Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (23 page)

Lauren merely nodded.

“She missed Jarod something awful. I’m not sure any of them got much sleep,” Julie continued.

Lauren sought out Jessica, and, sure enough, she was clinging to her daddy, head drooped on his shoulder, barely awake. One little hand was intermittently patting Jarod’s back, as if to reassure herself that he was real.

Lauren wished she had a camera. The picture of father and daughter was too precious to forget. Jarod seemed perfectly comfortable toting Jessica’s limp body around. It didn’t keep him from speaking with people or eating. His paternal instincts had kicked in. It seemed as if he’d been caring for her since her birth, rather than barely a month.

The afternoon luncheon ran into the late evening. Julie had made a lot of food, and some of the guests seemed reluctant to leave, including Marguerite. But she wasn’t lingering around the buffet tables like the rest of the remaining guests. It appeared that she was waiting for something else.

Or maybe
someone
, Lauren thought.

Lauren sat next to Jarod at their designated table, Jessica still in his lap with her head on his shoulder. He was engaged in conversation with James when Josh sat down on the other side of Lauren.

“Okay, it was weird when Jason
told
Julie to marry him and she complied. I was adjusting to one of my best friends becoming a sibling and doing fine with it. But you have blown me out of the water this weekend, Lauren.” He winked at her, but she could still sense a bit of animosity directed at Jarod.

“Are we okay?” she asked seriously.

“We have never been better,” he said as he hauled her in for a hug. Before he let her go, he whispered in her ear, “Are you sure that
you’re
okay, though? Jarod can be a domineering asshole. I don’t want you hurt, Sassy.”

She kissed his cheek and answered quietly, “You know how much I love him, Josh. How can I not be the happiest woman in the room right now?”

He didn’t look convinced. “All you have to do is say the word, and I’ll knock some sense into him. AGAIN,” he said loud enough for Jarod to hear. “I’m here for you, Lauren, you know that.”

Tears pricked at her eyes just knowing that Josh cared for her enough that he would protect her from his own brother.

She hugged him back and said, “I’d never let that happen, but thanks for the thought.”

“You’ll never get the jump on me again, anyway, Josh,” Jarod said quietly. “But thanks for your concern. And get your hands off my wife.”

He’d finished his conversation with James and was now turned in toward Lauren with his arm around the back of her chair and the other holding Jessica, who had given up trying to stay awake.

Lauren almost offered to take her, but Jarod seemed content just holding his little girl.

Before Jarod and Josh got too antagonistic with each other, Eli strode into the room in full uniform. She looked around for Brad, and found him leaning into Marguerite, whispering intently. They were probably figuring out when they were going to hook up later.

Lauren barely contained her revulsion. She just couldn’t figure out what Brad saw in that woman.

Eli approached Jarod with a purpose, but when he arrived at the table, he noticed Jessica sleeping on Jarod’s shoulder. His expression softened. He altered his course and went to Lauren instead.

“Congratulations, Mrs. King,” he said with pure delight as he bent to give her a peck on the cheek. Then he turned and shook Jarod’s free hand.

“Jarod, I need to speak to you for a second, if it’s all right. It’s about Avery Decatur.”

Jarod said, “Sure thing. Josh was just leaving.”

“And that’s my cue. I’ll talk to you later, Lauren.” Josh pulled the chair out for Eli to sit before he made his way back to the dessert table, where Charlie was munching his way through a plate of cookies.

“Spill it,” Jarod said.

“Avery’s bail was posted anonymously, and he has since left town,” he said, without preamble.

Jarod met Lauren’s eyes for a moment before returning his attention to Eli.

“No idea who coughed up the cash to get him out?”

“Nope, not a clue.”

Jarod said nothing, but a small grin began to form.

“You don’t seem as upset as I thought you’d be,” Eli said warily.

Jarod winked at Lauren.

“Why are you so happy about this?” she asked.

“I think this may be the slip-up we’ve been waiting for.” He glanced around the room in thought. “Why in the world would anyone get an idiot like Avery out of jail if he’d already screwed up once?”

Lauren hadn’t a clue.

“Could be that Avery has what they need,” Eli guessed.

“My thoughts exactly. Put out a BOLO on Avery, and let’s see where he leads us,” said Sheriff King, which immediately turned her on.

“Sure thing, boss.” Eli gave a small salute before he left the room, making a detour to the dessert table.

“Should we tuck Jessica in?” Lauren asked.

Jarod glanced at Jessica in surprise, almost as if he’d forgotten that he still held her.

“Is she asleep?”

“Since dessert, which she didn’t finish. Look how droopy her arms and legs are,” Lauren laughed.

Jarod held up a tiny hand to kiss the knuckles, then rubbed his big hand around her back. Again, Lauren could see the reluctance to let her go.

