Swallow (Kindred Book 2)

by Scarlett Finn

  “Where is everyone?” she asked when Ben parked his truck and came around to help her out.

  “Like I said, it’s late,” Ben said, keeping hold of her hand as he led her up the grand front stairs to the doublewide door. When she’d come here with Grant, they’d gone in and out the back, now she had the privilege of using the main entrance.

  The L-shaped hall had stairs to the right. To the left was a long corridor, which led to the kitchen, and had doors leading off it. Having had the tour, she knew which of these rooms were communal and which were bedrooms. But that didn’t make her lower her guard. Anyone could be in those rooms lying in wait to harm her.

  Ben didn’t try to take her through any of the doors. With his hand still in hers, he took her down the corridor and into the kitchen at the back of the building. It was no longer the homely room that it had been before. When Ben stopped by the vast table, she knew he was awaiting her reaction to what lay around them.

  There were no guns. But the table was covered with other items, flashlights, heavy boots, camping equipment, and dehydrated food. A couple of hunting knives were secreted beneath a tackle box, which made her wonder what was inside, she doubted it had anything to do with fishing.

  “Wow,” she said. “Are you planning a trip?” She walked away from him, around the head of the table, trying to catalog what was laid out.

  Being careful to look out for weapons, as Tuck had advised her to do the last time she came here, she was surprised not to see any. Though in truth, the lack of hardware was noteworthy. This was another carefully choreographed scene that she was supposed to happen upon. Sutcliffe was letting her see what he wanted her to see and no more.

  Touching an item here and there, she ran a fingernail along the table and with a deliberate push of her fingertip beneath the tabletop, she affixed the audio bug Tuck had given her. It was larger than the ones they put in their ear because it needed its own power source. But she did her best to stretch as far under as she could without appearing awkward. Brodie and Tuck had made her think it was no big deal, but as soon as she stepped away from the device, she began to sweat. Now there was evidence on the premises that she was a mole and not interested in Sutcliffe’s cause.

  “We keep a regular check on inventory. We wouldn’t want to run out of anything we might need,” Ben said, gripping the back of one of the wooden chairs that stood around the table.

  “Inventory,” she muttered and cast her eyes around to the papers stuck on the wall of the kitchen perpendicular to the back door, again, these hadn’t been here the last time. She didn’t have much of a memory for maps, but the one just below her eye level was interesting. There were street names she recognized, this was a local map, yet it was hand drawn. “This is quite a sight to see.”

  Raven and Swift had been quiet in her ear. They’d told her the range of the audio and visual equipment that she wore was around a mile. In her judgment, the road she and Ben had driven from the front gate was long enough that they would be pushing those boundaries.

  “Swift’s patching in.”

  The sound of Brodie’s voice in her ear made her draw in a breath that Ben had to hear, but she sighed it out in a deliberate attempt to allay any suspicions he might have about her sudden show of relief.

  Trying to appear overwhelmed and impressed, she ogled everything she could. “This is so much information, how do you keep track of it all?”

  Ben came to her side. “No one knows every piece of information. We keep track of our own little corner and everyone works together as a team to make sure nothing gets missed,” Ben said.

  “Take a step back,” Brodie said in her ear and while touching the line of her necklace to keep it steady, she did just that, and took the chance to look upward.

  The pendant had a camera in it, but she wasn’t sure it was picking anything up. The bug under the table would allow the Kindred to keep track of her conversation because it was more powerful than the one in her ear. But she needed them to be able to see what she was seeing. Swift was good and might be able to piggyback his signal on the planted bug, making it act as a relay. If that didn’t work, they would have to make a decision to either get closer or back away. If they chose the latter, valuable intel might be lost, so it would be up to her to remember what she could.

  “What’s this one?” she asked Ben, touching the local map with a fingernail. Brodie had told her to leave as few prints as possible.

