“I’ll send Iddy to talk to cats.” Wearily, Evie dropped the sleeping bag. Dealing with new spirits was debilitating, but the tea had almost revived her. “I’ll leave you to contracts and receipts. Loretta is up early in the morning. I don’t think I can deal with voter fraud or Pendleton tonight.”
“I’ll walk you up.” Jax removed his charger and pocketed his phone. “If whoever burgled city hall learns you were there, he may come looking for that thumb drive.”
Company felt too good to argue as she climbed out of the cellar. “None of this makes sense,” she told Jax as they reached the backyard.
“Too many suspects, not enough evidence, too many seemingly random acts. That’s why I want Oswin focused on the Pendleton end. This Clancy business is uncomfortably close to home.”
“He was probably cheating on his girlfriend.” Evie led the way into the kitchen. “There are more cookies in the pantry, if you’re staying up all night.”
Jax tugged her into his arms and pressed a kiss against her brow. “I don’t think we’ve thanked you enough for putting up with us.”
“Mostly, it’s no different than having family. Loretta is loving it.” Evie wrapped her arms around him and lifted her face.
The short brief kiss she’d intended turned heated and intense. If Psy the Siamese hadn’t jumped up on the counter and meowed at them, they might have christened the table, even if she was too tired to think. Probablybecauseshe wasn’t thinking.
“I’m awake now, thanks.” Evie pushed away and cast Jax a look of regret as she headed for the front stairs.
He looked unlawfully good in his heavy stubble, with his dark hair rumpled and an expression of confusion and longing on his face.
He didn’t know who he was yet. She’d give him time to find out before he learned—as most men did—that living with a Malcolm meant living outside of normal. Right now, Jax was the epitome of conventional and law abiding, which was pretty much the opposite of everything she was.
Upstairs, she checked her email before turning in for the night.
She opened the one from her cousin Orbis, the antique dealer and psychometrist first. He had received the original files from Aaron Ives’ security box. “The person who packed this box was grieving, furious, and plotting revenge. I’ll keep working through the documents but that file box speaks stronger than anything else. It’s as if the owner had just lost his best friend.”
Spot on, Cousin Orbis, spot on. Evie forwarded the email to Jax with a note—How did Ives put the file into his deposit box without anyone realizing he was still alive?
Fourteen
In his idealistic youth,Jax had believed the law was the answer to everything. Laws might need changing upon occasion, but the judicial system accomplished that. If people were just taught to stay within the boundaries of the law—
He still believed in the system. He was none too certain about the people wielding it anymore. With no mayor and no county attorney available, he didn’t have time to wait for proper protocol—and couldn’t trust the city council to cooperate.
That was what was sticking in his craw—he couldn’t trust anyone in city hall. They were all Clancy’s cronies and had been hand-picked by the former mayor now facing fraud charges.
Sitting in his new office Friday morning with Reuben impatiently waiting, Jax rifled through his predecessor’s digital files. “County attorneys should be more careful with government documents,” he complained. But like everyone else, Norton had parked a lot in his computer... “Got it.”
Reuben pumped his fist. “Knew you could, man.”
Jax pulled up the digital form for requesting an audit and maintenance of the city’s voting machines, added Reuben’s name and a date prior to the attorney’s death, then printed it out. “I am now officially one of the anarchists undermining the system.”
“Hangin’ with the wrong crowd does that.” Reuben folded the letter and tucked it into his shirt pocket.
“The end doesn’t justify the means,” Jax warned. “But I can’t watch anyone else die if this is all about crooked voting machines. I need that motive off the list before anyone else gets killed.”
“Or any more elections get thrown to the bad guys.” Reuben tipped an imaginary hat and took off with his ammunition.
Evie’s email from Cousin Orbis had pushed Jax over the edge. There was a dead man in that mine in California, and he was now positive it was Franklin Jackson. Why he should believe Evie’s cousin about the fury, grief, and need for revenge on his father’s documents was a frightening question he didn’t ask himself. Some things just felt right, and this theory fit—except for Evie’s note.
Who else could have put that file into the box?The only answer he could summon was a bank employee. He texted Conan to find out who worked at the bank—the former bank—at the time of the mine collapse. Jax knew it took two keys and two people to access the box, but even he could imagine several scenarios to make that happen—if the bank employee collaborated.
Then he went to work on the old contracts between his father and Sovereign Machinery. He highlighted the pertinent clauses and forwarded them to his contract law professor and his sister. Ariel didn’t like face-to-face communication, but her mind was as sharp as his, possibly sharper.
A minute later, Ariel texted back:if aaron ives owned patent, we own sovereign. and dvm?
Yeah, his thoughts too.
did he know chips were used for fraudulent purposes?