He was stunned by how much he was enjoying having her back in his life. Not only did she make him feel alive inside again, but he had someone to share his thoughts with. He wasn’t a big talker, but he could tell her things he didn’t tell the guys, and he liked having that outlet.

  She looked up from entering data in her laptop and caught his gaze. A shy smile slid across her face, and it seemed as if her lips were begging to be kissed. It took all the discipline learned in the army not to get up and cross the room to kiss her. He flashed her a quick smile and turned his focus back to the ghost gun files.

  A male, Uriah Ingman, killed his mother using a gun and silencer that he built with parts purchased online. He probably figured since he never bought or registered a gun that he wouldn’t get caught if he used a ghost gun. Problem was, as he was trying to get rid of their mother’s body, his sister Yvette walked in on him, and he convinced her to help him bury the mom in the backyard. And most importantly, he also convinced her to keep his secret.

  Years later, Uriah’s new girlfriend moved in with him. Unbeknownst to him, she started digging a garden in the backyard, unearthed the bones, and called the police. When interrogated, Yvette caved and told the truth. They both went to jail. She received a much shorter sentence and was recently released.

  Jackson looked up from the file. “What kind of man kills his own mother?”

  Maggie set down a fragment. “There’s no excuse, but she did abuse them as children and continued to belittle them as adults. That’s the only reason Yvette went along with covering it up.”

  “And now she’s out of jail.”

  Maggie nodded. “I think she’s been out for a few months.”

  The need to be closer to Maggie was nearly unbearable so Jackson got up and crossed over to the far side of the table. “And your role in this investigation was to identify the mother?”

  She met his gaze. “That’s right, though Uriah continued to claim I was wrong. That their mother had taken off. But then the police recovered the gun with his prints all over it, and the slug recovered from the grave matched the gun. Uriah claimed I planted the bullet, and that I was lying to put him in jail.”

  “But the sister confessed.”

  “Yeah, but she later recanted and supported him in his claims.” Maggie sighed. “They were both so angry at me.”

  “Do you think she might still be mad and seeking revenge?”

  Emotions paraded across Maggie’s face, and she drummed her gloved finger on the metal table. “I suppose it’s possible, but obviously Yvette wasn’t the one who attacked me at Summit.”

  “She could have arranged for someone to do it for her. Like a husband?”

  “She wasn’t married and said she would never get married. Not with the way her mother and father argued. She didn’t want to be like them.”

  He planted his hands on the table and leaned closer. “Then a boyfriend or a cousin. Some guy she hired. No matter what, we should talk to her.”

  “Agreed, which is why I already had Eryn search for her address online. She lives in Medford.”

  Jackson was impressed by her forward thinking. He glanced at the clock. “We have time to talk to her and still get to Cold Harbor at a reasonable hour.”

  “I’m finished here.” She closed her laptop. “Let’s go.”

  “I want another set of eyes so I’m going to ask Alex to accompany us.”

  She nodded and almost looked relieved. Maybe she didn’t want to be alone with him or maybe she was more afraid than she was letting on. Either way, he felt better about having Alex watching their backs.

  Later as they walked up to the rundown apartment in a not-so-nice part of town, Jackson was even more thankful Alex joined them and stood sentry at the end of the walkway.

  Maggie knocked on the bright red door. The woman who opened it was short, thin, and was obviously unsteady on her feet. Jackson looked beyond her to the apartment and spotted several empty liquor bottles, dirty dishes, and piles of trash in the living room.

  “Yesh,” she said, slurring the word and teetering even more.

  “Hello, Yvette. I’m Maggie Turner. Do you remember me?” Maggie’s tone was warm and kind, something Jackson couldn’t have managed if he were in her position.

  Yvette shook her head and nearly toppled over before grabbing the doorframe.

  “I’m the anthropologist who recovered your mother’s remains,” Maggie said.

  She cast a skeptical look at Maggie. “Mother’s dead. Uriah killed her.”

