by Mandy Harbin
And that was all she remembered.
“I’ll kill her if you can’t, Collins,” a gravelly voice said, and a shiver rocked her. She didn’t even try to hide it. It was Colonel’s voice. “I’ve killed other members of your family before.”
She gasped.
“Oh, that’s right,” Colonel said. “That little bit of info I fed Brutus was a lie. He didn’t kill your daughter. I did.”
Relief, because it hadn’t been Brody, swamped her, but it fought with the agony that consumed her. Marco had still ordered Tess’ death. And those emotions quickly turned to shame since she’d believed the lie and not trusted in Brody.
“Brutus,” Marco growled. “He doesn’t deserve to keep breathing.”
“Not much longer, sir. Your plan has played out perfectly.”
“Ah yes, well, of course it has,” Marco scoffed, and Xan heard him walking closer to her, so she braced herself for another strike. “You see,” he murmured as he knelt beside her, stroking her hair, “I’d gotten into a little trouble with some street thugs your lover, Brody Jackson, was running with, and he helped me out. I took him in, gave him a job. He’d lived his life on the streets, and I gave him paradise. And what did he do?”
Marco paused, and Xan realized his question wasn’t rhetorical. “Grew a conscience?” she offered.
He laughed as if that was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. “Funny but no. He fell in love with my wife.”
What? That was impossible. Marco was trying to rile her up. She’d never met Brody before moving to Mayflower. “No way.”
“You think it’s impossible for a man to fall in love with a woman from afar as he discreetly watches over her? Or that I’m ignorant enough to let you around my employees? Oh no, I knew your loyalty was lost long ago. The only people you had contact with were family members and security. Brutus might’ve been my friend for many years, but he was also an employee. Therefore, off-limits to you. But he was around. Every day.”
Her head was swimming. Brody had been that close to her all those years ago. And he was in love with her then? She still couldn’t wrap her head around that.
“After I had Coleman here take care of that abomination you gave birth to, Brutus changed. Oh, it wasn’t right away, but I noticed him becoming distant. And when he planted that flash drive in my office and had the nanny send you in to retrieve some bauble, I knew his loyalty had strayed.” Marco leaned down, brushing his lips along her ear, making her gag. “He was too stupid to notice the cameras in my office.” Mercifully, he leaned away from her. “I sat back and watched everything unfold. So you see, tesoro, day one. And I would have killed you before you fled if Brutus hadn’t shot at me before I’d entered my study that night.”
She remembered hearing those gunshots, signaling Marco’s arrival, and then all hell had broken loose. Wow, it had been Brody.
“Brutus is a traitor, which is why I’ve named him that. He betrayed his one true friend in this world, and I do not tolerate betrayal. So that night, Coleman took Brody, beat him to within an inch of his life, and dumped his body.”
Xan heard footsteps and then Colonel’s voice. “Two days later, I went back and the son of a bitch wasn’t dead. I reported this to Marco. He took it as a sign that Brutus was meant for greater things, so I admitted him into the hospital.”
“Coleman has been with me a long time. This is what trust is supposed to be like.”
“Thank you, sir.” He looked at Xan. “I even tried creating a unique, interagency team for special operations. It’d been my hope the group would go rogue when they saw how much money could be made, making them a huge asset to the crime family. We codenamed it Orion. The first major assignment involved taking out Devon’s nanny. Of course, Orion believed they were smoking out The Shadow. We couldn’t tell them they were watching a witness so she could be eliminated.
“Fools,” Marco said with a smile, not that she understood whatever they were talking about. She remembered Bryn, though. They woman helped save her life and more importantly, Scott’s.
“Orion never gained the traction I’d hoped and was dismantled shortly after. I stayed with the FBI a few more years, handing off your case to other agents, making sure it was handled the way I needed it to be. Since you knew me as Cole, and had only spoken to me on the phone, I had papers drawn up before I left, changing my identity and hiding that fact. Then I had surgery to permanently damage my voice.”
