Jasper felt like a limp, sweaty noodle when Gabe tugged at him until he was half-sprawled over him. Forcing his trembling limbs to move, he pushed himself up further, shifting until his head was resting comfortably on Gabe’s chest, and his leg was draped over Gabe’s with his foot tucked behind his knee. Then he just breathed and listened to the steady beating heart under his ear. When Gabe ran his hand up and down Jasper’s back, he let out a sigh of contentment, happiness, and the stirrings of new love filling him as he sank into the completeness that being this close to his mate gave him.

After a few minutes, Gabe’s arm slid down his back, his hand coming around to rest on Jasper’s hip as he tucked the other behind his head. “All right. I’m all relaxed and mellow now. Tell me what’s going on.”

Jasper’s fingers, which had been playing with the hair on Gabe’s chest, jerked, tugging on the short curls and making him hiss. “Sorry, sorry.” Patting Gabe’s chest to soothe the sting, Jasper took a deep breath, then tipped his head back so he could see his face. “So, uhm, Spencer and I had this great idea.”

Gabe groaned. “God. What did you two do now?”

“We didn’t do anything. Mostly. Well, Spencer didn’t. I might have. Actually, I did, but it’s not—”

“Stop.” Resting his hand on Jasper’s neck, Gabe said, “Just spit it out and tell me what’s going on.”

Jasper nodded, took another deep breath, and started again. “Okay. It was like this. Spencer and I got to talking…”

Six and a half minutes later…

After Jasper finished what had to be the fastest recap in history, he braced himself for the explosion. But it didn’t come. Gabe just looked at him, a muscle bunching in his jaw, but he didn’t say anything. Then he pushed himself up on the bed, taking Jasper with him, and leaned against the headboard with Jasper straddled across his lap. Jasper was taking it as a good sign that Gabe wasn’t yelling.

But then, he was optimistically foolish like that.

Gabe blew out a breath, then put his hands on Jasper’s hips and pulled him a bit closer. “So let me see if I’ve got this straight. You and Spencer continued with your plan to track down your stalker.”

Jasper nodded.

“Even though I explicitly told you not to.”

“Uh, huh,” Jasper said, biting his lip, wondering if the yelling was going to start after all.

“And then you talked to somebody else and got them involved with your plan,” Gabe said, his fingers flexing on Jasper’s hips.

“Yes.”

“So now you, Spencer, and this Elwood person are mucking around in my case?”

“Kind of,” Jasper said, a bit surprised at how calm Gabe was. “Elwood doesn’t actually know about—”

 “Are you fucking kidding me? Which part of staying out of my fucking case wasn’t clear to you?”

So much for calm. “I just thought—”

“You didn’t fucking think at all and now I’ve got some James Bond wannabe running around trying to find the bad guy who’ll probably fuck up our entire investigation.”

“I’m sure Elwood won’t do that,” Jasper said, not sure of any such thing.

“He’d better fucking not. Christ. I can’t believe you did this to me again.” Gabe scrubbed his hands over his face, then took a deep breath. Then another. Speaking more calmly, Gabe said, “The Captain’s going to have a fit when I tell him about this. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t throw your ass in jail and leave you there.”

Shit. Jasper had forgotten about Captain Jack threatening to do that if anyone talked. “He wouldn’t really do that, would he?”

“To keep you from fucking up our investigation, you’d better believe it.” Then Gabe sighed and took hold of his hand, threading their fingers together. “Did it even cross your mind when you came up with this grand plan of yours that this Elwood guy could be your stalker?”

A laugh escaped before Jasper could stop it. When Gabe stiffened and tried to pull away, Jasper held tight to his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. It’s just…if you’d ever met Elwood, you’d see how crazy that sounded. Elwood’s so…he’s just so…he’s kind of a geek. And scholarly. He’s so not the type of person who’d try to hurt someone.”

“Everyone has the potential to hurt someone given the right circumstances and motivation.”

“I guess. But I can’t see it with Elwood. He’s so tiny and non-threatening.” Even if he was off his rocker.

“The right weapon can make even the smallest opponent formidable,” Gabe said, rubbing his thumb over Jasper’s knuckles. “Which means this small, geeky, scholar could still hurt you if he wanted to.”

