Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included!

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  “So they either stood still because they were at gunpoint, or they knew their killer.”

  “Bingo,” C.T. said. “That means there were possibly multiple perps. When someone starts firing their weapon, people tend to scatter. They didn’t.”

  “So they were held at gunpoint and made to watch each murder,” Dace said. “That’s some twisted shit.”

  Declan let out a slow whistle. “Form of torture. Cartel signature. Maybe a small cell like Eva thought hired out local talent who failed. They keep their hands clean, and local thug takes the fall.”

  “Let me guess,” Dace weighed in. “Our guy here that supposedly offed himself died last.”

  C.T. nodded. “Appears so. Want to know the real kicker? Analysis indicated a left-handed shooter, single weapon, and same weapon on all the vics.”

  “Why do I feel like there’s a big plot twist coming?” Dace stiffened, ready for the blow he was sure C.T. was about to deliver.

  “Our assumed suicide vic is right-handed. He didn’t shoot them. He didn’t even shoot himself.”

  Dace ran his hand through his hair after he pulled a picture of the man in question from the group. “Son of a bitch. Gun’s in his right hand, point of entry is left temple – blew straight through. Right side had to exit based on these images.”

  “That’s a nearly impossible shot to make,” C.T. said, reaching his right arm across his body as if reenacting what it would take to successfully end his life as the victim did. “Not to mention odd. Who would do that?”

  “So it’s a hit. Is that the working theory?” Dace asked.

  “That’s how we’re operating. I believe this man was in the alley the night Ivy was attacked, and someone needed to silence him.”

  “On her behalf, or so he wouldn’t talk?” Declan asked.

  “On her behalf? Are you kidding, man? How would Ivy order a hit? She doesn’t know who was there that night, nor has she had access to the outside world,” Dace defended.

  “Didn’t say she ordered it – just said on her behalf. We can keep having this argument if you need it to see this shit clearly, but as we said before, we don’t know where she’s been.”

  “She’s not a fucking stray dog, Dec.”

  “No. She’s not, but until she starts talking and gives us something, anything at this point, we can’t rule her out of anything.”

  “Jesus. This is ridiculous, and you know it. She isn’t capable of something so…sinister.” Dace held up a crime scene picture. “This is cold and calculated, total blood lust here. That’s not Ivy.”

  “That’s not the Ivy we knew,” Declan corrected. “We don’t know shit about this Ivy. Just because we want to see her as the same doesn’t mean she is.”

  “She’s been in bed and half drugged with no phone or access to the outside world, Dec,” Dace defended. “She can’t be involved.”

  C.T. chimed in, “I’m not sure which way this thing leans as far as she’s involved, but the only reason I ran the blood analysis on a victim we had already ID’d is because…we found her picture at the crime scene. It linked the two cases, and I was able to get a rush on the analysis.”

  C.T. pulled out the last picture in the folder he’d brought, and it was of a table with Ivy’s picture on top clear as day, blood splatter marking the surface.

  “Shit,” Dace said as he paced back and forth along the conference table, eyes fixed on the crime scene image that had Ivy’s face right in the middle of it.

  C.T. broke the tension. “One of our theories is that Ivy had a hit on her, and this guy failed to finish the job and paid with his life.”

  “Which means someone knows she’s alive, and that information didn’t hit the media,” Dace said. “Hell, her case, in general, didn’t. Only the people involved in this case and involved with whatever she was tangled in that night know anything.”

  “I don’t think this came from my department. The case is locked, and I’m the only one who holds the key right now.”

  “What about the team that processed the scene?” Luke asked.

  “They don’t know who she is. They just processed the scene, man. They don’t get that deep in the case.”

  “I’ve been watching for chatter too,” Liam said. “Cell phones, email, social media, all the communication platforms…nothing.”

  “What’s your other theory, Charlie Tango?” Declan asked, knowing what was about to be revealed would sting a little.

  He paused. “I’m really sorry, Dace. The other theory is retaliation…for what happened to Ivy.”

  “You think I did this?”

