by Kat Martin
To prove her father’s innocence, she’ll have to turn a killer’s sights on herself
When journalist Jessie Kegan’s father is accused of espionage and treason, Jessie has no doubt the man she looked up to her entire life is innocent. Worse yet, before Colonel Kegan can stand trial, he’s found dead of a heart attack...but Jessie knows it was murder. Forcing down her grief, she’s determined to use her investigative skills and resources to clear her father’s name. But going after the truth means Jessie soon finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who wants that truth to stay buried with her father.
Protecting Jessie Kegan is a job bodyguard Brandon Garrett can’t refuse. Jessie isn’t just a client at Maximum Security—she’s the sister of his best friend, Danny, killed in Afghanistan. With dangerous forces gunning for Jessie from every angle, keeping her safe will mean keeping her close and Bran finds their mutual attraction growing, though being Danny’s sister puts Jessie out of bounds.
With their backs against the wall, Jessie and Bran will have to risk everything to expose her father’s killer—before his legacy dies with his daughter.
Also available from Kat Martin
Maximum Security
The Deception
The Conspiracy
Maximum Security novellas
Before Nightfall
Shadows at Dawn
Wait Until Dark
The Raines of Wind Canyon
Against the Mark
Against the Edge
Against the Odds
Against the Sun
Against the Night
Against the Storm
Against the Law
Against the Fire
Against the Wind
Season of Strangers
Scent of Roses
The Summit
New York Times Bestselling Author
Kat Martin
The Ultimate Betrayal
To the brave men and women of our armed forces who risk their lives daily to keep us safe.
And to US Army Colonel Thom Nicholson for his many years of friendship and his help with this book.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Excerpt from The Deception by Kat Martin
ONE
Dallas, Texas
Too much downtime always made him nervous, kind of edgy as he waited for the other shoe to drop. It had been a week since his last client had headed back to Nashville, Bran’s services as a bodyguard no longer required. A week of peace and quiet he should have enjoyed.
Instead, he had a nagging feeling that something bad was coming down the line.
Lounging back in the chair behind his desk at Maximum Security, Brandon Garrett ended the phone conversation he’d been having with Heath Ford, a Dallas police detective. Ford was working a murder case that involved one of Bran’s former clients, a white rapper who called himself String Bean. Unfortunately for Bean, when Bran’s services had ended after his last concert tour, he had been murdered.
Bran’s jaw clenched. String Bean had been a cocky, arrogant little prick, but he didn’t deserve to die. The only good news was that Ford was the best detective on the force. He was following a lead that looked promising, and he wouldn’t give up till he brought the killer to justice. Bran would do whatever he could to help him. Which might turn into something, but not enough to keep him busy.
The sound of the front door swinging open caught his attention and he glanced up. A gust of cool, late October air swept in, along with a petite, whirlwind of a woman with the prettiest strawberry blond hair Bran had ever seen.
She had a sweet little body to match her fiery long hair, he noticed, enhanced by the dark blue stretch jeans curving over her sexy ass and the peach knit top that hugged her breasts.
It wasn’t tough to read the anxiety in her big green eyes as she surveyed the room, gripping a wheeled carry-on, probably coming straight from the airport. But instead of walking to where the receptionist, Mindy Stewart, sat behind the front desk, she paused.
Her glance slid past the dark red, tufted leather sofa and chairs in the waiting area, over the antique farm tools decorating the walls, to the rows of oak desks where Jonah Wolfe, Jaxon Ryker, Lissa Blayne, and Jason Maddox were all hard at work.
Those green eyes landed on Bran, and as she started toward him, there was something about her that rang a distant bell. Interest piqued, he rose from his chair. “Can I help you?”
“You’re Brandon Garrett, right? You were a friend of my brother’s. Danny Kegan? I recognize you from the photos Danny sent home.”
The mention of his best friend’s name hit him like a blow, and the muscles across his stomach clenched. Daniel Kegan had been a member of his spec ops team, a brother, not just a friend. Danny had saved Bran’s life at the cost of his own. He was KIA in Afghanistan.
Bran stared down at the girl, who was maybe five foot four. “You’re Jessie,” he said, remembering the younger sister Daniel Kegan had talked so much about. “You look like him. Same color hair and eyes.” An image of Danny’s face arose along with a painful memory of the day he died. Bran forced away the images of blood and death and concentrated on the woman.
Nervously she licked her lips, which were plump and pink and fit her delicate features perfectly.
“My brother said if I ever needed help, I should come to you. He said you’d help me no matter what.” She glanced back toward the door, and his mind shifted away from the physical jolt he felt as he looked at her to the worry in her eyes.
