Part 25
Chapter 25
“And how exactly are you planning to do that?”
Amy winced at the low tone Asher used. She knew as soon as she had said the word proof, they'd react this way. She stared at her older brother, watching as the grip he had on the steering wheel tightened. “I told Greg I would meet him. You must not have been listening then.”
“Of course we weren’t,” Carson said with a snort as he glanced over his shoulder. “We were too busy growing grey hair after that rainbow comment.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Logan said as he shook his head at her. “They know who you are, they know where Jaxon is, and now they know that the two of you will most likely be together.”
“Plus,” Spencer said, adding in his opinion as he turned around to look at her. “I’m guessing that Greg told you to meet him loud enough for the both of them to hear.” She nodded her head making him frown. “What if they try snagging you during that meeting? Logan’s right; it’s too dangerous.”
“They won’t even know where I am,” she argued, feeling frustration bloom in her chest. “If I thought I was going to put someone in danger, I would have told Greg not to come. They won’t know where we’re going to meet. No one but Greg and I even know where our place is.”
A look passed between her brothers that she didn’t even want to attempt to interpret. Beside her, Jaxon’s hand slipped into hers. “They’re just worried, Amy, and as much as I hate saying this, I agree with them. Even if they don’t know where this place is, they could still follow him. It’s just not safe at the moment for you to be anywhere but at your parent’s house.”
She wanted to tug her hand away from his grip, but when he squeezed her hand in comfort, she reined in her feelings. Deep down, she knew they were right, that it was dangerous. It was even stupid for her to consider meeting Greg after that man’s veiled threat in the doctor’s office, but she couldn’t just stay locked up in her room while everyone else did all the work. Greg had what she needed, he had proof, and without him, she wouldn’t be able to move on with her life.
Marshall wouldn’t have what he needed to find justice. Jaxon wouldn’t have the information he needed to get out of the mess that he was in, and she would still be the same person she’s always been, the one who let other people take on her problems as she ran from them. A deep breath left her mouth as she tried once more to pull her thoughts in order.
“I want to help.”
“We know,” Spencer whispered, “but we really can’t risk it, Amy. We love you too much to let you put yourself in that position.”
“Can we just talk about this when we get home?” Carson asked. “If I strain my neck any further, I’ll have to take time off work for injuries.”
Amy smiled at his words, knowing he was doing exactly what he had always done; he was easing the tension around them. Spencer was their glue, keeping them away from one another and pushing them together when it was needed, but Carson was the much needed laughter after a day of tension. “Sure,” she agreed, readily, knowing that once she was back at the house, away from danger completely, she’d have a better chance at changing her brothers’ minds.
“Since we’re changing the subject,” Asher said from the driver’s seat. “How about we talk about the two men back at the office?”
Jaxon tensed beside her, and Amy almost wished that her and her brother’s could continue their argument. “I’ve already told you that Dr. Jacobs is the man who would patch us up when we needed it. Everyone just called him Jacobs; so I had no idea the man was actually a doctor.”
Carson glanced forward, and Amy knew she wouldn’t like the words that were about to fall from his mouth. “Did you know about the drugs?”
Jaxon winced. “Of course not. If I did, I would have told y’all at the beginning. Drugs were passed around a lot when I was with them, but for the most part, people were just using. I didn’t see much selling going around, but then again, that wasn’t part of my job.”
“No,” Logan said with a cynical chuckle. “Your job was to harass the people who didn’t pay when they were supposed to. You can’t tell me you were that naïve. You honestly didn’t know what was going on underneath your nose?”
“Logan,” Amy warned, but before she could even think of yelling at her brother, Jaxon shook his head at her.
“He’s right. I should have known. I was just so caught up in finding out who killed my brother that I didn’t think about where they got their money from or what they were doing when I wasn’t around.” His hand slipped from hers and she fought to keep from grabbing it back. “To be honest, I didn’t care what was happening around me.”
“What were you going to do once you found out who killed your brother?” Spencer whispered the question as if he didn’t really want to hear the answer, and when Jaxon didn’t say a word, Amy was glad, because if she were being honest with herself, she didn’t want to know either.
She glanced to her right, staring at the knowing look in Logan’s eyes. “Can we do another subject change? Maybe talk about something not quite as heavy?”
“How about,” Logan began, “we talk about the fact that you forgave the bastard?”
She banged her head against the headrest. “I said not heavy. Man, when you finally decide to talk, you really don’t beat around the bush do you?”
“Why would I?”
“Because,” she mumbled, “in some situations, it’s the polite thing to do.”
“You did forgive him, though,” Asher said with slight amusement in his voice, “didn’t you?”
“Yes, okay?” she admitted with a groan. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“Damn,” Carson grumbled as he smacked a hand over his eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’re taking him back.”
“No,” Jaxon and Amy said simultaneously, and when her brother’s stared at Jaxon with a questioning look, the man shrugged his shoulders. “I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was still pissed, forgiving, but pissed.”
“That doesn’t mean that she won’t cool down eventually,” Logan reminded.
“She is right here.”
They ignored her, causing another groan to echo through the truck. “Yeah,” Spencer said, “but she’s already moving on.” This time, all but Jaxon turned glares onto Spencer, who winced. “What? Am I not allowed to say what we’re all thinking? If Jaxon wasn’t here, we may have had to worry about her getting back with Greg, but as long as Jaxon is around, looking like a lost puppy dog, she’ll have her mind on him.”