  “No. Of course not. Besides, I know where you were when this went down. I know where all of you were.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Luke said. “Glad you ruled us out so quickly.”

  “You know I’m just doing my job, and it’s nothing personal. If our second theory is on point, that means she’s messed up in something, and they’re looking for her.”

  “Or they’re looking for her because they want her dead too. Maybe she saw something, was a witness to a crime or something. Maybe, whoever did this – Cartel – is cleaning up a lot of things.”

  “You might be right, but we don’t have anything beyond this. Now we take this information and build on it. Who did this guy know, who’s he been running with, where’s he been…the usual.”

  “Assuming you bagged cell phones?” Liam asked C.T.

  C.T. pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder he’d held the pictures in and handed it to Liam. “These are the numbers from the scene. They were definitely dealing. There were a dozen phones between them.”

  “Okay, let me run these numbers and see who they’ve been talking to. I have a number from Ivy’s cell phone – maybe there’s a link somewhere? Might take a while, but I can have system do the heavy lifting here and sort the data. This was two nights ago?” Liam asked, pecking at his keyboard per usual. “Have you tapped into the cameras yet?”

  “I need a warrant and don’t have cause yet to get it. They’re making it harder and harder…”

  “Ehh. Screw warrants – this shit is easy. I don’t know why you guys mess with all that,” Liam said, pulling information from C.T.’s file.

  “You mean, why do we follow the law? Because it’s the fucking law.”

  “Turn around and don’t watch then because this is really fucking illegal. Even though I know you were counting on me doing it.” Liam laughed.

  “As long as I don’t ask for it, I’m clear. I can’t help it if you take it upon yourself to go looking through shit you aren’t supposed to.”

  “Touché.”

  “What the…” Liam sat straighter, laser-focused on his work. “We have a problem.”

  He sat back in his chair, hands in his lap as he contemplated his findings before he finally turned to the group and said, “Footage is gone. There’s nothin’. Either someone beat me to it, or they turned them off just before the murders.”

  “This was premeditated,” Dace said. “Someone with the ability to tap into city cameras…”

  “Private security too – it’s all dark during the time of the crime. I don’t even have a doorbell camera off anyone’s house.”

  “So we have a staged crime scene with multiple vics made to watch, so vengeance? They wanted someone in that house to pay, and Ivy’s picture in the mix, all after Ivy was nearly killed by one of the dead men at the crime scene…”

  “I have an unmarked black SUV on the gas station camera three blocks away from the murders on an otherwise deserted street from that time of night,” Liam added. “Make that two.”

  “Shit,” C.T. responded.

  “Which theory are you leaning toward now, Charlie Tango? The one where Ivy’s a bad guy or being hunted?”

  “Fuck.” He hesitated, scanning the images on the table, then the security footage playing on a loop. “The latter.”

  “You think Ivy has something to do with this? Okay.” Dace tossed his arms out in surren
der.

  “I don’t know, Dace. The timing of it all, and her behavior combined with everything else? Yes. It could be.” C.T. hesitated, not convinced he was on the right track. “Maybe? Who fucking knows? All we can do is keep following the trail.”

  “The trail is getting shorter by the minute,” Dace admitted. “We’re all out of breadcrumbs here.”

  “I’ll keep running the analysis. Sometimes it takes a while, but we’ll find something,” Liam added. “I’ll tweak my programs as we go until we get real answers. Though I understand why Ivy doesn’t look entirely innocent, I think it’s a matter of coincidence, not guilt because we can’t prove otherwise. I’m with Dace. I think she’s being set up and probably hunted. There are too many factors against her that seem intentionally placed, and that could be why even my system here isn’t able to turn anything into a lead. Someone is doing this; I feel it.”

  Dace stood at the front of the room. “Next question: who’s hunting Ivy? And why?”

  “Perhaps, I can answer that.” A tall, dark-haired man with an accent that wasn’t quite British and not quite Australian stood in the doorway, Wylie at his side, and the O’Reilly’s friend, US Attorney Carter Landry. “Name’s Eli, and I need to see Ivy.”

