Operation Reunion

by Justine Davis

  Kayla whirled back. “You were there. You were seen there.”

  When Chad looked away, still refusing to speak, Dane’s disgust spilled over. “This is pointless.”

  “Yes, it is,” Kayla said, surprising him with both her words and her tone; her voice was a harsh, bitter thing. She looked at Quinn. “You might as well call Detective Dunbar.”

  Quinn nodded. “Between us we’ll find whoever it is he’s protecting. Just like we found him. Of course, it’ll go worse for him—” he jerked a thumb toward Chad “—because he refused to cooperate, but he’s already in so much trouble it won’t matter much.”

  “Wait, wait,” Chad stammered. “Kayla, you can’t do that. I’m your brother.”

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Dane asked, almost astonished at the man’s refusal to understand. “You think you’re just going to take off again, run?”

  Chad looked at him. His words were tinged with his old bluster, but Dane saw the doubt in his eyes. “She won’t turn me in.”

  “This is for real, Chad. It’s out of your hands, our hands. You won’t tell your own sister, the woman who’s stood up for you for ten damned years, the truth, but I bet by the time the police get done with you you’ll spill it all.”

  “But—”

  “And they’ll realize quickly enough you didn’t do it all on your own,” Dane said. “You’re not smart enough.”

  Chad let out a foul curse. “You always did think you were so smart.”

  “He didn’t think it,” Kayla said softly, “he knew it. Because he is.”

  A stab of pain at the quiet declaration shot through Dane as he glanced at her. But she wasn’t looking at him; she was staring at her brother. This time he wasn’t sure what she was thinking, only that she was; her expression told him her mind was racing.

  “You two are the perfect couple,” Chad said, that trace of bluster growing stronger. “You always thought you were better than everyone.”

  Dane almost laughed at that; Chad seemed to have a very different memory of their adolescence than he and Kayla had.

  “If that’s the way you feel about me, then why did you come back at all?” Kayla asked. She sounded flat, emotionless. “Why the notes even? Why bother?”

  Chad shifted, as if her tone had made him uncomfortable, draining away some of his regained swagger. “You’re my sister.”

  “And that obviously means less than nothing to you because you won’t even tell me the truth.” She looked at Quinn again. “Make the call.”

  Quinn nodded and pulled out his phone. Kayla again turned away.

  “No!”

  Chad’s regained facade of confidence crumbled like the shaky structure it had been. Perhaps had always been, Dane thought. Chad wasn’t inherently mean, like some. With the knowledge of maturity, something Chad had never achieved, Dane realized that behind the bullying exterior had likely been an uncertain, timid kid. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but he understood better now than back then, when he’d only been angry and scared at being a target.

  And out of that had come his resolve to change that, to become someone nobody would mess with. The pact made with Kayla that long-ago day, to defy the expectations of those who judged on appearance alone, had arisen out of her brother’s bullying, although she’d never known it until today. So in a twisted sort of way, he supposed he owed Chad a thank you. He was who he was today in part because of him.

  Kayla looked at her brother over her shoulder. “If you’re telling the truth, if you didn’t kill our parents, you’re protecting who did. And you expect me to keep protecting you?”

  “Kayla—”

  “You’re not worth it. And you’re surely not worth what you’ve cost me. The man I’ve lost over you is worth a million of you. Ten million. I’ve been a fool to believe in you.”

  She turned and started to walk away. Dane watched her, feeling tangled inside, proud that she’d done it, sorry for the pain that had been in her voice and shaken by hearing her declaration of tremendous love and loss in the same sentence.

  The sound of her footsteps echoed in the cavernous room. For a long, torturous moment that was the only sound. And then, finally, Chad broke.

  “It was Troy!” he shouted.

  Kayla stopped. Dane’s head snapped back. His brows furrowed.

  Kayla slowly turned around.

  “Troy?” she said. “You seriously expect me to believe that?”

  “It was him.”

