"Don't, please! Don't tell her!" Jaxson sounded frantic.

"Come back right now, and I won't! If you don't, I will tell her, I swear to you!"

I hated myself for doing this, but I didn't know what else to do to make him come back.

Jaxson swore and put the phone down on me.

"You'd better start talking, Ben!" I had lost all my patience. "I don't care about your loyalty or code of brotherhood or whatever is it that has you gagged. What is Jaxson doing that is so terrible that you won't tell me? What did you mean by saying he was gone? Talk, for crying out loud!"

"Jaxson will be back. Ask him!" His voice was gentle, but he turned away from me and refused to engage in any more conversation, immune even to my tears.

I slammed the door from the inside, wiping my tears away and racking my brains how Simon could have gotten wind of that one little conversation between Alex and me in which we had discussed what we could do to save Amy from her abusive father. The telephone conversation had not even lasted that long. We had tossed ideas around, but hadn't come up with a final solution. Alex had reminded me that we needed to tread carefully. I was to document everything I noticed meticulously, collect as much data as possible. Alex knew a police officer in Newbridge that she trusted and wanted to consult, but we had decided to wait until I had some tangible evidence that Amy was indeed being abused at home. We didn't know how far Peinelt's reach went and didn't want to tip him or his new right-hand man, Amy's so-called father, off before we had actionable intelligence. Better people than us had failed in such endeavours before us, and we decided that patience was key – even if it killed us that this meant that we were leaving Amy unprotected for the time being.

When Jaxson burst through the door, I shouted, "Would your brother have my phone tapped or Alex's?"

"He's probably got the means, but why would he have done anything like this in the first place? It doesn't make any sense." He paused, then deadpanned, "And hello to you, too!"

I got up and started pacing the small room, letting my eyes wander. Why would he have done it, indeed? While my brain was working overtime, my gaze fell onto a picture hanging on the wall. It was a beautiful depiction of a sunny day at the beach. The colours were amazing. Ayla was an amazing artist.

I stopped short, the colours fading to black right in front of my inner eye as I remembered a disturbing black picture a little girl had drawn in my arts class.

"Amy!" I whispered, uncharacteristically ignoring Jaxson's jibe at my general conversational skills. Now I understood what he had meant outside the pub when he had told me that he had more pressing problems than observing social niceties.

I whirled around, making Jaxson look up. His posture, his eyes, his whole body, everything was screaming. With guilt, with pain or a combination of both, I couldn't say, although I suspected the latter. I suppressed the urge to comfort him.

"I spoke to Amy a few times. Making sure things weren't escalating at home. Offered to listen. And to collect evidence. I took some photos of her with other kids from the class, making sure her bruises would show in them. What if she, wittingly or unwittingly, said something at home that aroused your brother's suspicion? She's only eight years old after all and despite everything she might still love her father."

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I was careless with my phone. I often left in the staff room unsupervised. There were only 15 staff members, and, while I wasn't friends with the majority of them, we all worked well together and nobody had ever reported personal possessions magically disappearing from the staff room. There had just never been any reason to hide my valuables. So, if Simon had been suspicious of me, he'd have had plenty of opportunity and means to tamper with my phone. Convincing a colleague to put a bug in my phone couldn't have been hard. There was near enough zero risk of being found out, and Simon would have made it worth their while.

Jax grabbed my phone and, with trembling hands, took it apart. There was nothing there. My face fell. It had been the only thing that made sense.

"Hey, this doesn't mean anything. I still think you are right. From what you tell me, whoever was doing this for Simon had such easy access to your phone, they probably removed it after your conversation with Alex. Simon would have been sure he'd taken care of you with the first text message he wrote. No need to leave any incriminating evidence behind. He never for one second contemplated the scenario in which you wouldn't be intimidated enough to stop what you were doing."

"I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met you, Jax. I still don't know what to do now. It's not like I've taken this any further or anything. Amy is still..." My voice wobbled.

