by Katie Reus
“All right, then. I’ll call you as soon as I leave the hospital.”
She hurried back to Dylan’s room and shut the door as he was stepping out of the bathroom. Steam billowed out after him. Of course he was naked, and any other time she would have savored the view—would have jumped him.
Before he could say anything, she said, “Evan called. He wants to see me. I have to go to the hospital.”
“Give me five minutes to dress.”
She simply nodded and hurried out of his room and back to her own. She wouldn’t disrespect him by telling him he didn’t need to come. She wanted him with her anyway. If she’d ever thought she’d gotten over him, stuff like this was why she never had. Probably never could. He was immediately offering to come with her because he knew how important it was.
After getting dressed in record time, they made it to the hospital by breaking a few traffic laws. But she didn’t care.
She probably should have called Isla or her parents but figured they’d already seen Evan and she’d just get caught up when she arrived. Something had obviously changed for her brother since he’d decided to see everyone, and it was about damn time.
As she and Dylan made it to the waiting room, some of her adrenaline had eased. But not much. She felt as if she was on an op right now.
Her parents and Isla stood as she entered, both looking as exhausted as she felt. “I got a call from Evan asking me to come see him. I’m glad he finally changed his mind about seeing everyone.”
“He called you?” Isla let out a little gasp, her face crumpling, and Evie realized they hadn’t known Evan had called. Oh…hell. Dylan squeezed her hand once, a steady rock by her side.
Even her parents were surprised, hurt clear in her mother’s pale blue eyes. Then her mom said, “At least he wants to see someone.” There was no rancor in her tone, just sadness and a little relief.
Evie looked to Dylan, feeling helpless and awkward. This wasn’t what she’d expected.
He simply kissed the top of her head and murmured, “Go see him. I’ll be waiting.”
She would think about the fact that he’d just kissed her in front of her parents later. Things had shifted between them last night. For now, she shoved the thought away. He would never trust her until she told him everything. She got that. And once she did, everything would be a moot point anyway.
Sloughing off those thoughts, she found the nurse on duty to let her in to see her brother.
She’d been expecting him to be in bad shape, but shock punched through her to see Evan in bed, surrounded by starch-white sheets, half his face bandaged with crisp white strips of cloth. Both his eyes were visible, though his left one was bloodshot and bruises ringed around it.
Even though she’d told herself to be strong, tears sprang to her eyes as she crossed the distance and took his hand in hers, being as gentle as if she was holding a kitten. She kissed his knuckles, grateful to be touching him. Grateful that he’d survived. “I’m so glad to see you.” Her voice was raspy as she fought back emotion.
He squeezed her hand, his grip weak. “I’m glad to see you too.”
“Why aren’t you seeing Mom and Dad? Or Isla? She’s hardly left the hospital since you were admitted. She’s a mess, Evan.” Maybe Evie should hold off on the questions but…she didn’t understand.
Pain flickered in his eyes at the mention of his fiancée and he looked away for a moment. “Tell Isla to go home,” he rasped out.
Frowning, she poured a glass of water from the table and handed it to him. Then she pulled a chair close to the edge of the bed, not wanting to get too close and jostle him. “I’m not telling her to do anything. She’s been here, only leaving for her father’s funeral and to take care of some personal things. She just wants to see you and she’s wearing your ring. Why are you shutting her out? She loves you.”
“I don’t want her to see me like this. She shouldn’t have to end up with someone like me.”
She frowned; this wasn’t like her brother at all. “What the hell does that mean?”
He motioned to his bandaged face. “She’ll stick with me to the bitter end no matter what. No matter how bad the disfigurement is. I don’t want her stuck with a monster.”
Evie reined in the impulse to tell him that he was being a dumbass. She didn’t want to give him too much grief, considering the trauma he’d been through. Evie would try to talk some sense into him later. For now, she wanted to be a calming presence. “First, you’re not a monster. Second, is there anything you need? Food, books, anything.”
