“He didn’t fight harder,” Zara said, showing the same kind of passion that Devon felt. “He didn’t ask Raven to take down one man at a time. Didn’t ask us to kidnap and torture the bastards. He was happy coasting along because he didn’t have the stomach for revenge. He was happy chipping away, making a difference in the best way we knew how.”
Blaming everyone else was the coward’s way out as far as she was concerned. “It wasn’t enough,” Thad said. “I needed to do more. I felt she’d died and nobody gave a fuck. Nobody cared. I thought about that night I spoke to her, and I couldn’t talk to any of you about it. I was holding onto the secret that I’d spoken to her and then I wondered, what had happened? Was she trying to get my attention by lying about spending the night with my cousin… or was it true? I never asked you what happened in this house when I wasn’t here, Zave. All through those years I think I was worried I might find out she was telling the truth.”
“She wasn’t,” Zave said. “You know it. I didn’t give a fuck about women then. If I had, do you think I’d have chosen yours?”
Through Thad’s melancholy, his anger remained steady. “It’s not like you don’t have a history of taking women away from their men.”
“When I was a kid,” Zave said. “Yeah, I was a bastard back then, and I deserved every bit of shit I got for it. But I never touched any woman who belonged to my kin. It didn’t mean fuck all when she tried it on with me, she was drunk, and I was there… she thought you were screwing around on her. She never saw you, said you spent all your time at the hospital. I told her I wasn’t interested. She tried again. I shoved her away, and that was it.”
“So why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Thad asked. “If there was nothing to it, why didn’t you—”
“Because I didn’t want this. Because when she went missing, I saw how devastated you were, and I didn’t want to shatter your illusion of her. I didn’t want to take away that love.”
“I don’t believe you,” Thad said.
Grief could become resentment, but she wouldn’t let her husband be slandered. “It’s true,” Devon said in her husband’s defense. “He told me.”
“Oh, yeah, and what reason did he have to lie to you? He was trying to get into your panties for months,” Thad sneered.
“Stop it!” Bess exclaimed. “I didn’t raise you to be spiteful like this. If Zave wanted your woman, he’d have had her and he’d have told you. Zave’s done a lot of shit in his life, but he’s never been a liar. And there isn’t any reason for him to lie now. If anything, after what you did to his wife, he should want to hurt you. He could tell you anything, he could tell you that they were having an affair that lasted for years and that Bronwyn never loved you.”
“Yeah, if we were vicious pricks like you,” Tuck said. “We’d tell you we all had her.”
Thad took another leap forward. “You don’t say shit about her!”
“It’s all right to be angry,” Zave said. “I understand how guilt does that to a man, how it twists your guts, how it makes you fear your reflection, how you can be so disgusted with yourself that you think about all the things you’ve ever done wrong and take on the burdens of the world. If you want to believe I slept with Bronwyn, believe it. If you want to believe her story, or mine, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, she’s gone. And we didn’t forget her, not for a single day. Because whether it was enough or not, we saved lives for her. In her name. Slut or not. Liar or not. No woman deserves to go through that.
“You are Kindred, and you know we’ve all fucked up. We’ve failed missions. We’ve achieved goals. We’ve taken lives and saved them. And you were a part of that until you took your resentment and gave it to the fucker standing behind you.”
“Looks like the history lesson was needed after all,” Mitchell said, interrupting probably because he was concerned that the conversation may lead to a conclusion he didn’t like. “But it means shit.”
“Then let’s get back to business,” Brodie said. “Your guys are taking too long.”
Mitchell wasn’t interested in Brodie’s concerns. “There are too many people in this room. Before I bring the kid in, before you see your damned devices, I want to see mine. You,” he said, pointing a finger up at Kadie. “You take the old woman and you go, get me what I need.”
Old woman was a bit harsh, as Bess was Mitchell’s contemporary, and they’d shared a bed. “Go get the tech, Toots,” Tuck said and wouldn’t mind getting Kadie and Bess out of the firing line.
“I’m going, too,” Thad said. “I don’t trust them.”
