by Fiona Archer
“And if Harper’s innocent and someone was watching her place?” Dillon shoved his hands in his front pants pockets and swept his gaze over his brothers. “What then? We just leave her hanging out to dry? How’s that acceptable?”
Heath drew his brows together. “Nobody’s suggesting that.”
Screw this. Seth focused on Adam. “I offered her my protection. She turned it down. I chose to ignore her misguided reply.”
“Of course.” Adam sighed. “The natural urge to rescue her won out.”
Another dig? Bastard always knew best. Fuck, when would Adam recognize that he was smart enough to make a decision based on more than hormones? “You think that’s a mistake? I should back off?”
“Far from it. I want you sticking to her tighter than cling wrap on Thanksgiving leftovers.”
Seth’s prepared rebuttal died on his lips. Where was the expected argument?
Then the analytical part of Seth’s brain, the area he had relied on to help steer his business to the success it was, kicked in. And in those seconds, his brother’s reasoning fell into place. “The only way to prove her innocent or not is to stay close.”
“Exactly.” Adam moved to sit in one of the four visitors’ chairs. Zach followed, and Seth guessed, to avoid having his back to him, Heath did the same. Dillon remained standing beside Seth’s desk. “If she’s clean, then all the better.”
The image of a pair of warm caramel eyes filled his mind and how they’d lit up during the taxi ride to Theo’s last night. They had been waiting at the traffic lights, when she caught sight of a child on the street, the little cutie’s shiny face full of joy as she skipped alongside her mom, who held her tiny hand and laughed with her daughter. At the last moment, the child faced Harper and waved. And his coffee girl had waved back, a huge smile on her face big enough to rival the kid’s.
Bloody oath Harper was clean.
“At least on that we can agree.” Seth sat back in his chair. “Now that’s out of the way, tell us why you were in Seattle.”
Adam didn’t hesitate. “At 0230 hours today an entry was made on an online board frequented by government conspiracy theorists, survivalists, and self-described patriots that outlined certain particulars of a mission outsourced by a government agency to a private contracting firm. In other words, to my employer. The data was sensitive for a number of reasons, none of which I’ll disclose to you. My name and photo, and only mine, were shared as being connected to the mission.” Adam’s remote tone added to the chill factor. “Suffice to say, my ability to remain under the radar in my career has been mortally blown to hell.”
Seth’s gut rolled. He pressed his hands down on his paper-covered desk, needing to brace.
“Christ almighty,” Dillon whispered before dropping into the chair beside Seth’s desk.
Zach spoke in an unnaturally soft tone. “Mate, you didn’t say anything when I called.”
“Exposing myself further to anyone monitoring cell activity didn’t seem a good idea.”
“What’s the fallout?” Heath sat forward, his head turned to Adam, elbows on his knees, and hands clasped together. The detective in him was already searching for facts.
“As soon as my name was posted, automatic web alarms triggered at a number of agencies. At 0240 hours, I was contacted and informed I’m on indefinite leave. I think it’s safe to say my prospects for career advancement at my current employer are limited.”
Adam’s work was his life. Was his profession, something he’d trained for and excelled at, now denied to him?
The hits just kept coming.
Seth already knew the answer, but he had to ask. “Is there any chance this wasn’t linked to what’s happening here?”
“It can’t yet be ruled out.” Adam swept his gaze over everyone in the room. “But the timing of all four events says it’s the same perpetrator.”
And that opened up more doors than it closed. “Which means I’m not necessarily the target.” Seth braced his forearms on the desk. “Think about this for a minute. You could be the focus, and whoever’s behind this waited until the announcement of the sale of Shazad for maximum impact.”
Adam’s voice hardened. “You don’t think Fox could have investigated all of us and decided to exploit my career? Money can buy you whatever information you need, Seth, as well as the skills of people who don’t ask questions. Don’t twist what’s happened so that I’m responsible for this mess.”
“Meaning I am?” Seth’s laugh was harsh and without humor. “And, no, I wasn’t assigning blame. I’m trying to find out the central point that connects everything, but thanks for showing where your true feelings lie.”
Zach sighed. “Jesus, both of you take a step back.”
