by Lexi Blake
“I wasn’t there so I can’t be absolutely sure, but it was definitely a dark-colored SUV that came out of nowhere this time,” Bran replied. “Do you think it was waiting for us?”
“The question is how would he or she know where Noah was going to be?” Shelby felt a need to point out the obvious.
“We changed our plans at the last minute.” Bran ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back. “Noah and I shouldn’t have been at the office until after lunch. I was going to show him around Austin for most of the day.”
Drew turned his phone around. “Our homeless, pathetic brother might not have a phone, but he does have his computer. Has anyone checked his social media?”
“I got him a phone two days ago.” Mia looked to Carly. “We felt bad because what if he’s stuck somewhere and needs a ride?”
“I have his phone.” Bran reached into his pocket, pulling it out. “He asked me to hold on to it for him.” Bran snorted. “He alerted social media that he was in the 4L building. And there’s the selfie. And the announcement that he was going to get tacos.”
“Does he even have his accounts locked down?” Drew asked.
Bran passed him the phone. “He doesn’t even have a passcode on the phone.”
Drew snatched up the phone. “I’m going through it, then.”
“Shouldn’t we be worried about his privacy?” Carly asked.
Shelby wasn’t having that argument. “I think privacy is the least of his concerns. It’s not anything Drew won’t do already. The minute he’s in front of a computer again, he’ll hack Noah’s accounts and try to figure out what’s going on. This simply saves him twenty minutes or so of decoding Noah’s passwords.”
Drew snorted. “Twenty minutes? I can do it in five. How can he say he’s worked for a black hat and then not bother to lock any of his systems down?”
“I think we should ask him,” Bran said, putting a hand out to stop Drew. “Come on. Let’s give the kid a chance. I got the results from the lab today.”
Drew went still. “And?”
“He’s our brother.” Bran pulled an envelope out of his back pocket, handing it to Drew. “No question about it. He’s your brother and that means he’s mine. He’s awake. Let’s go talk to him and try to figure this out.”
Drew handed Bran back the phone, opening the envelope and reading the report. He sighed heavily before passing it to Mia. “All right. One of us is going to need to stay with him tonight. Or should I hire a guard at this point?”
“I’ll stay,” Case volunteered. “And I’ll bring someone in if we need to. We’ve got a whole team of well-trained bodyguards in Dallas.”
“I’ll stay, too,” Shelby offered.
Drew frowned. “Absolutely not. I’m going to talk to my brother. Be ready to leave when I come back.”
He turned and he and Bran walked out.
“The king has spoken,” Carly said. “Long live the king.”
The king wasn’t going to last for too long if he didn’t get out of his snippy mood. Shelby looked to Case. “I need you to find Hatch. I don’t care what Drew says. I’ll hire you myself if I have to.”
Mia tucked the envelope away in her bag. “Why would Hatch try to hurt Noah? I get that he doesn’t believe Noah, but Hatch has never been violent.”
Case looked to Shelby. “I’ll do it. It’s time for someone to figure out what the hell is going on. I don’t buy any of this. I don’t like it. Did you know that Noah’s mother lived close to Patricia Cain?”
Mia’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me you were looking into Noah.”
“That’s because Drew said he would do it,” Case explained. “But Drew isn’t a private investigator and he’s got way too much on his plate right now. He’s hiding something, and I’m sick of waiting for him to let the rest of us in on the joke. So yes, I’ve been quietly investigating Noah.”
“It’s not a joke.” The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to call them back. “Look, Drew’s under a lot of pressure right now. No one’s trying to hide anything. Drew is worried about Hatch and he’s got Riley and Ellie’s reception coming up and his whole family is in transition. Give him some space. If he acts like a king, it’s because you guys have treated him like one for a long time.”
“I’ve learned to follow my instincts, and I don’t like what they’re telling me right now. It’s too coincidental that suddenly a brother shows up just as we’ve taken down our enemies but discovered there was a fourth conspirator. Hatch goes missing.” Case held up a hand to stop Mia’s impending argument. “I know you love the old guy, but I didn’t grow up worshipping at Drew’s and Hatch’s feet. I can view all of this unemotionally, and something’s wrong. Noah knows something or he’s here to do something.”
“What could he do?” Mia asked, frowning her husband’s way.
“Do you think it’s possible that he’s Francine Wells’s child? I know that’s not the name on his birth certificate, but it would make sense for her to change it,” Carly said quietly. “She likely changed it a couple of times. We know she was having an affair with Benedict, so Noah’s DNA would prove a familial connection.”
Guilt twisted through Shelby, but she owed Drew. “I think we should all calm down.”
Carly stared at her. “You can say that because you know whatever it is Drew’s hiding.”
“Carly,” she began.
She shook her dark hair. “No. You’re not the one who nearly lost her husband to that bitch. You don’t get to tell me to chill out and not worry about her. I know you’re investigating and I remember exactly what she told me. She told me if we kept looking for her, she would come back and finish the job.”
