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“What was that?” I asked, closing my eyes and sinking into the luxurious cushions of his couch. Jack had replaced his old couch when he’d gotten home. He said the other was for looks and he’d needed something he could actually recuperate on. I was tempted to get a matching one for our place.
“Podcast. Ellie mentioned she hosted it, so I thought I’d give it a listen.” He seemed half interested in the answer, but I was on full alert, my eyes popping open and staring him down.
“Evan’s sister?”
“Yeah.” When I said nothing, he finally looked at me from behind his phone. “What?”
“I didn’t know you guys were acquainted,” I said, trying not to sound overly curious. “She’s a hottie.” I didn’t know why I was attempting to talk to Jack like one of the guys fishing for information about a potential crush, but the idea of flirty Jack returning to the land of the living had me reaching for anything.
“She’s like twelve,” he scoffed, setting his phone down on his chest and tugging my leg closer to him. He began to slowly massage my foot and I was temporarily struck dumb by the blissful pressure on my arch.
“She’s twenty-two,” I replied, trying to focus on the conversation. Jack was trying to distract me with a damn foot rub! I wasn’t going to stop him though; it felt amazing.
“A child,” he said absently, digging his thumbs in with a delicious pressure that had a moan escaping me. “Remind me to tell Deck I made you moan today.”
“Shut up and tell me about Ellie.”
Moving to my other foot, he gave it the same attention before letting out a sigh. “There’s nothing to tell, nosy. She came to my room to wish me well while Evan was being discharged. She mentioned something about a podcast she had, and I was bored while waiting for you to come bother me, so I gave it a listen.”
“How is it?”
Jack shrugged, moving back to my other foot and beginning to massage my ankle to my calf. “I feel like I’ve been tied up in too much true crime to really get into it.”
“It’s a true crime podcast?”
He nodded as he switched my legs yet again. He was using the act to not only distract me but also himself. I could see that.
“Do you think she’ll do an episode on all the shit that went down with us?” My question was two-fold. I wanted him to keep telling me about Ellie, but I was also nervous that my fucked up life story would be open for the world to analyze. We couldn’t really stop her if she wanted to talk about it. Cases were closed and police reports filed. Ellie had been there for the drama; she had an insider’s perspective. It probably would have done wonders for her popularity to cover the twisted story of Dominic Parker.
“I already told you I barely met the kid, Lake. I have no idea if she’ll cover it. I’d hope she wouldn’t do it without talking to you first, but who can say?”
His voice was distant and still held the muted sadness that I fucking hated hearing in his tone. Jack wasn’t okay, and even though he was healing physically, something had broken in him so deeply that he wouldn’t even share. It was the reason I spent my days with him. I was worried that he’d fall into the same abyss that I’d worked hard to escape. If something didn’t change with him soon, I’d talk to Decker about bringing in a professional for him. I didn’t recognize my Jack anymore. Gone were the printed t-shirts with every pop culture reference imaginable, now he stuck with sweats and a plain shirt stretched across his chest. Gone was the snark, replaced with unamused sarcasm and clipped excuses as he left the room. Though he was coherent and functioning, Jack Kasey had checked out.
CHAPTER 37
DECKER
“That should do it,” Agent Geiger said, sweeping up the papers from my desk and letting out a content sigh. She organized them quickly into the folder she’d come in with and set it on the chair next to her as she leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “I would love to say it’s been a pleasure consulting with you and your guys, but the circumstances aren’t exactly ideal.”
“I can say it’s been a pleasure. Besides Mal, working with the feds is usually a headache.” I rolled the pen back and forth between my fingers as I smirked at her from across the desk. “If you weren’t on the fast track to a promotion after all of this, I’d be trying to steal you for Remington.” And I wasn’t lying. Rae Geiger was exactly the type of person I’d want for my team. She had worked tirelessly to track Dominic Parker’s movements from Paris until they’d been able to locate Monica De Carlo’s body. She hadn’t suffered the same torture as Bailey Voss and while her boss speculated it was because Parker hadn’t wanted to deal with two women at once, Agent Geiger had kept digging.
She’d uncovered a trunk full of notebooks in one of Parker’s properties, detailing his life. From his tortured upbringing in the system to the night he’d been hit on by his former adoptive mother in a bar. She’d not recognized him of course, but he’d known her and killed her shortly after she “seduced” him back to her hotel.
It was in those pages that we learned Dominic had kept an ongoing sexual relationship with Monica. He used her for her body as well as the information she’d give freely about Lake Harrington. Geiger still believed that Monica had been shot in the head quickly as a mercy from a former lover though I wasn’t willing to give that prick even an ounce of understanding. He was gone, but his echo still lingered in our lives as Lake tried to settle her father’s estate and get some closure.
“I would have never linked Voss and De Carlo to a globe-trotting serial killer on my own, that was all you guys.” Geiger shook her head in awe. “The work you guys do is incredible and has far less red tape than the muck I’m always stuck going through. I might just keep you in mind if the grind gets to be too much.”
“Well, luckily for us, investigation is a small part of our main job here. We’re personal security first and foremost, I don’t think you want to turn in your badge to open doors for celebrities with attitude problems.”
She let out a sharp laugh before standing. “That’s true. My patience doesn’t extend to bratty rich kids.” Her smile fell as she realized her words. I held up my hand to wave it off with a grin of my own. The world still saw Lake Harrington as the trust fund party girl, and while it was an image I was ready to leave behind, I didn’t care when it was brought up. I knew her mind and her heart. She’d never been the woman in those magazines and online articles.
“I’ll give Lake your best,” I said with a knowing smile and she nodded briskly.
“Please do. Thank you again, Mullins.” She strode purposefully out of my office and before the door could close, Evan was stepping through with more work to get through before I was back in the sanctuary of a two bedroom apartment with Lake. Preferably a naked Lake.
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LAKE