His father nodded once, and Kadie began to ascend the stairs as Bess walked away from Devon and Thad followed them. The products that Syn had requested weren’t on the lower floor.
“Zara, I don’t like you up there,” Mitchell said. “Come down the stairs… switch places with your husband, let’s even the odds a bit and see what you’re made of.”
“She stays there,” Brodie said.
A man used to power didn’t take kindly to being questioned, and Mitchell’s anger returned, “What makes you think you get to call all the shots? We can still get in our chopper and fly away with your precious Game Time.”
Brodie sneered. “Without your golden boy? I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere without Grant. You need him, and you sure don’t need him to be an enemy, which he will be if you walk away without him.”
Mitchell wasn’t dissuaded, he took on a satisfied glow. “One of the perks of having a former Kindred member with us. Your doctor can take us to exactly where he is.”
“Our doctor?” Tuck asked. “I thought you’d claimed him as your own.”
Without addressing the slip-up, Mitchell issued his ultimatum. “If Zara stays put, then Devon comes down. One of the women needs to be down here. So far, you’ve got everything you want, so if you want my goodwill, you better do as I say. We might not have all the fancy tech you guys do, but we can still do plenty of damage with the old-fashioned stuff.” He took a phone from his pocket to hold it up. “One call and the cops will be here in a flash. I’ve got Jennifer on speed-dial, and she’s right outside the station.”
The one promise Devon had made herself was that she wouldn’t let her husband go to jail, so she began to move down the hall. But Zara held up a hand. “Stay put, Finch.” Zara was already running down the stairs, and she broke between Brodie and Tuck. “I’m here.”
Brodie gritted his teeth and growled, “What did I tell you about harm’s way, Swallow?”
Zara dug her elbow back into his ribs. “Go up. Up, now, beau.”
Brodie slunk up the stairs to take his place above the others.
Mitchell clapped once. “Now, I think we need to get Grant here, don’t you? Best way to do an exchange of prisoners is to have everyone in the same space. What do you say? Xavier, Tucker, go and get him.” They looked at Brodie. “All we’re doing is waiting here, boys. Send your women if you want.”
Devon wouldn’t be able to subdue Grant McCormack on her own. She hoped that Kadie and Bess were talking to Thad, keeping him busy, because the thinner Syn were spread, the easier they would be to take down.
“We’ll go get him as soon as we see Howie,” Tucker said, and as if right on cue, Caine came in with Rig dragging a hooded Howie between them. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, they dropped him onto the floor.
Caine rubbed his hands together. “The fucker’s built like a beanpole, but he weighs a ton.”
He strode forward, past Mitchell as Rig crouched to untie Howie’s hands. When he pulled the hood off his face, they saw that he was unconscious. “He’s alive, don’t panic,” Rig said. “We checked.”
Thad was used to transporting unconscious people, so his skills were useful to Syn after all. Caine kept on moving towards Zara. “What did I miss?” he asked.
“Xavier and Tucker are about to go and get Grant,” Mitchell said. “Wasn’t that the deal? Go on then.”
They began to move to
the opposite side of the entryway from where Devon stood. “Did you bring Game Time?” Zara asked, because the Kindred couldn’t act until they knew for sure.
“It’s in the chopper. They plan to use it as soon as they leave here,” Caine said. “They packed up everything ‘cause they’re not planning to go back to that last place we were staying at. They’re fucking nomads.”
“They?” Mitchell asked in the same way Tuck had about Thad.
Caine was halfway between Mitchell and Zara when he turned. “You didn’t tell me what the fuck we’re doing with it. Just that after we take this place, we’ve got another mission.”
Just as Zave had suspected, they intended to steal this house. “You’re not taking this place,” Zara said, her anger was a good diversion from Mitchell’s suspicion.
Devon saw Brodie begin to lower. Mitchell’s arm darted behind him and before she could scream, he pulled a weapon from his waistband and fired off a round toward Zara.
