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Dane looked over at him. “Didn’t the sheriff tell you who those men were?”
Jax tensed. “No, he was in a hurry to get to the hospital. Why? Who were they?”
“Up until a couple of days ago they were both deputies working for Sheriff Granger.”
Jax remembered Emma the instant before he was about to slam on the brakes and carefully slowed the car to a stop instead. They had just reached the end of the driveway so he put the car in park. Cops? He had killed a cop? “Explain,” he managed to bite out.
Dane glanced back at Emma, presumably to make sure she was still asleep. “Finn’s been out for a couple years now. Not an easy thing to do in a bible-loving, rural community in the middle of nowhere.”
“But Callan-” Jax interrupted.
“Was in the closet until three days ago. Rhys has been up front about it, but he’s only been here a couple of weeks.”
“So it was just Finn?”
Dane nodded and a pang of pity went through Jax.
“The town’s been giving him shit ever since. Refusing him service, calling him names. They went after Callan’s ranch too because he refused to get rid of Finn. Charged him more for things, the price of his cattle fell, cut fences, things like that. Then someone poisoned his cattle’s main water supply and he lost half his herd.”
“The deputies?”
“They had a run in with Callan and Rhys a few days ago. Callan said they all but admitted to the vandalism and poisoning. Cost them their jobs. Barn was payback, I guess.”
Jax tightened his hand on the gearshift. “Wish I’d known that before I shot the bastard. He got off easy.”
Dane suddenly stiffened and Jax saw him both physically and emotionally retreat. He sighed and put the car in gear. The stick was back up the man’s ass. It was just as well since sniffing after a straight, very married guy wasn’t really his thing. And if the combination of a platinum wedding band on Dane’s left hand and infant daughter was anything to go by, the man was a lot of both.
No more words were spoken other than Dane telling him where to turn. The man’s house was a complete surprise and Jax couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the pretty little gray, Victorian style home sitting in a clearing surrounded by huge pine trees. There was a small building behind the house and on the other side of the driveway stood what was left of a partially torn down barn. A small pasture sat beyond the barn and Jax didn’t see a neighboring house or farm anywhere in sight.
“Nice place, Doc,” he said as he pulled the car to a stop by the side entrance, enjoying the frown he received for the use of the dreaded nickname. Emma began to cry as soon as the car stopped moving and Dane got out and got the car seat out.
Jax opened the door and got out just in time to hear Dane say, “Thanks for the ride. I’ve gotta get her changed. If you want to leave the car seat base on the porch, you can head out.” And just like that, Jax was dismissed. Annoyance flashed through him but what had he expected? The guy’s punch had made it pretty clear what he thought of Jax’s intervention in his daughter’s would-be abduction.
Jax went around the car and began working the base free. It took him several minutes to figure out how to get the thing loose and by the time he was done, he was sweating again. He climbed up the porch stairs and walked into the house. The side door led into the kitchen and he set the base on the old farm style table. Boxes were piled up in corners and the counters looked completely bare except for a coffee machine and a sink full of dishes. The bright yellow paint that covered the outdated cabinets was probably supposed to be sunny and welcoming, but instead it was hard on the eyes. Maybe if the walls weren’t a shade of puke green…
Emma’s screaming grew closer as Dane entered the kitchen and he stopped in surprise when he saw Jax.
“Don’t worry Doc, I just came in to wash my hands and use your bathroom. Then I’ll be out of your hair.”
The man didn’t seem all that comforted by Jax’s reassurances. He thought he heard Dane mumble something about it being fine but between the man keeping his distance and Emma shrieking her head off, he wasn’t so sure.
Dane went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle for Emma who stopped screaming the second the tip touched her lips and began sucking fervently as her tiny hands grasped the bottle as if it would be ripped away from her at any second. Jax washed his hands, then turned to ask Dane where the bathroom was. He stopped when he saw Dane studying a stack of papers on a small desk on the far side of the kitchen.
“What is it?” Jax asked him, recognizing the tension that had entered the other man’s body.
Dane glanced at him, then returned his gaze back to the papers. “They’re out of order.”
“What do you mean?”
“I left the bills in the order I needed to pay them in. The cell phone bill was on top,” he said as he used his cheek to hold Emma’s bottle in place while he searched through the pile with his other hand. “It’s gone.”
“Maybe your wife moved it,” Jax said.
“I’m not married,” came the distracted response. At any other point, the admission that he wasn’t married would have had Jax asking a slew of other questions, but the hair on the back of his neck went up and he automatically pulled one of his guns from the holster.
“What are you doing?” Dane asked in concern as his eyes fell on the gun.
Jax grabbed his other gun and closed the distance between them. He shoved the gun into Dane’s free hand, forcing him to hold onto it when the other man immediately tried to put it down. “Stay here,” he ordered.
