The adrenalin didn’t start to wear off until Jet pulled into the parking spot in front Dan’s cottage several hours later.
Jet bit her lip and cut the engine.
She really hadn’t thought this through. The clock on the BMW’s dash told her it was three minutes past four in the morning. What on earth was she doing here?
All Jet knew was she’d needed to run. To get away from Sydney. To get away from Alex and his crazy accusations and the prying eyes of her ex-husband. Six months ago she would have run to Edie, but she couldn’t do that now.
Jet saw the curtain downstairs in the cottage move and the porch light flicked on. Dan had been waiting for her. When she’d fled back to her apartment, she’d sent him a message telling him she was coming and that she would explain everything when she got here. He hadn’t questioned her and told her he would be waiting. No questions. Just reassurance. She loved him for it.
Oh my God. She loved him?
Did she? Could she?
Jet hadn’t thought she’d ever fall for another man after Andrew. Or perhaps she hadn’t wanted to let anyone past her defences ever again, but Dan had somehow found a home in her heart, thanks to that easy way of his.
Jet got out of the car unsteadily. She couldn’t examine her feelings for Dan right now; she needed to leave that for another time when she was thinking more clearly.
The front door of the cottage opened and he stood waiting for her in boxer shorts and an old T-shirt. She’d never seen a more welcome sight. Without saying anything, Jet walked over to him and stepped into his arms.
He embraced her and guided her head onto her shoulder, which was when she started shaking. She didn’t cry, she simply shook silently with fear or shock, she wasn’t sure which.
After a while, Dan guided her inside and towards the sofa. They sat down together, one of Dan’s arms still around her.
He waited.
Jet looked at him. She didn’t want to tell him any of it, because then it would make it real. It would make it possible. But she took a deep breath anyway.
‘There was blood. Alex says there was blood on me.’
***
Dan didn’t know what to expect after he’d received that message from Jet after midnight. He was still up because some prehistoric male part of him wasn’t able to get to sleep until Jet messaged to say she was on her way home for the night. That was what they’d agreed. Fat lot of good it did when he was hours away and couldn’t do anything, but it at least made Jet feel safer. It also made him feel like he was doing something useful to help her when really he was doing jack shit.
But her text message wasn’t the one he had expected.
She was driving to come and see him. Now. Tonight. She wouldn’t say why. Just that she would explain when she got here.
So he’d dozed on and off for the next few hours while he’d waited. He kept drifting in and out of weird dreams about Andrew and Jet. He knew that’s what this was about. Her ex-husband. The prick must have done something really bad to make her leave Sydney in the middle of the night. Dan considered himself a patient guy, but every time he thought about it he had to force himself to breathe evenly to calm himself.
Despite the hazy dreams he slipped into, Dan mustn’t have managed a deep sleep because as soon as he heard Jet’s car approach, he jolted upright.
Now she sat next to him cradled into his side. She was as white as he’d ever seen her. Then she’d started talking about blood, lots of blood, and how that blood had been on her. He let her speak.
She didn’t sound like the Jet he knew. Her words were jumbled and confused, not neatly organised and direct as they normally were, but he didn’t interrupt.
By the time he understood the full details of the conversation between Jet and Alex, he didn’t feel like himself either. Rage twisted with fear burned in his chest and he didn’t know what to do about it. Where to put it. He needed to accept that he couldn’t do anything about it right now, and that only made the feeling worse.
Instead he bundled Jet up and carried her upstairs to his room. He tucked her into bed and lay down beside her, then told her to sleep. That they would sort it all out in the morning. But first she needed to rest.
And when Jet’s body finally relaxed and she drifted into sleep, Dan lay there until the sun came up, wide awake, thinking over everything she had told him.
***
‘I won’t say it’s good to see you.’
Something in Jet relaxed at the sight of Martin Rhodes seated behind the desk in his office. The sight was both familiar and reassuring. Given she wasn’t sure about anything anymore, Jet wanted to enjoy the split second of solace being here gave her.
Marty waited for her and Dan to sit down opposite.
‘I’m glad to see you,’ Jet said softly.
‘You’re always welcome. You know that.’
Jet nodded. She could feel Dan’s gaze on her and the weight of his concern was both welcome and a little suffocating at the same time.
‘Did Dan fill you in?’ she asked.
‘Not in any detail. Just that there had been some new developments and you needed some outside perspective.’
Jet glanced over at Dan. When Jet had woken, Dan had been downstairs working on his laptop. After forcing down a few bites of toast and sips of coffee, they’d come over here. Jet had just assumed Dan had already spoken to his father. She wouldn’t have minded if he had because she was tired of feeling sickened every time she thought about last night’s conversation with Alex.