  “I know, I testified at your trial.”

  “Oh-h-h, right. The bone lady. Uriah hates you.”

  “What about you?” Jackson asked. “Do you hate Maggie, too?”

  “Nah. You got Uriah out of my life. I love you.” She made the shape of a heart with her hands and laughed.

  Jackson needed to know if she was in touch with the brother and he was manipulating her into going after Maggie. “Do you visit your brother?”

  “No. No way.” She shook her head hard, her stringy hair slapping her face. “He killed mother. Don’t want to see him ever again.”

  “But you supported him at the trial,” Maggie said.

  “’Cause he said he’d kill me if I didn’t.” She frowned and drool slid down her chin. She swiped it away. “He woulda if I didn’t. But now he can’t touch me.”

  This woman wasn’t a threat. She obviously had a problem with alcohol and could hardly take care of herself, much less orchestrate a plan to kill Maggie. He glanced at Maggie to see if she was thinking the same thing. She subtly shook her head.

  “Okay, thanks, Yvette,” he said.

  She looked up at him, her eyes trying to fix on his. “You never said your name so I’ll call you handsome. Tall, dark, and haaaaannnndsome.” She smiled and wobbled.

  “Let’s go,” he said to Maggie.

  “Aw, don’t go,” Yvette called after them. “I’m just getting to know you.”

  As they headed down the sidewalk toward Alex, Jackson couldn’t help but feel sorry for the woman. She was obviously lonely and in bad shape. All because of a terrible mother. He was thankful his parents were good role models even though his dad hadn’t been around much.

  “Well?” Alex asked.

  “She’s not much of a threat,” Maggie replied, sounding relieved.

  “Not much of one at all,” Jackson added, but didn’t know if he was happy about that fact because it meant Scott’s killer was the most likely person trying to end Maggie’s life.

  And when a man killed once, it was so much easier to do it a second time.

  11

  The helicopter whisked over the Oregon countryside, the rotors thumping steadily overhead. Maggie wished they’d flown in daylight so the scenery below was visible, but when they returned home tomorrow she should have a clear view.

  “ETA five minutes,” Riley announced over their headsets.

  She glanced at Jackson who sat next to her in a row of three seats. Alex and Eryn sat facing them on the other side of the helicopter. Maggie felt out of place as the team members chatted easily among themselves using terminology she didn’t recognize. She almost felt like she was heading to a foreign country, and she had no idea what to expect once they landed.

  She glanced at Jackson. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay at the compound?”

  He smiled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “I’m not paying for it.”

  Something flashed in his expression, but his smile remained. “Gage’s fine with it. You’ll see for yourself when you meet him.”

  She was starting to get nervous about stepping into Jackson’s everyday life. She didn’t know why, but the unease was there in the pit of her stomach. “Which will be when?”

  “His wife Hannah invited us to breakfast with their family.”

  Interesting and unexpected. “Do they have breakfast with clients often?”

  Jackson shook his head. “First, you’re not a client. Second, you’re more than a client.”

  Even more interesting. “Does he know about our past?”

  “Some of it.”

  “If you look below, Maggie,” Riley’s voice interrupted before she could ask Jackson for clarification. “You’ll see the lights on our helipad. We’ll touch down in a minute or so.”

  The chopper started to descend, and Maggie leaned over to stare out the window. She spied the circle lit up in a clearing in the middle of dense woods. She was both excited to see the compound and terrified that Riley might miss the small opening. But he soon set the helicopter down in the middle of the circle with barely a bounce.

  She glanced at Jackson for direction on what to do next. He took off his headset and hung it on a hook behind him. She followed suit.

  Eryn removed hers and jumped up. “Home sweet home, and my little sweetie awaits. See you guys tomorrow.” She saluted and whipped open the chopper door before Maggie could even say goodbye.

  Jackson chuckled, the sound nearly swallowed up by rotors still whirling overhead. “She’s eager to get home to Bekah.”

  “She really doesn’t talk about her much, does she?” Maggie asked.

