To some who know him, Jax -- under the name Jackson Martin -- is a reputable restorer of antiquarian books. To others, in various guises, he's a man who double-crosses thieves, relieving them of what wasn't theirs to begin with ... although he doesn't return the stolen goods to their original owners. That isn't his thing.<br><br>When he's hired by Donovan, a book collector, to restore a damaged atlas, Jax meets the young man who runs Donovan's side interest, a no-kill animal shelter. Noel is wary of Jackson for reasons he can't explain. It doesn't stop him from finding Jax interesting ... an interest Jax returns despite knowing it will go nowhere.<br><br>Then Keegan, Jax's mortal enemy, appears bent on killing him. Will Jax be able to stop him before that happens? And will what he and Noel learn about each other end their budding relationship before it can become something more?

A Man of Many Parts

“It wasn’t quite that bad,” Donovan said when Jax commented on their appearance. “The dog did not want to be caught so she decided to hide in a drainage pipe.”


“No,” Noel replied. “A mutt with at least some Husky in her. She was scared shitless and injured. The vet says she probably had a run-in with at least one other dog or some of the wildlife in the area, or both. If we hadn’t been wearing gloves, we’d have bites to show exactly how much she didn’t trust us.”


“She’ll be okay, though?” Jax asked.


“Yeah,” Donovan said. “It’ll take a while before she can be moved over here. Of course she didn’t have a chip, and if she had a collar when she ran away or was dumped, she lost it.”


Jax shook his head, then said, “If you two go clean up, Susan and I can close up and I’ll take us all out to dinner to celebrate.”


Chapter 45