“Danny was my closest friend. Whatever you need, I’ll help. Come on. Let’s go into the conference room and you can tell me what’s going on.” When her gaze shot back to the door, his senses went on alert.
“I didn’t mean I needed your help later,” Jessie said nervously. “I meant I need your help right now.”
Gunshots exploded through the windows. “Get down!” Bran shoved Jessie to the floor behind his desk and covered her with his body as glass shattered and a stream of bullets sprayed across the room.
Ryker popped up, gun drawn, and ran for the door. Maddox and Lissa were shuffling through their desks, arming themselves. Wolfe drew his ankle
gun and ran for the rear entrance, ready for any threat that might come from there.
“Black SUV with tinted windows,” Ryker called back. Six feet of solid muscle, dark hair and eyes, Jax was a former navy SEAL, currently a PI and occasional bounty hunter. “Couldn’t get a plate number.” Jax’s gaze swung to the front of the room. “Mindy, you okay?”
She eased up from beneath her desk. “I—I’m okay. Should I call the police?” Around here, it was never good to jump to conclusions.
Bran hauled Jessie to her feet. He could feel her trembling. Her eyes looked even bigger and brighter than they had before. “Are they coming back?” he asked.
“I—I don’t know. It could have just been a warning.”
Bran turned to Mindy. “Unless someone’s already phoned it in, let’s wait to call the cops till we know what’s going on.” His attention returned to Jessie. “We need to talk.”
She just nodded. Her face had gone pale, making a fine line of freckles stand out on her forehead and the bridge of her nose.
Bran took her arm and urged her toward the conference room. “Keep a sharp eye,” he said to The Max crew. “Just in case.”
* * *
Jessie sank unsteadily into one of the rolling chairs around the long oak conference table. The man she had come to see, Brandon Garrett, sat down beside her.
“Okay, let’s hear it,” he said. “What’s going on?”
She thought of the men who had just shot up his office and her pulse started thumping again. “Danny said if I ever needed help—”
“Yeah, I get that. Your brother knew he could count on me. Like I said, I’ll help you any way I can, but I need to know what’s going on.”
Bran was taller than Danny, around six-three, she guessed, with a soldier’s lean, hard body, V-shaped, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. Powerful biceps bulged beneath the sleeves of his dark blue T-shirt. With his slightly too-long mink-brown hair, straight nose and masculine features, he was ridiculously handsome, except for the hard line of his jaw and the darkness in his eyes that contrasted sharply with their beautiful shade of cobalt blue.
“Start at the beginning,” he said.
Jessie took a shaky breath and let it out slowly, giving herself time to think. “I’m not exactly sure where the beginning actually is. My father was Colonel James Kegan, Commander, US Army Alamo Chemical Depot.”
Bran nodded. “Danny mentioned that. He was very proud of his dad.”
“Dad was proud of Danny, too. He was a great father.”
Bran’s gaze narrowed on her face. “You said was. When did he die?”
“He died on August 15. I still have trouble believing he’s actually gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“My father is the reason I’m here. Just before he died, a little over two months ago, he was removed from active duty. He was charged with larceny—the theft of military property, specifically chemical weapons stored at the depot. Because the army believed he was selling the weapons to a foreign entity, he was also charged with espionage and treason, and confined to the stockade at Fort Carson. At the hearing he pleaded not guilty to all charges, but he died before he could prove it.”
Bran leaned back in his chair. “The timing’s unfortunate to say the least.”
“That’s the thing. My father didn’t just conveniently have a heart attack five days after they arrested him. He was murdered. The perfect scapegoat for the real criminals.”
Bran’s gaze sharpened. “How do you fit into the picture, and why were those men shooting at you?”
“I’m a freelance journalist. I investigate unsolved crimes, environmental disasters, political scandals, celebrity misdeeds, anything that makes an interesting story and maybe does some good. Mostly the articles are published digitally in online magazines. But I have a certain reputation for thoroughness and honesty that has helped me grow a sizable audience. In other words, I’m good at my job.”
A corner of his mouth edged up. She remembered her brother telling her that Brandon Garrett was a heartbreaker and that if Danny ever brought him home, she was forbidden to go out with him. Not that she ever paid much attention to her older brother when it came to dating. But now that she had met Bran, she understood her brother’s warning.
“I’m guessing you decided to investigate the theft of chemical weapons from the depot,” Bran said. “The crime your father was charged with.”
“The crime my father was wrongly accused of committing.”