  “Not on the job, no. Sometimes people think less of her skills because she’s a woman. Then if she mentions that she’s a mother, things can get even more challenging for her. So she doesn’t bring Bekah up.”

  “That’s too bad, but she seems to be fine with all of it.”

  Alex grabbed his bag. “You two need to get a move on, or I’m gonna make you walk.”

  Jackson rolled his eyes. “Nice try, but we have to wait for Riley to tie down the rotors and go through his checklist.”

  “Actually,” Maggie said, an idea coming to mind. “It’s a nice night for a walk. If it’s not too far to the cabins, I’d like the exercise.”

  “Couple of miles,” Jackson said.

  “I can do it if you can,” she issued the challenge she knew Jackson wouldn’t refuse.

  “I’m up for showing you up.” He grinned, a devilish glint in his eyes. “We’ll dump our bags in the utility vehicle for Alex to drop off and be on our way.”

  The rotors above settled into a slower, but regular thump as he grabbed their bags and jumped down from the helicopter. He shifted the bags and offered his free hand to help her down. He clutched her fingers tightly, and when she hit the landing pad she waited for him to let go, but he continued to hold on.

  “Just until your vision adjusts to the lower light,” he said as if reading her mind.

  She didn’t need his help, but she wasn’t going to make a big deal of it in front of Alex and Riley who’d gotten out and were unpacking little boots with straps attached. She assumed they were for securing the helicopter as Jackson mentioned.

  He dropped their bags in the back of a small utility vehicle with a hard top.

  “Catch you later,” he called over his shoulder to his teammates.

  Maggie looked ahead at the moonlit path lined by soaring pine trees. She glanced up to see the sky flooded with stars, and her mind betrayed her by going to thoughts of how romantic this walk could be. She willed away the thoughts and only hoped she could make the long trek without letting the ambience get to her and doing something she regretted later.

  Jackson was happy to be home. Even happier to have Maggie by his side. Even if she looked uneasy about something.

  She spun to smile at Alex and Riley. “Thank you for the ride and for all your help today.”

  A pang of jealousy bit into Jackson. Why, he didn’t know. There was no logical reason for it. He knew she or they didn’t have any romantic interest in each other. Maybe he wanted that simple, sincere smile directed at him. Or even more, he wanted to be the one to make her smile again as she’d frequently done before losing Alison.

  He was always more serious—serving as a Green Beret did that to him. But Maggie? Man. She’d once been so fun loving. Such a joy to be around. She pushed away his angst and all the ugliness he saw in the line of duty and helped him enjoy life again. That was one of the reasons he came back to her. He wanted to live a life of joy. To experience that with his daughter, too. He knew, just knew that would be even more joyful. Until it wasn’t.

  “What’re you scowling about, Lockhart?” Alex asked. “I’m the one left behind to help Riley tie this thing down. You get to take a romantic stroll in the moonlight with a beautiful woman.”

  “On that note, I’ll say good night.” Jackson gestured for Maggie to precede him down the road before Alex added any more romance comments. “And don’t run us over when you’re in such a hurry to get back to your new seventy-five-inch TV.”

  “Seventy-five inches, really?” Maggie glanced over her shoulder at Alex.

  “It’s not a TV if it doesn’t fill up an entire wall.” Alex chuckled.

  Jackson had to smile, too. He loved his teammates. Not that he’d tell them that, but they knew. It was assumed among them. Well, maybe not all of them. Coop was once pretty standoffish, but since he and Kiera got engaged, he ‘d opened up and was coming around.

  “I like your team,” Maggie said as they set off down the winding road.

  “They’re good people. By the way, I should warn you that beyond the hangar is our shooting range. We have classes in session so don’t be surprised if you hear gunfire in the morning.”

  She shook her head. “Your world is so foreign to me. I can’t even imagine what else goes on here.”

  “Up ahead you’ll see our training building and a city street with plywood building fronts. We use it for urban training. It resembles a Hollywood movie set.”

