Jaxon waited until she was certain Lucian had left his house and was off his property. At once she sought a telephone to call Don Jacobson, her childhood friend.
“Don, I want you to do some looking for me. Drake called me.”
“Good God, Jaxx, what did you expect? It’s all over the news that you got yourself engaged to some big-shot moneybags. That would be like a slap in the face to Drake. What were you thinking? If you were going to run off and get engaged, you could have stayed here and married me.”
“You would have divorced me inside of a week.” Jaxon laughed. “I can still kick your butt, and your macho ego would have a hard time with that.”
“What about moneybags? Can you kick his butt?”
“I wish. Anyway, I need information. Put an ear to the ground, ask some of the guys to look around, and see if there’s any sign that Drake has been out on the range somewhere. You know how he is—he haunts those hills. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”
“Be careful, Jaxx. Drake’s insane. He’s just as likely to turn on you.”
“I’m always careful. Unfortunately, I don’t think Lucian comprehends the extent of Drake’s training. He won’t take me seriously when I tell him how dangerous it is to deliberately draw Drake out.”
“Trust you to find an adrenaline junkie worse than you.”
Jaxon made a rude sound and gave him her number. “Call me if anyone so much as finds a sign they think might be his.”
“Sure thing, Jaxx. But you promise me you won’t do anything dangerous.”
“Careful is my middle name,” she said softly and hung up the telephone. In the upstairs bedroom she found her things. Jaxon dressed carefully, pulling on dark clothes and a dark hood to cover her blond hair.
She was grateful Lucian had brought her weapons, including her sniper’s rifle with the night vision scope. She scooped it up to put it over her shoulder and filled her pockets with shells. She added a couple of knives, her handgun with extra clips, and a rope. Lucian didn’t believe Drake was a real threat to him, but she intended to scout the entire neighborhood around his property to find every spot where a sniper might lie in wait.
Jaxon was suddenly aware just how fatigued she was. Her wounds were mostly healed, but she was not as strong as she would have liked. The rifle seemed much heavier than she remembered. She stood just inside the front door, staring at the intricate pattern in the stained glass. It was not only beautiful, but there was something else, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The pattern seemed to beckon, to soothe, to draw her in. She could have stayed there forever and simply stared at it.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Jaxon opened the door and went out into the night. It was drizzling again. No hefty storm, but the fog was thick, and mist was rising like steam from the ground. The wolves were confined to the woods behind the house, so the courtyard and the front were free of wild animals. She had felt safe with Lucian holding her, commanding the wolves, but on her own, she feared she might have to destroy the beautiful creatures.
Jaxon continued down the front drive. She found she was having difficulty walking. The air felt heavy and oppressive. Each step she took seemed to be through quicksand. She was breathing hard, the weight in her chest giving her the illusion she couldn’t breathe. Illusion. This was some sort of illusion. Or maybe it was part of some security system Lucian had that worked on the human nervous system. Whatever it was, Jaxon had no intention of allowing it to defeat her. She had to secure the area for her own peace of mind.
Jaxon treated her distress as she would any other discomfort she might experience in the midst of a mission.
She pushed it out of her head and moved forward, one step at a time. There was no question she would make it out; there could be no other outcome. Jaxon had been trained to overcome all obstacles. Sweat broke out on her forehead, but it didn’t matter. She made her way to the gates and pushed them open.