Moira Rogers - Crux

She sprang out of her chair and hugged him quickly. “Come to New Orleans when you can. We can go out without Alec this time. We’ll have more fun.”

Marcus offered his hand, and Jackson shook it firmly. “Thank you for what you did for Mackenzie. I’ll remember.”

Marcus nodded. “So will I.” He waved and walked away.

Mackenzie watched him go, an odd look on her face. When Jackson slipped back into his chair, she sighed. “I know it’s stupid to feel guilty, but I turned his life upside-down.”

“ Charles turned his life upside-down.” Jackson picked up his empty coffee cup and set it down again. “Ready to head out? Depending on what Alec books, we’ve probably got a long day of traveling ahead of us.”

“Yeah. I suppose we do.” She shoved away her teacup and reached for the last muffin in the bowl. “Am I going to be stuck in these clothes indefinitely?”

Nick wrinkled her nose. “I hope not. You’re going to burn up in fleece.”

“No.” Jackson shook his head. “It wouldn’t make much sense to hide you from him when he’d have to know you’re with us.”

“As soon as we get back to New Orleans, we’ll take care of it. Give me five minutes, and I’ll have you looking like a star,” Nick promised, grabbing another apple. “Want to head up?”

“Yeah.” Mackenzie rose to her feet. “Let’s go home.”

Home. Jackson put a protective hand on the small of her back. “That’s the best damn thing I’ve heard all week.”

Jackson passed Alec the last bag from the trunk and pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. “Kat. Is there a problem?”

“I take it you haven’t listened to my five frantic messages?”

“My battery’s almost dead,” he told her, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

She sounded more aggravated than afraid, but it was hard to tell for sure with Derek’s annoyed voice in the background. “Someone broke into the office and my apartment. Derek’s got me rolled in bubble wrap and stashed in a closet—”

“I should have you on a plane out of the state!”

Kat raised her voice and talked over her cousin. “I’d sort of like to know what the hell is going on now.”

He froze. “Ask Derek if he smelled anything odd.”

Kat made an outraged noise a second before Derek’s voice came on the phone. “I heard the question. And no, nothing odd. Normal human smells, mostly soap and aftershave. Could be they loaded up on it on purpose to screw up any trail that they’d leave, though. Kat’s computer at the office was trashed.”

It didn’t sound like something Charles Talbot would have done. “We’re at Alec’s house. Keep Kat away from her apartment, and I’ll have Nick check out the office. Thanks, Derek.”

“Wait just a God damn minute, Holt. You can’t send Nick running into the middle of that shit by herself.”

Jackson remembered Alec’s words and groaned. Derek was already in a protective rage, and the last thing they needed was to rile him even more by endangering Nick. “Fine, we’ll have someone else do it. Just stick close to Kat.”

“Oh, she’s not going anywhere. So figure this out before she kills me.”

“Yeah, will do.” He hung up and cursed as he made his way up the steps and through the door. “Alec?”

Alec wasn’t in the living room, but Mackenzie was there, digging through the duffle bag he’d retrieved from Mahalia’s. She jerked her head toward the back of the house. “He said he was going to his study to make some calls.”

Jackson flipped the deadbolt home. “I have to go talk to him. Someone broke into our office and Kat’s apartment while we were gone.”

The blood drained from Mackenzie’s face, but Alec’s heavy footsteps in the hallway forestalled her reply. He strode into the living room with his phone against his ear and a frown. “What the fuck? The office and Kat’s place?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing Talbot would do, unless he’s trying to create a diversion. I thought we’d ask Nick to check it out, but Gabriel got growly about that. Any ideas?”

“Shit.” Alec sighed and tilted his head back, and Jackson knew from experience he was weighing priorities in his head. Finally he blew out another breath and nodded. “Okay. I’m going to lock this place the hell down. You get a damn gun out of my garage and keep an eye on Mackenzie while I head to the office.”

“Check the files, okay? Derek said they destroyed Kat’s computer.”

“Yeah, I will.” Alec tossed the phone at Jackson. “Your freaky psychic called twice. He sounds even more paranoid than usual.”

They’d used Wesley Dade as a contact before. His precognition was among the most reliable Jackson had seen, but Wesley usually didn’t call him out of the blue. “I’ll see what’s up. It could be related to the break-ins.” Or to Talbot.

“Good.” Alec turned on his heel, striding toward the back of his house and the attached garage. “Lock up behind me, and ward yourself and Mackenzie to hell and back.”

When his partner had gone, Jackson turned to Mackenzie. “Looks like more excitement. You have enough to worry about. I’m sorry.”

Mackenzie’s fingers tightened around a shirt she’d pulled from the bag until her knuckles turned white. “Kat’s okay, right?”

“Hell yeah. She’s fine.” He pried her fingers from the shirt. “You met her cousin, remember? He’s not going to let anything happen to her.”

“Her cousin.” Mackenzie’s eyebrows came together, but she released the shirt finally. “Derek? The one Nick has a crush on? He’s Kat’s cousin?”

“Yeah. Shit, I thought I told you.” He pulled her over to sit on the couch and lowered his arm around her shoulders. “Derek will watch out for Kat.”

“You might have told me.” Mackenzie took a breath and let it out in a tired sigh as she leaned closer. “God, I’ve learned so much in a week, my head can’t hold it all. I’m surprised I know my own—” She stopped abruptly and laughed hysterically. “Oh God, I didn’t know my own name.”

He tucked her head against his shoulder. “First, it’ll catch up with you. Later, you’ll catch up with it. You’ll see.”

She was silent for so long he started to think she’d dozed off, but finally she turned her head until her breath tickled his neck. “Thank you.”

She shouldn’t have been thanking him. “If I’d done my job in the first place, you wouldn’t have gotten snatched.”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Because if I hadn’t run away—if I’d stayed—Steven would still be alive. I don’t know how to live with that.”

Jackson cursed himself. He couldn’t very well tell her not to blame herself if he was going to sit there and do it. “All right. How about this? No blame, on anyone. It’s stupid and pointless, right?”

“Right. Stupid and pointless.” Her words were beginning to slur together. “What time is it?”

“Just after five.” He eased off the couch and picked her up. “Bed?”

“No, we need to plan.”

He shushed her as he headed down the hallway to the guest room. “Sleep until Alec gets back. Then we’ll plan.”

“Okay.” Her head dropped to his shoulder in a trusting manner that made his chest ache. “I didn’t sleep much while I was gone.”

“Me either, baby.” Jackson laid her on the bed and stretched out behind her. “I could barely even close my eyes.”

She laughed softly as she snuggled into his arms. “That didn’t stop us from staying up half the night last night.”

“More important things to do.” They had more important things to do now , as well, but Jackson couldn’t help but feel they’d be all right with whatever came…as long as they faced it together. “Now go to sleep. Alec drives like a bat out of hell. He’ll be back in no time.”