Ah, that was why she hadn’t been able to identify him before now as her former agent. “While Brutus went through all his surgeries and physical therapy, I retired and bought the garage. The old fucker didn’t want to sell, but I could be persuasive.”
Oh, she could image just how persuasive Colonel could be.
“Orion was a failure, but you learned from your mistakes when you created The Bang Shift. We needed misfits, Coleman, not law-abiding agents.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Brutus’ amnesia was another gift,” Marco said, looking at her again. “Because he didn’t know who he was, I let Coleman feed him some bits of truths with the lies. That way, if he ever did anything to investigate his past on his own, he wouldn’t have any reason to question what he’d been told.”
This was a lot to take in, and she was glad they were doing a lot more talking and a lot less beating, but neither one had yet to say why Brutus was used like this, what the real plan was. “Why?”
Marco laughed bitterly. “You, tesoro. Coleman stayed with the FBI long enough for me to get more plants in there, so I’ve orchestrated your every move. It wasn’t a group working together like we’d originally wanted, but these individual agents have no idea there are others like them working for me. In that sense, it was better.” He laughed “And before you ask, no, Jack Parsons isn’t one of my men. I couldn’t risk having someone that close to you. If he didn’t roll, then I was fucked. I couldn’t take that kind of chance.
“As for Brutus, the betrayal of a friend is the darkest sin one can commit, and he had to pay for his sin against me. You’d think murder would be worse, but it’s not. In this business, loyalty means everything, so I punished him by giving him what he wanted. You. Coleman let the guys at the garage believe watching you was an official FBI assignment, when in fact, I’d ordered the official watch. I wanted to give him what he coveted, so I could hurt him. As soon as the sap fell for you all over again, I struck. Outing him as Tess’ killer was one way I caused him pain. Letting him live life without you after I kill you, is the other. I get my revenge against you, against him, and I get my son back. Perfect,” he purred.
Marco was beyond insane. Xan worked her hands and feet frantically. It didn’t matter if they knew she was trying to get away because she was as good as dead anyway.
“Enough talking.”
The blow was so fast Xan didn’t have time to prepare. The second one introduced her to darkness.
Brody paced frantically as Gauge and Jack Parsons orchestrated the search and rescue of Xan with the twenty or so FBI agents crowded at the shop. They’d gotten a lead there was movement in an abandoned farm down highway 365. It was a vague lead, but he’d take what he could get.
“You wanna cigarette?” Blade asked. Brody was glad his closest buddy was here. He hated leaving Scott alone with Roc, but he felt better giving him a babysitting duty than having him cover his back. If things went to shit, Brody knew Blade and Bear would be there for him. There’d been too much animosity between Brody and Roc for him to let that asshole loose with a gun. He wouldn’t put it past the prick to nail him with a round just for shits and giggles.
“I thought you quit those fuckin’ things.”
“Naw. I try, but I don’t last very long. Any word on Colonel?”
He shook his head and started pacing again. Hell no, there hadn’t been word. What Gauge had told him he’d found out had left Brody stunned. And he wasn’t the only one. Bear looked devastated. He’d been closer to Colonel than anybody else.
And the guys were all shocked to learn about Gauge too. But in a good way. It seemed learning he was an undercover FBI agent propelled his status within the group from newbie to official member—but he wasn’t even really a mechanic, and he’d be leaving once this was over. Funny how things worked out like that. As Brody kept pacing, he saw Gauge stepping away from the horde of agents, so he walked over.
“What’s up? I’ve gotta do something, man.” Brody was itching to get out of this damn place. He’d tear apart the whole state of Arkansas to find Xan if he had to.
“Adams confirmed the barn was a meeting place for him and Colonel. The feds cut him a deal, so he’s spilling his guts. Satellite imagery shows she was carried in, and heat sensors suggest three people in the barn. We’re going in.”
“Let’s go.” Brody started to step away and Gauge grabbed his arm.
“I can’t let you come. This is an official raid.”