  But if Sutcliffe wanted her fingerprint all he would have to do is ask Grant for it. The CI doors were all secured with fingerprint recognition technology, so her print was on the CI system. Still, she did what she was told and used her newly manicured nails to do the touching for her.

  “That’s our storage facility,” Ben said, coming even closer to her side to examine the map with her. “Mr. Sutcliffe likes to be ready for any scenario. If for any reason we had to split up or leave in a hurry, we have supplies there that could help us find a new place to settle.”

  Playing dumb, she glanced at him. “Why would you have to leave in a hurry?” she asked and curled a fingertip around her necklace.

  “I’m with you, don’t you worry, baby,” Brodie said into her ear, and she smiled.

  The smile made Ben relax, which was good because he’d probably share more. But her expression was meant for her love. She needed his reassurance because being alone this deep in enemy territory was unsettling.

  “Mr. Sutcliffe is a thorough man,” Ben said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “He looks after his people. You know, I’m glad that you’re going to meet with him tomorrow night. I hope you’ll join us… soon.”

  Join us. That was a joke. Tuck had briefed her and Brodie that afternoon and she’d been shocked to hear that there had been an epidemic of hostage situations all across the northeast. None were big enough to warrant major national coverage. Most were written off as simply robberies and the cash was no doubt funding Sutcliffe’s cause. The calling card at each scene revealed the truth to those who knew it. “4 Tim” was written, scratched, or scorched into walls or furniture at each scene.

  The other Kindred were fueled by this news that Sutcliffe was carrying out a war at home, against his people, rather than one abroad. But they also voiced concerns that these raids could be rehearsals for something bigger that could be coming if Sutcliffe got his hands on Game Time.

  Zara heard something else when Tuck was recounting the details of the stick-ups. Tim was in the forefront of Sutcliffe’s mind and his nephew had become a martyr to the cause. Beyond the fact that suggested anyone who was killed as a result of Sutcliffe’s misguided mission would be elevated to martyr status, it also meant these people held a grudge.

  Grant had told her that Sutcliffe wanted revenge and when she heard Tim’s name was being used as a beacon at each scene, her concern for Brodie ratcheted up. He would be a prize. Anyone who could take down the man who had taken down Tim would be a hero, but she wasn’t interested in being widowed. Brodie told her to use her fear, just like she used her anger to achieve results and it surprised her just how effective that was.

  Turning her body toward the covered wall, she did her best to scan it with her pendant, though she had no confirmation if her effort was useful. “Do you remember I told you that Sutcliffe wanted a device built by the company I work for?” she asked and Ben nodded. “I told you that its purpose is to spread disease. It’s meant to kill people. Doesn’t that concern you? You’ve dedicated your life to medicine, to making people better. How can you be a part of something that intends to do harm?”

  “Stop trying to recruit him,” Brodie grumbled in her ear.

  “He’ll be reporting back to Sutcliffe and he can’t think that you have doubts,” Tuck added.

  Both men were right, so she moved closer to Ben again and took his hand. “I just want to know that you’re in all the way before I join the cause. You’re my friend. I’m going to need your support. Albert and I have a rocky history and Grant is my superior. I
’ll need someone to hold my hand if I’m to be a part of this.”

  His eyes became drowsy and he slid his free hand across her shoulder toward her face, she didn’t like it but she couldn’t scream and run away. For one thing, Brodie would want to know where the dude’s other hand was and he’d spill all the blood he had to in order to find out. So while still smiling, she caught his hand before it could get to her jaw and glanced away. Playing it coy, she made brief eye contact, then looked away again.

  “We shouldn’t… you know,” she said. “Get too close. Not until we’ve spoken to Sutcliffe about it.” Nodding, she blinked up, fluttering her lashes, she waited expectantly for him to concur and with a sigh he did.

  “You’re right,” Ben said.

  Brodie’s mood soured. “You’ve got sixty seconds to get out of there before I come in.” And blow the whole op, though Brodie didn’t say that.