With a resigned sigh, Jet told Marty what she had told Dan last night but a much clearer, less emotional version. When she was done, she asked the question she’d wanted to ask ever since she’d learned of the blood.
‘Do you think it’s possible the police consider me a suspect in Crystal’s murder?’ Jet finished.
Dan sat up straight in his seat and opened his mouth, probably to protest, but Marty held up a hand. Dan shut his mouth.
Marty’s gaze was sympathetic. ‘I’m not going to lie to you, Jet. I don’t work for the police anymore, but I will tell you it’s possible. Unlikely, but possible.’
‘So that’s why they were protecting me? That’s why they hid me up here so they’d know exactly where I was and I couldn’t run?’
Marty released a breath. ‘Gordon and I go way back and I can tell you with complete certainty that he never communicated any concerns of that nature to me at any point. However, he’s known for going by the book and if he did think it a possibility, he wouldn’t have told me. All he ever said was you were potentially in danger and a valuable witness to the case.’
‘So that’s a no but a yes, then?’ Dan said, his tone exasperated.
‘It’s an “I don’t know”,’ Marty replied. ‘His duty to the case is his first responsibility.’ He returned his attention to Jet. ‘From what you’ve told me, you don’t remember anything that corroborates Alex’s version of the story?’
‘No,’ Jet said, with a sigh of resignation. ‘Nothing at all.’
Jet didn’t know where to begin to make sense of Alex’s insistence that there had been blood on her. Who’s blood? Hers? It couldn’t have been Crystal’s because surely Jet’s DNA would have been on the young girl’s body if Jet had attacked her. If that was the case, the police would have found out. But perhaps not, if the girl had been found floating in the pool.
Not to mention Jet couldn’t imagine ever attacking anyone, let alone a young defenceless girl.
The men waited for Jet to speak and when she didn’t say anything further, Marty spoke.
‘Do you think it’s possible there had been blood on you but your ex-husband got rid of it?’ he asked gently.
Jet only hesitated for a beat. ‘Yes.’
The thing was, that was the one part of the story that did make sense to Jet. Andrew had always been controlling and demanding, but ever since Crystal’s death, his interference in her life had intensified. Jet hadn’t understood why until now, but maybe Alex was right. Maybe Andrew was trying to protect her in his own twisted way.
‘I wasn’t wearing my evening dress when I woke up at Andrew’s,’ Jet admitted to them. She’d had time—too much time—to think it over on the car journey to the estate. ‘If I’d had blood on me, I think it’s possible it would have been on my dress, too. But when I woke up, I was wearing an old T-shirt and pants of mine I hadn’t realised Andrew still had. He claimed I’d asked to get changed out of my dress to be more comfortable, but I ... I don’t remember.’ Jet huffed in frustration. Her memory of that night remained a blank.
‘Did you see the dress afterwards?’ Marty asked.
‘No, not for a few days,’ Jet replied, her voice quiet. She’d thought about this, too. ‘By the time I remembered to collect it, Andrew’s maid had sent it off to the dry cleaners.’
Marty shifted in his chair, a movement that struck Jet as awkward.
‘Would you be prepared to have this discussion with Commissioner Roberts at some stage?’ he asked.
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ Jet replied quickly. ‘I would have done that first but I needed ...’
‘Time to think,’ Dan finished for her.
Jet reached out her hand and threaded her fingers through Dan’s, but didn’t take her gaze off Marty as she did so.
‘Actually, I needed to see you Dan. That’s what I needed. And you too, Marty.’
Jet felt Dan’s gaze on their hands, but she didn’t look away from Marty. It wasn’t a test, but she did need to know how Marty felt about his son being involved with someone as messed up as Juliet Temple a.k.a. Jet Appleton. She might love Dan Rhodes, but the last thing she wanted was to come between him and his family.
Marty’s expression remained neutral and he nodded. ‘I’d say that was a good idea. You’re among family here, Jet. And I know Cynthia wants you to head inside for a cup of tea when you’re ready. Stay here as long as you like. That includes Christmas.’
Jet dropped her gaze and closed her eyes tightly. For the first time since she’d run last night she felt close to tears. Happy tears. Relieved tears. She’d almost forgotten Christmas was only two days away. Before this, Dan had been insisting she join them anyway and she’d kept politely declining, although she wasn’t sure why.
Dan squeezed her hand. ‘Our home is your home, Jet.’