I retrieved my damp clothes and put them on, then found my cell phone in the folds of the bed sheet. Thank goodness they hadn’t seen it—and thank goodness my mom had calledbeforethey showed up, not after. I would be utilizing silent mode a lot more often from this point onward.
I gave Jayce a call, but it went straight to voicemail.It’s probably nothing, I thought, instead sending him a quick text to let him know what had just happened. Then I climbed into the loft, found a relatively dustless spot behind two boxes, and waited for Jayce to get home.
I was fairly certain the sound outside was his beat-up truck squelching through the mud, but I waited for him to announce himself before leaving my hiding spot. He threw open the sliding barn door and rushed inside.
“Charlotte?” Jayce bellowed, panic in his voice. “Charlotte!”
“I’m up here,” I said as I climbed down from the loft. “What’s wrong? Are we in danger?”
“Oh, thank fuck,” he muttered, rushing forward to wrap me in his arms. He held me so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. “I thought I’d lost you. I saw the bike marks in the mud outside, and their boot prints leading inside, and you were gone…”
I hadn’t noticed the black, muddy prints scattered all over the floor. “I texted you to let you know what happened.”
“I turned my phone off, just in case.”
“In case of what? Sid’s tracking you or something?” I laughed as if that were ridiculous.
“You don’t know how much power he has. The strings he can pull.”
We sat on the bed and I caught Jayce up on everything he’d missed. He listened quietly, nodding along as I went over everything.
“They must’ve handed off tonight’s shipment early. My contact said Sid was supposed to be gone all night.” He put his hand on my leg. “I’m sorry I put you in danger. I should have taken you home straight away.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m safe now.” I cleared my throat. “So what happened at Flop’s?”
His gaze hardened. “Carl is all taken care of. He won’t bother you, or us, ever again.”
I felt my jaw drop. “Did you… You mean you…”
I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Fortunately, Jayce immediately shook his head.
“Fuck no. We didn’tkillhim. We gave him to a friend who’ll lock him in a shipping container out of Jacksonville on its way to China. By the time it arrives in three weeks, you’ll be long gone from Eastland.”
“Oh, okay.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew Jayce had a dark history, but it was comforting knowing he wasn’tthatbad of a man.
“Jesus, Peaches. You thought I would kill someone in cold blood?”
“I don’t know.”
He flashed a half-amused, half-offended smirk. “You think I’m the kind of man who would do that?”
“I don’t knowwhatkind of man you are. I thought you were a biker bad boy, but it turns out you’ve got an artistic side.”
I let a smile crawl onto my lips.
He groaned. “You went into my workshop.” He got off the bed and strode across the room.
“I warned you that I was going to do alittlesnooping. I like your art!”
“Sure you do,” he muttered, closing the sliding door to the workshop. He grabbed a nearby chain and started to clamp a padlock over the door handles to lock it.
I stopped him with a gentle hand to the back of his neck. “I think those statues are the only beautiful thing in this crummy, run-down town.”
He paused with his hands on the padlock. “You’re just sayin’ that.”
“It’s true. They’re… haunting, in a beautiful sort of way. If that makes sense.”
He dropped the chains and turned around. His eyes were soft and vulnerable.