  The deep growl in his voice betrayed his anger and she wasn’t going to test how long he could hold on to his restraint because she’d never known him to maintain any reserve.

  “I should go,” she said. “I wanted to come here, to see the place again, but… I feel like I’m trespassing on something private, you know? I don’t want Sutcliffe to think that I’m going behind his back.”

  “He knows you’re here,” Ben said.

  Zara had figured that, from the arranged set to the influence he had over his people, Sutcliffe controlled everything. “Did he ask you to report back?”

  “Yes,” Ben said with a deprecating laugh. “But I think he asked the wrong man. I don’t think I could say a bad word about you.” That was a nice thing to say, even if this guy was a sociopath, which he would have to be to subscribe to Sutcliffe’s ideology.

  “Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight,” Brodie said into her ear, making the hair on her body spring up.

  Urgency made her want to run, but she had to keep her cool if she wanted to prevent suspicion. “Thanks for tonight,” she said and edged past Ben. “After tomorrow night, everything in my life will change.”

  “It’s worth it,” he said, moving with her as she left the kitchen to walk up the hall.

  There wasn’t a second to spare. She took Brodie at his word. He and Tuck could get in here, but if they did it would destroy everything they were working towards. The only thing they’d achieve was killing the guy that was pissing Brodie off and that did nothing for their long-term goal.

  “I’ll take you home,” Ben said, opening the front door for her.

  “It’s a beautiful night,” she said, looking at the sky as she descended the stairs. Her statement was as much for Brodie as it was for Ben. Telling him she could see the sky would hopefully halt his countdown. “I think I’ll enjoy the walk.”

  “I brought you, I have to take you home,” Ben said, putting an arm around her shoulders to direct her back into the truck.

  It might be a gentlemanly thing to do, though it would probably have been more chivalrous to offer to walk with her than to coerce her into a vehicle. But the lights she’d seen on the land coming in might belong to something she wasn’t supposed to see. They wouldn’t want her wandering around and possibly getting lost, or claiming to be lost, and stumbling onto something Sutcliffe would declare as classified.

  She wanted to walk so that she could try to see the things she wasn’t supposed to and because she didn’t want Ben taking her back to her motel. But she caught a break when he agreed to drop her off at the taxi stand near their bar. He put up no fight and was preoccupied, so she figured he was keen to get back to report to Sutcliffe.

  A man so eager to please a superior had something to prove. A man who resisted intimacy with a woman until he had the say so from another man had an inferiority complex. Leaving Ben’s truck, she compared her date with her love and knew her tastes could only be satisfied by a man motivated by his own will.

  The first cab pulled into the taxi stand less than thirty seconds after Ben disappeared around the corner. But she chose instead to walk the route back to the motel because it was a nice night and she didn’t want to be sitting in the motel room alone waiting for Brodie and Tuck to return. Walking killed time.

  Tonight she’d accomplished the mission she’d been assigned and despite spikes of anxiety, she’d succeeded. Now her thoughts turned to the following night. Sutcliffe wouldn’t be as easily fooled. Grant wanted Game Time back so he could hand it over to Sutcliffe and she was to stand up and declare her allegiance to their cause.

  Zara wasn’t so confident about succeeding, but Brodie would be with her, he’d have Maverick trained to protect her. Even if she messed up big time, her love would be there to catch her if she fell.

  TWENTY-TWO

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  Coming back to the manor had been a short-lived relief. There had been no time to relax and enjoy being home. The Kindred were preparing for her meeting with Sutcliffe, and the plans made her nervous. But as distracted as she’d been, she had noticed Brodie’s perpetual frown. Initially, she’d discounted it as his determination. He wanted to have a clear head, to be in the zone for the mission. But it had stayed etched on his features even through dinner.

  Tuck was downstairs in the control room, he’d made his departure after they’d eaten and she wasn’t surprised he was uncomfortable, Brodie had become increasingly surly throughout the day.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” she said in response to Brodie’s question as she gathered up the dinner plates and took them to the dishwasher. “You’ve been snapping all day.”