Jaxson pulled me into his arms. "Don't worry about Amy, babe. She'll be fine. I promised, and I keep my promises. But first, we need to help Alex."

My knees nearly buckled from relief that he believed me straightaway, and I almost dropped to the ground, but Jaxson caught and steadied me before he dragged me out of the cabin to Ben's car.

"Where are we going?" I asked, my head swivelling from Jaxson to Ben, who had fallen in line with us.

"I checked it out. Alex has got an elderly mother who lives in a nursing home and a teenage son. No other close relatives. They would be Simon's primary targets. We're going to check them out, while you are going to spend some time with Chase, an old Army buddy who doesn't live too far away." Jaxson eyes wouldn't meet mine anymore because he knew that I would not be ecstatic about this plan, but no matter how much I protested, Jaxson and Ben ignored me. Half an hour later, I found myself unceremoniously pulled out of the car by a stone-faced Ben and handed over to a guy in a wheelchair.

I shot Jaxson a furious look. Not to sound prejudiced or anything, but how was this guy going to protect anyone?

"Chase, this is Tessa. She's a little disgruntled with the arrangements, but it's nothing personal, mate. Stubborn is her middle name. She'll see sense, though, eventually." Jaxson gave his old buddy a man hug, totally unfazed by the wheelchair, while I was trying to keep myself from pushing the idiot straight into Chase's lap.

Chase grabbed Jaxson's hand. "How are you?" he asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, mate?" came the evasive counter-question.

Chase's gaze lingered on Jaxson for a few seconds before turning to me.

"Come on in, then. Let Jax and Big Ben do their stuff."

I was furious, but I didn't know what to do about it. I couldn't phone the police, and I had to admit that my experience in dealing with criminals, guns and possible hostage extractions was limited to binge-watching Mel Gibson in action. I doubted that this expertise would translate into real-life situations.

Jaxson gave me a hug and a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"I know you're not amused, babe, but I cannot help anyone if I also have to worry about you. I hope you understand that. Ben and I will do what we can for Alex, and I promise I'll be back. Okay?"

The promise – and the kiss, even if had been a chaste one - melted my heart a little. Jaxson looked like he was running on empty, and I was scared that any distraction might spell disaster.

I nodded and turned to follow Chase up the ramp into his house, my jaws locked tighter than a clamp on a wheel.

Chase settled me on his couch and made me a cup of coffee. He stopped me with a wave of his hand when I jumped up to carry the coffee back into the living room.

"Thanks, but I've been in this chair long enough now to be able to get the drinks to the living room table."

I had never met anyone in a wheelchair before and didn't know the protocol, but I felt I might have offended Chase.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to imply that you... that... well..."

"It's okay, Tessa. No need to overthink. Just wanted to let you know that you can relax, is all."

"You don't have to answer, but... was it an accident or... you know... something else?" As ice breakers go, this was probably a mighty stupid choice.

Chase didn't hesitate, though. "Course, I can answer. I prefer being asked to being talked about behind my back. So, hm, it wasn't really an accident. I kind of found myself at the business end of a bullet. Combat situations can be shitty. Jaxson, Ben and the lads carried me to safety."

"I'm so sorry, Chase."

"No need to be sorry. I survived, didn't I?" For a second, Chase looked a little sad. "Anyway, that was nearly eight years ago now. I moved on."

"I'm impressed. That couldn't have been easy."

"We grow with our challenges, don't we? And don't worry. I'm obviously in no physical state to Jason Statham myself through a bunch of arseholes intent on doing you harm, but I work in IT these days and I'm pretty good. So is the security system in my house. Nobody can get to you here."

I felt guilty for having had these doubts and ashamed, knowing that Chase had known what I had been thinking without me even uttering a word about it. I wondered if he had been lying when he'd said that he had adjusted to his new normal.

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee, praying that the boys would be okay at least.

Chase gave me an encouraging smile.

"Try not think about it, Tessa. Jaxson and Big Ben know what they're doing. Trust me on this."

Again, Chase had read my thoughts accurately.