  Dace’s jaw flexed and body hardened as he evaluated the man from head to toe. “The man in the picture.”

  13

  “Picture? Surely, there aren’t any pictures of me anywhere,” Eli said.

  “On Ivy’s phone,” Dace replied.

  “Oh, that…” The man seemed unbothered, his confidence oozing and demeanor cocky.

  “Yeah, that. I imagine you’ve run facial through all the databases, then ran your own algorithms and the usual to figure out who I am.”

  “And it turned up jack shit,” Liam deadpanned. “How about a name?”

  “Are you the one who’s hard of hearing? I said, Eli’s the name.”

  “No, asshole, but Eli isn’t what I’m looking for, and if you know I already ran facials and algos, then you know I can run names too…hell, the DMV can run your name.”

  “Gotcha, chap. Eli Clayton, with a C.”

  “That’s it? Eli Clayton? Two first names, no last name?”

  “I suppose so,” Eli said with a pompous air about him. “You won’t find anything on me, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’m a lot like you all that way.”

  “Yet you know who we are, where to find us, and apparently know our brother’s hard of hearing,” Dace chided.

  “I’m not hard of hearing. He’s just an asshole or misinformed.” Liam tended to be laid-back and unfazed by most things, but this guy was getting under his skin.

  “Perhaps I heard wrong then. No offense, aye?”

  “Aye?” Liam shook his head. “Are you for real? If you know we don’t like being found and prefer to remain anonymous, then you know you’re walking a dangerous line here.”

  The corner of Eli’s mouth crooked in a near smile, and he shrugged. “What can I say? I take chances. Besides, you hurt me, you hurt Ivy, and I know none of you would do that no matter how big a prick I become. So, where can I find her? It’s urgent that I get to her.”

  “She isn’t here,” Dace said. “Let’s help each other help Ivy. Start by telling us how you know her.”

  “First, I know she’s here. I followed her to Portland, know she nearly made it to you, and wound up in the hospital. When I went to retrieve her, she was gone. After a pretty quick process of elimination, I knew she’d be here. Your officer friend actually led me right to you. Couple of days of recon and boom, you’re a frequent flyer at Watermark Tower all of a sudden and so is that Dr. Mendoza from the hospital…and who’s that other guy? Oh yes, Dr. Mason Charles from McKenzie Ridge. I assume Nurse Carly is tending to Ivy?”

  “Jesus Christ,” Declan said.

  “Flattered, but it’s Eli. Eli Clayton, not Jesus.”

  Wylie snorted, drawing attention to himself, while Carter remained silent.

  “Either of you want to chime in here? Where’d this guy come from, and why’d you let him in?”

  “I was up north on a federal case and received a message saying I was needed here by exactly…” Carter looked at his watch. “Ten minutes ago. Unknown sender – could trace it through Liam’s crap on my phone.”

  Liam tossed Carter an awkward look. “You could’ve called? Texted?”

  “You’d think. Phone went dead after that. So I found a car and hauled ass down here. When I walked up to the building, Wy was letting him in.”

  “You set this up.” Wylie looked at Eli. “You wanted him here.”

  “Indeed. I knew he wouldn’t fail if he thought you all were threatened – been infiltrated or some dramatic scene. Worked – I’m impressed. I’m certain his credentials will prove to be essential, and you might get a nice convictable case as your reward.”

  “I was passing through the lobby after my workout and this guy” — Wylie tosses a thumb in Eli’s direction — “is standing at the door and fucking waves at me.”

  “Just being friendly. Figured that was the easiest way in. Had I flown you a bird, I’m certain the meeting would’ve been more of a waving of pistols.”

  “Pistols?”

  “It’s a saying, no?”

  “No,” Dace said. “Though I’m sure my brother appreciates your manners and all, but you still haven’t said why you’re here and what you want.”

  “Sure, I did. I’d like to see Ivy, mate,” Eli said, sounding more Aussie than British.

  “Then we’ve got a problem because I don’t know where she is.” Dace shrugged. “She left years ago, and I haven’t been able to locate her since.”

