Page 12

CHAPTER 12

Kennedy had left not too long ago. He had walked her down to her car and kissed her goodbye on the cheek.

After spilling his guts about his life, she had dazzled him with her ideas for the house. He had to say, she was pretty damn good. She used some app on her phone to pin a ton of suggestions. Each one she had asked his opinion on, even though he told her multiple times his input didn't matter. Apparently to her they did, so he finally opened up and gave feedback when he could. It was rare she showed him something he didn't like. It was clear after a few minutes she didn't have any of the same tastes in design as Jasmine. Something he was grateful for.

Now he was in his hotel room by himself wondering why he didn't ask her to stay. It had been too long since he was a part of the dating scene and it would appear he was rusty.

He would have to work on getting better. Loneliness never bothered him before but it was suffocating him tonight.

Jayce jumped at the chance to talk to someone when his phone rang moments letter. He was disappointed to see the caller was Caden but he answered it anyway.

"What's up?"

"I got the information on Jasmine you wanted, including her medical records. The first ten or so years was what you would expect from the backstabbing bitch but then things changed when she got her diagnosis."

"Changed how? Did she suddenly see all the shitty things she did?"

He doubted it. Kennedy had nothing nice to say about her. That wouldn't have been the case if Jasmine had a come-to-Jesus moment.

"Not in the slightest. She started traveling to Mexico almost monthly. I took the liberty of researching a few things, and from what I could find, she was visiting a holistic doctor."

"A holistic doctor? Are you sure your information is correct? Jasmine would never believe in anything hooky like that. She would consider that beneath her.”

"Yup. I guess a person gets desperate when her prognosis isn't good. She was diagnosed with an . . . dro . . . blas . . . toma, a rare ovarian cancer. They removed both of her ovaries and she underwent chemotherapy. It looked like she was in the clear, but during one of her many yearly checkups, the cancer had returned. This time spreading to other organs. That's when she moved to Seattle to seek a new specialist."

A small sliver of his conscious felt bad for all the negative thoughts he’d had since hearing about her letter. It didn't matter how horrible a person was. No one deserved a cancer diagnosis that they couldn't survive.

"But before you feel too bad, I should tell you her visits to Mexico weren't completely self-sacrificing for the good of her health."

Of course they weren't.

"What was she really doing?"

"Transporting drugs for the cartel. I guess border patrol feels guilty searching a cancer survivor just seeking alternative medications."

"She took advantage of her situation to do something illegal. That sounds more like the Jasmine I used to know. She always thought she was above the law."

"Yes, well, I don't think her move to Seattle was as innocent as she wanted her family to believe."

His hackles rose. The more Caden spoke, the less guilty he felt. He never thought he would say this about someone with cancer, but maybe Jasmine had what was coming to her.

"What do you mean?"

"She was either running from the cartel or helping them expand. I'm still not sure which one."

Anger, like he had never felt before, consumed him.

"She put Michael in fucking danger?" he growled.

Caden's sigh vibrated in his ear. "I don't see how she couldn't have."

Son of a bitch. "Did Shaun know?" He would kill the man if that was the case. Fuck what everyone would think about him. He would cut the man's throat.

"I can't answer that for sure, but my guess is no. He would be stupid to reach out to you if he was hiding from the cartel."

"Unless he assumed we would help him."

"Maybe . . ." Caden dragged the word out. "But I wouldn't buy it. Too many variables."

“I can’t take that chance. I need to go over there and find out."

"You really think that's a smart move?"

Nope, but he was going to do it anyway. He hung up on Caden without answering him and five minutes later was on the road to Shaun's house.

When Jayce pulled into the driveway, he couldn't remember most of the ride over. For all he knew he ran every red light and broke every speeding law known to man. He didn't care if he did.

With determination spurring him on, he charged up the sidewalk and banged on the door. There was no mistaking the confusion on Kennedy's face when she swung the door open.

"Jayce? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"Where the hell is Shaun?" he asked as he pushed past her and marched straight into the house.

"I'm not sure what the hell happened since I last saw you, but what gives you the right to charge in here demanding things?"

Kennedy was pissed and rightfully so. They had left things on good terms and now he was acting like a gigantic asshole. If he wasn't so worried about his son, he would care more about how he was treating her.

"Just tell me where the hell Shaun is!" he barked.

"I'm right here," Shaun hollered down from where he stood at the top of the stairs before walking down them to join them.

"Did you know what she was doing?" he questioned before Shaun made it all the way to the bottom.

"Who?" Shaun looked genuinely confused by the question.

"Jasmine. Did you know she was smuggling drugs for the cartel across the border?"