“No. But I’ve been watching the news cycle the last twenty-four hours. What the hell is going on with our family? I saw that Ellis is wanted for murder, and now you’re apparently back together with Dylan Blackwood. I know Ellis’s situation is way more important, but seriously, what is happening? And what’s happening with the investigation into the bombing?” He closed his eyes for a moment, his jaw tightening as he seemed to fight off a wave of pain. He had to be on some serious medication, but she knew her brother was probably only taking the bare minimum.
“Ellis didn’t do it. And we’re going to make sure he gets cleared. Once he finally stops running, we’ve got an expensive attorney waiting on retainer to defend him. That’s all I know about him right now. Jackass hasn’t reached out to any of us.” And she was salty about it. “As far as the investigation into the bombing goes, I know the agent in charge and she’s good at her job. I know they’ve got a few leads but I don’t know more than that. I can hack into their system if you want. Well, I know someone who can.”
He blinked then let out a startled laugh which sounded rusty. “No. Don’t do that…yet.”
She squeezed his hand again and just stared at him. “Everyone is so worried about you, Evan.”
“I know. I hate being stuck in this hospital. I hate not being able to do anything for anyone.”
“I know. But keeping Isla and our parents out isn’t helping anything.”
Jaw tight, he simply looked away from her. “Can you let it go?”
“Of course.” Damn it, she would not push him right now. “Why did you let me come in?”
“I knew you would tell me the truth about everything.”
She grinned at him. “You know me well. I’ll keep you updated with everything. Oh, I almost forgot. Last night there was a break-in at Ellis’s house. Two guys. And I ran their fingerprints.” She told him everything that happened.
He let out a low whistle when she was done.
She continued. “There’s more. It involves me.” She’d always been close with her brothers so even though she had to leave out some details, she told Evan everything she could about what was going on with her and Dylan.
“Damn,” he murmured.
“Damn indeed.”
After a long moment, he closed his eyes, his expression turning pained. “I can’t believe Douglas is dead.”
She squeezed his hand tight at the mention of Isla’s dad. “Yeah, I know. Isla’s…taking things pretty rough, which is to be expected. But she’s made of tough stuff.” Evie cleared her throat. “She just needs her partner right now.”
“Evie—”
“Okay, okay.” After seeing that look of pain on Isla’s face, Evie felt like a jerk for even being in here when she was out in the waiting room. “But once you’re out of this room, I’m not holding back.”
“That’s fair,” he murmured, his eyes starting to drift shut.
“Just get better.” Dear God, please. She couldn’t imagine a world without her big brother in it. Hell, both her brothers.
* * *
When Evie stepped back into the private waiting room, she braced herself to see Isla and the others. She hugged everyone, then focused on Isla. “We need to talk.”
Thankfully her mom seemed to understand and grabbed her dad’s hand, so her parents and Dylan quietly stepped out of the room.
“How is he?” Isla asked, dark circles under her eyes.
&nbs
p; “As well as can be expected. He’s…not doing well with what happened.”
“He still doesn’t want to see me.” Her tone was flat. Devoid of spirit.
Evie shook her head, a swath of emotions pouring through her. “No, and I’m really sorry.”
Isla straightened, her jaw going rigid. “I lost my father but I feel like I’ve lost Evan too. I don’t understand why he won’t see me.” Confusion and pain mixed in her words and expression.
“He’s been burned, and he said he doesn’t want you to see him like that.”
Isla frowned. “I don’t understand why not. We’re engaged. I love him.”
Evie simply pulled her into a hug and held tight. The way Evan had been talking, it sounded as if he was ready to end things with Isla, but Evie definitely wasn’t going to tell the other woman that. She just hoped her brother figured things out soon and came to his senses.
When she pulled back, she said, “You need to go home. I know my brother and so do you. He’s not going to change his mind anytime soon. And you need to take care of yourself now. Get some sleep in your own bed. Take a shower in your own bathroom. Then come back here. But you need to go home for just a little bit and get distance from this place. You’ve lost a whole lot, Isla.”