  “Now, Dace is it?” Eli asked. “You don’t have to answer because I know I’m right. You’re protecting her right now as only you would. I admire that. You’re exactly as she described you.”

  “Really?” Dace snickered. “She told you about me?”

  “No, she told me about all of you. Let’s see if I got this right. You” — he pointed at Declan — “the eldest brother, the fierce leader the rest of these guys look to for…well, everything. You’re an honorable man. Much respect.”

  Declan’s brow rose with his curiosity, but he remained silent while this stranger continued to monologue like a scene out of a movie.

  “Next, we have the twins – cut from the same cloth, but different as night and day,” Eli continued. “Luke. Intimidating, driven, fierce, most likely to take a bullet for his family and country. But in the end, nothing more than a gentle giant who loves as fiercely as he fights.”

  Luke stood unfazed by Eli’s taunting, if that was what this was.

  “Liam, the devoted father, devoted brother, from America’s most wanted hatched to its savior baker – that took big balls.” Eli was referring to Liam’s early days when the government caught Liam hacking into government systems to show them how vulnerable they were, and rather than prosecute the teenaged Liam, they hired him. “That was well played, much respect, though I thought you’d see me coming. I’d like to offer condolences for your first wife. Any man who can come back from that deserves much respect.”

  “I didn’t see you coming because I couldn’t get a hit on facial rec…”

  “Oh, but you didn’t need to know who I was for that. I’m certain you have my face everywhere, watching for my to show up somewhere. You’re too smart not to watch for my movement.”

  Liam nodded. “Jammer?”

  “Designed by you, I imagine.” Eli was throwing grenades, using the brothers’ own intelligence and technology against them and rubbing it in.

  “Personal jammers are above your pay grade, I’m guessing. They require the highest clearance there is. So, again, where’d you get it? Who do you work for?”

  “Liam, what’s a personal jammer?” Carter asked.

  “I’m guessing it’s in that bulky watch he’s wearing. It’s like any other jammer – blocks a signal – but this one is designed to move with
you on a smaller scale. Before anyone knows their camera feed was interrupted, towers were down, or phone didn’t work…you’re gone. Undetected. It’s like a moving glitch.”

  “Yes. It’s like being an invisible man – works impeccably.” Eli winked. “You didn’t see me coming. Didn’t even see me outside your building. Major security flaw. You should look into that.”

  Liam didn’t respond to Eli’s taunting. He knew better than to give a reaction of any kind. That’s what Eli was doing, and each of them knew it because they would do the same if roles were reversed, and they were looking for information. Eli was trying to break them – just one of them. It was all he really needed.

  “Wylie, the youngest O’Reilly, but clearly…the biggest.” Eli’s expression and body language suggested he was impressed and perhaps mocking. It was hard to tell, and that was how he liked it. “Sweet…that’s what they call you, right? Constantly trying to keep up with the big boys but you don’t realize you’ve already exceeded them, and they’re all trying to keep up with you.” Eli paused, a snide chuckle escaped him as he took in Wylie’s confused look. “Didn’t know that, did you? Interesting.”

  “It seems you’re all a bit speechless…” Eli went on.

  “Not speechless, just waiting for you to finish this little one-man show of yours,” Dace chided. “If you’re waiting for one of us to be impressed, you picked the wrong crowd.”

  “Nah, friend. We are friends; you just don’t know it yet. I feel like I’ve known the likes of you for years. Almost like…family.” Eli was provoking them any way he could. Perhaps he’d pique their curiosity, and they’d give in and lead him to what he wanted. “Like Carter here. You’ve come a long way over the years – from military grunt, to special ops, to a fancy office in DC where you trust and rely on these guys more than you do the actual government you serve. Much like these guys, you’ve all come up together. He’s like the honorary sixth O’Reilly brother, making seven total, am I right? There’s a sister…”

  “You don’t want to go there. Whatever you think you know about our sister, forget it.”

  “Ooh. That sounded like a threat. I assure you, I’m perfectly harmless…when I get what I want. I can be your biggest ally or your fiercest threat.” Eli smiled. “Where can I find Ivy?”