Nash: A Rough Romance by Piper Stone (book series for 12 year olds txt) 📕

She seemed surprised given the glitch in her voice. “Roger Porter has been around the system for years. My friend seemed to think of him highly. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I found Mitch’s truck. She had evidence that the asshole assailants didn’t find.”

“Evidence? You shouldn’t have tampered with the scene.”

I half laughed. “I did what I had to do in order to keep her safe.”

She sighed deeply. “Fine. Tell me where you found the truck and I’m still sending a couple of my deputies to dust for fingerprints. This evidence you found, what are you talking about?”

“The accounting firm she worked at represented Mr. Giordani. From what Mitch told me, she uncovered discrepancies.”

The sheriff exhaled. “That is very interesting, and you need to bring that evidence to my office. I can tell you have something on your mind. What are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting that Mr. Porter may be just another well-paid mule in Mr. Giordani’s organization.”

The few seconds of silence pissed me off.

“Nash, while I do understand your concern and from what I’ve learned, I believe that Ms. Donovan is telling the truth, I don’t think accusing a well-respected DA of being under Giordani’s thumb holds any merit. I talked to him myself. He was as forthcoming as he could be, very concerned that his client had almost been kidnapped.”

“Then how did they find her?”

“Uh… That I don’t know.”

I wasn’t entirely certain what she did know. Other than confirmation of what I’d already learned from Mitch, there was nothing useful or new. “I suggest you try and use your powers of influence to dig a little deeper. And if the man was stupid enough to use a cabin owned by him or any member of his family, then he doesn’t deserve to practice law.” I could feel Scorpion’s heated gaze from beside me. While I knew I was pushing my limits, this was nothing but a time waster.

Time we didn’t have.

“Jesus, Reaper,” Scorpion admonished.

“Look, from what Mr. Porter told me, Giordani is a cunning man and you’re correct that he has several influential friends. The cabin he arranged wasn’t one he owned, Nash. While he didn’t tell me how he managed to secure the cabin, it was clean, or at least to his understanding. He didn’t tell a single person about the location. Not one. There are no notes, no files in the computer and even his legal assistant has no idea.” The sheriff had become more exasperated.

As if I gave a fuck.

“As I asked before. Then how the fuck did the assholes find her?” I demanded.

The second hesitation was ripe with tension.

“I’ll check with another source I have on Mr. Porter’s credibility; however, if you want my honest opinion and I am going to give it to you, Ms. Donovan is likely the reason that she was located. Witnesses rarely understand how vital it is to keep their mouths shut. I’d ask her again.”

The sheriff made an important point, although I doubted that she’d dared lie to me again. If she had, her butt would be sore for a week. Jesus. The thought was ridiculous.

“I do appreciate that, Sheriff. My cabin was tossed and so was her truck. Mr. Giordani’s men are determined to find this evidence she’s gathered. They will stop at nothing to find her.”

“I am well aware of that, Nash. Mr. Porter emailed recent pictures of Giordani as well as several of his soldiers. They’ve already been distributed on the wires. Unfortunately, his organization has been keeping a low profile.” She sighed after making the statement.

“Which means you have no idea which men were sent.”

“No, but by all accounts, he’d send his best men. If they show up anywhere in Montana, let alone Missoula, we’ll catch them.”

Why didn’t I take a damn bit of comfort in that?

After giving her the location of the truck as well as my cabin, I heard the sound of a voicemail coming in. When I looked at the number, my heart began to race. Mitch had left only a five-second message. What the fuck? My hackles were raised, heavy adrenaline kicking in. “I’ll bring Mitch by the department tomorrow along with what she discovered.”

“Good. I’ll continue to make some inquiries. Nash? Don’t do anything rash. Let the authorities handle this.” Sheriff Robertson’s advice was good enough.

But I had no intention of following it.

I ended the call, immediately moving toward the voicemail.

“That was harsh, dude,” Scorpion huffed. “I’m going to try and call Mustang to see if his contacts came through.”

“Not harsh enough if you ask me.”

“You can’t go through life like a bull in a china shop. Trust me, I found out the hard way. Who are you calling now?”

I shifted my gaze in his direction just as we started to roll into town. “A call from Mitch.”

“Hey. There’s been some weird sounds and I…”

The message didn’t just fade away. It was cut short. I glared at the phone, accidentally swerving the truck in the process. After taking a deep breath, I tried the number, the call immediately going to voicemail. “Fuck.”

“Whoa. What the hell?” Scorpion snarled.

“She called because she heard something. Then the phone went dead. Now it goes to voicemail.” I glared at the screen, trying to control my breathing. The message was definitely only five seconds long. Five fucking seconds. I tossed the phone in his direction before pressing down on the accelerator, the truck swerving once again on a patch of ice.

Scorpion snapped his hand on the edge of the dashboard before listening to the message. “Fuck me.”

“Yeah. I swear to God. If something happened to her, I will hunt them down and they will pay.”

“Just drive. I’ll keep trying her number.”

I roared the truck past several slower cars, trying to keep my eye on the road, which was packed with freaking tourists and other idiots. After being forced to slow to a crawl, I shot out around another group of vehicles, narrowing missing an oncoming truck.

“Just get us there alive,” Scorpion barked.

“Anything?”

“Voicemail.”

I slammed my