Shaun looked like someone had punched him in the face. His head snapped back and his body faltered. "What are you talking about?"

"Her trips to Mexico. She was smuggling drugs back for the cartel."

"No . . ." Shaun shook his head violently. "She was going down there to meet with a hormone doctor because of the cancer. She was in remission but some of the side effects from the tumor still lingered. It made her self-conscious, and when she couldn't find anything here in the States to help, her friend recommended a doctor in Mexico."

He scoffed at the thought of Jasmine being self-conscious. That woman was the most egotistical woman he had ever met.

"Yeah, well, she was smuggling drugs as well. Then she moved you here to Seattle. Caden is looking into it more but his guess is she was either on the run or helped move the operation north."

"Wait, does that mean someone is after Michael and Shaun?" Kennedy pushed herself back into the conversation. He had almost forgotten she was in the room.

"That's what I'm here to figure out."

"I swear I didn't know. Jasmine refused to talk to me about her diagnosis. She was too embarrassed and God forbid I asked or spoke to anyone else about it. She insisted we kept it quiet, so that's what I did."

“That makes no sense. Why would she want to keep it quiet? I would've thought she would thrive on the attention it gave her." Hiding news like that was never his ex-wife’s strong suit.

"Did Caden tell you about her diagnosis?"

"He told me the name. Andro something or other. Not gonna lie, I was only half listening to the medical jargon. I know he said it had to do with her ovaries."

"Androblastoma. And yes, it's a rare tumor in the ovaries. It's when testosterone is produced. They caught it because of the signs and symptoms. Jasmine's voice suddenly got deeper and she grew facial hair."

Now things started to make sense. A woman like Jasmine, who prided herself on how she looked, wouldn't accept the fact that was happening. And she definitely wouldn't want people to know about it.

"That's why she sought out a hormone doctor."

Shaun nodded his head. "She was obsessed with reversing what was happening with her."

"And you had no idea she was running drugs from Mexico?" he asked for clarification purposes.

"I swear I had no idea she was working with the cartel. I believed her when she said she was going there to meet with a doctor. For a while, she seemed happy, so I didn't bother questioning her. Then the cancer came back and spread. When she said we needed to move to Seattle from Texas because there was a doctor here that specialized in her condition, I didn't argue. I requested a transfer and followed her."

Jayce didn't know what to think about everything he was learning. Shaun was always a pushover and Jasmine clearly wore the pants in their relationship. Not that he was surprised by that. It was what she wanted when they were married, but he could never give to her.

"Where is Michael now?"

He hadn't been quiet when he stormed in the house, but his son never came out to see what the noise was.

"Basketball practice. He'll be home in about thirty minutes."

Jayce nodded his head. "I should get going, I don't want to ambush him again."

"Michael has a basketball game tomorrow night. Why don't you come? You can see how good he is."

"I'd like that. Send me the details and I'll be there."

"I'll walk you out," Kennedy spoke up again.

He followed her out the door and wasn't the least bit surprised when she started on him as soon as they were out of Shaun's earshot.

"Really, Jayce? You come here, guns blazing like that? You have to know Shaun would never put Michael at risk."

"I don't know that, Kennedy. All I know is that people lied to me for fifteen years, and now I have a son who may or may not be vulnerable because of what his mother was doing. I don't have the luxury to make assumptions. I'll be damned if I lose Michael after just finding out he's mine."

Kennedy sighed. "You're right. I know it's hard, but Shaun's not the enemy here. Their marriage was shit, if one could even call it that. They were more like frenemies raising a kid together. Most days Jasmine couldn't stand Shaun but she stuck it out because I think she knew she didn't have a choice. All her talk about love was bullshit. I don't think she understood the meaning of the word. And now after hearing what she did, I think it's obvious the only person she loved was herself."

He couldn't argue with that.

“I can’t lose him, Kennedy.” He didn’t hide the desperation in his voice and she stepped up to him until he took her in his arms.

“I know you can’t and you won’t. Michael has two amazing fathers who are going to keep him safe. He’s a lucky kid.”

A smile spread slowly across his face as he held her tight and rested his head on top of hers. She felt so good in his arms. He never thought another woman would get that honor.

“Thank you for your faith.”

She stepped back just enough that he could stare into her eyes. “Anytime, and I mean that.”

Jayce smiled down at her. “I better get going.”

“Yes, you better. I’ll see you tomorrow at Michael’s game.”

Jayce leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. Not the claiming kind he wanted to give her, but a soft barely there touch. That was over too soon.

“See you tomorrow.” He squeezed her arm gently, then pulled away to climb in his truck, but he didn’t take his eyes off the woman who was slowly breaking his heart of stone.