AllFreeNovel
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Molly and Lucia stare at me anxiously as I go straight to his messages. Maybe that will give us some clue as to why he was at that bar?
It does.
His last message is from a number that he doesn’t have saved as a contact.
Perfect. Meet me at Rocky’s on Menville at eight.
Frowning at the screen, I scroll further up and discover only a handful of messages between him and the person he was meeting. It seems like my father was arranging to buy something. Swiping my thumb, I scroll higher and the image that appears on the screen almost takes the breath from my lungs.
“What is it?” Lucia asks as she steps closer to me, her soothing hand on my back again.
“He was going to buy this,” I reply, tilting the phone and showing her the image of the wooden crib, just like the one I’d spoken about at dinner a few nights earlier.
“Oh, Jax,” she gasps, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the sob that comes after.
Molly cranes her neck so she can look too. “A crib?” she whispers. “That makes sense. I’ve never seen him so happy as he’s been these past few months renovating that barn for you both. He took so much pride in it…” she starts to cry softly as she rests her forehead on my father’s hand.
I tap the screen again, calling the number of the person who was selling the crib and hold it to my ear. The number is out of service and suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Did they answer?” Lucia asks.
I shake my head. “Out of service.”
“What? Already? But they just messaged him tonight?” she says, blinking up at me with her huge brown eyes.
“I know, baby,” I say with a sigh, wrapping my arms around her and resting my chin on her head.
“Jax, you think this was planned? You think it was a trap?”
“I don’t know, Luce,” I reply, even though my gut tells me that it was. Why else would that number no longer be in use? Switched off or out of range is explainable, but out of service? “I’ll go through his phone when we get home and see what else I can find.”
“Did you know he was looking for a crib, Molly?” Lucia asks and my aunt lifts her head and wipes her eyes.
“No. He went into town the morning after you mentioned it at dinner though? Maybe he put an ad in Johnson’s store? That was how he found the rocking chair?”
“Does Shannon’s mom still own that place?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Molly nods softly.
“Good. I’ll go there tomorrow and ask around.”
I look down at Lucia again. Fuck, I love her so damn much. “I’m gonna have to put off going home for a few days, baby. That okay with you?”
I see the sadness in her eyes. She loves the ranch and I know she’d stay longer, but she misses our boy. “But Matthias?” she whispers. “He’s expecting us both home.”
“I know, baby, but I can’t leave here until my father wakes up and I find out what’s happened. It will just be a few more days. I promise.”
“I don’t want to go without you, Jax,” she whispers. “Maybe I’ll ask my father to bring Matthias here? He’ll do that for us if we ask him?”
I brush her dark hair back from her face. “Until I know what this is about, I think you’ll both be safer at home in LA.”
“But…” her lip trembles and I dip my head and kiss her softly.
I don’t want her to go either, but I need her safe. And until I know whether this was a coincidence or part of something more, I can’t be assured that she is. I can’t give her my undivided attention while I’m trying to find out who almost killed my father.
“I love you so much, angel, but I need to find out who did this. You understand that, right?”
“Of course I do, Jax,” she breathes. “I just don’t want to be away from you. I have a horrible feeling...” she shivers and I wrap my arms tighter around her.
