Jace’s Jewel Read online

  The detective moved Troy to the cop car, but Troy shouted at them the whole way. She deliberately blocked out his insults.

  Jace stepped between her and the sight of Troy being loaded into the vehicle. He tilted her chin up and said, “Don’t even think about it.”

  The detective walked over and shook Jace’s hand. “Now that was nicely done.” He looked at Emily. “At least you know the three beneficiaries of these men’s families weren’t part of it.”

  She nodded. “But it is on the other two cases. Jace thinks it was Sicily Ranger Cowichan.”

  Detective Dickerson nodded. “I spoke to Jace about it earlier. We’ve picked up both her and her boyfriend for questioning. If it’s them, we’ll find out. One may turn on the other. A funnel was found inside the boyfriend’s SUV. If we confirm any DNA from Richard Manton on the funnel, then we’ll know exactly who had a hand in this.”

  “But why pour water down his throat?” Emily asked.

  “To tie it to the deaths of the others. They didn’t know the other three men had been murdered. This way they figured they could make the issue cloudy enough that nobody would know it was them. Water in the lungs can kill days later. Maybe they’d planned to drive Manton off the road into the river that evening, but his body was discovered too quickly. The coroner had the water analyzed. It was river water. So they had collected the water to pour into his lungs. Meaning it was premeditated. Lyle was killed by a blow to the head, then run over to make it look like a hit-and-run, which we’ve traced to the boyfriend’s vehicle. Richard was likely killed beforehand, but the coroner can’t place the time of death any closer. We are tracing the boyfriend’s movements around that same time. Likely he knocked out Richard as he was getting into his car, the blows easy to confuse as ones from the fight with Lyle. Then simply shoved in the funnel and poured water in his lungs. Messy maybe but a ton of water wasn’t involved.”

  She shook her head. “This is unbelievable.”

  “That’s five good and caring men murdered?” John asked.

  Jace nodded. “Two by the woman in question. One man was the woman’s husband. The other was her ex-boyfriend. And then Troy killed three, at least three …” He turned to look at the detective. “I hope you’ll take a good look at that issue before you close these cases.”

  The detective nodded. “We’ll contact the insurance company to get a list of other payouts from other men in the TxSAR group. I suspect these were Troy’s only victims, but we won’t close the case until we check for sure.” He turned to Emily. “Are you staying close by? We might need you to answer some questions.”

  She nodded. “You can always get me through my cell, but I have no idea where I’m going now that I’ve lost my job. And apparently the hacking wasn’t even an issue.”

  “It’s an issue,” the detective said. “Don’t you worry. We’ll be broaching it with the company.”

  She nodded. “I can’t say that staying here feels right at the moment. Honestly my skin’s crawling with the idea of being in this town now. I’d like to get the hell away.”

  “You have Ice’s phone number, and you have mine,” Jace said. “You can get a hold of her through one of us anyway.”

  The two turned to John, and Jace asked, “Do you need a lift back?”

  He shook his head and pointed to the truck Troy had driven. “I’ll return this one to the center. It’ll be a long time before we begin to recover from this.”

  “One of the best ways to recover,” Emily said, “is to hold a memorial for the men who died at the hands of others. They were all preventable deaths, and they were all caused by ego or simple greed, one way or another. What a waste.”

  John nodded, shook Jace’s hand, and said, “You two take care of yourselves.” He turned, walked to the truck, hopped in, and, with a final wave, drove away.

  “We wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t brought this to our attention. And,” the detective said, “for that, Emily, we thank you.” He then proceeded to his car.

  As he drove away with Troy, Emily brightened. “That’s right. I was worried something odd was going on here. It was partly my job and partly because I had such a connection to these men.”

  “Well, you were right. Something foul was going on. They were all murdered. But not by the same person.”

  She sighed. “At least that witch won’t get two million dollars for her efforts.”

  Jace laughed and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her. “So now that we’re both free agents”—he leaned over and kissed her on the temple—“where do you want to go?”

  “Definitely not to a lake or river,” she said with a laugh. “How about back to my place for the bottle of wine I have hidden in the cupboard?”

  “And the near future?”

  “It’s wide open. So, you know, tonight you might be able to persuade me one direction or another.” She chuckled at the look on his face and his waggling eyebrows. “At least I’ll have fun as you try.”