Brody got right in his face. “Don’t fuck with me, Gauge. I’m. Coming.”
Gauge sighed. “Look, Brutus, I like you. If you tag along, you could do something reckless, end up behind bars.”
“I’ll take my chances,” he growled. “Either I’m coming with you, or I’m going without you.”
Gauge glared at him for several seconds, narrowed his eyes, and then nodded. “Behave.”
Yeah, he’d behave. Right after he sliced Colonel’s throat for letting that crazy-ass ex-husband of hers get a hold of her, but not before he put a bullet through that crazy-ass man’s chest for daring to harm what was Brody’s.
Not waiting for any signal, Brody dashed for his truck with Blade and Bear on his heels.
“Damn you, Brutus!” Gauge called out as the other agents hustled into their vehicles.
“Don’t worry, man. We’ll get her,” Bear said as he grabbed the oh-shit handle, white-knuckling it as Brody peeled out of the parking lot and onto the two-lane country highway. He sped, hitting ninety miles per hour within seconds. He passed a mailman and a tractor several minutes later, not slowing down.
Within fifteen minutes, they’d arrived at the old farm. Brody slammed the truck into park, jumped out, and ran toward the barn as the sounds of the agents’ vehicles neared.
“Brody,” Bear hissed, but ducked and ran behind him. Brody knew Blade would follow too. Brody ran around back, hearing what sounded like someone beating on flesh, and his blood froze. Gun drawn, he crept to the door, peering through the cracks.
Jesus Christ! Collins was beating the shit out of Xan. He couldn’t wait for the cavalry. All he had were his two buddies. They’d do. “I’m going in first. There’s a stall door on the east side. Blade, you take that entrance. Bear, you go back around front. You’ve got fifteen seconds to get there. I ain’t waiting any longer,” Brody barely whispered.
The guys nodded and left quickly, quietly.
And as Brody watched Marco strike Xan again and again, that was the longest damn fifteen seconds of his life.
After he counted down those heart-wrenching seconds, he trained his gun on Marco, but couldn’t get a shot at his chest like he’d envisioned earlier. No problem. His head would work just as well, so he took aim as he burst through the back door. Two shots and Marco keeled over.
The barn erupted in gunfire as Colonel turned on Brody, gun raised, but Gauge popped Colonel before he could get a shot off.
As quickly as the gunfire started, it’d ended, but Brody didn’t care. He ran straight to Xan, feeling as if he’d never reach her, hearing muffled shouting all around over the ringing in his ears. He fell to his knees before her and gently turned her. She was covered in blood, cuts, bruises. Oh God, this was bad. “Call an ambulance!”
If he lost her, he’d never forgive himself for not protecting her like he should have.
“I love you, baby,” he breathed into her hair as he rocked her blood-soaked body. “Please hold on.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The last time Xan woke up from a foggy stupor, everything hurt. This time, she felt as if she was literally dying. And if she wasn’t dead yet, she’d love for someone to finish her off.
She groaned as she tried to move, hearing the annoying little beats of a heart monitor and other hospital equipment she was all too familiar with considering her line of work, and suddenly, hands were on her. “Mom?”
Oh crap. She was pretty sure she looked as bad as she felt, so she didn’t want Scott to see her like this. But then again, the last thing she remembered about Scott was that he was in the hospital. If he was in her room, then at least he’d been released. Or well enough to ditch his doctors. “Hi, honey,” she breathed.
“You scared us all there for a while.” He squeezed her. She could feel him shaking a little.
“Us?” Okay, he probably meant the proverbial “us,” but she couldn’t help hoping it included a certain Viking she’d missed.
“Yeah, the doctors have been in here talking a lot about stuff I don’t understand, but Brody and the other guys have been here to help explain it to me. You’ve been in surgery getting your broken head fixed, and you punctured a lung and broke a leg, ribs, two fingers, nose—”
“I’ll be fine.” She had to cut him off because he started to sound a little hysterical. “What happened to Marco?” She didn’t refer to him as his father.
