Page 18 of Blade’s Edge (L.A.S.T. Defense #1)

Jasper

I can hear Emi moving around in the bedroom over the muffled curses from the duct-taped idjit on the floor.

“You’re doin’ a hell of a lot better than your partner over there,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You want to keep it that way? Shut up.”

Punctuating my threat by slamming his head against the table leg next to him, I regret the pleasure the act of violence gives me.

I should be a better man. But the fucker could have killed us both.

He would have if I’d been a second slower.

So the remorse fades by the time I’ve fished out my phone and punched in AJ’s number.

“What the fuck do you want?” AJ grits out. “I’m…busy.”

“Not anymore you ain’t. Send a couple of your guys to 301 Liberty Road. Apartment 608. Get the coroner too.”

“Jasper, are you okay?” The frustration, hurt, and anger fall away in an instant, and he’s family again. Damn if that doesn’t make me feel even worse about what I’m getting him into.

“For now. The fuckwits who blew up Emi’s car last night just came after her again. That address I gave you is her apartment. And before you start hollarin’ at me, the knife sticking out of the dead guy’s neck is mine. My prints are all over it. It was self-defense.”

“You were defending yourself ? Or Emi?” After a beat, he snorts.

“Don’t answer that. Not without a lawyer.

I’m going to catch so much shit for this.

You damn well better be there when Billings and McGrath show up.

Let ‘em arrest you. I’ll call in a couple of favors and get Carson Poole to represent you.

He’ll have you out within an hour or two. ”

“Goddammit, AJ. I’m not stayin’ here and you will not call Poole.

I’m takin’ Emi somewhere safe. Get a car with clean plates and meet me at the Silver Tower Hotel on Grand in an hour.

They have an underground parking garage with very few blind spots.

Only one way in and out. Easy to keep watch.

You see any sign of a tail, you stay the fuck away and call me immediately. ”

My brother swears under his breath. “If whatever you’re tangled up in ruins my career, Jas, I swear to fuck I will beat your ass into next week.”

The phone beeps twice, and I stare at the screen. He hung up on me. Fucking hell.

“Jasper?” I turn to Emi. She changed into a pair of yoga pants, a sweatshirt, and running shoes. A tear glistens on her cheek, and she pulls a small, rolling suitcase behind her. “What does ‘a car with clean plates’ mean?”

With a quick glance at the unconscious man on the floor, I shake my head. “Not here, sweetheart. I’ll explain on the way. Let’s go.”

In the hall, I stop her before she can slide her key into the lock. “Rangers are on the way. You want them bustin’ the door down? Because that’s what they’ll do if they can’t get in. Leave it open, and they’ll probably lock up when they leave.”

“I can’t… What about… him? ” she hisses. “He could get away.”

“Not with how well I tied him up.” I level a gaze at her. “ This part , I know, Emi. I may not be ‘on the job’ anymore, but my skills didn’t disappear because I got blown up. He’s not going anywhere.”

She nods. Seconds later, AJ texts me.

AJ: Billings and McGrath are seven minutes out.

Shit. “Gotta go. Right now. I’ll…ask AJ to lock up.” I grab her suitcase and head for the elevator.

“This is a nightmare.” Her earlier anger has been tempered by exhaustion. Pain pinches her brows. “Where are you taking me?”

The words are so quiet, I barely hear them, but I can’t stand the defeat marring her tone.

“We’re gonna go to a hotel to meet my brother. Then I’m takin’ you to our family cabin at Lake Livingston.”

Back in the lobby, Benny’s desk is still empty. It’s been way too long for him to still be on a smoke break. “Those two were probably acting alone. But stay behind me. Hand on my hip. Or hold onto my belt loop. Okay?”

“No. I can’t go to your cabin, Jasper. And I won’t hide from the police. I’m a reporter. If I break the law—if I run—how is the public ever supposed to trust me again?” She jams her hands on her hips. “Eugene Fowler—and his cartel connections—don’t get to scare me off my own damn story.”

I cup her cheek. “Emi, they would have killed you tonight. I’m not asking you to walk away from the story. But you can’t report on anything if you’re dead. Trust me. Please.“

She flinches, but after a beat, a sigh heaves her shoulders. “Okay. But we can’t just go to a hotel?”

“Hotels use credit cards. The cartel would be onto us within an hour. The cabin is the safest place I know. And it’s far enough from Austin to buy us a couple of days for AJ to find out who sent them after you in the first place. Stay close. We’re going to my truck. Right now.”

Thank fuck there was an open guest spot close to the door. Emi climbs into the passenger seat while I throw her suitcase and my duffel into the lockbox.

“I know who sent them,” she says softly when I’m behind the wheel. “Eugene Fowler and Consolidated Investment Group. The death threats started after my interview with him.”

Fuck. It takes all I have to force a deep breath. “The FBI didn’t offer you any protection?”

“You and my news director. Eternal optimists,” she mutters. “No. They can’t help me. Or won’t. Honestly, I think they just want my sources. If I gave those up, I’d have 24/7 guards by now.”

The truck rumbles to life, and I pull out onto the main road. My gaze pings from one mirror to the next, clocking the make, model, and color of every car on the road. Retired almost a year, and I slip back into old habits like I never left the Rangers.

“You really think the Feds are withholding protection for a source?” I ask. In the next second, I shake my head. “Of course they are. Fucking idiots. You got real intel on Fowler and CIG in what? A month? Two?”

“Five weeks. More or less.”

Shit. She’s a goddamn badass. Brilliant. Driven. And mine .

“Do you know how many times the Rangers tried to take Fowler and his companies down? AJ’s gonna shit himself.” I glance over at her, worried at the way she’s leaning against the side window, her eyelids drooping.