Caine moved faster than anyone else, and his body blocked Zara’s. The bullet hit him in the upper chest, sending him backwards a couple of steps. One gunshot followed the other, and when she screamed again, it was because of the gun in Brodie’s hand aimed at Mitchell, who was on the floor with a lethal hole in his head.
Zara shrieked and leaped forward, grabbing the staggering Caine, who tried to push her away. “Get away from me!”
“No! You fucking idiot, what did you do that for!” she screamed.
The blood soaked his tee shirt, and when his back hit the newel post, he slid downward against it. Zara crouched and ripped open his shirt to press her hand over the wound.
“Knew you couldn’t wait to get me naked,” Caine muttered, his eyes and lips heavy. “You see that, Rave, your bitch is mine.”
“Oh, shut up, just stop it for one second,” Zara begged him. “Look what happened! You idiot!”
Snatching her hand, he locked them together palm to palm. “There’s one thing I promised myself I’d say to you before I died,” he said, hauling her closer.
Devon covered her mouth and darted down the corridor to rush down the stairs. Zave met her on the lower case, capturing her in his arms. Nestling into him, she watched the heartbreaking scene unfold. Tears escaped, though hers were nothing to the volume seeping out of Zara.
“What?” Zara sobbed.
Pulling her even closer, Devon thought he might kiss her, except he turned his head to speak into her ear, though he didn’t whisper because they all heard what he said. “You’re a fucking bitch, and I can’t stand the sight of you.”
Smacking his chest, Zara leaned away, but their hands stayed together. “You’re not going to die,” Zara said.
Kadie, Bess, and Thad appeared at the top of the stairs. They must have heard the shots. Tuck took the stairs two at a time to snatch Kadie on the landing beside where Brodie still was. Bess and Thad remained at the top on the mezzanine, and Zara began trying to seek out the doctor.
Caine touched her cheek. “I got your pretty face to take me to the other side… blowjob would make it easier on me though,” he said, and Zara put her head on his shoulder for a second before rising higher to look at Thad.
“Why aren’t you helping him?” she screeched.
“They’re not gonna help me, honey,” Caine said and coughed, blood trickled from his mouth, but Zara put her head on his shoulder again.
Brodie descended, one step at a time. Devon was sure he was going to pull his wife away when he got to the bottom, but he didn’t. “Yeah, they are,” Brodie said and fixated on Thad. “Get your fucking ass over here and do your job. You might not be Kindred anymore… but he is.”
Zara wasn’t half as surprised as Caine was by that statement if their expressions told any story. Zara leapt up into her husband’s arms and forced an open-mouthed kiss onto him. “I get the bullet and he gets the babe,” Caine said.
Zave kissed Devon’s head and then left her alone to retrieve the nearby medical kit that had been placed just in case of injuries today.
The men gathered around as Zara dropped onto her knees beside Caine to offer reassurance. “You’re going to be ok,” she murmured.
“Get him onto his back,” Thad said. Zara helped to lie him down, and Thad began to examine the wound.
Zara stroked her fingers into Caine’s hair. “You’re an idiot,” she murmured.
“Just your type,” Caine said and groaned when Thad gestured Tuck over to apply pressure to the wound as he pulled supplies from the pack Zave had brought to him.
“Give him some room,” Thad said, trying to push Zara away, but Caine clutched her hand.
“You back off, quack,” he snarled. “We’re negotiating a price.”
Zara laughed and put a finger on his lip as she flashed a look up at her looming husband. “I’m not giving you oral. He has a long memory, you know, don’t push your luck.”
Caine’s eyes closed and he began to pale. “I’ll blame the drugs.”
Kadie was laughing when she got to Devon’s side with Bess not far behind. “He hasn’t given you any drugs,” she said.
“He should,” Caine mumbled. “I want all the drugs. The good ones.”
Devon was impressed that he was still joking while all the women’s eyes were wet. “Blood loss might work,” Tuck said, standing shoulder to shoulder between Brodie and Zave.
“Let’s remember that when it’s your gal he’s hitting on,” Brodie mumbled.
Tuck slapped his back. “Blondes aren’t his thing,” the hacker said, peering around Brodie to Zave. “Your woman will be next on the menu.”