Jasper snorted. “Not likely.” Before Gabe could get upset, he held out his arm. “I’m not exactly defenseless. I do have my crystals to keep me safe.”

Gabe glanced at the leather wrap on his wrist, then back at him. “Can your crystals stop a knife attack? Or a bullet?”

Jasper started to nod, then stopped and thought about it. Then he shrugged. “I think so. I’ve never been shot at before to know for sure, but they should be able to keep me safe. And if they can’t, my mother’s shard definitely can.”

Gabe studied the shard around his neck, then shook his head. “I’m not going to trust your safety to a bunch of rocks I know nothing about.”

“They’re more than just a bunch of rocks,” Jasper said, realizing he needed to show Gabe exactly what his crystals and the shard could do.

“I’m still not trusting your safety to them. Until we can catch whoever is after you, Em and I are going to be the ones protecting you. And you can help us by not being so damned trusting of everyone.” Gabe tugged Jasper closer. “It would be even better if you started assuming that anyone you engaged with was your stalker. That way you’d be prepared if they tried anything.”

Jasper made a face. “I’m not going to walk around being suspicious of everyone.”

“It might save your life.”

“I know but…I’m not like that. I can’t even imagine…I just can’t. I’m sorry. That’s not who I am.”

“Which is part of what makes you so special.” Before Jasper could get too swoony about that, Gabe finished with, “But it also makes you blind to the risks you’re taking.”

“The shard will keep me safe.”

“Not safe enough,” Gabe said, then he cupped Jasper’s cheeks, pulling him forward until their foreheads pressed together. “I want you to promise not to take any more chances. No more talking to people about the case. No more making plans with Spencer. No more sleuthing on your own to find your stalker. You need to leave the investigating to me and Em. Trust us to find this bastard.”

“I promise I won’t do anything to compromise your case,” Jasper hedged, having the feeling he’d end up doing something on that list.

Gabe squinted at him, then shook his head. “Not good enough. I want your promise, spoken in plain English, that you won’t try to investigate on your own in any way, shape, or form.”

“But—”

“No arguing. No trying to get out of it. Just your promise.”

“Gabe—”

“Please. For my heart.”

Well, if he was going to put it like that. “Okay. I promise I won’t—”

He was interrupted by the sound of Gabe’s phone ringing. Jasper leaned to the side, stretching to grab it off the bedside table, then handed it to Gabe.

Looking at the screen, Gabe cursed under his breath, then nudged Jasper off of him, answering it as he got up from the bed. “What’s up, Em,”

“We caught a body.”

Oh crap, Jasper thought, then slid out of the other side of the bed and started looking through the pile of clothes on the floor for his sleep pants, half listening as Gabe spoke with Detective Trewitt. He looked up when Gabe tossed his phone back on the bedside table.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.” Gabe grabbed his jeans off the floor and quickly pulled them on.

“I heard.” Finally finding his sleep pants, Jasper slid them on, then went and grabbed Gabe’s jacket from the chair in the corner, holding it out to him so he could put it on.

Gabe pulled his shirt over his head as he walked over to him, then slid his arms into his jacket. Turning back to him, Gabe hauled Jasper in, giving him a hard kiss. “Stay out of trouble while I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I will.”

“And send me Elwood’s info so Em and I can pull him off this quest of yours before he gets himself killed.”

Jasper nodded. “I’ll do that right after you leave.”

“And try not to do any more stupid things.”

“I won’t.” He gave Gabe a quick kiss, then stepped back. “You’d better go. Detective Trewitt’s waiting for you.”

Gabe nodded, then rushed from the room. A couple of minutes later, his car roared to life.

Jasper sat on the edge of his bed listening to the fading sound of Gabe’s vehicle as it raced off into the night and wondered how long it would take him to realize Jasper hadn’t finished his promise to stop looking for his stalker.

——

Unable to sleep after Gabe left, Jasper decided to sketch out some ideas for a new jewelry collection that had been circling around in his brain for the last few days. He was just putting the finishing touches on a design for a red garnet and rose quartz bracelet when his phone started to ring. He set his pad of paper down, worry immediately rising at why someone was calling—please don’t let it have anything to do with Gabe—this time of night. Glancing at the screen, his worry ratcheted up when he saw that it was Elwood. Oh god. Something must have happened.

