“I’m looking for a girl,” Jax told him.
Ron’s eyes darted toward Sarah. “Why? You’ve got a pretty one right here.” He flashed a nervous smile at Sarah. “Hey there, sweet thing.”
Jax moved, putting his body in front of Sarah’s. “Molly Guthrie,” Jax enunciated slowly. “The girl you’ve got washing dishes here at night. I need to find her.”
Sarah craned so that she could see around Jax.
Ron backed up a step. “Little M? She’s not here. Haven’t seen her since her shift ended last night.” He was sweating a bit. “Go try her house. Or the college. She’s got day classes. Go look there.”
But Jax shook his head. “I want to come in the bar, Ron.”
“Wh-Why?”
“Because Molly is missing. You said she was here last night—”
“She left around four! I swear!”
“But Ron, you and I both know . . . you can get a little . . . rough sometimes.” And an even darker note had entered Jax’s voice.
Sarah moved a few steps forward and glanced between the two men. The air seemed to vibrate with tension.
“I told you what would happen,” Jax continued, and she saw that his hands had fisted, “if I heard that you hurt another lady.”
“I didn’t hurt her, I swear!” Ron said. He was sweating buckets then. “I didn’t touch Molly!”
Sarah wished that she had her phone so she could show the guy that someone had hurt Molly. “When she left,” Sarah said, “was she by herself? Was she taking a cab? A—”
Ron snapped his fingers together. “Her brother!” He beamed at them. “That brother of hers . . . I heard her say that he was coming to meet her. Eddie always comes when she has the late shift.” His lips twisted. “Something about wanting to make sure she gets home safe.” He stroked his chin. “Her mom was murdered, by that sadistic fuck Murphy.”
Sarah kept her gaze on him.
“So the brother walks her home when she stays late. I know, the kid’s younger than Molly. The guy probably doesn’t intimidate any damn one, but he’s usually around, dogging her steps at night.”
Only her brother hadn’t been there to walk Molly home last night. Because he’d been in jail. He came to attack me, and got locked up . . . so Eddie wasn’t there to see Molly home safely.
And had that been just what the abductor wanted?
He told me where you’d be. Her breathing came faster. Maybe . . . maybe it had all been a diversion.
“Talk to the brother!” Ron said again, his voice growing stronger as he seemed to become more confident. “He knows everything about her.” He swiped his sweaty forehead. When his hand moved like that, Sarah saw the bruises on his knuckles. “If you ask me,” Ron muttered. “That creepy kid has too much interest in his sister, if you know what I mean.” His hand started to drop down.
But Jax caught Ron’s wrist. He’d obviously seen the bruises, too. “Been fighting, Ron?”
Ron tried to pull away. Jax wasn’t letting him go.
“Why won’t you let me in the bar?” Jax murmured.
Ron’s breath was panting out. “I-It’s closed!”
Jax shook his head. “I told you what would happen if I found out you’d hurt another girl . . .” His voice had turned absolutely arctic.
“Uh, Jax,” Sarah began.
“You should have listened,” Jax said. Then he shoved Ron back, hard enough to send the guy sprawling right onto his ass. Then Jax leapt forward, even as Sarah lunged after him.
But he was so fast. In an instant, he was crouched over Ron. His left hand had clenched around the guy’s shirt, and his right was a tight fist, a fist poised to drive into Ron’s face.
Sarah grabbed Jax’s arm. “Stop it!” she yelled at him. “You can’t do this!”
Pulling against him was like pulling against steel. There was absolutely no give in the man at all.
“I can do plenty,” Jax murmured. “And I will.”
“No!” Ron screamed.
And . . . the door to the right, the door marked private—flew open. A woman shot out, a woman with long red hair. A woman armed with a knife. She yelled and came right at Sarah.
But Jax pushed Sarah out of the way. He shot toward the woman and yanked the knife right out of her hand. The woman attacked him with her nails then. Hitting and punching and—
Ron was crawling for the door. He was trying to make a break for it while that woman did her best to claw into Jax.
Is that Molly? The woman’s red hair hid her face. She looked to be the right size, the right age . . .
She’s fighting so hard.
Only . . . Jax wasn’t fighting back. He was holding the woman, but not hurting her. He was talking, saying over and over, “It’s okay. He won’t hurt you. It’s okay.”
The redhead stilled. Her head lifted and Sarah saw her face. Not Molly. But . . . the woman had a black eye. Bruises were on her neck. Purple, blue marks that sure looked like fingerprints against her too pale skin.
Rage poured through Sarah’s body and she ran toward the door. She put her body there, blocking Ron before he could escape. “You’re not going anyplace! I’m getting the cops out here!” She yanked out her phone—a backup that Gabe had given her because the cops had confiscated Sarah’s original phone at the station—and she started calling 911—
“Stop!” It was the redhead’s desperate voice. “No cops! Don’t call them!” She wasn’t fighting Jax any longer. She just stood there, looking terrified.
Ron glared up at Sarah. “Bitch, you need to get out of my way.”
Sarah shook her head.
In a flash, Ron surged up toward her. His fist was clenched and—
Jax tackled him. They both hit the floor, hard, and Ron’s face smashed down into the tile. He howled when he made contact, and Sarah was pretty sure he’d broken something. Maybe even a couple of somethings.
She finished calling 911. She told them to send a patrol, to contact Detective Brent West, and to get there right away.
When she looked up again, Ron was swinging a fist at Jax. Jax dodged the blow and delivered a sharp right hook that connected with stunning impact. When Ron went down that time, he didn’t get up.
“Baby, no!” the redhead screamed. She ran toward Ron and cradled him in her arms. “Baby, baby, look at me!”
After a long moment, Ron’s eyes opened. He spat out some blood. “When . . . when the cops get here . . . tell ’em you like rough sex.”
The redhead flinched.
“Tell ’em . . .” Ron had blood on his chin. “Tell ’em you asked for it.”
Very slowly, the redhead nodded.
“You’re done in this town.” Jax’s voice was lethal. “Pack your bags and run. Because if you don’t . . .”
Fear flashed on Ron’s face.
Jax just smiled. “You know what will happen.” He straightened his shirt. Wiped dust off his pants. “This bar is mine. Everything you have is mine.” Then Jax looked at the redhead. “You want free of him, then you say it now. You aren’t the first one he’s hurt. Maybe he fed you some bull about you being special, but he’s lying. If you stay with him, he’ll just hurt you again.”
The redhead’s knuckles were white as she clung to Ron. “He . . . loves me.”
“No,” Sarah said, her voice soft and sad. “He doesn’t.”
The woman stared back down at her lover.
Sarah inched closer to Jax. His body was so tense. Fury was stamped on his face. And the way he was staring at Ron . . .
Jax looks as if he wants to kill the other man.
Ron grabbed a nearby table and heaved himself up. “C-Cops won’t hold me . . .”
Jax nodded. “Then you run.”
Ron’s eyes darted around the room, as if already seeking an escape.
“Run fast,” Jax said. “And run far.”
Sarah heard the sound of a police siren.
The redhead started to cry.
THEY WERE BACK at the police station. Only this time, Jax was being arrested.
“This is insane!” Sarah said for what had to be the tenth time. “Jax was defending me! You can’t lock him up!”
Detective West sighed. “Ma’am, we have procedures to follow. A witness accused Fontaine here of throwing the first punch, and with his history . . . that man isn’t going anyplace but to holding right now.”