Out of the corner of his eye, Mark saw Jenna and Craig stand up from their table and hug each other. He thought they both would leave, but Jenna walked him to the door, and then, with one more hug, turned back and sat down alone at the table.
“What do you need from us?” Ian asked. “Zodiac will help stop this sort of mind-control bullshit in any way we can. Like you said, I’m invested.”
Ian smiled over at his wife on the other side of the bar, and Callum and Mark looked over too. She waved at him and hooked her thumb toward some of the Linear Tactical gang who were getting ready to leave, obviously signifying she was going with them.
The love between Ian and Wavy was damned near palpable.
Ian wasn’t lying when he said he was invested. Mark knew he would use any and all of his considerable fortune to stop Joaquin. Not to mention his resources from owning Zodiac Tactical, one of the most well-respected security businesses in the world.
Mark would be right there by his side when Ian did it.
“Mostly, I needed to get in touch with you to get to Jenna. She’s not exactly taking my calls these days. I thought coming here to Oak Creek would be the least painful way to talk with her.”
Mark couldn’t help but grin. “How’s that working out for you?”
“I don’t currently have a crossbow bolt projecting from my body, so I’ll call it a win.” Callum rolled his eyes. “But we need Jenna’s help. Without it, we’re going to remain two steps behind Joaquin, and people are going to keep dying.”
Mark glanced over at her, and Ian and Callum continued to talk about details. She’d ordered some food, and the Eagle’s Nest owner Lexi had brought it over. Jenna still looked stressed even when she smiled at Lexi and began to eat.
Just once, Mark would like to see Jenna not looking that way. He’d like to see her smiling, relaxed, tousled.
He’d like to be a part of making her all three.
He turned his attention back to the conversation. Whatever he wanted with Jenna would have to wait. First, he needed to help stop a killer.
Chapter 6
Jenna was running out of excuses to stay at the Eagle’s Nest. Craig had left thirty minutes ago, needing to get back to his job.
It had been good to see her brother. Jenna was well aware that she was the cause for the distance between them. He’d sacrificed a lot to get her out of captivity, and she truly was thankful. But she’d kept him at arm’s length, not willing to let him know how much of a mental mess she was.
Craig was torn about her agreeing to help Callum. Honestly, so was she. When Callum offered to help have Craig reinstated as an active agent, that had definitely tipped the scales in his favor. But she would’ve helped either way.
What choice did she have? The traffickers using the chemical subjectification and gene editing may have been the monsters, but Jenna was the Dr. Frankenstein who had given them their powers. If she could take the powers away, it was her responsibility to do that. She should already be back home digging into the particulars of the case.
But someone had moved her car away from the front door.
It was her own fault. She’d been such a train wreck when she’d arrived at the Eagle’s Nest she’d left the keys in it and the security system turned off. Someone had thought they were doing her a favor and moved it to the parking lot.
Maybe Lexi wouldn’t notice if Jenna decided to live here forever.
Every time she tried to work up the nerve to head for the door, she was swallowed by panic. The first time, she’d sat back down and ordered a soda. The next time, she’d ordered some food. The third time, she’d claimed to need a cup of coffee.
She was running out of excuses and only had a half cup of coffee left.
“Mind if I join you?”
Mark Outlawson slid into the booth across from her without waiting for a reply.
She raised an eyebrow. “What if I say no, you can’t join me?”
He raised an eyebrow of his own over those striking green eyes. “Then I’ll point out that I know you’re still here because you’re afraid to walk out to your car.”
She broke eye contact to make sure no one else was in hearing distance. It was midafternoon, and now that the drama had passed, everyone had gone home. Callum and Ian had just left together.
Except for the two of them, and Lexi over by the bar, the Eagle’s Nest was empty. No one could hear their conversation.
That didn’t mean Jenna wanted to continue it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We both know what I’m talking about.”
“I’ll admit today was a little exciting and I’d already had a little stress at home.” Damn it, why had she said that? “I’m decompressing with a meal and coffee. Doesn’t mean I’m afraid to walk to my car.”
“Did the stress at home have something to do with your bruised knuckles?”
Her hands were under the table. How did he know about them?
“I saw them when you were talking to Callum,” Mark continued when she didn’t answer.
“It was from a workout. I sometimes do a little…martial arts for exercise.” She brought them up and laid them on the table near her coffee cup.
He reached out and took one hand gently, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “Hitting things can be a good way to relieve stress. What sort of martial arts do you study?”
She should pull her hand away; she knew she should. And yet…she didn’t. She liked to be touched. Moreover…she liked to be touched by this man.
“No one specific style. It’s sort of a hodgepodge.”
She’d been less interested in mastering one style and more interested in making sure she was as deadly as she could be.
Of course, that had come back to bite her in the ass too. Which was why letting him touch her was a mistake. She slipped her hand away from his and wrapped it around her mug.
“Thanks for stopping by to check on me. I’ll be fine. I’m leaving as soon as I finish this coffee.”
Lexi chose that moment to walk over. “Need a warm-up?”
“No, I’m good.”
The former movie star smiled. “Well, your meal and coffee are on me since you rushed out here and saved me from needing to mop up blood. But if you stay much longer, I might have to start charging you rent.”
Jenna forced a smile. “Yeah, don’t worry, I’m getting out of here. Thanks for the meal.”
Lexi smiled back. “Good to see you in town. I know you don’t get out much. You’re welcome any time. Both of you.”
Lexi left to go take an order from another customer who’d walked in. Mark was making no move to leave. He’d leaned back and put his arm along the booth.
He was studying her with those intense green eyes. It was all she could do not to squirm.
“Everyone here thinks you choose not to get out much. They don’t know the truth.”
What was she supposed to say to that? Explain that she’d been regressing since she’d been rescued from captivity eighteen months ago? That she was getting worse, not better?
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Believe it or not, I don’t discuss my personal life with most people. I have a lot of friends in Oak Creek, but I don’t want to burden them.”