  “Your operation sounds so professional.”

  “Yeah, thanks to Gage. We owe him a big debt of gratitude. I don’t know what I’d be doing now if it wasn’t for him.”

  She frowned, surprising him. “I don’t like that you’re still putting yourself in danger.”

  Right. That. She never liked the risks he faced as Beret, but she found a way to accept it when he knew many women couldn’t do so. “Someone has to do this job or the bad guys win.”

  “I know, and I’d never suggest you change. Not when you obviously love what you do. It’s just hard to think about you getting hurt.”

  He glanced at her and concern marked her expression. He wanted to say something. Maybe take her hand, but slipping back into the personal realm wasn’t good for either of them.

  They walked in silence. He felt so at home. Really at home. Inside and out. He never imagined he would walk this road with Maggie. He’d always been comfortable at the compound, but right now, his inner peace gave the place a new meaning for him.

  He glanced at her. She was looking ahead and frowning. Obviously, she wasn’t at peace. Was it the talk of him being in danger, or didn’t she want to be here with him? Could be either, he supposed.

  Headlights came from behind, and he urged Maggie to the side of the road. The utility vehicle slowed alongside them, Riley driving and Alex riding shotgun.

  Alex leaned out the window. “Still want to walk?”

  “Yes,” Jackson said, not giving Maggie a chance to answer. He wasn’t about to give up this peaceful stroll. The quiet calm would vanish soon enough when the cold light of day reminded him of the many reasons this romantic walk was just an illusion and he and Maggie couldn’t be together.

  Riley sped off, the small vehicle jetting forward. The simulated town was just ahead, and Jackson led Maggie to the sidewalk so she could get the full feel of the place.

  “This is so realistic.” She turned in a circle to take it in, her eyes alight with her discovery. Big. Wide. Luminous. Captivating. Drawing him closer.

  He sucked in a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets before he took her hand again, making things awkward between them.

  “Who built all of this?” she asked.

  “Gage was in charge, and he hired some of it out, but the team did most of the work.” Memories of the first few months on the job came flooding back, and Jackson smiled. “It was hard work, but we had a lot of fun doing it. Alex pulled daily practical jokes, and we all got to know him real well. And the rest of us bonded when we came up with payback. Gage had his hands full keeping us on task. I think we made him work a few extra hours.”

  “How did his wife deal with all that?” she asked.

  “He wasn’t married at the time. His first wife died a few years earlier.”

  “Oh, gosh, I’m sorry. When did he marry Hannah?”

  “Less than a year ago. He has a daughter, Mia, and Hannah has a son, David.”

  She looked surprised at that. “How old?”

  “Mia’s seven. David, six.”

  She suddenly fell silent, and her body seemed to fold in on itself as if collapsing.

  He moved ahead to look her in the face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Alison,” she said barely above a whisper. “She would’ve been six this year.”

  And just like that, her joy, his joy, evaporated. Sadness hung over them once again, and he had to wonder if they could ever get past the pain and move on.

  Maggie would not cry. She couldn’t. Not in front of Jackson. She never imagined she could still be this emotional about losing Alison after so many years, but she was tired and stressed from the attacks, and with Jackson in her life again, her heart was vulnerable.

  She peered down the road, searching for something, anything to change the subject and saw a barn-sized building. “Is that your training facility?”

  Jackson gave her a knowing look. She hadn’t fooled him with the change of subject. Of course, she hadn’t. They were once so in tune with one another. Jackson may be this big warrior and tough protector, but he had a heart for people, especially underdogs, and that made him intuitive and observant.

  Still, she wouldn’t get sucked into a personal conversation. Not tonight. Not when she was exhausted and weepy.

  “What kind of classes do you hold there?” She started walking again.

  “Most of them are a combination of classroom and practical application. We do tactical, close combat, and concealed carry. Plus, long guns, urban sniper. Oh, and survival skills. Coop even holds air assault classes.”