Mia’s hand slipped into Case’s. “I know you’re scared, Carly. I know you still think about that night a lot, but we can’t let her get away with it.”
Carly threw her hands up. “Why not? The cops don’t seem to care. They dodge my calls. They’re not looking for her at all, and as far as I can tell, there’s not even an APB out on her.”
Because Drew had manipulated the system. “I’ll look into it for you.”
Carly sighed and shook her head. “You’re already looking into it. I get that the two of you are together, but I also know you’re up to something, and I can’t tell you how much that hurts. I thought we were friends.”
Her heart twisted. Carly was her closest friend, and she’d been hurting while Shelby was chasing a story.
It was more than a story though, wasn’t it? It was everything to these people. She’d been viewing all of this as a book she could write, something that had happened a long time ago so there would be distance, but it wasn’t true. That woman was still Mia’s mother, would be her child’s grandmother. She was still harming her children, including her youngest. Noah thought she was dead.
How would he feel when he read Shelby’s book? When his childhood was spilled out on the pages for all to see?
She’d started this as a reporter, but suddenly this was her family. These people were precious to her, and she had to question whether or not it was worth it. Writing her book wouldn’t bring Benedict back, but exposing Iris could hurt his children. It could hurt her relationship with Drew. How would he look at her when she was the one who put the scandal back out there, when she was on tour, reaping the benefits of his family history?
Drew was more important than any book. She would gather all the facts she could because she thought Carly was wrong. No matter what Iris had told her, she would come after them all.
She might be doing it right now.
“Can you check and make sure nothing odd happened this afternoon at 4L, Case? You can check all the security protocols, right?” Shelby couldn’t understand what hurting Noah would have bought Iris except perhaps a distraction.
Case took a deep breath. “I can, but from what I unders
tand it was fairly chaotic. Everyone came outside to figure out what was going on. I’ve looked at a couple of the security camera shots and there was quite a crowd. What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know.” She had no idea what Iris would get out of creating chaos in front of the building, but it seemed like too much to be a coincidence. She wouldn’t have gotten the same effect had she managed to hit Noah in front of the mall.
Was she trying to kill her son? Or manipulate him again? To what end?
She had to figure out what Iris could gain.
“I’ll send you everything I have on Noah,” Case offered. “But for tonight, I think I’m going to take my wife home and let her rest. I’ll come back in a while and let Bran go home. Carly, can you drive Shelby and Drew home, or should I send a car back?”
“Of course.” But there was no enthusiasm in her friend’s voice.
Mia and Case walked away hand in hand and she was left with her best friend. Carly had always been there for her, and now Shelby felt so far away from her. Carly stepped back and returned to the waiting room seat she’d been in for the last couple of hours.
Drew was wrong. They needed to know, and now. How would they feel when they figured out he’d done everything under their noses? That he’d known all along and hadn’t told them even when they’d felt something was wrong?
Still, she couldn’t be the one to tell them. She couldn’t break his trust that way, but there had to be some comfort she could give Carly. She slumped down in the seat next to her, the silence between them heavy.
“Do you still think about it?” That night Bran almost died seemed to haunt her friend.
Carly sighed. “Of course I do. It was almost the worst day of my life. I think about it and I still hear her telling me that she would finish the job if I didn’t do what she wanted.”
She turned toward Carly. “You have to be able to see that she’s a liar. I think she’ll try to finish the job no matter what you do.”
Carly’s hands twisted in her lap. “Why? What could she get out of it?”
“I don’t know, but I feel like she’s playing a particularly long game and we don’t know the rules yet. I understand that you’re scared, but you have to know Drew will do anything he can to protect you.”
“How about you?” Carly turned, her wide eyes taking in Shelby. “Do you think he’ll protect you?”
“I’m pretty tough.” It was good to know Carly still cared enough about her to be worried. “This isn’t the first story I’ve investigated that had some danger to it. I’m going to be careful and cover my tracks. I’ve come to care about this family very much.”
“I can see that. It’s why I’m so worried about you.”
“What’s there to worry about? You know I’m pretty good at self-defense.”
Carly shook her head. “I’m not talking about you being physically hurt, though I think that woman is capable of anything. I’m talking about Drew. I’m talking about the fact that while Drew is one of the best men I know when it comes to taking care of his family, he can be ruthless with everyone else.”
“I think I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. I do know he has a ruthless side. And a manipulative-bastard side.” She’d gotten to be an expert on the many moods of Andrew Lawless. “But underneath it all he’s looking for a woman he can trust. I care about him.”
“Yes, I knew it the minute I found out you were sleeping with him. I have to say I kind of hoped that it was all one of Drew’s weird plans to throw everyone off the scent of what he was really doing, but you two are together, aren’t you?”
“The relationship is real.”
No matter how it had started, it was definitely real now. She couldn’t hold back her feelings for him. She was crazy about that man. Every insane inch of him. He was closed off right now because he’d had a rough day, but tonight when she climbed into bed next to him, she would hold him and show him it was going to be okay.
