them murdered.
She’d been a fool to think she could outsmart him. A fool to involve Jax in this. She should have just come to the meeting alone. Yes, the Moonlight Strangler would have just finished what he’d started all those months ago, but at least Jax would be inside his house where he could hopefully be protecting Matthew.
The chattering sound stopped, but Paige heard something else. Movement to her right, in the direction of the Crockett ranch. Maybe Jericho or Cord. Unfortunately, the hired thug must have heard it, too, because he dragged her back to the ground. Across from her, the guy holding Jax did the same to him.
The road was still hot, though the sun had already set, and the small rocks and debris dug into her skin. So did the syringe. It hadn’t cracked when she fell, thank God, but she might have a hard time getting to it now that the goon had her on her stomach. However, she had managed to keep hold of her phone, and while it wasn’t an ideal weapon, she might be able to bash him with it.
“Come any closer, and they both get bullets to the heads,” the brute holding her called out when she heard the sound of more movement.
She doubted Jericho or Cord would just come charging in there, but maybe one or both of them could get into a position to have a clean shot.
More chatter came from the earpiece, and this time Paige caught three words. Her own name and a simple sentence that chilled her from head to toe.
She’s mine.
Paige knew exactly what he meant by that. He wanted to do the job himself.
“Shoot the deputy if anyone fires at us or tries to come closer,” the hired gun told his comrade. “Hear that?” he said in a much louder voice, no doubt to Cord, Jericho or whoever else was approaching. “Jax Crockett pays the price if you try to save her.”
The man hauled her back to her feet, and he shoved the gun even harder against her temple. Even in the darkness, Paige managed to make eye contact with Jax. Brief eye contact. Enough for her to see his gaze drop to her panties. Or rather to the syringe he’d put there.
“Use it,” Jax mouthed. Even though he didn’t make any sound when he spoke, his captor must have realized Jax was trying to communicate with her because he tightened the chokehold on Jax.
Paige wasn’t even sure she could get the syringe without either of them getting shot, but she had to try. And she didn’t have much time, either. The man started moving her toward the truck. Once he had her inside the vehicle, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to keep Jax alive. Probably the only reason they hadn’t already killed him was to get her to cooperate.
And that’s what Paige did—she cooperated.
Or rather that’s what she pretended to do. She let the man maneuver her away from Jax, and she looked for her chance to make a move. That chance came when she spotted a rock on the road. It wasn’t big, but when they reached it, Paige stumbled, pretending to trip.
She would have fallen if the man hadn’t yanked her back by her hair. That hurt, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the pain that exploded through her head when the man bashed the butt of his gun against her temple.
Paige dropped down again, but there was no faking it this time.
Mercy. She was able to choke back a scream but couldn’t stop the groan of pain that tore from her throat.
Jax must have heard the groan because he shouted something. Something she didn’t catch because both her head and ears were throbbing. She couldn’t hear much of anything, but thankfully her hands worked just fine.
Fueled with the anger from the attack and the fear that Jax would get killed trying to save her, Paige yanked out the syringe and used her thumb to flick off the plastic tip from the needle. In the same motion, she stood, spun around and jammed the syringe right into the man’s neck.
The shot blasted through the air. And it took her a moment to realize he hadn’t shot her. He’d pulled the trigger all right, but his shot had slammed into the road. Thank God. She didn’t want any bullets going anywhere in the direction of the house.
The thug staggered back, reaching for her, but Paige shoved him to the ground. Too bad the drug didn’t immediately cause him to lose consciousness, because he tried once again to shoot her. However, Paige grabbed his wrist and held on.
“Paige!” Jax shouted.
She wasn’t sure exactly where he was or what he wanted her to do, and Paige didn’t have time to find out. The man tried to take aim at her, and even though his hands were as wobbly as the rest of him, she didn’t want him to get off another shot. They might not be so lucky this time.
The man cursed her, his words slurred, and his head dropped back a little. Paige took advantage of that and used his own gun to knock him in the head. When that didn’t work, she hit him again. And again. Finally, he slumped to the ground, his eyes closing and his body going limp.
One down, at least two to go.
Paige snatched up the gun and glanced in the direction of the truck to make sure the Moonlight Strangler or another attacker wasn’t taking aim at her. But she saw no one. However, when her gaze slashed toward Jax, she spotted something that put her heart right back in her throat.
Jax, in a fight for his life.
Both Jax and the goon were on the ground, and the goon still had control of the gun. As she had done, Jax was trying to get control while also trying to keep the guy’s aim away from the direction of the house.
“Cord, watch the truck,” Paige called out, though she was certain that if he was in position, he was already doing that.
Paige didn’t waste a second. She ran toward Jax. She didn’t want Jax and her to be ambushed while her back was turned, but he was unarmed and outsized. If she didn’t help, this could turn even more dangerous than it already was.
Paige was just a few feet away when she heard a sound she didn’t want to hear. Another blast. Her stomach and muscles were already in knots, but that tightened her chest so much that she couldn’t breathe. Jax couldn’t be hurt. He just couldn’t be.
And he wasn’t.
It took her a moment to fight through the panic, especially when she saw the blood. Thankfully, it wasn’t on Jax. It was on the thug, and spreading across the front of his shirt. Now Jax had the man’s gun in his own hand.
Jax cursed, moved away from the man, but he didn’t lower the gun. He kept it aimed at him while he volleyed glances between the truck, the other man and her.
“You’re hurt,” Jax said.
Was she? Paige wasn’t sure of anything right now except the relief of seeing Jax unharmed.
“Is one of them the Moonlight Strangler?” someone called out.
Cord.
She didn’t spot him right away, but Paige followed the sound of his voice. He was in the pasture, moving toward the truck.
Jax spared Cord a glance, too. And a glare. Before he yanked the ski mask off the man he’d just shot. There was just enough light from the silvery moon for her to see his face.
A stranger.
And he wasn’t nearly old enough to be the serial killer. The Moonlight Strangler had been murdering women for three decades, and this man appeared to be in his twenties.
He was also dead.
Paige could tell from his now-lifeless eyes, which were fixed in a permanent blank stare.
“Is the other one alive?” Jax asked.
She shook her head. “I’m not sure.” Paige looked back at the guy, but he hadn’t moved since she’d bashed him with the gun. “But he’s got some kind of communicator in his ear. I think he was talking to the Moonlight Strangler.”
Jax hurried toward the man but