“Why?” she asks.

“Because the Cordova Cartel owned that warehouse on Grand. They killed Schaffer and Urbanski. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. It was AJ’s case. Would have been if…well, if he’d had his head on straight. He’d do anything to take those fuckers down.”

Emi

When did my life turn in to a TV movie-of-the-week? Yes, I wanted the story to go national. Yes, I wanted to bring down a corrupt developer I know has been hurting and exploiting people for years.

And yes…I had secretly wondered how bad it would be if someone actually did try to kill me. That probably wasn’t smart.

I’m so tired. I’d managed to forget about most of my bruises while Jasper and I flirted over dinner. Now, my entire body aches. Every time I move my head, I remember the arm around my neck cutting off my air. The gun jamming against my temple.

I curl deeper into the seat of Jasper’s truck with a shiver. He glances over at me, then cranks the heat in the cab. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”

“Where are we going?” I tug at the sleeves of my sweatshirt, needing something to do with my hands. I think Jasper’s driving in circles. Turning so often, I’m almost dizzy. “And what are ‘clean plates’?”

He checks the rearview mirror, changes lanes, and checks again.

“AJ spends his weekends out by Lake Travis. We’re just lollygaggin’ for a bit until he can get back into town.

He’s got resources I don’t. Including access to a car that ain’t registered to me, you, or anyone these fuckers can trace back to us. ”

“Us?” My voice cracks, and my hands are so cold, I can’t feel my fingers.

Jasper merges onto the freeway and floors it, his face a grim mask of determination and purpose. “The guy I killed knew my name, Emi. These assholes are connected, and they ain’t gonna stop until someone makes them.”

Half an hour later, Jasper pulls the truck into an underground parking garage, finds a spot near the elevator, and kills the engine.

There can’t be more than ten other vehicles in the entire lot, and by the way his gaze moves from car to car, I think he memorizes all of them before he comes around to the passenger side to open my door.

“We’re gonna go book a room, but then we’re coming right back here,” he says and motions for me to slide to the edge of the seat so he can help me down.

“I look like shit. I should…” I gesture to my face and reach for the visor.

He cups my cheek, gently skimming his thumb just under my eye. “This is gonna sound as rude as hell, but the bruises will help the desk clerk remember you. We want anyone who comes lookin’ to be absolutely positive you’re here and not where we’re going.”

“Well, that’s not terrifying at all.”

“Fuck.” Jasper stiffens and balls his hands into fists. “AJ was always better at being…reassuring.”

“I’d rather you be honest than tell me what you think I need to hear.” I try for a smile, but it’s painfully obvious he doesn’t believe me. As we head for the elevator, he keeps me tucked against his side, protected. Like I’m precious. Cared for.

How did we get here so fast? It’s been seven days—if you don’t count the fifteen minutes we spent together all those months ago. He shouldn’t be the most important person in my world. Yet, that’s where we are.

Oh, God. This is absolutely a Lifetime Movie of the Week scenario. If I hadn’t almost died twice in the past forty-eight hours, I’d laugh. Instead, all I want to do is hide away somewhere with Jasper until he tells me it’s safe. Because he’s the only person I know I can trust.

Ten minutes later, we’re back in his truck, a plastic room key on the dashboard. The clerk didn’t just recognize me. He asked for my autograph. If he’s not texting all his friends right now, it’ll be a miracle.

Jasper peers at his phone, shakes his head, and mutters, “Dammit, AJ. The gas pedal is on the right. Try usin’ it once in a while.”

It’s cold with the engine off, and I pull my sleeves down over my hands. I haven’t been warm since we left my apartment. I’m not sure I’ll ever be warm again the way things are going. If the console weren’t in the way, I’d snuggle up to Jasper’s side. Or ask him to put his arms around me.

A pair of headlights flash in the rear view mirror. “Slouch down, Emi,” Jasper says, an edge to his tone. “Just in case.”

“Are you seriously telling me to get on the floor?” If my face—or my entire body—didn’t hurt like hell right now, I’d arch my brows and glare at him. But I’m too tired. Instead, I ease myself down until I’m crouching on the floorboards.

After a beat, he leans over and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “It’s AJ. You can get up now. I’ll be right around to help you out.”

Jasper’s twin parks a small, blue SUV two spaces away. God, they look so much alike. Though AJ’s hair is darker. He doesn’t have a beard. Just rough stubble. And when he gets closer, I can see a lifetime of pain in the blue depths of his eyes.

“Emi, this is my brother, Aaron.” Jasper reaches out to clasp the man on the shoulder briefly.

“No one calls me that anymore. It’s AJ,” he says before passing Jasper a set of keys. “The SUV belongs to Parker’s roommate, so try not to destroy it.”

“Who’s Parker?” I ask.

“One of the Rangers I work with. She’s good people. Despite how often she rats me out to my little brother.” AJ glares at Jasper. “That stops. Now. You hear?”

“Give me your driver’s license,” Jasper says, completely ignoring his brother’s question. Digging into the back pocket of his jeans, he comes up with his own license and the credit card he used to pay for our room.

I catch a quick glimpse of AJ’s ID as the two men exchange glances.

Aaron Jasper Stone . There’s a story here I’m going to investigate.

After I sleep. Because right now, my brain feels like mush.

It’s getting harder and harder to focus on the conversation happening right in front ofme.

The one where Jasper’s telling AJ something about going “off the grid” for a while.

I don’t know how I get into the borrowed SUV. Or when we leave the garage. Only that Jasper’s leather jacket is draped over me, and I’m finally warm. The lull of the engine drags me under, and I don’t fight my need to sleep. Jasper will protect me.