Finch (Kindred #6)

by Scarlett Finn

  “Me?” Zara asked, going to stand behind Zave on the couch. “Who else do I know?”

  Zara peered at Brodie, who answered, “You know fucking everyone.”

  “But who else is…”

  “Enemies of the Kindred?” Brodie asked, and he wasn’t as incredulous as his wife. “We’ve got plenty of those.”

  Zara probed for specifics. “They were both male?”

  She nodded. “One of them didn’t fit in at all,” Devon said. “He was… normal.” It took her a second to pick the right benign word. “He was warm, friendly even, and had the cutest dimples—”

  “Leatt,” Brodie spat. “Another fucker who felt you up. This your ex convention?”

  Devon was learning that Brodie didn’t make a lot of friends. Maybe that was why so many people asked after Zara because Zara made a positive impression while Brodie just rubbed people the wrong way.

  “Benedict Leatt,” Zara said, her brows high on her forehead. “Ben is in league with Grant?”

  Brodie wasn’t surprised. “Makes sense. He’s the one who killed him.”

  “That was a one-time job,” Devon explained, trying to remember exactly what had been said. “He said that was a one-time job and he didn’t join Syn until after…”

  “After what?” Brodie asked, dropping down onto the end of the couch she was on.

  “Something about getting a call on the morning of a Game Time exchange, something about a Kahlil and a Sikorski. He joined Syn after that.” Taking her eyes from the table, she searched everyone else. “Does that make sense?”

  Zara didn’t answer directly, but the words she said to her husband betrayed that she understood. “Kahlil told us that Leatt was watching from close by.” Zara smiled. “The lying little shit, God rest his soul.” She took a breath. “Money. Money and power,” Zara said. “That was what Leatt wanted, remember? I guess he thinks he’ll get it with Syn.”

  “Good,” Brodie said. “Because he won’t get it with the Kindred. He won’t be getting a sniff of your pussy, either. All he’ll get is a meeting with Maverick, soon as I line up the shot.”

  Leatt wasn’t the last man on the team. Devon had to make them aware of the other member because she was still sure he was the most lethal. “You won’t be alone, they have a sniper.”

  This piqued Brodie’s interest, not in concern, but amusement. “Who the fuck they got?” Brodie asked. “I know everyone in the game.”

  “Tell us what you remember about him,” Zara said. “Anything will help.”

  Her frown was slow, as she recalled the details of Syn’s sniper. “He was… I don’t know. He wasn’t like the others. He was crude and terrifying, and he kept asking me for sex.”

  Zave sat up straight. “Did he touch you?”

  “No,” she said. Having had time to reflect, Caine was one of the things that wouldn’t leave her thoughts. “I think he wanted to scare me because he wanted to see how I’d react to the shocking things he said. But the whole time all he did was… watch.”

  Again, she looked to the others for some sign that they understood. But it was the color draining from Zara’s face as her folded arms fell to her sides that intrigued Devon. “No,” Zara said.

  “I told you,” Brodie said, slapping his hands on his thighs before he stood up. “I fucking told you, baby!”

  “No,” Zara said again.

  “You know him?” Devon asked. It wasn’t a leap that they did; Caine had asked about Zara. But she would like to know more about their shared history.

  Zara swallowed and moistened her lips, before her glare became almost vicious. “Slick-looking motherfucker with a scar right here.” She drew a line on her neck with a fingertip, and Devon nodded. “That’s exactly how Art described him to me.”

  Brodie went to put an arm around her shoulders. But Zara pushed away from him with both hands. “Come on, baby, don’t sweat it,” Brodie said, still trying to pull her to him.

  “He doesn’t seem to like you, Raven,” Devon said. “Did you piss him off?”

  “That’s an understatement,” Zave muttered.

  Zara shoved away from Brodie. “No,” she exclaimed, shaking her head. “No! I won’t let him! That bastard!”

  Storming across the room, Zara was on a mission. “Whoa!” Brodie said. Going after her to grab her arm, he pulled her hard against him. “What the fuck are you gonna do? Grab his ear and drag him back? If Caine wants to shoot for them, let him. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You know I’m sharper than him.”