Isla rubbed a hand over her face, looking worse than Evie had ever seen her. “I know. I just… My place is mostly packed up right now. I’ve been planning to move in with Evan, but…”
Oh, hell. Evie hadn’t even thought of that. “I can find a place for you to stay if you need. Dylan owns like a billion properties. I’m sure there are some that are vacant.”
Isla gave her a ghost of a smile and shook her head, little wisps of red hair flying free. “I haven’t sold my place… I’d been planning to rent it. But thank you for the offer. I’ll just head back to my condo. I’ve got my cell phone if Evan decides to reach out to me.” There was more than a hint of bitterness in her tone. “And I need to figure out what I’m going to do about my father’s business.”
Everything would fall to Isla now, and it wouldn’t be easy. “Let me know if you need anything. And that’s not a hollow offer. I know you’re dealing with a lot.”
Isla half-smiled again. “And so are you. Thank you for the offer though.” Sighing, she stood and grabbed her Burberry bag and matching coat.
Evie hung back as the other woman stepped out, figuring that Isla would say goodbye to her parents as well. She wanted to march back into her brother’s room and shake some sense into him but knew that wouldn’t do any good. And she needed to focus on problems she could actually solve.
Beginning with hunting down Seamus any way she could. If he was targeting them, he was going to feel her wrath.
Chapter 13
“So what happened in there?” Dylan asked as they headed out of the hospital parking lot.
Evie shook her head, looking miserable. “I feel like the biggest jackass for hurting Isla.”
“You didn’t hurt her.” That was all on Evan right now. Dylan couldn’t believe the man was rejecting Isla. The pain she was going through had been palpable, cutting through the air. And Dylan had seen those two together. There had been no doubt in his mind they were a solid pair.
“I know. But she’s struggling. Her dad just died and now Evan won’t see her. It’s too much to comprehend. Those two have always been so damn tight. I thought their bond was indestructible.” She sounded baffled.
Yeah, he had too. But he’d also thought when he proposed to Evie, she’d say yes. “People deal with trauma in different ways.”
“I guess,” she muttered, pulling out her phone. “Shit. Samara found Seamus. She said she’s going to see him with or without us.”
Dylan cursed under his breath. “I can keep her from leaving the house.”
“Yeah, you can. That’s called kidnapping. You gonna keep me locked down too?”
He shot her a sideways glance. Things had shifted between them after last night. Well, technically this morning. It felt like a lifetime ago, when in reality it had only been a few hours. Hell, she’d only barreled back into his life like a hurricane less than two days ago. He wasn’t sure where she was at as far as they were concerned, and to be honest, he wasn’t sure where he was at either. He knew he didn’t want to let her go. But he also knew he couldn’t be with her until she came clean with him about everything. That wasn’t how he operated, and if they were going to have any kind of a future together, he needed to be able to trust her. To trust that what they had was real.
Before he could answer, his own phone rang. When he saw Lizzy Caldwell’s name on the screen, he pressed the online car system. “Hey, you’re on speaker. I’m with Evie.”
“Hey,” Lizzy said. “Nice to sort of meet you. Look, I found your guy, Seamus. And I can get in a lot of trouble for what I hacked.”
“What does that mean?” Evie asked.
A short pause. “I’m giving you plausible deniability.”
Next to him, Evie snorted. “Thanks.”
“So where is he?” Dylan asked.
She rattled off an address, then said, “You didn’t get this information from me. Also…I think he might have stolen a shitload of money from the government. He’s up to something shady. Once I locked on to his image, I ran a few crosschecks and found two very short videos from surveillance footage of him talking to…not good people. The footage is from strip clubs and I’m not sure of the context of what’s going on. Doesn’t look good though. I can send you the files through an encrypted link.”
“Thanks,” Dylan said. “I owe you one.”
