11. Mystery Man

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Crystal's POV

Jackson stared at me blankly for a long time. "Well," He finally said. "I helped you get the necklace back . . . and now this is so clearly, your problem." He spun on his heel and started to walk away.

"Are you kidding me?" I growled. "This is entirely your fault!"

Jackson turned back to me with a shrug. "That can't be proven," He said. "How do we know that you didn't just misplace the damn thing before I took the necklace?"

I ground my teeth together and clenched my fists as I glared back at him. "I didn't."

"But you can't be sure."

"Yes, I can!" I threw my hands up in the air. "This is all your fault!"

"I still don't see how."

I continued to glare at him. "Give me one good reason not to hit you," I said to him as I kneeled down next to the woman.

"What are you doing?" Jackson asked me.

"I need her awake," I said. "I need to ask her what she did with the SD card."

"I can guarantee she had no idea it was in there."

I looked up at him. "How?"

He stared down at me and scoffed. "Because I didn't know it was in there," He told me. "and as far as anyone is aware, the rumors about someone gathering evidence against your father are just that, rumors. No one has any idea that there's an SD card let alone that you of all people have it. Everyone believes you to be completely oblivious."

I groaned and pulled at my hair. "Well someone clearly did because it's not here."

Jackson shrugged again. "There were security cameras in the hallway."

"So?"

"So, if we break into the monitor room we should be able to see who has been coming and going from this room."

"Brilliant idea," I said sarcastically. "And what happens when we find out that the SD card was removed before this infuriating gala?"

Jackson waved me off. "Minor problem."

I took a step toward him but was interrupted in my quest to blacken his eye when the door was thrown open and two men in suits came striding into the room, guns drawn.

I turned to glare at Jackson. "I'm going to kill you."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I suppose that means you're now blaming me for this as well."

"This is your fault!"

"Quiet!" One of the men shouted. "Hands where we can see them. Now."

"Please just shoot him," I muttered as I half-heartedly raised my hands, the necklace still clenched in my fist.

Jackson glared at me before flashing the men a smile and, surprise, surprise, didn't raise his hands.

"Gentlemen, please," Jackson said as he went and shoved his hands in his pockets. Idiot. "There's no need for the guns."

I rolled my eyes. "Not everything can be solved by talking yourself out of it," I told him.

"Well do you have a better idea?" He snapped.

"Both of you shut up," The first man ordered. I complied since I didn't want to get shot. Jackson clearly wanted to get shot, because he didn't comply.

"This is all just a big misunderstanding."

"What part of shut up do you not understand?" The second man asked.

"The part where he has to stop talking," I muttered.

Their guns moved to aim in my direction. I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?" I questioned. "I'm the one obeying your orders. And even if I wasn't, how much damage do you really think I could do in a dress and heels?"

"Pay no attention to her," Jackson interjected. "She'll take off a toe with those heels."

I smiled sweetly at him. "Only yours."

The two men looked between the two of us like they couldn't believe we were having that conversation. Really, if I actually felt like my life was in imminent danger, we wouldn't be having that conversation.

"The necklace," The second man ordered. "hand it over."

I shrugged and tossed him the necklace. It's not as if I really needed it anymore. And if giving them the necklace would spare my life, then they could have it.

He caught the necklace with one hand and shoved it in his pocket, all the while keeping his gun trained on us.

"The other one too," He said.

I stared at him blankly for a moment before looking around the room like it somehow held the answer. "Are you blind?" I finally asked him. "I don't have another necklace." I placed a hand over my neck, bringing attention to the fact that I was not actually wearing another necklace.

"Not yours," He replied before waving his gun in Jackson's direction. "His."

I turned to look at Jackson in bewilderment and caught the shine of a gold chain around his neck just before he adjusted his shirt collar and rebuttoned it, hiding the necklace from view.

His face, which had been relaxed and somewhat cocky, was suddenly completely blank as he stared back at them, but it was a challenging stare. As if he was taunting them. Telling them to try and take it.

I stared at him. Studied him. Something about whatever necklace he was clearly wearing had set him off.

"Jackson," I said, bringing his attention to me. "Yes," I said.

He frowned at me in confusion.

I didn't give him the chance to ask what I meant. I answered it for him. "I do have a better idea."

The first man had taken a step forward. A step closer when Jackson had refused to hand over his necklace. And that was what I had been waiting for.

I moved quickly, stepping forward and grabbing the barrel of the gun and shoving it away from me and then locking my free hand around his wrist and twisting the gun from his grasp. The second man had turned toward us in the commotion and as he aimed his gun toward me I lifted my leg and slammed my foot into his gut, sending him gasping for air. As he bent over I brought my knee into his face.

The first man grabbed my arm and I grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm and ducking under it before twisting it behind his back and shoving him into the wall. I dropped my hold and stepped back and when he turned around to face me, I swung my fist into his face and watched him crumble.

I turned and looked around, making sure both of them were down before I grimaced and shook my hand, wincing as I pressed gingerly against my knuckles. Jackson meanwhile, was watching me with an intense focus, and saying absolutely nothing.

"What?" I finally snapped.

As soon as he opened his mouth however, I suddenly wished I'd kept mine closed.

"I'm extremely turned on right now."

I glared at him before stepping over one of the men and slowly opening the door. I peeked out cautiously, satisfied when I didn't see anyone else and motioned for Jackson to follow me as I stepped out of the room and into the hallway.

"How exactly do you know how to do what you just did?" Jackson questioned as I walked quickly through the hallway toward the staircase.

