Page 28 of Marked for Obsession

Even so, there were too many unknowns at this point to continue hanging around here. Too many questions he still needed to answer. And from the look on Poppy’s face, she was minutes away from a massive adrenaline crash.

“I didn’t mean to imply that Jax’s statement was anything but on the up-and-up.” Declan held out his hand. “I’m Detective Declan King. This is my partner, Detective Grady Thorne.”

“Dec’s my half-brother,” Jax informed her. Better she found out now then down the road.

With a wary look in her eyes, Poppy took the offered hand and gave it a strong shake. “Poppy Campbell. Although I guess you already knew that.”

“We did. And let me just say, we’re both very sorry for what happened.”

“She doesn’t need your pity, Dec,” Jax shot back. “She needs you to do your fucking jobs and catch whoever’s behind this shit.”

The scowl that fell over his brother’s face mirrored the one Jax was currently wearing. “That’s what we’re trying to do. Detective Thorne…” Declan looked at his partner. “Why don’t you take Miss Campbell in the other room and get her statement while I finish up in here.”

“Sure thing.” Grady flashed Poppy a smile, showing off those damn dimples of his.

No wonder he’s always playing good cop to Dec’s bad.

Jax followed them like a hawk as Grady led Poppy down the hall to her room. They kept the door open so he could still see her as she sat on the edge of her bed and answered his questions.

And the entire time they were back there, he didn’t take his eyes off her for a second.

“What’s the deal with you and this girl?”

The question came from Declan who’d apparently been standing next to him for a stretch.

“There is no deal,” Jax popped back. “She came to Sin looking for a P.I., and I agreed to take her on as a client.”

The look on Declan’s face said he wasn’t buying that for a second. “That why you failed to mention whose apartment you were summoning me to when you called earlier?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, Grady and I came to Sin the other day and asked you point blank if you knew her.”

“And I told you the truth.” Jax kept watching Poppy closely. “I didn’t know her. Not then.”

“So when exactly did she come to you for help?”

“This morning.”

“Just this morning?” Dec ran a hand over his face. “You’re telling me you’ve only known this woman a few hours and yet you didn’t hesitate to kill for her? Come on, Jax.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

“You want me to do better? Okay, how about this?” Jax finally tore his focus away from Poppy to stare down his brother. With an outstretched arm, he pointed down the hall and let his fury over what nearly happened to her loose. “That woman back there came toyourprecinct three nights ago asking for help. Now, to hear her tell it, Officer Doolittle working the front desk all but blew her off as a drunken mess and sent her on her merry way. Since then, she’s made multiple trips and phone calls to the station to check on the status of the investigation, only to be told thereisno official investigation. Then today she almost gets her fucking head blown off by a masked man who worked like a pro. You want more, why don’t you and your cronies do your fucking jobs and gofindmore? Or do you plan on sticking with your bullshit lines about coincidences and circumstantial evidence?”

The room went silent. Dead silent.

With fury in his eyes and a set of pierced lips, Declan turned for the door with a growled, “Outside. Now.”

Gladly, asshole.

Jax followed his brother outside. Shutting the door behind him, he and Declan stood on the covered concrete breezeway connecting Poppy’s building to the one next door.

“If this is where you tell me you’re the cop and I’m just a lowly private investigator who needs to stay in his lane, you can save it. I’ve heard that song and dance enough times I could perform that shit on Broadway.”

“Will you stop?” Declan glared back at him. “Jesus, I thought we were past all this bullshit. I’m here, aren’t I? You called, and I showed up. I get that this whole sibling thing is still new to you, but that’s how it’s supposed to work. But this isn’t a one-way street, Jax. You want my help? You want me to ‘do my fucking job’? Then you’ve got to let me. That means trusting that I know what the hell I’m doing.”

“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you.”

“Good. Because from what I’ve heard, you haven’t made many friends in the department over the last few years. And right now, with this case, you’re going to need all the help you can get. So maybe drop that famous Jax Monroe attitude and let’s work this case together. Yeah?”

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