  He cuddled her in his arms and kissed her, a deep drugging kiss that gave her every reason to believe in their future together. She couldn’t wait.

  Epilogue

  As he drove toward the property, Rory knew he should have outright said he wasn’t interested to Jace and Tyson. Nothing about the look of the massive cement compound rising in the darkness before him could make him feel this was his place. Not even temporarily.

  It wasn’t the most welcoming sight he’d ever seen. Nothing like the family ranch.

  Then was that important at this stage of his life?

  Hell, yeah. Like the other men in his unit, he’d been lost this last year. Maybe more lost than they’d been. Michael had had his own place where he’d holed up, and Jace had come to the ranch to help out Rory’s family. An act Rory much appreciated, considering he was keeping the family ranch afloat while his brother, who’d been hurt in a tractor accident, recovered.

  Rory would have gone to the ranch sooner if he’d known he’d been needed. But, damn it, how was he supposed to know if no one said anything? He hadn’t lived in Texas anymore, which was where the ranch was. He’d stuck to California, even after leaving the military. Mostly because he didn’t know where else to go. But having a reason to come home made it seem less like an excuse and more like a purpose.

  How could he tell them that he was lost and wanted to return to his roots? That would bring up a mess of questions he had no intention of answering.

  Thankfully his father had called and told him what happened. Rory had flown home immediately to help out until Dennis was back on his feet. Rory intended to be there for a few months but had ended up there almost nine. He’d enjoyed those months. And then it was time to go.

  His brother was back on his feet. The ranch had the boss back, and Rory was an unpaid ranch hand, getting in the way and struggling to let go of the reins and handing control back to Dennis.

  After one particular argument he realized the problem was him. This wasn’t his place. He was always welcome to visit, but it wasn’t his home.

  He didn’t have one.

  And the sense of being lost returned in a vicious wave.

  He turned off the engine and stepped out of his battered pickup truck. He tilted his beat-up cowboy hat back off his forehead and looked at the imposing structure. The longer he looked at it, the better he felt. It was massive, ugly, and cold-looking, but it had a timelessness to it. It was solid. It had been built to withstand the world, the elements, time, basically anything Mother Nature could throw at it. It no longer looked ugly as much as it looked immovable. There was a certain comfort in that.

  But he had to remember it wasn’t his home. Michael might have bought property bordering it, but that was Michael. Not Rory. Michael had put down roots.

  Rory was afraid he didn’t have any to put down.

  A nearby door opened suddenly, and he could see shadows as several people walked out. A security lamp turned on, highlighting the men standing in front of him.


  Jace, Tyson, Michael. Easy men to identify. So many more stood beside them. And women …

  Suddenly shy, he tilted his hand and, in a husky drawl, said, “Good evening.”

  “About time you got here,” Jace said, stepping forward to slap him on the shoulder. “I was hoping you’d make it. How’s Dennis doing?”

  “He’s back on top, so I figured maybe you guys could use a hand.” Rory stepped forward, only now seeing Ice and Levi.

  Ice’s face lit up. “Rory?”

  She raced toward him and threw her arms around him. “I’m so happy to see you. Levi told me that he’d offered you a job but hadn’t said you’d answered.”

  “I didn’t. I just arrived,” he apologized and stepped back. Ice had adopted him into her friend group a long time ago. He studied her face. “This suits you.”

  She beamed. “It does indeed.” But her gaze was intense, searching, and she wouldn’t let him back away. Ever since she’d heloed in and picked him up, badly injured from a mission that had gone wrong, she’d kept an eye on him. She’d dragged him out with her friends time and time again for a few beers.

  Levi stepped forward and shook Rory’s hand with a grin on his face. “About time you got here.”

  And some of Rory’s initial uneasiness dropped away.

  Ice turned to look at Levi. “You didn’t tell me that he was coming.”

  “I didn’t know when he’d get here. I just let him know the door was always open. I figured he’d find his way eventually.”

  Ice’s smile was so damn beautiful as she stared at Levi that Rory suddenly wished someone was in his life who looked at him the same way. But he needed to get his own shit together first.

  Levi swung his arm toward the doorway. “You’ve got a lot of friends here. Welcome home.”

