Jace (Kings of Country 1)

He stared at it.

Read it again.

Not Luke’s email address. Whose was it? It was series of numbers and letters, nothing recognizable. Was it spam? He hoped like hell it wasn’t. “You were in computer stuff in the military, weren’t you?”

“Cybersecurity.” Sawyer nodded. “Some counterintelligence.”

“Can you tell me what this is?” He handed Sawyer his phone.

Sawyer’s brows rose and his green-blue eyes went wide. “Dummy address. Some hub out there—probably no way to trace it.” He shook his head.

“I thought the security cameras and audio were turned off?” Jace eyed his burger, no longer hungry.

Sawyer stared at him. “Hank said something about turning them on. Reports of break-ins around the festival grounds. Guess he called the security company? Had them turn it on?”

Jace remembered then. That day, talking about ways to get Krystal out of performing at ACMF. Hank had said he’d turn it on. “Guess he did. That’s the only way there can be footage, right?” He waited.

Sawyer nodded.

“Hank’s been so stressed out, he probably forgot. Or didn’t want to watch. Not his daughter.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It was CiCi’s idea to install the cameras, wasn’t it? Never thought I’d be happy about something CiCi King did.”

“She’s…interesting. And my employer, so that’s all I’m going to say.” Sawyer took a bite of his burger.

Jace chuckled. “Fair. Can you figure out who sent this? Hack in, something?”

Sawyer set his burger down. “Does it matter who sent it?”

Jace stared at him for a minute, noting the slight tilt of the other man’s head. The tilt of his mouth. Almost defensive. Oddly familiar. “No. As long as we can get to the video.”

“I can get into the system. I was the one who installed it. It’s password protected, but that’s not a problem. That’s why she hired me. I had the field experience and the tech.”

Jace took a moment to process that. “I don’t want to think this, but what if it’s been deleted by someone?”

“I can recover it.” Sawyer shook his head. “I admit I’ve allowed myself to get invested in this family and this thing with Krystal—” He broke off, the hardening of his face intimidating as hell. “I can’t really afford to lose my job.”

“Understood. I’m calling Hank, forwarding him the email. You won’t get fired when you help him clear Krystal’s name.” Of all the questions spiraling through Jace’s brain, only one needed answering: Did this tape exist? Because, if it did, Krystal would finally have the peace she deserved.

Chapter 19

The flight from New York to New Orleans was a little over three hours. Krystal had planned to spend that time working on a song she’d had bouncing around in her head for the last few days. Instead, she’d fallen asleep. One minute, she’d been sitting across from Jace, watching him pick out a few notes on his guitar, the next she was opening her eyes to him standing over her, smoothing the hair from her forehead.

“We’re here.” His voice was soft, his gaze warm.

She nodded, stretching and sitting up. His jacket, rolled up, slid down the seat back. She looked at it, then him.

He took the jacket, shook it out, and slid it on. He paused, turning into his shoulder. “Smells like you.”

She wasn’t awake enough for this. Him. Resisting. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“No complaints.” He shook his head, holding out his hand and pulling her to her feet. “Good nap?”

She nodded, then shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m fully awake yet.”

He smiled. “Sleepwalking?”

“And talking, apparently.” Don’t smile back. Don’t stare. Don’t… She was smiling. “You?”

“No nap. Or sleepwalking. Or talking.” He shook his head. “Sawyer and I played some cards. I finished a song.” He shrugged, stifling a yawn. “Skyped in to a few international peace summits. That sorta thing.”