“Elwood, are you—”

“Jasper. I need you right now.”

Shit. He really was in trouble. Jasper jumped up and raced for his keys. “I’ll be right there. Try not to move.”

“Um, okay.”

“Do you need an ambulance?” he asked, throwing open the deadbolt on his door.

“Why would I need an ambulance?” Elwood asked, his voice filled with confusion.

“Because you’re hurt.”

“No, I’m not,” Elwood said, stopping Jasper as he was halfway out the door.

“You’re not?”

“No. I’m fine. Why would you think I was hurt?”

Jasper stepped back inside and closed the door, leaning against it as he waited for his racing heart to slow down. “Because you’re calling at three in the morning, Elwood. Why would you do that if it wasn’t an emergency?”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was that late. Or early. I can never remember which one is right. Maybe it’s—”

“Elwood, why did you call me?” Jasper asked, wondering, not for the first time, why he’d let Spencer convince him that reaching out to him would be a good idea.

“I found something that might lead us to your hacker,” Elwood said, his voice rising with excitement.

Then again. “You did? Wow. That’s just…wow.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. I didn’t think you found something so quickly.” Or at all.

“I told you I knew what I was doing. And Jack’s methods worked just like I’d thought they would.”

Jasper shook his head, amazed that a fictional character had helped Elwood find his stalker. “That’s amazing, Elwood. Great job.”

“Well,” Elwood said, clearing his throat. “It might not be as great as you think. I mean, I think the information I found is about you. But then again, it might not be.”

“Oh,” Jasper said, disappointment heavy in his stomach. He should have known it was too good to be true.

“It’s just hard to know for sure without having all the details and I feel like you left a few things out.”

“Uh, nothing that was important.”

“If you say so,” Elwood said, sounding like he wasn’t so sure. “Anyway, I need you to come to my place right away so you can look at what I found. Things on the dark web—”

“You know how to get on the dark web?”

“Yes. Well, no. I didn’t. But I met a guy online who does. He hooked me up and showed me how to navigate around it. That’s when I found some stuff I think might be about you.”

Which was amazing. And kind of scary. The dark web wasn’t a place Jasper wanted to be. “What, uhm did you find?”

“Just some documents about you. At least, I think they are. There are a lot of code words I don’t understand that I thought you might be able to figure out. Which is why I need you to take a look at them.”

And Jasper wanted to. But it was three in the morning and Gabe could be back any time. “It’s kind of late, Elwood. Can it wait until morning?”

“Unfortunately, it can’t. I was told things on the dark web disappear fast, so you need to look at it right away before it vanishes.”

“I don’t know,” Jasper said, thinking of his almost promise to Gabe. “Can you take a screenshot of it and I’ll swing by to look at it tomorrow.”

“I tried, but the images were all scrambled. It turns out there are all sorts of protections in place to prevent that kind of thing.”

“Oh,” Jasper said, biting his lip as he tried to figure out what he should do. “I do want to come, it’s just—”

“Jasper, don’t you get it?” Elwood said, his voice rising again. “This might be what we were looking for. If what I found really is about you, we’ll be able to figure out who your hacker is. Tonight.”

“But—”

“Unless everything disappears while you’re deciding.”

Which tipped the scales from staying home to going. Jasper couldn’t take the chance of losing whatever Elwood had found. “I’m on my way right now.”

“Just hurry. I don’t know how long this stuff will be here.”

“I’ll get there as quickly as I can.”

“Okay.”

When Elwood hung up, Jasper put on his shoes—something he’d forgotten to do in his hurry to leave the first time—and raced out of the house, hoping that Gabe didn’t come back while he was gone.

As he was doing up his seatbelt, Jasper was hit by an overwhelming feeling of wrongness. Scrambling out of his vehicle, he clutched the amulet and moved a short distance away, then circled his car looking for anything that could have caused that feeling of danger that still had his heart pounding in his chest. After checking his tires—which were fine—he squatted at the front of the car and shined his phone’s flashlight underneath, but couldn’t see anything there. Then feeling slightly foolish, he went around to the side and got down on his stomach and shined the light onto the undercarriage of his car checking for signs of a bomb. Not that he had any idea what he was looking for. When he didn’t see anything that didn’t look like it belonged, Jasper got to his feet and stared around the darkened neighborhood, but everything was quiet.