  She hit her hands on Brodie’s chest. “That’s not why I’m annoyed,” she said. “I’m annoyed because we saved his fucking life—”

  “You saved his life. I didn’t, wouldn’t either,” he said, as if he was insulted by the idea that he might.

  “I saved his life. I found out that woman was playing him. I looked after him! I brought him into the fold.”

  “And he told you that you were even,” Brodie said. “It’s how the game is played, baby. That’s the way it goes. He’s right. You saved his life. He saved yours. He doesn’t owe you a damn thing.” Zara’s mouth opened, she kind of croaked and then shut it again. “You want him to be good. Just like you want Grant to be good.” Brodie opened his arms. “And look where the fuck we are!”

  SIX

  Devon felt rude staring at the married couple. So instead of focusing on them, she left her seat and went to sit next to her husband. When she rubbed his thigh, he sat back, shifting into the corner of the couch so he could scrutinize her. Although he didn’t take her hands away from his leg, he put distance between them and that was enough to upset her.

  “Raven and Swallow will go help Swift. I’m taking you back to the island,” he said.

  “I haven’t finished. Jennifer. She’s a plant. You were meant to buy her. They wanted her on the island so she could talk to Thad, but that’s not all.” Devon twisted to see that Brodie and Zara were still hissing at each other. “You guys have to listen to this.”

  Brodie didn’t immediately shut up, but Zara took his arm and dragged him to the couch. “What?”

  Devon only wanted to say this once, and maybe announcing it to the group as opposed to one-on-one would dilute the impact of the news. “They put the girl on the island. They set it up. I don’t know how. They’re already in with the cartels because… well, because I know they are,” Devon said, having not explained about how she’d ended up being taken in the first place.

  “You don’t get away that easy,” Zara said. “Tell us everything.”

  Devon went on to tell the rest about how she’d ended up in her metal box and everything she’d been told about setting up the men who were here. The couple seated on the couch opposite her and Zave listened to every word, and although they didn’t converse, Devon could sense they were each making plans.

  “We’ll get her off the island tonight,” Brodie said. “Swift can handle things for a while. You shouldn’t be alone with the girl.”

  “It won’t matter if you’re there, beau,” Zara said. “You could hardly stand up in the witness box and claim his innocence, could you? You’re family. You’re business partners. And they’re going to put a gun in your hand. So what’s to stop this Jennifer girl of accusing Zave of rape, and then right in the middle of the trial, they put a bullet in her from a weapon registered to you.”

  “So you’re saying they have us by the balls and we should sit here doing fuck all?” Brodie asked.

  “No,” Zara said. “But you should be smart. Zave, you have access to security guys. You could have someone remove her, or you could just put her on a boat and set her out to sea, who cares what happens to her? As for accusing you of rape, unless they have a sperm sample, they don’t have any proof. Nobody in this room is going to stand up and say they laid eyes on her.”

  “They could put Thad on the stand,” Brodie said. “He could testify to seeing his cousin rape her. He could testify to treating injuries under duress.”

  Devon
hadn’t thought about that. But Brodie’s point was valid. With Thad travelling back and forth to the island so frequently, Zave could’ve been torturing and raping women throughout the years of his seclusion and simply forced his doctor cousin to patch up the worst of the injuries to prevent the women from dying.

  All the equipment and drugs that had been provided over the years, and the sedatives, oh God! If Thad testified those were to satisfy Zave’s sick urges, there would be no way to refute it.

  “You guys didn’t have sex anywhere she might get her hands on… you know,” Zara said, eyeing Zave’s groin.

  “Your jizz,” Brodie said.

  Curling her fingers into Zave’s knee, Devon didn’t want to share their intimate secrets. “No,” Zave answered, not as modest as she. “We kept it in the lab.”

  The sex, they kept the sex in the lab, not Zave’s sperm. Devon was just pleased that no one asked him to clarify that. Except, Zara wasn’t done with the questions. “Condoms go out with the trash?” she asked.

  “No condoms,” Zave said.

