Blood in the Water(77)

If Valentine had his way, Jane would be next.

Fuck that. I won’t let it happen. He’d protect her if it was the last thing he did.

“Valentine....”

He turned to find Jane staring at the blood on the floor with wide, unblinking eyes. She was blaming herself for this catastrophe too.

“He said I’d only have myself to blame. Do you think Valentine meant this?”

“No, Juliet did this to herself. If Valentine had come all the way here, he’d have scooped you up too. This was an honest to God suicide, not a murder staged to look like one. She was a vulnerable young woman, and I pushed her—”

“We pushed her over an edge she’d been teetering on for years. If I hadn’t tried to get her to testify against him, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“We should’ve watched her closer, but the bulk of the damage was done long before we both got here.” Byron said the words, but it didn’t lessen his guilt. “I don’t think she’s been right since the night Valentine attacked her. And I think she blamed herself for the women he killed.”

Jane nodded, but there were tears in her eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s another of Valentine’s victims, and he got away with this death too.”

“We’ll stop him.”

She looked doubtful. “What do you think’s coming next?”

“No clue. All we can do is wait for the fallout.”

Jane pulled out her cell phone, fingers flying over the keys.

“What are you doing?”

“Warning my father and Georgia. They need to take extra precautions.”

“Do it from the car.” Byron grasped her hand, tugging her toward the door. “We need to get out of here, before someone comes looking for her.”

“No, we’ve got to call the authorities.”

“The fuck we will.”

She snatched her arm away. “Are you kidding? Somehow we’ve got to explain this to her family. And…I don’t know, comfort them somehow.” She reached for the phone again, but he grabbed it out of her hand. “Hey!”

“And how do you think the MC will take this news?”

Understanding dawned.

“Yeah, the bikers will be angry, looking for revenge. They gotta blame someone, and we’ll do in a pinch.”

Thankfully, Jane went along with the program.

They packed up fast and got out of town before Juliet’s family discovered her. Jane was silent, and he didn’t feel much like talking either. Byron would feel better once they were back in Beauregard Manor with the cameras and security force surrounding them.

This situation was coming to a head. One way or the other, this thing would be solved tonight.

During the tense drive to Hell, Jane’s phone pinged, and she jumped.

“What is it?”

“A video file.” She pulled it up on screen.

“Do you recognize the sender?”

“No, I’ve never seen the email before, but the first two letters are OV, followed by a string of numbers.”

“OV as in Oscar fucking Valentine?”

“That would be my guess. Should I open it?”

Byron braced himself for the shit to hit the fan. “Yeah, let’s have it.”

He kept his eyes on the road, but he listened—all he could hear was rhythmic breathing, but Jane screamed. Byron slowed down and then pulled off on the side of the road, before taking the phone from her.

The email read: You were gone, so I took the next best thing. He hit the play button on the file—it was a video of her friend, Georgia, sleeping.


***

The drive to Georgia’s place was excruciatingly long.

On the hellish ride over, Jane had called the security firm she’d asked to check on Georgia. They’d sent a man over, but he hadn’t seen anything unusual from the outside—and he didn’t have access to the house.

Jane had also checked in with her father, and thankfully, he was fine. Hank, the marshal guarding him, said he’d ask another off-duty buddy of his to serve as backup.

She kept trying Georgia’s number over and over again, but she didn’t pick up. Georgia has to be alright, has to. Jane thought the words over and over again, like a mantra. Odd for someone who wasn’t superstitious, but she hoped thinking good thoughts could somehow keep her best friend safe. Even though, in her heart of hearts, Jane had begun to fear Georgia was dead.

Somehow they arrived at their destination, though she couldn’t recall how.

“I’m going in first. Stay behind me.” Byron pulled his weapon as they hopped out of the SUV.

Jane barely heard the words but did as he asked. Chills raced up and down her spine, and she felt like the world had slowed down around her, like she was walking through something thick, like molasses, instead of air.