“Fuck that,” Rig said, climbing the stairs to join the women. “My sister isn’t into sick fucks like him.”
“Ha,” Caine exclaimed, wincing through his gritted teeth. “Do your research, scumbag. Knight is the kinkiest fuck you’ll ever meet. Means your sister is all kinds of nasty. Just my type.”
Zave bristled. “Changed my mind. Let him die.”
Thad paused to see if he was serious. Tuck laughed. “We’ve got enough bodies to bury tonight… I guess you took care of Leatt out front?” Caine nodded. “Snapped his neck… it was fun to see the smug bastard go down. Those goody-goody dimples gave me migraines.”
“If we’re digging tonight anyway, what’s one more?” Zave asked.
Zave was kidding, and Thad still knew him well enough to know that. Bess whispered in her ear after Thad returned to work. “We have a medical bay and a gurney,” Bess said. “Rig, dearie, will you bring that down while we prepare the room?”
Like her, Rig had never had a mother figure, so the gentle words and soft demeanor startled him still for a minute and then he nodded.
The room, almost exactly like a typical hospital room, wasn’t far away from the custom suite, which made sense because the medical supply store was in this wing too. She, Kadie, and Bess worked to prepare the room while Rig took the gurney as Bess had requested.
“What will happen now?” Kadie asked, helping Devon with the sheets as Bess dealt with the medical equipment, being the only one experienced enough to set it up.
“What do you mean?” Bess asked. “Syn have been eliminated, and now the Kindred must take time to heal.”
TWENTY-THREE
Caine was settled in his own private room and given plenty of time to recuperate. Thad had access to all of the medical supplies, and when he wasn’t treating Caine, he was kept under lock and key.
The whole situation was a mess. Grant was still a prisoner and didn’t know what had happened. Brodie liked keeping him in the dark. Thad was technically a prisoner, although no one could decide what to do with him, but Bess had returned to being her cheery self and no longer got that distant look because, although her child had betrayed everyone and he was unhappy, a dialogue opened in the family and an honesty was burgeoning in a sort of group therapy session way as they all confessed secrets.
As brusque as ever, Caine was not a good patient. But the women enjoyed sitting wi
th him, and he liked to make a big deal of his nursemaids, requesting sponge baths five or six times a day, although he’d yet to receive one.
One week passed and then two, until they had all been in this house for a month. Zave had left the island once to return Rig and Howie to the city. Dempsey picked up Howie, and it turned out that Kadie’s cousin was happy to remain in the dark about the specifics. He just wanted to get back to work.
After that, Zave returned to KC business, via conference call from the island. He hadn’t gone into the office while the Kindred were staying.
It had been a month since Mitchell was killed, and everyone was starting to get on each other’s nerves in these close quarters. With the mission complete and the Syn threat eradicated, there was no need for them to stay cloistered. Game Time had been dismantled and crated, it was safe in the basement and no one had any intention of removing it any time soon.
Brodie, Zara, Tuck, and Kadie had another mission in their future. One that Caine was going to assist with. So they’d gathered in the entryway to say their goodbyes.
“Come back soon,” Bess said, hugging the women for what had to be the tenth time. “We miss you.”
“We’re gonna miss your cooking and you looking after us,” Kadie said. “And don’t forget our video call next week.”
“Definitely not,” Bess said and pulled Devon into her embrace with Zara and Kadie.
The four women were hugging, and as usual the men were huddled, talking in whispers by the door. When Bess eventually let the women go, she hurried over to hug the men. “You take care of these women, and thank you, boys.”
“We can take the bastards with us if you want,” Brodie said. “We’ve got plenty of room at my place.”
“But not a full-time babysitter,” Zave said. “Don’t worry about it. They won’t get off the island. We have experience of keeping people penned in.”
Usually it was women. Thad had been given some freedom, enough to be a doctor when they needed him. Maybe there was hope for him and Zave to rekindle their former relationship, maybe not. But Bess certainly liked having her son on-site.
Finch (Kindred #6) Page 27