  Cutter was on his feet, apparently reacting to the sudden upswing in tension. For the first time the dog looked away from Chad, while Dane himself was staring at the guy in disbelief. It echoed in his voice.

  “Of all the people you could try to pin this on, you pick on the poster boy for goodness and clean living? The adults’ favorite ‘why can’t you be more like him?’ guy?”

  “It was him,” Chad insisted. “We were both there that night, but I only wanted the money. Troy was broke, I was broke, and his car payment was due and I wanted to buy a motorcycle, and I remembered dad’s stash.”

  “You knew about the money in his desk?” Kayla looked puzzled.

  “God, you didn’t?”

  Kayla shook her head. “I thought it was just all the important papers—birth certificates, insurance, that kind of thing.”

  “Yeah, they were in there, too. Troy was looking through it all, searching for more money.” Chad shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t know he kept over five grand in there.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I overheard him telling Mom about it, in case she ever needed it.”

  “So you snuck into the house intending to steal from your own father?”

  Chad’s smugness at her lack of knowledge vanished.

  “Hey, I asked him for a loan, and he said no.”

  “Maybe because he knew you wouldn’t pay it back?” Dane suggested. He knew a whine was about to ensue as Chad opened his mouth to protest, and he was in no mood. He cut him off with an impatient question. “What happened?”

  Chad seemed distracted by Cutter as the dog began to turn in place, sniffing and listening at every angle. But after a moment he went on.

  “I don’t know how they heard us. I thought they were upstairs. But they walked in on us. Dad saw the money in my hand and saw Troy digging through the drawer. He yelled. And Troy freaked.”

  “Freaked? And killed both your parents?” Dane couldn’t picture the always polite, charming Troy doing any of this. The guy had never been in trouble. He was the proverbial good kid, the one every parent wished was their own. Smart, well-mannered, polite—all those things adults treasured in teenagers.

  “He did,” Chad insisted.

  Now if he’d said Rod, that he could believe. But Troy? He couldn’t help thinking Chad was pulling this out of thin air, trying to save himself. Maybe Troy was just the first person to pop into his mind when cornered.

  “Where’d he get the knife?”

  Chad didn’t look at him; he kept his pleading gaze on his sister. “It was him, I swear. I didn’t know he’d brought a knife. I didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. Until it was over.”

  Cutter growled, and Chad lowered his eyes to the dog uneasily. Kayla took a few steps back toward him.

  “Why did you run?” she asked.

  Chad’s head came up. “Because I knew they’d suspect me. Troy told me I’d better get out of there. Because it was my idea to take the money, he said I’d take the fall. Besides, nobody would ever believe it was him.” Chad flicked Dane a glance. “Because of just what you said. I was the one with a record.”

  “And he just stayed here? Went on with his life?” Kayla demanded.

  “And you just let him?” Dane added.

  “He sent me money.” Chad’s voice was resentful, and Dane wasn’t sure who it was aimed at. Life maybe. He was the type. “He owed me for what he did.”

  “Owed you?” Dane nearly shouted it. “You were
eighteen, technically an adult. Your sister was only sixteen!”

  “It wasn’t my fault! Once he found out about the money, there was no stopping him. Besides, he warned me to stay away, told me that they were still looking for me, that I was still the only suspect.”

  “And I suppose the thought that your good friend should confess and take the heat off you never occurred to you?”

  Chad shifted uncomfortably, and Dane guessed it had indeed occurred to him more than once. “But he said we’d both go to jail,” Chad whined, “and this way at least we both were free.”

  “If you call this free,” Dane muttered, indicating Chad’s sorry state with a tilt of his head.

  “It wasn’t my fault. I never—”

  “You never thought anything was ever your fault,” Kayla said. Dane had once thought he’d give anything to hear her say that, but there was such pain in her voice he took no pleasure in it now. “But you got our parents murdered as surely as if you’d used the knife yourself.”

  “I never touched them!”