  “Not at you,” he snapped. She discarded the dishes to turn around and look at him. He was sitting at the kitchen island where they always ate when they were doing it as a group and still his frown cast a shadow over him.

  “Is it Art?” she asked. “Are you thinking about the last time we did this?”

  The Grand had been the venue of her first unofficial Kindred mission. It was the hotel Grant had used to demonstrate the capabilities of Game Time. Raven had kept her in his gunsights, but had Swift and the chief to back him up. Now he was running the op alone with only Swift at his side.

  “No,” he said and didn’t offer anything else.

  “It’s ok, you know,” she said, tiptoeing back toward him. “Art was with you through every mission. He’s always been with you. It can’t be easy not to have his voice guiding you.”

  “That’s not it,” Brodie said, gulping the last of the water from his glass. Pushing it away, he left his stool and came over to pick her up and sit her on the island they’d just eaten at. “It’s you.”

  Pleased that he wasn’t just shutting her out, she remained open to what he might say. “What about me?” she asked, caressing the width of his arms. “You think I’m going to screw up?”

  “I think you rely on me and I think that last night I let it go too far.”

  He was holding her neck, but scrutinizing her chest. He had too much intimate experience with her chest for her to believe he was genuinely distracted by her bosom, so she had to assume he was resisting looking her in the eye. “You mean with Ben. Nothing would’ve happened. I didn’t let him touch me.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said. “I would’ve come in there. I would’ve razed the lot if I had to get to you. If you needed me.”

  Smiling, she knew she’d been right not to doubt his assertions. “I know that. I heard you and I know you mean what you say. I got out. We were fine.”

  His eyes drifted to hers in time with his hand sliding through her hair past her ear. “We weren’t fine,” he said, tracing his fingertips on one cheekbone, his other arm came around to squeeze her close to him. “I underestimated what it was to have my girl in the field… You went into that compound and all I could do was watch.”

  Brodie had never trusted a woman enough to bring her to the manor. In fairness, he hadn’t brought her here, Art had been the one to let her in and with that concession, she’d slipped into the Kindred rank
s and into Brodie’s heart.

  “If I’d been uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have gone,” she said.

  But he wasn’t appeased. As he squinted, his lips parted. “You think that you’re hiding your nerves, but you’re not. You’ve got balls, baby. But I see it when you’re freaking.”

  She hadn’t been expecting that revelation. It was natural to be nervous when facing danger, but she tried to stay as focused as the men in the group. Brodie was usually so in his own head that she didn’t think he noticed her mood.

  Tracing her fingernails back and forth on his neck, Zara relented honesty because denials would only reinforce the truth he’d discovered. “You’ve never said anything.”

  “Because what do I know about comforting a chick?” he asked.

  “If you’re that worried about me holding my nerve, why do you let me go into the field?”

  They considered each other. The longer she sat here without an answer, the more tempted she was to fill the silence. But she’d bet that’s what Brodie was counting on, her need to speculate, so she sealed her lips, curling them around her teeth. Her brows slid up and with that subtle sign of expectation, he dropped his thumb to her chin and pushed it down enough to tempt her into letting her lower lip pop out from her mouth.

  “After this,” he said. “I’m leaving the country.”

  Alarm and terror made her tense. “What?” she said and grabbed his wrist to remove his hand from her face. “Why? Where are you going?”

  Shaking his head, he was frowning again. “I’m too in my head here,” he said. “Cabin fever, I guess.”

  Brodie and Art spent the majority of their lives overseas, and it had taken a trip abroad to help Brodie get over the grief of losing his parents. So she could understand why he thought a vacation was a good idea. But Brodie didn’t leave the country just to relax, he went to work.

  Dampening her selfish objections, she took a breath. “Do you have a job?” she asked, trying her best to be understanding. It had taken her all this time to get Brodie to look at her again, and just when she thought they were making progress, he was declaring his intention to leave her.