  Mortified, Devon’s face flamed, but Zara smiled. “Good… I mean not good, but, yeah… no condoms is good. It means no evidence, and Devon would’ve noticed someone sneaking in to swab.” Brodie laughed and Zara elbowed him. “You’re not helping.”

  “You’re babbling shit and making the girl uncomfortable. Not all women are as wanton as you, baby, some have reserve.”

  “Wanton?” Zara asked. Twisting all the way around to glare at him, she dug her elbow into his knee. “Did you just call me wanton? Damn you and your private education, McCormack.”

  Brodie opened a hand to the couple opposite. “You’re talking about my cousin’s spunk, and I’m sitting saying nothing about it. I love that you’re loose and easy, baby. It’s always worked out for me.”

  He gripped the back of her neck and turned her away to pull her back onto his chest. Zara moved on from their sniping and got back to the point. “You could get the women,” Zara said. “The ones you saved. Have them testify on your behalf.”

  That was an excellent idea. They’d been saved by this man, standing up for him was the least they could do to return the favor. Devon was one of those women and wouldn’t see her savior flounder. Except, he wasn’t of the same mind. “I wouldn’t put them through that,” Zave said.

  “And most of them were taken home by Thad,” Brodie offered. “So would we even know where to find them?”

  Zave shrugged. “I don’t care about that.”

  “I do,” Devon said, twisting to focus on her lord. “You don’t care because you’re intent on punishing yourself and you’d be quite happy to spend the rest of your life in jail, because for some reason, you still think you deserve to be punished. If you go to jail, what the hell am I gonna do? Are you really gonna let them win?”

  “They’ve won anyway,” Zave said. “What are we going to do? If they want to go out there and save the world, then fucking let them. As long as they’re not hurting innocent people, what do we care?”

  “We care that they have Game Time,” Zara said and took her husband’s hand. “There are Kindred who have lost their lives to prevent that device from falling into the wrong hands. Are you telling me you don’t give a fuck about that?”

  “I do. You want to get Game Time back, I’m on board. But I’m not going on any crusade. Not after what happened to Devon.”

  Taken aback, she couldn’t let him put up barriers between himself and the Kindred. “Don’t use me as an excuse to retreat and put yourself back into isolation,” Devon said. “I’m supposed to give you hope, not torture you, and if looking at me will only make you think of Thad, then I’ll walk away right now.”

  The phone rang, startling her as it had before. Devon was still on edge, expecting something to happen, something to go wrong at any moment. It rang again, and she wondered why Zave wasn’t getting up. But in some sort of Pavlovian response, Zara was the one to rise, cross the room, and pick up the phone.

  In the sleekest, most professional voice that Devon had ever heard, Zara chirped, “This is the office of Knight Corp’s CEO, Xavier Knight. I am Zara Bandini, how may I be of assistance?”

  Brodie scoffed. “She’s way too fucking good at that,” he murmured and lifted his hips to adjust his jeans.

  “That’s no problem, send him right up,” she said and set the phone back into its cradle. “Well, fuck a duck, the gang’s all here.” Zara planted her hands on the desk to swing her ass up onto it.

  From professional to potty mouth at breakneck speed. Devon was impressed. “Who was that?”

  “Security. We have a visitor.”

  Brodie cracked his knuckles. “Am I getting to have some fun?” he asked. “Tell me my brother rocked up, and I swear I’ll get you pregnant by sundown.”

  Zara laughed. “No fun for you, but there might be a fight.”

  Devon didn’t know what that meant, but Zara enjoyed holding onto her secrets. She and Brodie continued to make eyes at each other, but Devon was worried about her own man and his vacant stare, fixated on the table. He was switching off, pulling away, she’d just gotten him to open up, to relax enough to let her show him affection. And all of this was going to put him right back where he’d been.

  Someone rattled the door, but it was locked, so they began to pound on it. Zara went over and opened it with a flourish as though she was welcoming a professional colleague whom she was happy to see.