  “Your partner was right about one thing,” Quinn said, breaking his silence. “In the eyes of the law you’re equally culpable. You broke into a residence with the intent to commit a felony, and in the course of that felony, two people were killed.”

  “But I didn’t mean for anything to happen to them!”

  “And I’m sure the jury will take your good intentions into account, right before they convict you of murder,” Dane said, only realizing as he said it that he was buying Chad’s story. It was too stupid, too ridiculous for him to have made it up. And it was just like Chad. His always-looking-for-the-easy-way selfishness had not only cost his own parents their lives, and nearly destroyed Kayla’s, it had cost him the woman he’d loved. Restraint was beyond him at the moment.

  “I can’t believe this,” Kayla whispered, sounding a little shell-shocked. “Or rather, I can, and it makes me sick. You make me sick. All these years I wasted, while all along you—”

  She broke off as a low, threatening growl rumbled up from Cutter’s throat. The dog whirled and took off at a head-down dead run toward the back of the building.

  Quinn swore. “I knew something was up with him. I should have paid more attention.”

  Dane realized Cutter’s restlessness hadn’t been merely reaction to the tension. “He’s headed toward the stairs,” he said as the dog left the lighted area and disappeared into the shadows. “It’s like a loft, and the office and storage rooms used to be up there.”

  “He heard something. Sensed something. And now he knows. Somebody must have gotten in when Rafe went to rig the lights.” Quinn’s voice turned sharp as he looked at Dane. “Get Kayla and Hayley outside, back to the car.”

  “What about him?” Dane asked, indicating Chad.

  “Call Rafe on the walkie-talkie and give him an update. If Chad’s stupid enough to run, Rafe’ll take him out.”

  Then he was gone, running into the shadows after the dog who had known something was wrong long before they had.

  “No,” Kayla began when Dane took her arm.

  Dane cut off her protest. “Let’s go.” He wasn’t sure if she was protesting going or wondering just what Quinn meant by the lethal Rafe taking her brother out.

  “But—”

  A loud, explosive sound cut her off this time.

  A shot.

  Kayla gasped, then ducked instinctively. Chad yelped and hit the ground, cowering into a corner. Dane turned Kayla around and found Hayley had grabbed her other arm, and between them they propelled her toward the door they’d come in. But she still didn’t seem to want to move.

  “Don’t you get it?” Dane demanded. “He’s here. The guy who murdered your parents is here. And he’s graduated from a knife to a gun.”

  Chapter 33

  “Stay here. Keep the doors locked.”

  Kayla heard the words but couldn’t seem to react. She was trembling—she could feel it, hated it, but couldn’t seem to control it. There had been so much to process so quickly that now she felt as if her brain was trying to swim upstream through a rush of revelations she’d never expected.

  Belatedly, she realized Dane wasn’t getting into the car.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Quinn might need some help in there.”

  “Rafe is there.”

  “Yes. But he’s got Chad to deal with, and obviously Troy is armed.”

  He took off back toward the building. She stared after him. When had her Dane become fearless? Heroic? Or had he always been, and it just hadn’t been put to the test until now?

  This was insane. He could be hurt—or worse. An image of Dane lying dead on the dusty floor of the old arcade nearly smothered her. The last, shaky vestige of naïveté about her brother crumbled away. She’d been a fool. And it had cost her the man she’d loved nearly half her life.

  Her Dane.

  Only he wasn’t hers. Not anymore.

  She’d been devoted to finding Chad, while for his part a few unsigned notes had been his sole effort at keeping in touch. She’d spent years searching for him, and if she’d found him earlier she would have channeled that time, energy and money into proving his innocence. Even as kids, she’d always been loyal to him, tolerating his behavior because she loved him and because every now and then he threw her a crumb of brotherly affection. Now, she doubted he even knew what the word loyalty meant.

  But she did.

  Loyalty was Dane, sticking with her for so long, despite taking second place to her foolish stubbornness. Loyalty was Dane, giving her chance after chance to move on, to make the life with him they’d always planned, always wanted.