“All right, we’ll assume for now that’s true.”
“It’s true. I know my father. He was a soldier’s soldier, army all the way. Add to that, he was a patriot. He would never do anything to harm our country or the people in it. Those munitions stored at the depot? The contents are deadly. God only knows how many people could be killed.”
Bran’s dark eyebrows drew together. “Are you saying the army never recovered the stolen property?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. They’re still searching, but as far as they’re concerned, the man responsible for the theft is dead. They claim that’s the reason they haven’t been able to find the munitions, or even a link to anyone else involved.”
“But you believe they can’t find a link because your father wasn’t the guy behind the thefts.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you talk to him before he died?”
Her throat tightened. She missed him so much. “No. He never called me. He didn’t want me to know anything about it. I think he was sure he could prove his innocence and it would all go away.”
“But that didn’t happen.”
“No, and without his help, it makes all of this even more difficult.” She inhaled deeply, needing a moment to compose herself.
“I was devastated by my father’s death,” she continued. “It took a while for me to accept that he was actually gone and decide to investigate what really happened. Once I started, I was determined to prove his innocence. I had just begun asking questions and trying to get answers when I realized I was being followed and that perhaps my life was in danger.”
Bran seemed to be watching her closely. “Are you sure what you’re doing is worth that kind of risk? Your dad wouldn’t want you to die trying to save his reputation.”
“It’s worth it to me. I’m not giving up—which is the reason those men were waiting for me at the airport when my plane landed. Or I’m assuming that’s how they found me. I’m pretty sure somebody’s been watching me for weeks, but this is the first time they’ve openly threatened me.”
“Who’s they?”
Jessie gripped her hands tighter beneath the table. “I don’t know. I’m hoping you can help me find out.”
TWO
Bran could tell by the dark look on Chase’s face when he walked into the office and saw the broken windows—his brother wasn’t happy. He took a look around and headed straight for Bran. At least the glass on the floor had been swept up.
“What the hell, little brother?” Chase propped his hands on his hips as he surveyed the jagged shards left in the window frames, all that remained after the shooting.
“Take it easy. I’ve already called the glass company. They’re sending a guy out to take measurements and replace the panes. I’ll take care of the cost.”
“It’s not the money and you know it.” Considering they were each worth millions, thanks to the extremely profitable oil-and-gas business their father had left them and the great job their brother, Reese, as CEO, had been doing to grow the company.
“Someone could have been seriously injured or even killed,” Chase said. He was the oldest of the Garrett brothers, brown eyes, dark blond hair, a hard jaw rimmed by a short, dark blond beard. Chase was newly married and extremely happy. Well, until today. “What’s going on?”
Bran tipped his head toward the woman quietly si
tting in the oak chair next to his desk. “Chase, meet Jessie Kegan. She’s a journalist from Colorado. And Daniel Kegan’s younger sister.” After the shooting, there had been no more problems, but the back door was now locked and Jax was keeping an eye on the front just in case.
Chase’s dark gaze went to Jessie, but he didn’t have to ask who Daniel Kegan was. He knew how close Danny and Bran had been, knew Danny had been killed in the war—killed saving Bran’s life. Knew the pain his friend’s death had caused.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jessie,” Chase said. “I assume all of this has something to do with you.”
“I came to ask for Brandon’s help. I didn’t mean to bring trouble down on all of you.”
Chase’s expression softened. “Trouble kind of goes with the territory when you’re in the security business.” His gaze returned to Bran. “I take it you’re going to help Ms. Kegan solve her problem.”
“I’ll keep her safe. But the problem won’t be solved until we track down the people involved. To do that, we’re going to need to go back to Colorado.”
“When are you leaving?”
Bran glanced toward the broken windows, his hand automatically going to the custom grip on the Glock 19 now clipped to his belt. “I’d say the sooner the better.”
“How are you getting there?”
“It’s too far to drive. Less than three hours by plane.”
“Less than that if you take the company jet.”
“If I fly us down in the Baron, I’ll have a little more flexibility. Not sure where we might end up. That is if you aren’t planning to use it.”
“I don’t have anything planned. But keep me posted, and if you need help, call me.”
“Will do.”
Chase headed for his office. So far the cops hadn’t shown up, and it looked like they weren’t going to. Reporting the incident without any info or even a plate number on the vehicle wouldn’t do jack, so it didn’t really matter.
“You own a plane?” Jessie asked.
“Technically, it’s Chase’s, but my brothers and I all share it. We don’t know where this thing with your father is headed. With the plane, we’ll be able to move around more easily, depending on what we find out.”