  The wording stopped Rory for a long moment. Did Levi realize that was exactly what Rory was missing? A sense of home. And someone in it to share his life with.

  Then a series of odd yips filled the air. He glanced down to see a fat puppy barely walking with several siblings behind it, all waddling toward them.

  “Sorry,” a tall brunette woman said. “They’ve had their bottle and now need to go to the bathroom, so I brought them outside. I didn’t realize you were all out here.”

  “No problem. Rose, come meet Rory, the newest member of the team,” Ice said.

  Rory squatted down as one of the puppies struggled to make it to him, his nose quickly pushing into Rory’s hand. He chuckled and scooped the pudge up. “What’s this guy’s name?”

  “We’re trying to come up with some,” Levi said. “These guys are from Anna and Flynn’s place. The mother has no milk, and Anna needed help feeding them, so we’re fostering them until Anna can find homes.”

  Rose laughed. “Good luck with that.” She smiled at Rory and reached out to shake his hand. “I’m a vet. I came to check out these little guys.” She walked to her car as she said, “I can see they are all well looked after. I’ll come back in a few days.”

  Rory, his arms full of adorableness, watched her drive away. When he turned to the others, he found a speculative look on Ice’s face. He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter?”

  Jace snorted and said, “Don’t worry about it. Give in now. It’ll happen no matter what you do, so surrender to it from the start. It’s easier that way.”

  Rory stared at him in confusion.

  Levi grinned. “Come on inside. Looks like you’ll fit right in.”

  This concludes Book 12 of Heroes for Hire: Jace’s Jewel.

  Book 13 is available here.

  Rory’s Rose: Heroes for Hire, Book 13

  Buy this book at Google Play.

  Heroes for Hire Series

  Levi’s Legend: Heroes for Hire, Book 1

  Stone’s Surrender: Heroes for Hire, Book 2

  Merk’s Mistake: Heroes for Hire, Book 3

  Rhodes’s Reward: Heroes for Hire, Book 4

  Flynn’s Firecracker: Heroes for Hire, Book 5

  Logan’s Light: Heroes for Hire, Book 6

  Harrison’s Heart: Heroes for Hire, Book 7

  Saul’s Sweetheart: Heroes for Hire, Book 8

  Dakota’s Delight: Heroes for Hire, Book 9

  Michael’s Mercy: Heroes for Hire, Book 10

  Tyson’s Treasure: Heroes for Hire, Book 11

  Jace’s Jewel: Heroes for Hire, Book 12

  Rory’s Rose: Heroes for Hire, Book 13

  Heroes for Hire, Books 1–3

  Heroes for Hire, Books 4–6

  Heroes for Hire, Books 7–9

  Author’s Note

  Thanks for reading. By now many of you have read my explanation of how I love to see Star Ratings. The only catch is that we as authors have no idea what you think of a book if it’s not reviewed. And yes, every book in a series needs reviews. All it takes is as little as two words: Fun Story. Yep, that’s all. So, if you enjoyed reading, please take a second to let others know you enjoyed it.

  For those of you who have not read a previous book and have no idea why we authors keep asking you as a reader to take a few minutes to leave even a two word review, here’s more explanation of reviews in this crazy business.

  Reviews (not just ratings) help authors qualify for advertising opportunities and help other readers make purchasing decisions. Without triple digit reviews, an author may miss out on valuable advertising opportunities. And with only “star ratings” the author has little chance of participating in certain promotions. Which means fewer sales offered to my favorite readers!

  Another reason to take a minute and leave a review is that often a few kind words left in a review can make a huge difference to an author and their muse. Recently new to reviewing fans have left a few words after reading a similar letter and they were tonic to a tired muse! LOL Seriously. Star ratings simply do not have the same impact to thank or encourage an author when the writing gets tough.

  So please consider taking a moment to write even a handful of words. Writing a review only takes a few minutes of your time. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy book report, just a few words expressing what you enjoyed most about the story. Here are a few tips of how to leave a review.

  Please continue to rate the books as you read, but take an extra moment and pop over to the review section and leave a few words too!

  Most of all – Thank you for reading. I look forward to hearing from you.

  I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Fan Club, here is the Facebook sign up page.

  Cheers,

  Dale Mayer

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