  Loyalty was Dane, who came running when she was hurt, even after he’d finally walked away, even after being suspected himself.

  Loyalty...and love.

  And she’d worn out that love, thrown it away, all for nothing. For a brother who at best had been a careless, self-centered fool and at worst a stupidly, willingly manipulated pawn who had cost the people who loved him the most their lives.

  She glanced around. Hayley was in the back of the SUV, digging through what looked like a locker and occasionally stopping to speak into the walkie-talkie. Hayley apparently was serving as a coordinator.

  While she sat here doing nothing, like the helpless female of some fairy tale. While the men were inside, likely dealing with a confirmed killer.

  While Dane, even lacking the training the Foxworth men had, was in there.

  A muffled crack jerked her out of her self-castigating reverie.

  Another shot.

  She’d had enough of sitting on the sideline, even though it had only been a couple of minutes. She’d gotten everyone into this, after all. She scrambled out of the car and ran toward the building.

  * * *

  The moment he’d gone back through the door, Dane had heard Cutter’s bark. In the echoing space it was hard to pinpoint, but it seemed to come from the back. And from above, so Dane guessed the dog was up in the raised loft. For a moment he hesitated but decided Quinn was a pro and would instinctively assess that Chad was the lesser threat and deal with the armed man first.

  Dane ran back to where Chad had been hiding out. And collided with him as he darted out of the alcove.

  Chad staggered back a couple of steps.

  “Running, as usual?” Dane asked.

  “He’s got a gun,” Chad said, a tremor in his voice.

  “And that night he had a knife.”

  “I didn’t know—”

  “Spare me. You’ve put Kayla through hell for ten years. You’re a coward, Chad. You always have been.”

  Another shot split the dark, the sound bouncing off the walls, making it sound like the crack and roll of thunder. Chad jumped, then tried to push past Dane.

  And Dane indulged in the urge that had been prodding him since the moment they’d found Kayla’s brother huddled here in a shameless heap, not caring what he’d done to his sister for years.


  He launched a solid punch carefully aimed at Chad’s lips and nose. The crunch was immensely satisfying.

  Chad crumpled, wailing.

  Dane left him there. And ran in the direction of the shot.

  The halo of light Rafe had managed was fainter here, but after a moment his eyes adjusted and he could at least see to move, if not details and colors. He found Quinn crouched halfway up the stairs, head turned toward him. Then he saw some tension ease when he saw who was there.

  “He’s up there?” Dane whispered.

  “Yes.” Quinn’s voice was even quieter. “He leaned out to take that shot, but it was nowhere close. He was just firing blind.” Quinn glanced over toward the light. “Chad?”

  “He tried to run when he heard the shot. I stopped him but probably not for long. We’ll have to find him later.” And he had no doubts Foxworth would do just that.

  “Rafe’s around. He won’t get far. Kayla?”

  “Locked in the car.” Dane grimaced. “Whether she’ll stay there...”

  “Gutsy girl. Hard to find.”

  Dane couldn’t deny that. And wondered if Quinn was making an observation or a recommendation.

  “What now?” he asked.

  “I think Cutter has a plan.”

  Dane nearly gaped at the man. Quinn was tough, smart and a former special forces operative, and he was trusting a dog to have a plan?

  “I know, I know.” Even in a whisper Quinn’s wry tone was obvious. “I can only tell you that if I don’t trust him, things get screwed up. If I do, things always seem to work out.”

  And so he crouched there, beside Quinn, waiting on a dog to make a move.

  * * *

  Kayla was nearly there when a shape reeled out of the door they’d used to enter. She stopped abruptly, nearly slipping on the gravel. The man started to run, half stumbling back the way she had come, toward the road.

  Was it the man with the gun? Had he somehow escaped even the clever Cutter?

  Then she saw the red cap. Chad. Running away as usual. So intent on avoiding the consequences of his actions that he didn’t even see her as he ran.

  Without a second thought, she stuck a foot into his path and sent him sprawling.