“What if she wakes up and we aren’t there? I don’t want to upset her again. Mom said she was a mess last night.”

Lauren wanted to laugh, but Jarod was serious. She schooled her features and said, “Whatever you think is best, dear.” She winked at him to let him know she was teasing.

“Sassy pants,” Jarod mumbled under his breath.

H
e followed the sound of shuffling feet coming from one of the back rooms of the old, low-rent house. He could almost smell the fear. Getting closer, he heard the mumblings of the desperate man who fruitlessly searched for what rightfully belonged to him.

He found the man in the last bedroom going through what looked like the former lady of the house’s underwear drawer.

“I never figured you for a cross dresser, Avery.”

At the sound of his voice, Avery screamed.

“How’d ya git here so quick?”

“I’m a man of means, you know that.” He gave Avery his hard stare. “Find it yet?”

Put out, Avery forgot who he was talking to and exclaimed, “No, I ain’t found it yet! What do I look like, a damned bloodhound?”

He had Avery in a chokehold before Avery could get back to his search through the lady’s lingerie.

“You watch your mouth,” the man said through gritted teeth. “There are so many holes in this desert that no one will blink if they find a part of you in one and the rest of you scattered for the coyotes.”

“Sorry! Sorry!”

The fear in Avery’s voice almost appeased his anger.

“Just find the damned money, Avery. Look for it like your life depends on it…because it does.”

He gave Avery a shove before he walked out of the room.

Where the hell had Miranda hidden it all? Half a million in cash would be difficult to hide in this small house. He didn’t know what he was going to do if they’d managed to move it all.

He was a big player in the scheme of things, but he wasn’t the biggest fish, and his partners were demanding their payout. If he couldn’t deliver…he really didn’t want to think about the consequences.

He had been responsible for recruiting Big Mike and Avery in this little capital venture, against his partners’ wishes. But he’d seen Big Mike’s ability to create a quality product, and Avery’s simple-minded ways were perfect for muling.

It was unfortunate that Miranda had gotten herself involved, for more reasons than he could count. One was because he respected her ex-husband. Too bad Jarod had been so hung up on the bitch. She really wasn’t worth any man’s time of day, including Big Mike’s. That bastard had served him well until Miranda’s ambitions had turned Big Mike against him when she’d demanded a bigger cut.

Gold-digging whore.

The man looked around at the squalor and almost laughed. Miranda had been so hell bent on marrying into money, only to ditch Jarod and the richest family in Timbisha County in order to come live in this Las Vegas shit hole. All because Jarod hadn’t wanted to work for his old man.

And because she’d gotten herself addicted to Big Mike’s quality product.

He laughed out loud at the irony until he realized that the bitch had stolen five hundred thousand dollars from him. He drew back his fist and shoved it through the paper-thin wall of the tiny living room.

The release of violence only appeased his anger for a moment before the worries began to bubble up once more. He slowly looked around the room, eyes landing on everything and seeing nothing, until he zeroed in on a dirty sippy cup lying on the floor.

He slowly began to form a plan to recover his money. For the first time, he realized that Avery wasn’t the only human being alive who might know the whereabouts of his missing profits.

If Avery couldn’t find the money, the man might knew someone who could. He would be taking a big risk using her, but, if push came to shove, he wasn’t above hurting a spoiled brat to get what he wanted.

I
t was the week before Halloween, and the sun was warm and bright, glinting off the plate-glass windows of the town square. Jarod wore a smile on his face and felt the pieces of his heart healing, knitting together, making him feel whole again.

He felt alive. He felt like a man.

Jessica’s room still wasn’t complete. Hating to do it, he and Lauren had tucked her into sheets and blankets on the sofa in his sitting room and had left the bedroom door open in case she were to wake up in the night.

She had.

Jarod had fallen asleep with Lauren in his arms and woken up with a warm woman wrapped around him and a steel bar jammed in back. Jessica had managed to fit her tiny body sideways, ramming her little feet into his lower lumbar as he lay on his side facing Lauren. It was a strange phenomenon that happened when Jessica was in his bed; somehow her tiny body could fill a space large enough for an adult.

He laughed at the memory of crawling over her delicate frame in order to get out of bed. He hadn’t wanted to wake either of his sleeping beauties, so he’d kissed them both softly before heading to the shower.

When he’d finally left his suite, both of his girls were still in his warm bed, nestled together as if they belonged there, pleasantly snoring away.

He drove through town now, thinking about his new life and how his outlook on the future had changed from one of dismal monochrome to something unknown and bright. Normally, the commute to work gave him the opportunity to dwell on the regrets of his past, but today was different, as if he’d reached a turning point. All he could think about was making plans with Lauren.

But, inevitably, the case crept back into his thoughts, along with the possibility that there would finally be some progress in catching his drug dealers. Eli’s news had been intriguing.