Page 71 of Sanctuary of Secrets

What had Matt said last time? Some type of food, right? Had she stopped somewhere on the way home and eaten a meal froma fast food restaurant? Jax searched the trash and the counters. There weren’t any wrappers to indicate a fast food stop. Maybe she’d left them in the SUV. That search also produced no answers.

After returning to the living room, Jax dropped his hands on his hips, at a loss.

What was he missing?

Pictures of her, her family, and her cats stared at Jax from the walls. He turned away, unsettled by the warmth and intimacy radiating from the cheerful photos. By how different his own home, as well as his uncle’s, felt in comparison.

Sadness wicked through him.

His mother had tainted their lives in too many ways to count. If things had been different, maybe he’d be in some of those pictures on the wall with Seyla and his own home would showcase fun, meaningful pictures of the two of them, their family, and friends. Instead, his walls would remain empty and a relationship with Seyla would remain forever beyond his reach. He couldn’t afford to keep items that were personal. Sentimental. Too much at stake. Such a slippery slope. One he couldn’t climb back up once he fell off.

Jax put the cats back in the room where they were staying, finding it harder and harder to ignore their soft fur and purring. He grasped the handle to shut the door. Their sad, soulful eyes reminded him of Reesie again, though, and he couldn’t stop himself from scratching their chins for a few minutes to calm them prior to leaving the room.

His conversation with Matt replayed in his mind over and over. He finally gave up and called, filling him in on what happened. “What’s she allergic to?”

“Shrimp,” Matt answered. “So this doesn’t make sense. It usually hits pretty fast, anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The thing is, I know she didn’t eat this morning. So I don’tget it. There’s no way she would have been exposed to it unless she got food on the way home.”

“Wait. Didn’t you say she left right before I got there?”

“Yeah.”

“She wouldn’t have had time to stop anywhere. She’d have to go the entire way into town and back to get takeout. Now that I’m thinking about it, she wasn’t carrying anything, and she hadn’t even made it through the doorway when I got here.” Jax pivoted, catching a glimpse of the broken window. A sick feeling swept over him. “Matt, do you remember what she did right before this happened last time?”

“Yeah, she sat at the table with us to talk after the break-in—”

“What did she drink?”

“Milk. She’s not allergic to that, though.”

“That’s what I thought.” Jax walked to the refrigerator and pulled the milk out, eyeing it. “Who knows about her allergy?”

“She tells a lot of people as a precaution. Wait, you think the milk was laced with some form of shrimp? No way. That’s going too far. That’s crazy. How would they…” His voice trailed off. Then it rebounded, laced with fear. “The break-ins.”

He heard Jessa gasp in the background.

Jax shook his head, eyeing the milk container. He checked the expiration date, opened it, and sniffed the contents. “Yeah. I think someone staged a robbery to mask their true intention. Killing her.” The words stabbed at his heart. At the same time, they sounded clunky and foreign to his ears. Preposterous. Unbelievable. Yet, it made sense.

Another thought occurred to him. “Wasn’t the emergency epinephrine pen missing from her purse last time?”

“Yeah. That’s why we had to get the spare one from the bathroom cabinet. That happened this time too?” Matt’s voice rose, anger vibrating through the phone.

Jax set the milk on the counter. He lifted both epinephrine pens to compare the one that worked against the one that didn’t. The difference was evident. “Matt, the one in her purse is damaged. It’s bent. Intentionally. There are a few uniform, slanted grooves visible as if a person used needle-nose pliers or a similar tool. It didn’t work when I used it. If she’d been alone—” His voice cracked. Jax coughed to cover the proof of his emotions, unable to complete the sentence.

“She’d be dead,” Matt finished for him.

Jax released a shuddering breath.

“That’s it, Jax. I’m calling my family. She’ll go stay with them. This job isn’t worth risking her life. She has to quit before she gets killed. She’s been through enough already.”

In the background, Jessa voiced her opposition. An argument ensued between Matt and her.

“Matt. Matt,” Jax repeated.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll take care of her. She won’t leave her job. I know she won’t.” Seyla craved independence from them too much to go back. He’d have to think of a different plan to keep her safe. “I’m gonna call the sheriff. I want this milk and the emergency pen analyzed by somebody. Once he gets here, I’ll hand them over to him. Afterward, I’ll meet you over at Haven Hospital. Text me the room number.”

“Sure.”

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