“Brody killed him.” The anger in his voice was much more preferable to the panic that was building a couple of seconds ago. “That Colonel guy was killed too.”
Cole. Once upon a time, she’d thought he was her savior, but he’d never cared about her protection, so she couldn’t bring herself to care that he hadn’t made it out alive. Now there was one less minion after her and her son.
“How long have I been here? Where have you been staying?”
“Coupla weeks. And I’ve been staying here as much as Chad’s mom would let me, but she’s been dragging me out to feed me and making sure I got to school and got some sleep.”
She was going to cry. Xan had never had a best friend, someone she could trust with the safety of her son, and now she couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend.
“Brody’s been keeping me company up here, helping me with my homework and been trying to get me to play video games. Even bought me Bloodbath Five when it hit the stores last week.”
Now she did tear up. First Roxie and now Brody. They both had stepped in and taken Scott under their wings when she’d been incapacitated.
“You okay, Mom? What’s wrong?” Scott asked frantically.
She sniffled. “No, no. I’m fine. Well, I hurt like crazy, but I’m fine.”
He reached for something beside her, and she knew exactly what it was. A morphine drip. Within seconds, her eyes got heavy, and yeah, that was much, much better. Before her eyes completely shut, she heard her door open and saw Brody walk in with a couple of bags of takeout. Their eyes locked and he gasped, walking over to her quickly and dropping the bags on the small bedside table.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he stroked her hair.
“Sleepy.”
He leaned down and kissed her temple. “Then sleep. Everything is okay. No one will ever hurt you or Scott again. I lo—”
He kept talking, but she drifted into sweet oblivion.
Brody sat in his truck and opened another vanilla-scented air fresher. God, he missed Xan like crazy. These ridiculous pine trees didn’t smell a damn bit like her. But that hadn’t stopped him from trying. This was his third one this week.
It’d been a month since Collins had kidnapped Xan and a week since she’d been released from the hospital. When Brody had visited her before she was released, they’d talked. Well, as much as they could—she’d been pretty loopy most of the time. But he’d told her about Colonel, and he’d learned about his connection to her and the truth about Tess’ murder. What a revelation that’d been. Brody had hoped finding out the truth meant he and Xan would have a fresh start.
He’d been wrong.
As soon as she wa
s out of the hospital, she’d become distant. When he’d tried to have the relationship talk, she’d very subtly shut that topic down. He figured he’d just give her time to adjust to what Marco had done to her and the fact she wouldn’t have to run anymore, but he’d been wrong about that too.
So very wrong.
Apparently, the FBI felt she was still in danger. Gauge had explained to him that Collins’ father would see Xan as the reason his son was killed and would retaliate. Not to mention Scott was his grandchild. The man was ailing and there’d be a changing of the guard soon, but for now, she and Scott were still under FBI protection and would be moving again, severing all ties with everyone she knew.
Including him.
He’d been pissed because he’d learned through someone else besides Xan that she was leaving. Then he’d fallen in love with her a little more because she was trying to spare his feelings. And really, he couldn’t stay mad at her when he knew his time with her was limited. When he’d tried talking to her about it, she acted as if she hadn’t wanted to go, but didn’t really protest the idea. Scott, though, that kid was fuming mad. He hated his father’s side of the family even more. The boy liked his life here. He had new friends and had a little girlfriend. Brody was going to miss him like hell. And Xan…
He sighed, shaking his head and leaning toward the swinging air freshener. Why didn’t these damn vanilla-scented pine trees smell like her? He figured he should be happy about that because the guys would rip him a new one if they walked in his house and found these things hanging all over the place.
Hmm, maybe those automatic air freshener sprayer things would do the trick. He’d have to check into that.
Yeah, he was losing it. He was grasping at whatever he could so he wouldn’t lose the memory of her. Not that he thought that’d actually happen, but he wanted everything about her to stay sharp in his mind. The feel of her skin, the softness of her hair, the taste of her lips on his, and her scent. God, he didn’t know how he was going to live without her.
