Page 119 of Healer’s Betrayal

“Yes.”

I can feel Jackson’s anger through the bond, but there’s nothing on his face. He turns back to the men, his face cold. “So, you think it’s okay to demand extra money from people? And hurt women in the process?” There’s a darkness to his voice, but it doesn’t scare me. It does, however, scare the men. “How many other women have you done this to?”

The men start babbling incoherently, and I don’t really want to hear any more of it. Jackson must feel that because he jerks both of them forward. “Outside. Now.” I open the door for him, and his eyes meet mine for a moment. There’s a softening just for a second. “I’ll be back.”

I close the door behind them and get Noah from the bathroom. “Hey, you okay?” I ask.

He nods, looking totally unaffected. “Jackson will keep us safe.” There’s absolute faith in his voice.

“You’re right; he will.”

Nearly an hour later, Jackson opens the door and walks inside with Ransom behind him. Ransom grins at us. “Hey, long time no see.”

“We just saw each other two hours ago,” Noah reminds him, and I can’t help my laugh. It’s true. We just landed and came here a little over two hours ago.

Jackson walks over to me and picks up my arm, examining it. “It’s fine,” I tell him, but he sees the bruise that’s already forming.

I wanted to kill them, he sends me.

But you didn’t, right?

His eyes are slow to meet mine. No.

Relief flows through me. Good because Noah and I need you; we can’t have you going to prison.

His eyes meet mine. Baby, if I chose to take care of them; there would be no body to find. But I chose to let the police handle them.

I take a deep breath. Okay. Thank you.

He nods. “Ransom, Kayla and I have some place to be. You mind watching Noah a few hours?”

Ransom grins. “Sure.”

I glance at Jackson. “We do?” He nods and takes my hand and leads me to the front door. “We’ll be in touch.” He leads me out into the hallway and down both sets of stairs.

“Where are we going?” I ask. “We just got here.”

“I want to take you some place,” he says, squeezing my hand.

“Where?” I can’t help but ask.

We stop at the truck he’s renting. “Do you trust me?”

I don’t hesitate a moment. “Yes.”

“Good.”

I groan. “I should have said no,” I mutter, causing him to chuckle. He wraps both hands around my waist and lifts me into the truck.

A few minutes later, we leave town behind. I give him a hard time, but I honestly can’t complain. I’m happy to be back here. He rolls down the windows, and the scent of freshly mowed grass hits my nose. I take in the fields of bluestem and Indiangrass blowing in the wind and feel genuine peace flow over me. Jackson takes my hand in his. “Happy to be back?”

“I really am.” We drive for a few more minutes in silence. “Are we stopping to see the pygmy goats?” I ask hopefully.

“No.”

Dispapointment fills me, but I keep it to myself. We drive for a little while longer before he turns off onto a dirt road. I look at the area. “Is this where we stopped before?”

“Yes.”