I rolled my eyes. "Not every girl doesn't know how to fight."

"That's not what I said," Jackson muttered as he kept close behind me. "And I always assume everyone knows how to fight, but I'm asking why you do."

I started down the stairs. "My father wanted to make sure I knew how to defend myself."

Jackson scoffed behind me. "Defending yourself and attacking are two very different things."

"They're not that different."

"You're evading the question."

I glared at him over my shoulder. "Marrek taught me."

"And what is Marrek? A ninja?"

"No," I replied as I made it to the bottom of the stairs. "He's a former Navy SEAL."

I could hear Jackson stop in his tracks for a second before muttering something along the lines of, that explains a lot.

Jackson's hand on my arm suddenly stopped me from going any further. Before I had a chance to say, much less do, anything, Jackson had pulled me back into the ballroom.

"Are you insane?" I asked as I stared at him wide-eyed. "Did you forget about the men who held us at gunpoint not five minutes ago?"

Jackson flashed me a charming smile. "Ever heard of the term, hiding in plain sight?"

I glared at him. "That never actually works."

"I thought you wanted to find your SD card."

"What makes you think it's even here?"

He shrugged as he pulled me into a corner that was fairly empty. "Call it a hunch."

"Your 'hunch' is going to get us killed." I used my hands to make air quotes. "And by the way, you lost the bet."

Jackson's eyes lit up and he looked at me curiously. "I did not."

"You dragged me back in here. Your hand on my arm. You lost."

Jackson opened his mouth to reply and if the look in his eyes was any indication, I didn't want to hear that reply, but it didn't matter because he was interrupted by another voice.

"Might I have a dance?"

I turned to look at the man holding out a hand to me. He looked to be in his early thirties and was Latino, that much I could tell. His hair was dark, slicked back and looked to be in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His suit fit his body well, showing off his muscled figure, but I had a feeling it was more for showing that he would win in a fight. His eyes, which were locked on mine with a strange kind of intensity, reminded me of a shark, cold and dead. His entire posture screamed Stay Away and I got a very bad feeling from him.

I was about to decline his invitation to dance when Jackson cut in instead.

"No," Jackson told him bluntly. He didn't explain any further and simply stared back at the man with narrowed eyes.

He turned his attention to Jackson and with a voice coated in steel he said, "Good thing I wasn't asking you."

Before I had a chance to say anything to him or Jackson, he'd grabbed my hand and forcefully pulled me onto the dancefloor. I tried to push back and get away from him, but his fingers just gripped my hips with bruising force.

So my nails may or may not have bitten roughly into the back of his neck.

Something flashed across his face, something like anger and it was the most reaction I'd seen from him so far.

"You don't want to go doing that," He said lowly as he moved us around the dancefloor. It didn't even seem as if he was actually paying any attention to the music however and seeming to pay more attention to watching where Jackson was and then moving away from him.

"Doing what?" I questioned innocently.

His focus came back to me for a split second. "Pissing me off."

I shrugged. "I have a habit of doing that kind of thing."

He ignored my comment. "I find it curious that Lawrence Carver's daughter decided to make a guest appearance at a gala meant for only the nastiest of criminals."

"Oh, and what does that make you?"

"The worst of them," He replied simply, his gaze moving back and forth across the room.

I watched him carefully and thought about my reply before speaking. "My father sent me to take care of business. Though he didn't mention you. Do you and he have something that needs to be discussed?"

His eyes locked on mine for a moment. "You're a good liar," He said finally and I felt a moment of panic as he studied me like a bug under a microscope. "But you are lying."

"And how would you know that?" I asked, my voice coming out way more confident than I felt.

He said nothing as he released on hand from my hips and reached into his jacket pocket. It took me a moment to fully comprehend what he was holding up between two of his fingers in front of me. But when I was finally able to wrap my head around the fact that the object was a micro SD card, I couldn't stop myself from glaring at him.

"How the hell did you get that?"

He continued to move in silence as he put his hand back on my hip, the SD card still wedged between his fingers. "I fail to see how that's relevant."

I clenched my jaw and my nails once again bit into the back his neck. His hands on my hips turned bruising once again. A warning.

He leaned into me and though my first reaction was to lean away, I stood my ground. "I couldn't let you leave with it without first removing myself from the card," He whispered in my ear.

I froze. A warning screaming in my head and ice running through my veins. "You work for my father," I said.

He shook his head. "I work for myself. Occasionally, I loan my talents out to powerful people, such as your father."

I shook my head. "I would have remembered you," I told him. "I've seen all the people my father deals with.

He shook his head again. "Your father and I only ever did our dealings over the phone or via email." His eyes continued to gaze over the room. "Of course, in your quest to take down your father and everyone connected to him, you had recordings and copies of the emails. Unfortunately, you'll find that they've all be erased."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How do you even know about the SD card?" I asked him.

"I have my sources," He replied vaguely. He suddenly took my hand and led me off the dancefloor and when he pulled his hand away, I felt the SD card left in mine.

"Why are you giving this back to me?" I questioned before he could disappear into the crowd.

"What you choose to do to your father is not my concern nor is it my business. It only becomes my concern when you try to take me down with him. Though, I've taken care of that problem." His expression turned deadly. "But mark my words Crystal Carver, you try to come after me, gather more information, and try to take me down with your father and you'll suddenly find yourself in an early grave."

Then he turned, walked away, and vanished into the crowd. Like he was never there.

And I was left wondering who in the hell I'd managed to piss off.

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