Page 87 of Hard Limits

“He claimed it was consensual, but the autopsy said there was bruising. I still feel sick just from thinking about it.”

“Zach said the press went crazy after that. They camped outside the house for weeks.”

Ari knew Zach? Were they friends? I eyed up the diamond on her finger—could they be involved with each other? Engaged?

Brax nodded. “It was a slow month for news on Capitol Hill, so the reporters moved south. And Levi Sykes’s parents were rich. His father ran a consulting firm, and he had connections. They couldn’t believe their son was guilty, so naturally, they tried to pin the crime on one of us.”

“All of us, at one point,” Dawson said. “They said it was a satanic ritual gone wrong, and we were covering for each other. I mean, I got why they were upset, and in the beginning, none of us thought Levi was capable either, but the only other person who could have done it was Justin. Nobody else but Jerry was alone in the house at any point that evening, plus there was DNA evidence.”

Brax shook his head. “It wasn’t Justin. No way. Would he really have paused in the middle of carving a pentagram on Ruby’s chest to call his fiancée?”

Ruby had been mutilated? Now I felt sick as well, and I didn’t even know her. I’d seen the results of knife wounds in the ER, and they were always messy. And painful.

“Didn’t anyone hear her scream?”

“The carving happened post-mortem.”

Was that better or worse? Better, I decided. At least she hadn’t suffered quite as much as she might have done.

“I’m so sorry that happened to her. And that you lost a friend.”

“Two friends. I considered Levi a friend too.”

It just went to show that no matter how well you thought you knew a person, they could still surprise you. Look at Meera and Alfie—they were together for years, and he’d still hurt her badly.

“I’m sorry.”

“It was after Ruby’s death that I changed my name. Not only because of the bad press, but out of solidarity with my mom after my parents’ divorce. Vale is her maiden name.”

Which was why Brax understood my identity switch. Our situations weren’t the same, not at all, and we were very different people, but we had these thin threads in common. And love. So much love. This man was it for me.

We’d reached cruising height now, and the plane levelled out. Priest emerged from the cockpit to get himself a drink and say a few words to Ari. His presence made me twitchy. Although he wasn’t looking in our direction, I knew he saw everything. Heard everything. I took Brax’s hand, and he brought mine to his lips.

“Get some rest, Indi. It’s going to be a challenging week.”

CHAPTER 32

BRAX

Another delay.

The plane touched down in Nevada, not at Harry Reid International as Brax had assumed it would, but at what looked like a military airfield. The other planes were grey, the vehicles were green or desert camouflage, and the hangars were beige.

“Where are we?” he asked as their plane taxied across the vast expanse of tarmac.

Priest reappeared from the cockpit. He didn’t quite have to duck in the cabin the way Dawson did, but it was a close thing.

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. Just sit tight.”

A convoy of jeeps appeared, three of them, and the third had more surfboards sticking out of the back.

“Any ideas?” he whispered to Dawson.

“I think we’re at Creech Air Force Base.”

The vehicles parked in a semicircle around the door, and Chase climbed out of the nearest, carrying a leather messenger bag. What the hell? Obviously Alexa was involved with this, but why was Chase on a military base?

A stunning redhead exited the second vehicle, followed by… It took Brax a second, but holy fuck. Jerry? It helped that he’d seen her recently, if only on film. She moved with catlike grace, the sun highlighting muscles in her back that hadn’t been quite so evident in Alexa’s home movie. She’d dressed for…what exactly? Today, she wore tailored shorts in a mushroom colour, a black tank top, and combat boots.

---