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Poppy had a horrible suspicion, though. She remembered seeing one of Jack’s friends pulling into the store and backing his Harley between two large trucks. Then she’d glimpsed him behind her as she drove home. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Just noticed him.
She remembered Jack and his friends leaving early that morning, and according to the news, the coroner placed the deaths just hours afterward. Not that it was proof, but suspicion was like a weight in her chest.
Turning the contracts and checks over to Sasha, she quickly made her excuses and headed home. Jack hadn’t mentioned that morning if he’d be back, or what his plans were. But, she hadn’t asked, either. Just as she tried excessively hard not to be possessive of his time, or curious about the time he spent away from her.
Unlike most women, she truly didn’t believe her lover needed to live in her pocket, or her in his. But, she knew Jack in ways she would never tell anyone else, especially him. She knew him in ways that were frightening.
For instance, she’d known his men would make it to her home before they left and thank her for the food. They didn’t praise her or compliment her mother. Quietly, they said, “Thank you for the food, ma’am,” and went on their way.
His men.
She paused after deactivating her security and stared into the shadowed house.
Like a team leader or an employer.
They called him “boss”; she’d heard it several times, just as she’d heard him give them orders. Oh, nothing important, just little things.
They deferred to him.
They followed him.
There were times she wondered why they didn’t just go ahead and salute him.
Jack had said he was retired. Her brothers said the others had been dishonorably discharged and that Jack had only missed a dishonorable discharge because he knew people. Evidently, he’d been very good at what he did.
Moving through the house, she went to her small office, opened her laptop, and sat down in front of it. There, she pulled up the news story and read it again, pushing back the stubborn curl that kept slipping over her forehead and over her eye.
Those men wouldn’t have just accidentally slammed into her vehicle or just happened to have wanted directions from her.
They would have seen her with Jack at some point, she guessed. Or seen Jack coming to her house if they were watching him.
What was he doing in Barboursville that had four international mercenaries approaching her or willing to slam their vehicle into hers? That made absolutely no sense.
Biting her lip thoughtfully, she shut the laptop down, then returned to the living room, where she’d placed her leather carryall, and pulled out her phone.
She typed a quick message to Jack and pushed send.
Having dinner at the bar with Lilith and Erika.
Having done that she rushed to shower and change before leaving, wishing she had time to cancel, or to reschedule as Sasha and Saige had done that afternoon.
She needed to think about this, needed to consider it before she dared question Jack about it. Before she faced him with the suspicions that he and his friends had killed those men.
And she needed to know why.
Jack looked at the caller ID on the smartphone and activated the call.
“Yeah?” His tone was clipped.
“Your friend is curious about the deaths of the mercs,” Kira told him quietly. “The search just popped up on her computer.”
“We knew she’d recognize Van Nyes.” Jack wasn’t too worried about it. She was a smart girl; they’d known that all along.
“If she’s as smart as you think she is, she’s going to put two and two together and come up with four, my friend. I would have known the instant I saw the news story.”
“You’re part of this world—”
“She’s not stupid, remember?” she broke in chidingly.