“I know your feelings are real,” Carly said, sympathy plain in her eyes. “But what about Drew? Drew will do anything to protect his family. Why are you investigating this and not McKay-Taggart?”
She couldn’t exactly explain that one. “I think Drew trusts me and he might also see this as a way to bond us together. He’s surprisingly awkward when it comes to intimate relationships.”
“Drew doesn’t have relationships that I’ve heard of. He’s told Bran that he has no intention of marrying or having kids.”
That was kind of a kick to the gut, but then they weren’t exactly at a stage where they would discuss marriage and kids.
“I can see you haven’t talked about it.” Carly’s hand came over hers, squeezing softly.
She gave her friend a bright smile. This wasn’t something she was going to worry about now. “We just got together. I assure you, we’re not talking marriage and kids.”
“But you’re living with him. You don’t have any place to go if you break up. Moving in with Drew is risky, especially at the start of a relationship.”
“He didn’t give me much of a choice. Like I said, I’ve been introduced to Drew’s manipulative side. He maneuvered me into a corner, but it’s worked out. If we’d gone at this like normal people, it would have failed. Drew isn’t normal. He needs to feel close to the people he cares about. When he cares, he’s passionate. He’s incredibly loyal and protective. Those are good traits. They go along with his weird ones.”
“Yes, he’s incredibly protective,” Carly agreed. “So why, if he’s so in love with you, is he allowing you to work this investigation? I love Drew, but he is capable of many things. If he thought putting a target on you would take one off his siblings, he would do it.”
She didn’t understand. “He trusts me. He knows I’m smart and capable.”
“And you are, but I don’t know that you’re seeing the truth about Drew. I want this to be real. But I think if Drew was in love with you, he would do anything he could to keep you out of harm’s way. I just want you to think about it. I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt because Drew was worried about the rest of us.”
That wasn’t what he was doing. Not at all and Carly didn’t understand it. She couldn’t understand it because she didn’t have the whole story. He was protecting them from the knowledge that Iris was alive.
Or Shelby was a complete fool.
It was one of the two.
Her cell chirped and she looked down. She’d left a message with Williams Investigations hoping to get an appointment. She hadn’t expected them to get back to her so quickly, but now it was a welcome excuse to get out of this painful conversation. “I have to take this.”
Carly was wrong. She had to be. She would see that this was a different relationship for Drew. She was his partner, not some kind of distraction. And he’d given her some safety. He’d given her a contract. For Drew, that was his way of protecting her, of making her feel safe.
She pushed aside the worry. She trusted Drew. Hell, she was fairly certain she was falling in love with the man.
She answered the phone and got back to her investigation. That was what she needed to focus on now.
• • •
“My wife is worried,” Bran said as they stepped out of the waiting room and moved down the hall toward Noah’s room.
He was sure everyone was worried at this point. “I’m sorry about that. I can up our security if you think that will make her feel more at ease. Right now, though, it seems like Noah’s past is catching up with him. I don’t think this person is going to come after Carly. If I did, I would have both you and her at a safe house.”
He was worried he needed to shove Shelby in one, and she wasn’t going to like that. How had he started this with the utter certainty that he could handle it? He should have known he wouldn’t last long. In the beginning, he’d been the asshole who thought he could use her
for both her investigative skills and the fact that she would be a good shield. Now he was scrambling because the idea that she could be harmed in any way made him crazy.
“I don’t think a bodyguard is going to make Carly feel better,” Bran replied. “She needs to know that someone is still searching for Francine. From what Case has told me, no one’s working on it.”
“The police are certain she’s left the area,” Drew pointed out. “She’s quite good at hiding. She’s done it for twenty years or so.”
“Since when did we let something like that stop us? I understand the police can’t spend all their time trying to hunt down one woman, but I want to know who’s working on it from McKay-Taggart.”
“I’ll have Ian give me a report as soon as possible, but I think we’re going to have to shift some focus for a while until we figure out who’s trying to turn baby brother into roadkill.” He needed to shift the focus of this conversation. Noah was a pain in his ass, but right now he was a good diversion.
“This conversation isn’t done, but I will shelve it while we deal with Noah.” Bran stopped in front of Noah’s door. “He needs to know that you give a crap whether he lives or dies. He thinks you hate him.”
“I don’t know him.” Or anything about him, and that had to change. He’d allowed himself to be distracted with sex and work. He had a cursory report and Shelby was combing through Noah’s e-mails and his files, looking for anything that might tip them off that he was working for their mother. It was a slow process.
“Spend some time with him. Honestly, he reminds me a little of you before.”
“Before what?”
Bran stared at him. “Before the fire.”
Before the fire. Before death and tragedy and horror and loss had changed him. “Try to remember that just because he looks innocent doesn’t mean he’s got nothing to hide. That fourteen-year-old kid you’re comparing him to used to hack government sites to prove he could.”
Bran nodded as he pushed the door open. “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Hey, Noah, how’s the head holding up? You know you actually left a mark in the concrete.”
