Evie’s dubious hold on her suspects was fading fast. What would Miss Marple do? Throw out another vague clue and hope for the best, of course. “Mr. Stockton, did you know the mayor keeps a separate set of city deed books different from the county registrar’s office?”
Jax’s father halted and turned to glare at her.
Over by the van, Emmitt Blue grabbed Jax, apparently intending to lift him from the van. Blue was taller and heavier. The men from her group were elderly and not fighters. They simply waved their flaming brooms in agitation.
Torn between rushing to help Jax or holding the mayor, Evie swallowed and tried to focus on what she’d come to do—communicate.
“It’s hard to perform a proper title search when a bunch of the county deeds has gone missing,” she told Stockton and anyone who would listen. “Without that legal backup, that makes any tax notices coming from the mayor’s office suspect.” She’d probably get sued for slander. It wasn’t as if the mayor would admit guilt.
“I know where he keeps his files,” Toby announced, bless his pea-pickin’ heart. “I’ll send them to you.Stop the frog depredation!” He raised his sign for any cameras on site.
Right. He was practically standing on the Posts’ watery grave and taking out his righteous indignation on his father. Despite his Hollywood-star looks, Toby had a very young soul.
The mayor didn’t halt.
Easily distracted, Evie caught the action over in the back corner. While Emmitt Blue attempted to dislodge Jax from his truck door, Jax planted his right fist in the bully’s soft gut. The uptight, by-the-book lawyer had just assaulted a man—because Evie wanted Blue halted?
The surveyor grunted and bent over. A swing of Jax’s left fist connected with a stubbly jaw, and Blue went down with a thud, in a cloud of dust.
Evie tried not to gape or swallow her tongue. Would Jax be arrested? Lose his license? She glanced at the sheriff, who was looking irritated as he spoke into his phone, with his back toward the fight. She had to bring this gathering under control before someone got hurt.
“We are avoiding violence, gentlemen,” Gracie admonished as the older men from the circle sat down on the unconscious surveyor. “This is a consecration ceremony, remember?”
“Separate set of books?” Jax’s father stopped following the mayor and eyed Evie with suspicion. “Got proof?”
* * *
At the soundof his father’s voice, Jax swung back to Evie. Stephen had escaped her circle, but he wasn’t following the mayor. Hope soared that the man he’d trusted all his life would actually explain himself and clear his name.
“Look at the papers Evie’s family is trying to show you,” Jax called. Instinct and training said he ought to tie up Blue, but assault and battery charges were bad enough without adding illegal imprisonment. He wasn’t a police officer. “Their land is owned by a trust. They have the deeds, proof of taxes paid, and can sue anyone touching this pond.”
He strode back toward Evie’s circle and his frowning father, leaving Blue in charge of a couple of old codgers. He didn’t like Blue but knocking him cold because he was trying to leave this weird scene wouldn’t stand up well in court.
The sheriff was still on the phone. Evie’s aunt waved the papers she’d been smacking the mayor with. Jax took the stack from her and sorted through them to show Stephen the dates on the deeds. Maybe this could all be settled rationally—except for the deaths of the Posts and the bank account in the Caymans.
From the road, a child cried, “His bubble is black and twisted!”
Startled, Jax swung to see Loretta running toward him, pointing over his shoulder. Her cry chilled him straight to the bone. The kid didn’t need to be here to see this. He was already heading toward her before Evie’s operatic screech carried over the rolling thunder. “Blue’s fourth chakra is almost black. Get her out of the way!”
Not sparing time to look, Jax dived for his ward’s small frame, taking her down to the ground in a roll that slammed his shoulder but protected her from whatever in hell Evie was shrieking about. He didn’t question Evie’s shouts when it came to Loretta.
Training set in. Running anywhere, anytime provided too big a target. Hiding in the terrain was safest. He tugged his ward into a stand of grass while she fought to watch.
Where was Evie? Did he need to go after her too? Heart racing, Jax held a struggling Loretta and peered up through the tall weeds. Stephen glared in his direction as if he were crazed. No one else but Evie was shrieking.
“Her bubble is a silver knife,” Loretta sobbed in his arms. “I don’t know what that means.”
And somehow, Jax knew the kid meant Evie, even though he couldn’t see her. He pulled out his cell phone, hit speed dial, and ordered, “Get armed and get down here now.”
“Done, boss. Get the kid behind the flood wall. We’re coming in.”
Jax heard an engine gun and shouted over his shoulder, “Evie, get your ass over here where I can see you.”
Keeping his head low, carrying Loretta, he tumbled behind the crumbling pile of mud that might once have served to keep the road from flooding. Overhead, lightning cracked—fitting.
Running from a danger he couldn’t see, Evie dived behind the wall with him. Jax almost expired in relief—which proved he’d lost his mind. He wanted to grab and hold her as he had Loretta, but that wouldn’t be conducive to clear thinking.
“Blue,” she explained breathlessly. “No one is paying him any attention, but he knocked the Shepherd brothers off, and he’s getting into his van. His aura is black and vicious. I’m afraid he may have a weapon in there. Now I know what a real killer looks like.” She scooped Loretta from his arms and hugged her, keeping her back toward the danger and protecting the kid as he’d been doing.