Deploy, Part One (Rawlings #1)(67)

Justice arched a brow. Dawson had, but it was hard to gauge her take on him. Dawson was confident in Providence’s skills but made it a point to tell Justice and every Rawlings who asked that she was keeping her distance. All Justice knew was he was an ex-Marine, and currently a bounty hunter. Dawson also gave the impression he was still contracted in some way by branches of the government.

Her stare moved to Providence to nod hello. Justice wasn’t so certain how he could hunt anything. She was positive someone could see him coming from a mile away. He stood well over six foot, was thick with muscle, more so in the shoulders. It was the hair that drew her to stare, though. She’d never seen a color like it—a blazing copper. The sun bathed in it and drew out highlights of gold. His cheekbones were sharp just like all of his features.

His appearance was as commanding as the dominance in the vibe she felt around him. Like Dawson, he was older than her, even Declan. If she had to guess she’d say he was around Tobias’s age if not a bit more so.

“He’s taking over Nolan’s case.”

“Oh yeah?” Justice asked, trying to catch her breath and settle her pounding heart. You’d never know five minutes before she was in a rut, pulling pennies together. She’d been sucked out of one life and into another within a beat.

“Yeah, he’s one hell of a bounty hunter, and trying to recruit me for when I get out,” Declan said with a playful punch to the guy’s arm.

Justice looked up at him with wide eyes. Getting ‘out’ was never a discussion either of them had. As far as she knew, this was his forever. A forever he hadn’t asked her to come along on and she hadn’t dropped hints that she wanted to.

She knew he counted on her to keep the search up for Nolan at home, and beyond that—Justice had already told him long ago this was her home.

“Sounds...exciting,” was all she managed to say in response.

“He’s already got Tobias interested. When he heard about this case he said he’d do us a solid if we thought it through about joining up down the road.”

Justice shook her head looking for clarity. “Bounty hunter? I’m not seeing the connection.”

Dawson had just told her Providence had connections, and he might be able to cut through some red tape that kept answers the Rawlings’ wanted away. She didn’t realize he would hunt Nolan.

Providence reached to shake her hand. “A new angle. I’m good at finding people who do not want to be found.”

Justice’s smile fell a bit. From the gate, and every time someone tried to tell Declan the worst had happened, and they needed peace, a goodbye, they needed to be allowed to grieve, he’d blow up and say if anyone could vanish, completely unplug and survive it was Nolan.

Declan refused to grieve which was alienating him from his family. “I still feel him, Justice...” is what he’d say every time she was the only one left standing next to him, once all the blame had been laid again, and the Rawlings’ men ripped their wounds open once more.

“Looks like this ass has grown a pair,” Declan said under his breath, pulling Justice against him.

Justice glanced over her shoulder seeing Murdock making his way to them, and she shared Declan’s mindset. Normally, Murdock would be long gone by now, keeping his distance between himself and this side of her life he chose to pretend didn’t exist.

Providence gave him a once over as he approached then a nod, but kept to what he was saying. “Right, I looked over the investigation so far. It was a cold trail to start with, and it seems cooperation was hard to come by. I’m going to start here, though.”

“Here?” Justice asked, glancing at Murdock who kept a few feet back with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah, I read that Nolan asked you to mail his letters?”

“Right, I gave the investigators my phone.”

Providence glanced to Murdock. “Yeah, I’m still trying to get my hands on it.”

“When was he going to bring them to you?”

“I was supposed to get them the last morning he was seen, but it didn’t happen. He texted me and I told him where to leave them.”

Providence looked right at Declan. “He took you to the base, and you didn’t come by here?”

Declan shook his head.

“And he met a friend for lunch three or so hours after he dropped you off?”

Declan nodded.

“So we’re thinking he either drove back this way, dropped off the package that was somehow lost in the mayhem that happened here that night, or just decided not to mail them?”

“One of the two,” Justice said. “He knew it would be better to come by when no one was here.”

“Did you tell him to do so?”

“I didn’t need to,” she said in a quieter tone, remembering who she was when Nolan was her friend, the fear Nolan always eased when he was around.

Providence looked back at the pile. “We’re going to have a crew out here in a few days, big equipment, and go through this pile, clear it away.”

“Why?” Murdock spouted.

Declan’s arms around Justice tensed. Providence had been blunt with Declan, and told him if the worst happened—and it more than likely had—then it could have happened closer to home than he assumed. He said the lack of remains made it personal, a secret.