“Nope.” Jax shook his head. And it pissed him off to have to admit that.
Not much went on in this town without him knowing. Now he had a murder in his own back yard, and the woman he’d somehow found himself protecting was at the center of it all.
“Just so I’m understanding what you’re all saying…” Poppy sat a little taller in her chair. “The man I saw in that alley was David Santoro, who was the lawyer to Frank De Luca, the head of the Mons Leons organization. Am I right so far?”
“You are.” Noah nodded.
Poppy continued, “Okay, so the two men who killed Santoro both work for Frank De Luca, and since I saw those two Mons Leones members with Santoro’s body, De Luca has put a hit out on me, too, in order to keep me from possibly testifying in the future.”
“And the man De Luca sent to kill you was Paul Wheatley,” Jax finished it out for her.
“Best guess, De Luca used your hit as a reward to Wheatley for having finished his initiation,” Wade surmised.
“Great.” Poppy scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “Always nice knowing you’re someone’s prize.”
The comment was meant to be lighthearted, Jax knew. Even so, just the very thought of the woman next to him being someone’s target made his blood boil with unprecedented rage.
Though they’d only known each other a few days, Jax felt Poppy’s innate goodness all the way to his blackened soul. For someone to want to extinguish the light she carried with her…
That simply wasn’t something he was willing to allow.
“So we we’re pretty sure we know who attacked Poppy and why,” he stated the obvious. “Now what?”
Noah and Wade shared a look that had Jax’s Spidey sense tingling.
“We’d like to place Poppy into federal protective custody.”
Jax was shaking his head before Noah had even finished talking. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Jax—”
“No, fuck that.” He shot a glare in the other man’s direction. “I’m not going to let you railroad her into being whisked away to some FBI safehouse when you all know De Luca’s men will still find her.”
“We don’t know that.” Wade shook his head.
“No? Well I do. Because unlike with you suits, people say shit when I’m around.”
“Like what?” Grady challenged.
“Like the fact that there are cops—Feds included—who are on De Luca’s payroll.” Jax had to work not to clench his fists. “Those dirty bastards would give up her location in a heartbeat if it meant staying in De Luca’s good graces.”
“Then we move her someplace out of the city,” Noah countered. “Hell, we could put her in a different state if we have to.”
“Yeah? Let’s ask Wade what he thinks about that, shall we?” Jax looked to Noah’s partner. “Come on, Wade. Don’t be shy. Share with the class…how did going into WITSEC turn out for Allie? ’Cause from what I recall that sweet wife of yours was damn near killed because the man she testified against tracked her down despite being under federal protection. Now, I’m no expert, but I’m thinking that’s not exactly a glowing endorsement of the program.”
“Go to hell, Monroe.” Wade glared back at him.
“Oh, I’m sure there’s a seat reserved for me there, but that’s beside the point. You guys run around with your guns and badges, claiming justice will prevail. Well, that damn sure isn’t going to happen if Poppy gets killed under the FBI’s watch.”
“Jax—”
“No.” He faced her directly. “Look, I know I’m being an asshole about this, but I don’t care. This is your life we’re talking about. You get that, right?”
“Of course, I do, but—”
“They want to send you away,” he cut her off again. He hated being such a dick, but he had to make her understand. “They want to take you someplace far away from here. Give you a new name, new job. You won’t be able to contact your parents or Cam until they find enough solid evidence against De Luca to finally put his ass away. And who knows how long that will take?”
Indecision weighed heavily in the browns of her eyes. “But if we know this De Luca guy is the one who murdered his lawyer and sent that man after me, then they can arrest him now, can’t they?”