Which didn’t reassure him like it should have. There was something unsettling in the air that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

He gave a moment’s thought to going back inside and waiting until it was light out, but by then the information Elwood wanted to show him might be gone.

Jasper bit his lip as he tried to decide what he should do when the shard tingled against his chest. He snorted as he realized he was worrying over nothing. The shard would keep him safe. And he had promised Elwood he’d hurry.

Decision made, Jasper got back into his car. A few seconds later, he’d backed out onto the street—without his vehicle blowing up—then he was on his way.

——

He was driving along Canyon Drive, almost to the infamous digital billboard, when Pink’s ‘So What’ came on the radio. Turning it up, Jasper sang along at the top of his lungs, banging his head like a rockstar. Passing the billboard at high speed, Jasper flipped it off as he belted out the chorus, though slightly changed up.

“I am a rock witch, I’ve got my witch moves, and I’m gonna catch you tonight.”

Then he laughed and pressed harder on the gas.

Approaching Dead Man’s Gulch, Jasper eased off the gas and tapped the brakes to slow down before he got to the curvy section that had sent more than one unwary driver off the road. As the first turn loomed ahead, Jasper realized he was still going too fast so he pressed down on the brakes again. When his foot met no resistance, Jasper began pumping the brake pedal quickly, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt pressure under his foot and his car began to slow.

Then he shouted when his vehicle lurched forward and shot him into the curves faster than he’d been going before.

“Fuuuuck.” Jasper held tightly to the steering wheel as he navigated the first s-turn, tires squealing as he came safely through the curve. He stomped on his brakes again. And again. Then he entered the second set of curves. White knuckling the steering wheel, he steered left, then right, then back to the left, shouting again when his car started sliding sideways, holding onto the steering wheel for dear life as he somehow forced his vehicle back into the center of the road.

Holding his breath, his attention laser-focused on the road lit up only by his headlights, Jasper fought to keep his bucking vehicle in the center of the highway as he raced along the twisting highway, his entire body leaning to the left and then to the right as he drove through one curve after another.

By the time he’d made it safely through that series of bends, Jasper’s eyes were blurry, his hands were sweaty, and his breathing was as fast as his frantically beating heart. Blinking to clear his eyes, Jasper wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm and got ready as he approached the final, and most treacherous, section of highway along Dead Man’s Gulch.

Flexing his cramped fingers, Jasper adjusted his grip on the steering wheel and sucked in a breath as he entered the first turn. Tires squealed and gravel from the shoulder spit into the air when his back end slipped off the pavement. Jasper muscled his car back onto the road as he reached the second curve. Tires squealed again as the air was filled with a chorus of fuck, fuck, oh god, fuck, then he was safely through. But he barely had a chance to take a breath before he was in the final set of s-curves. Jasper wrenched the steering wheel to the left, holding on tight as the force against his car pulled him to the right, then quickly steered right as his car slid around the reverse curve, tires squealing as they fought for traction. Left, then right, then a final left, gravel spitting and tires squealing. Then he was through with only a gentle curve to navigate before the road ran straight for the next few miles.

Jasper eased his car out of the final turn and let out a half-hysterical laugh. Holy fuck. He’d made it. He’d actually made it through Dead Man’s Gulch at race car speed without going over the edge. Spencer was going to die when he told him about it.

Jasper kept his foot off the gas, letting his car coast as he tried his brakes again. This time they worked. Pumping them gently to slow down, he was looking for a place to pull over when something slammed into the side of the car. He stepped on the gas and checked his side mirror for whatever had hit him, but there was nothing there. Jasper looked in the rearview mirror to see if he’d run over something, then shouted when something slammed into him again, knocking his car toward the edge of the highway. Jasper wrenched the steering wheel to the left, keeping his vehicle on the road through sheer force of will. Just as he got his car back under control, he was hit again, the impact against the back end of his car sending him into a spin.

Losing the battle to keep his vehicle on the road, Jasper held tightly to the steering wheel, praying harder than he ever had before in his life as his car careened sideways, breaking through the guardrail and going over the edge into the deepest part of Dead Man’s Gulch.