“Yeah, you do. And I’m definitely going to collect.” There was humor in her words but he didn’t doubt the truth. Lizzy Caldwell dealt in favors. “Listen…just be careful. The men he seems to be involved with are into running drugs and cutting off the heads of their enemies—literally.”
“Noted,” he said.
Evie raised an eyebrow as they disconnected. “The address Lizzy gave us is the same Samara found.”
“We’ll pick her up, then.” He knew Evie was going to hunt down this guy no matter what he did or said, and it wasn’t as if they could call law enforcement. This Seamus hadn’t done anything illegal that they knew of. Yet.
No matter what, Dylan was going to go into this armed and prepared.
He briefly thought of telling Leo what he was doing, but he wasn’t dragging his security guys into any of this. What he and Evie were handling was personal. He paid his guys for personal security, not to risk their damn lives because of shit he dragged them into. So while he could ask…he wouldn’t. They all had lives and families. If shit went haywire, this risk was on him. He couldn’t let them get hurt because of his choices. “Are you going to change your appearance for this?”
She nodded, tugging on the bill of her ball cap. “Yeah. I hated going like this to the hospital but I didn’t want to freak my parents out.”
“Do your parents know what you do for a living—or what you did?”
Looking away, she shook her head. “No. Ellis does. And I think Evan has an idea, but he doesn’t know specifics. He’s…always been pretty pragmatic about things. Never really questioned me.”
Well that was interesting that Ellis knew. But Ellis had been DEA, so Dylan supposed that made sense if she worked with his agency. Or another one. He had his suspicions of which one too.
* * *
“That’s a pretty sweet drone,” Samara said from the backseat of Dylan’s SUV.
Evie agreed. He was expertly maneuvering the exceptionally quiet camera drone while she held the tablet for him.
They were two blocks away from the foreclosed mansion Seamus was supposedly staying at. The dark tint of the SUV was giving them enough privacy. The mansion had more or less fallen through the real estate cracks and was currently bank owned. But it hadn’t been listed anywhere—yet. It was in some sort of limbo. Somehow Lizzy Caldwell had tracked him here.
Evie knew the woman was good even thou
gh she didn’t know her personally. Just by reputation. She was pretty sure the CIA had tried to recruit Lizzy years ago. But she was a little older than Evie, so she wasn’t certain. However, she was inclined to believe that the intel was good since Samara had gotten a hit from one of Seamus’s old assets by tracking the guy’s cell phone movements—to here.
“Finn just texted me and said you shouldn’t be moving around,” Dylan said to Samara from the driver’s seat, barely glancing at his phone as he flew the drone.
Evie wasn’t sure exactly how much this drone had cost, but she knew the model and they were incredibly quiet. This was the type of technology the CIA used. Evie shot him a sideways glance. “Did you tell Finn what we’re doing?”
“Hell no. He’d never let me hear the end of it.” His voice was distracted as he continued flying.
“Shift your tablet a little,” Samara said. “It hurts too much to move.”
“You were the one who wanted to come on this thing,” Evie said even as she adjusted her position so Samara could see better.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not in pain.”
“You’re a pain.”
“Are you two always like this?” Dylan murmured, faint amusement in his voice.
“Yes,” they said, practically in unison.
“Except normally Samara is stinking up our recon stations with freaking Cheetos and candy.” Evie shuddered, glad she didn’t have to endure the smell of Cheetos in an enclosed space.
“I don’t see you complaining when I share my candy.” Samara’s voice was tart.
“Speaking of which…” She turned slightly to look at her friend. “Did you bring any candy?”
“Nothing. We were out of Cheetos and there’s only healthy stuff at Dylan’s.” She mock shuddered.
“I’ll work on that,” he said dryly. “Hey, shift the tablet back toward me just a little.” They were trying to get a bird’s-eye view of the house without being spotted and this was the best way to do recon right now. There was a big wall in front of the mansion, though the gates weren’t locked.
