* * * *
“You know as damn well as I do that Jeb’s been snooping around. This is the third time he’s been in some kind of accident. They could have killed him this time.” Axel raised his voice and then ran his fingers through his hair.
L.T. was staring at Jeb, who lay in the hospital bed, head bandaged up, bruises all over, and his arm in a cast.
“We told him that we were working on things. Why couldn’t he just let us handle it? We’re following the law. We’ve got our commanders on our sides. What the fuck?” Quentin stated.
“It’s his nephew’s reputation that was destroyed. He lost a lot of friends because of the lies,” Deacon said calmly, and that really pissed Axel off.
“How can you be so damn calm? He could have died. How would we explain all this to Mariah? She’d be left with no one.”
“Not no one. She has the four of you,” Jeb said in a groggy, rough voice, and then he coughed. They were all by his side immediately.
“You crazy old man. What the hell were you thinking?” L.T. asked, as he stood at the end of the bed with one hand resting on his holster.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m finished. I’m done. It’s over now,” Jeb whispered.
Axel could see the defeat and the unshed tears in his eyes. Had he truly, finally seen that catching Michael’s killer was impossible for him? They were all tired of getting the runaround from people, even in the police department and through other connections.
L.T. and the crew were still working for the government on a case by case basis as the four of them continued their family livestock business. Even with that, they didn’t have to do much because of all the employees. They worked on the ranch as a form of staying in shape. They had plenty of time for other activities, like training and trying to use their own resources to locate and identify Eduardo DeLacruz. With Sandman’s help, they’d recently made some potential progress. Another cop had been murdered. A detective left for dead after going missing for days. He was working a case. A case no higher-ups would give any details on. But Sandman found out that the Feds were in active mode. That basically meant that they were onto something. Maybe they knew who Eduardo DeLacruz was and what he looked like. But they weren’t sharing.
“We told you to not worry about Eduardo. We said we were making progress. What the hell did you find out, that Eduardo sent one of his men to threaten you?” Quentin asked Jeb.
Jeb’s eyes widened and then he lowered them.
“It doesn’t matter. And I don’t want you men looking into catching him either. Just drop it. Drop the investigation, just like I’m going to do.”
“What?” Axel asked, feeling his blood pressure rise. Why the hell would they do that? They wanted Michael’s killer just as badly as Jeb. If not more so. It angered Axel to see Jeb laying here in the hospital bed and so defeated. This was work cut out for soldiers, not civilian, old men.
“Listen, Jeb, we know you’re done. We told you over a year ago to not get involved and to just move on with your life. We’ve just about done the same thing. But we’re keeping our eyes peeled. We’re using the resources we have to track this guy and bring him to justice,” L.T. stated.
“No. No more bringing him to justice. Just drop it. Let the other departments and government worry about him. It’s over. You must promise me.”
“No,” Axel said firmly.
“That’s not going to happen. He killed Michael,” Quentin stated.
“He’s a dead man. We’ll bring Michael justice and we’ll clear his name,” Deacon replied softly, but with determination in his hazel eyes.
“No. No. It’s over.”
“Just calm down, Jeb. You focus on getting better, and putting all of this behind you,” L.T. said in an attempt to calm Jeb down.
“He knows about Mariah. Eduardo knows about her,” Jeb whispered and then covered his face with his hands.
The room went completely silent.
Axel felt the shock hit his system. Fear gripped his insides and immediately that possessive emotion ruled his being.
“How does he know about Mariah? This guy said something?” L.T. asked.
Jeb leaned back and closed his eyes.
“He said that Eduardo knows about Mariah, and how beautiful she is. He saw her at the funeral. Somehow, Eduardo was there that day.”
Axel shot a glance at L.T. who looked ready to kill. That was exactly how Axel felt.
“We won’t let that happen. She’s in Europe. She’s safest there,” L.T. replied.