is they saw me when I went to your apartment, but the fire department wouldn’t let me in. I may have caused a scene.”

“Did you notice anyone watching the place?”

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