"You don't hang out with good guys then. Do you have a boyfriend, a husband, someone you want to call to come over?"
"No."
"What about family?"
She sighed at that question. "They're not happy with me right now."
"Because of your quest?"
"Yes. I went to see my father after I left the club. He was angry. He doesn't want me digging into his mother's life."
"Why not?"
"It's complicated. And if I call them, they'll worry."
"Maybe they should worry. Maybe you should be worried. If someone wants to know what's in Natasha's journals, and you're standing in the way, they probably won't hesitate to take you down."
"There's nothing in her journals about who killed her. Believe me, I've read every word. Although, I will say that sometimes her entries are rather cryptic. She calls people by nicknames."
"Like what?" he asked curiously.
"The Lark, the Surfer, the Doctor, the Wolf, the Pizza Guy—"
"Wait, did you say Wolf?"
She nodded. "Yes. Why did that one jump out at you?"
"I don't know, but it seems weird."
"I have no idea who the Wolf is, but I know that the Pizza Guy is Freddie Ramirez. He's the owner of Freddie's on Sunset. It's a family business and Freddie is in his seventies now. His son Freddie Jr. runs the restaurant."
Jax started, an odd gleam moving through his eyes.
"What did I say?" she asked.
"Nothing. I drove by Freddie's the other day. It's near a bunch of car dealerships."
"It is. I went there myself on Wednesday, and I spoke to Freddie Junior. He showed me photos on the wall of his father with my grandmother. He said he'd met her once when he was a small kid and he just remembered her as being very beautiful. But he didn't know what kind of relationship she'd had with his father beyond the fact that she liked eating their pizza and came in several times a week."
"What does it say in the journal about the Pizza Guy?"
"Something about one of the best dates she had was with the Pizza Guy. His passion for his business reminded her what it felt like to feel so intensely desirous of something, where you're willing to do anything to get what you want. It was something like that." She paused. "I should get you some ice. Or maybe you want to go home." She didn't really want him to leave, because then she would be alone, and there were a lot of hours before the sun would come back up.
"You really don't have anywhere else you can stay tonight?" he asked.
"I don't, but that's not your problem. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Or maybe the right place at the right time. Why don't I stay here tonight? I'll sleep on the couch. You can lock your bedroom door if you're worried."
"That's really generous of you, but…I don't know."
His gaze darkened. "You can trust me, Maya. I won't hurt you."
"I would feel better since I don't know if I can get a locksmith out here until tomorrow. But it's a lot to ask."
"It's really not."
"Okay," she said, hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake. "I'll get you some ice and make some tea."
"I'll help."
He got up and followed her into the kitchen.
She opened the freezer and handed him a bag of frozen peas. "Will this work?"
"It should do the trick."
He pressed the pack against his face while she filled the kettle with water and turned on the heat. Then she searched through her cupboard for tea that wasn't caffeinated. She found some chamomile in the far back. As she pulled out the tea bags, Jax moved over to the refrigerator, looking at a photo of her family. It had been taken at her mom's birthday a few weeks back.
"Nice-looking group," he murmured.
"Mom and Dad, my older sister Darcy, her husband Matt, their little girl Zoe, and my younger brother James," she said.
"And you can't call any of them?" He gave her a speculative look.
"Darcy and James are not in the immediate area, and my parents would get upset. I'm not up for another fight tonight. I'd rather risk staying here alone than have to listen to them tell me they told me so." At his faint smile, she added, "I really hate that, and it happens a lot. They always think they know better than me."
As the kettle began to sing, she filled two mugs with