Page 56 of Crossfire Creek Vengeance

The tension walked in right with them.

Noah’s gaze found Jessa immediately. He hesitated, as if he was still learning where to put his feet in this new reality. Jessa looked just as unsure, shoulders tight, expression guarded.

After a couple of those wired moments, Noah reached into his jacket and pulled out a photograph. He held it out to her.

“I thought you should have this,” he murmured.

Jessa took it with careful hands. Deacon watched her face soften as she looked down. The photo showed two teenagers, young and unscarred. Lauren was smiling, bright and carefree. Noah stood beside her, arm slung around her shoulders, both of them laughing at something caught just outside the frame.

It clearly hit her. Hard. “Thank you,” Jessa said, her voice low. “I didn’t have anything like this.”

Noah nodded, emotion tight in his expression. “I wish there’d been more.”

Roman shifted then, casting Deacon a look from the corner of his eye. It was subtle, but the message was clear enough. Be smart. Be careful. Keep your hands off my sister.

Deacon met the look and kept his face neutral. He wasn’t about to argue the point out loud. But privately, he knew the truth. He wasn’t going to play it smart when it came to Jessa.

He never had.

And whatever restraint he was showing now was on borrowed time.

Those kisses they’d shared were already a promise. A warning. Sooner rather than later, they were going to stop pretending they could keep this contained.

Eventually, it was going to send them straight to bed.

They all moved into the kitchen, and Deacon reached for the coffee pot without asking. He poured mugs for everyone and slid them across the counter. It felt easier to do something useful than to stand around thinking about Jessa.

Roman took the cup but didn’t drink. His focus was sharp, his mind no doubt already chasing angles.

“Who would’ve known about the exhumation?” Roman asked.

Deacon leaned back against the counter. “Any number of people. The request went through legal channels. The paperwork crossed a few desks. The cemetery owner was notified, too.”

“So the leak could’ve come from anywhere,” Noah said.

“Exactly,” Deacon replied. “Which makes it damned frustrating. Anyone along that chain could’ve tipped someone off. We were never going to keep it quiet.”

Roman’s jaw tightened. “That was our best shot at clean proof.”

“It still might be,” Deacon said. “The crime lab’s processing the scene. Someone firebombed that grave to destroy evidence, which tells me they were scared of what we might find.” He took a sip of coffee that had gone bitter in the pot. “But yeah. The exhumation getting out could’ve been leaked by almost anyone.”

And that made closing the net around the killer that much harder.

Noah was the one to break the silence. “We’ve got more confirmation,” he said. “Shade and Lila were having an affair before Lila’s husband was killed. Solid proof. Messages. Dates line up.”

Deacon took that in slowly.

“And that was the same window when Clayton Hargrove was seeing Lauren,” Noah continued. “According to one of Clayton’s friends, he planned to try to reconcile with Lila. He’d told her he wanted to come home.”

Deacon rubbed a hand over his jaw, working through the angles. If Clayton was headed back to his wife, it weakened Lila’s motive. At least on the surface. A jealous rage did not hold the same weight if the marriage was about to be repaired.

Unless…

Unless Lila wanted Clayton out of the way for good. Not because of Lauren, but because of Shade. If Clayton was gone, there was no choosing. No reconciliation. No competing loyalties. Just freedom.

And Shade would have plenty of motive of his own to help make that happen.

“That doesn’t clear Lila of the attacks and other things going on right now,” Deacon said. “It might actually give her a different reason.”