  But when Rig came barreling in, Devon leapt up. “I forgot about you,” she said, holding up her hands while she rushed over to her brother. “Calm down! Ok? Calm down. You don’t need to be here. I don’t need to…”

  He stopped fuming long enough to snap his gaze to Brodie, and just to make sure there was no uncertainty, Rig pointed at him and asked, “You armed?”

  Brodie held up his hands and slid his ass to the front of the couch in a slouch. “Like I’d need a gun to take you down, Rigor,” he said, tipping up his chin in a nod. “But you have your fight. I’ve got no beef with you today.”

  “Good,” Rigor said and grabbed Devon’s arm. “We’re leaving.”

  Her brother was much stronger than her and when he began to tug her along, she stumbled to keep up. When she glanced back, she saw the Kindred men on their feet. “Whoa, now, wait a second,” Zara said, slamming the door and pressing her back to it. “Devon’s been taken from us once this week. We won’t let it happen again.”

  Rigor was determined. “You’re welcome to come with me, sexy thing, or if you don’t get the fuck out my way, I’ll go through you.”

  Brodie groaned. “Now we have beef,” he said on a sigh as if this was just inconvenient.

  Devon didn’t like the menace in the fixed expression he wore when sauntering to them. “He didn’t mean to insult her,” Devon said. “He wouldn’t hurt Zara, not really.”

  But Brodie didn’t listen, he walked over, grabbed Rigor’s shoulder, and picked him up to shove him. Rigor let go of her and pushed the sniper in kind. “Fancy digs for a no-forfeit fight, but I’m up for it. If you think you can take my sister—”

  “Nobody’s taking me,” Devon said, trying to get between the men. “I’m here because I want to be here, Rig. You don’t need to save me.”

  “I thought you were safe,” he said, glaring at Brodie and then at Zave. “I’m a dick. I told her the Kindred would keep her safe, that no matter where the fuck she was, the Kindred would have her in the safest place on Earth. Then she calls me and says she’s been kidnapped in Mexico… again! You’re not staying here, with these fuckers, Von. You’re going back to your boring, bullshit life.”

  Typical that he would think he could just storm in and take over without knowing the full story. “Where nothing bad happens to me?” she asked. “It was that boring life I was snatched from, remember?”

  “And wait until you find out why,” Zara said, coming up behind her, although Devon wasn’t sure that this was the best time to tell her brother the complete
truth.

  “We shouldn’t,” Devon said, shaking her head. “It won’t change anything.”

  “It will,” Zara disagreed, folding her arms. “We’re going to need all the help we can get on this one, which means, beau, you’ve got to holster your pistol because I can’t call Caine if we need muscle. Rigor’s helped us out before.”

  “Yeah, and I lost half my men,” Rigor said.

  Zara didn’t hesitate to stand up to him. “And look what you got in return. I think once you hear what Devon found out, you’ll want to help us again.”

  Getting everyone sitting down was no easy feat. But somehow they managed to do it. Devon was saved from telling the story, Zara was regaining her equilibrium and was in a pragmatic mood. She was right, too, Devon would never have thought on her feet the way that Zara had. But by bringing the men onto the same side, the aggression dwindled, camaraderie grew, and it was nice to see her brother communicating with Raven and Swallow.

  Yet, Devon hadn’t seen Zave react at all. She was in the chair at the end of the table, with her brother perched on the arm. Zave’s lack of reaction to anything that was said made her nervous.

  “You tell me what you’ve got planned and I’m there,” Rig said. “Do you have a plan?”

  “We’re just learning this now,” Zara said, “but we’ll get there. We’re waiting on word from Swift, and as soon as we have it, we’ll move out.”

  Distracted, Devon was only half listening. “You guys plan,” she said, because she couldn’t take her eyes from Zave who hadn’t looked at her, or anyone, for the longest time. Getting up to go to him, she took his hand and gave him a pull. “Will you talk to me a minute?” He didn’t move. “Please. Just for a minute. Don’t make me beg in front of an audience.”

  He didn’t respond to her honest quip except to stand up and skirt the couch, leading her with him. Taking the twining of their fingers as a positive sign, she was happy to follow him into the washroom in the corner, which was larger than some group offices she’d worked in.