“That is not why I’ve moved on,” she protested.
They looked at her with questions in their eyes, ones that she didn’t want to answer, but luck was on her side when they stopped in front of a very familiar place. Pushing at Logan’s arm, she let out a sigh of relief when her giant brother opened the door and slipped out before helping her down. When she went to walk towards her parent's house, or run from their questions, Logan tugged her back towards him.
“Amy,” he whispered, keeping his voice low enough that her other brothers couldn’t hear. “I’m sorry.”
She looked away, noticing the rest of her brothers walking towards her parent’s house with Jaxon trailing behind. Glancing back at Logan, she sighed. “I know, and really, it’s alright. I’m still a little mad, but I understand why you gave Marshall all that information. You were trying to protect me like you always do.”
He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back. “I know, but I should have given you the chance to talk to him first.” His smile dimmed slightly. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I know,” she said, picking up on his mood before he could even begin to explain. “Meeting with Greg is dangerous.”
“Yes,” Logan whispered, as he glanced up to make sure that all of their brothers were completely out of hearing range, “but I’m going to help you.”
Excitement hit her hard, but disbelief was soon to follow. “Why?”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not actually going to let you go meet him.” The frown on her face must have shown her confusion, because for once, he began to explain his words. “Tell me where you were going to go meet him, and I’ll grab him. If he has a tail on him, it won’t matter if they follow him here.” He winced. “You’re going to hate me, but he may have to stay here for a while.”
“Why?” Amy jumped at the voice, and when she looked to her left, she saw Jaxon standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, not looking the least bit sorry for both eavesdropping on their conversation and sneaking up on them.
Logan let go of her hand to run his through his hair. “If he has the proof Amy thinks he does, we have to protect him. He may be a jerk, but he also wouldn’t be caught up in this if it wasn’t for us.”
“And why can’t we just drop him off with the police, put him in protective custody?”
“Yeah?” Logan said with a little bit of anger in his voice. “Are you forgetting that I did watch those videos? We hand him over, and how long do you think it will take one of those dirty cops to find him?”
Jaxon’s jaw clenched. “Fine,” he snapped. “You’re right. We can’t trust someone else with this.” The tension around him slowly faded as he shut his eyes. “Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have brought any of you into this. It would have been easier that way.”
Amy felt her own hands clench into fists as she stared at the pain on his face. Stepping towards him, she lightly placed her hand on his arm. “Hey,” she said in a low tone, waiting for him to glance down at her before continuing. “We could have all walked away from this mess if we wanted to. You can’t blame yourself for our own decisions, nor can you blame yourself for what will happen.”
“That’s easier said than done,” he said with a small chuckle as his arms uncrossed. Shaking his head, she stared down at her with a little bit of wonderment on his face. “How in the hell could anyone do anything to hurt you?”
Logan cleared his throat, breaking the two of them apart before she could take a step closer. “I need to know where Greg will be in a couple of hours, Amy.”
She turned towards her brother. “I want to go with you.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Logan said with a slight shake of his head. “I’ll take Carson or someone else with me, but it’s too dangerous for you.” He paused for a moment. “If you don’t tell me where to go, I’ll find out on my own.”
She didn’t ask how he would find out, knowing that she may not like the answer. “Fine,” she conceded, knowing that she’d have to pick her battles. “I’ll tell you the name of the place, but I honestly don’t know the address.”
“She may not be going,” Jaxon said, “but I am.”
Logan opened his mouth, looking ready to protest, before shutting it with a nod. He glanced down at his watch. “We have time for a bite to eat before we go. I want to be at least an hour early to watch and see if anyone is following Greg or if someone shows up beforehand that you recognize. Be ready in two hours.”
With that, he walked off, leaving the two of them behind. Amy stared after her brother. Shaking her head, she sighed. “You think, one day, they’ll let me make stupid mistakes?”
Jaxon laughed beside her. “No,” he said honestly. “Even if you were to get married and move to Australia, they’d still find a way to keep you out of trouble.”
She glanced over at him with a smile. “You know, I actually don’t mind it.”
“I know.” When she raised an eyebrow at him, he chuckled. “If you didn’t give them a hard time every once in a while, they’d think they could run everything for you, but I can see it in your eyes every time you even think about one another.”
“See what?”
“Love,” he whispered. Slipping his hand into hers, he gently tugged her towards the house in front of them. “Come on. We have two hours to find something to eat before I have to go.”
“You’ll be careful, right?”
He smiled down at her, but didn’t stop. “Of course.”
She glanced away from him, trying not to identify the look in his eyes, but she had seen it. It was the same look that he had gotten in the beginning when he tried lying to her. Taking a deep breath, she tugged on his hand. “I mean it Jaxon.”
He didn’t say another word, and she knew that he had realized his lie didn’t get passed her, that she knew he’d do anything to find out who killed his brother, even if that put him in danger. She bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that she couldn’t beg him to be careful, that she couldn’t try to convince him to stay here with her. He had his demons to fight, and no matter how much she wanted to do it for him, she knew from experience that she couldn’t.
He wouldn’t be doing it alone though. She tightened her grip on his hand slightly. No, she wouldn’t stop him from jumping into this mess, but if he thought that she wasn’t ready to jump along with him, he would have the shock of his lifetime, because now that she was moving on with her life, now that she had found a little bit of happiness that the last year had taken away from her, she wasn’t letting it go, no matter who tried to take it away.
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