But Adam was just getting started and rose from his chair to loom large over everyone still seated. “Forgive me for being pissed, considering my occupation has just been outed on the web, and my employer is pissed that confidential data’s been compromised. There’s also the small fact I’m now vulnerable to any bastard who wants to settle scores for missions I’ve carried out that bring the kind of enemies you don’t want to meet—ever. Besides, if I’m on radar, so is my family. That means I need to find these fuckers and neutralize them quick so all of us can breathe easy.” He leaned forward, arms wide and hands pressed down on Seth’s desk. “So park your attitude.”
Seth stood. Not in a hurry, but slowly, his movements measured. Undaunted. “You may have forgotten since it’s been over a year since we last saw each other.” A long twelve months of exhaustive work hours and no personal time hardened his voice. “I don’t take orders from you, Adam. Haven’t in over thirteen years. You’re my brother. Not my Commander.”
Adam straightened. “What pisses you off more? The fact that by sleeping with Harper you can’t deny you left yourself open to attack from Fox, or that the suggestion came from me?”
Fuck.
He wanted to say neither, wanted to smash his fist into Adam’s jaw, but the truth was both points stoked the furnace of his anger in equal measure. His silence damned him.
“Jesus, Adam, that’s not helping.” Heath surged to his feet. “Why go there?”
The big mercenary’s gaze remained on Seth as he answered. “Because there’s no room for ego when you’re in a battle. Experience counts, and I need him to realize I’m the one with the skills to take the lead and get this sorted.”
Seth walked around his desk and ignored the way the atmosphere in the room was now charged. His brothers stood, all of them tense. Seth stopped next to Heath and faced Adam. “You think that’s what this is? All about ego? I’m fighting to save a deal that Dillon and I have worked like hell to achieve, and you turn everything into how you’re the hardheaded bastard who saves the day? Ego? Fuck, look in the mirror sometime.”
“Pull back, Adam.” Zach stepped forward, purposely blocking a direct line between Adam and Seth. Few people would easily challenge Adam, but the biker could hold his own. “This achieves nothing but dividing us further. It’s clear we’ve all got shit that needs sorting. Jesus, things haven’t been right between all of us for ages. Not since after Mum died.” Zach turned, pinning everyone with his stare, not letting one of his brothers escape the truth in his gaze. “But now’s not the time for us to dig all that up.”
Adam studied Zach, an unreadable expression in his eyes. “You’ve appointed yourself peacemaker?”
Zach’s bark of laughter was harsher than hail crashing on a tin roof. “Brother when I qualify as the UN negotiator in this tribe, we’ve hit rock bottom.”
Dillon scrubbed a hand over his hair, leaving blond strands standing at odd angles. “This is a mess, we all agree, but in the meantime, we need to make plans.” His phone beeped, and he snatched it up from Seth’s desk, glanced at the screen then at Seth. “Fox’s seen the statement. He’s agreed to meet in one hour. His office.” Dillon straightened his shoulders, slid his phone into his pants pocket, and fixed his tie. Seth understood his move. Dillon fixing h
is tie equaled focusing on business and shutting off what wasn’t. “Stay, leave, whatever, it’s your choice, but Seth and I need to prepare.”
Adam’s brows drew into a harsh line. He opened his mouth, but Zach spoke first. “Buy you a late breakfast? I’m guessing you didn’t stop for breaks on your way here.”
Adam stared at Dillon a moment longer before answering Zach. “That’d be good.”
And he’d need a bed, too. “Where are you thinking of staying?” Seth used his one-bedroom apartment more as a place for crashing than as a home.
“My house.” Heath glanced at Zach.
“I needed to come in and see some galleries. They want some more of my carvings. ” Zach’s mouth slanted in a wry grin. “Was gonna surprise you later this morning, Seth. Heath’s call had me diverting here first instead. Milly’s sleeping over at a playmate’s house tonight. Thought I’d make it an overnight visit and drive the two hours back to the cabin tomorrow.”
“You got room for both of us?” Adam asked Heath.
“Yeah. You get the third bedroom. It’s a double bed, but you’ll fit.” Heath glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get to the station and face my captain. Once I inform him of the other incidents, he’ll hopefully back down. He’s likely pissed the top brass won’t appreciate the bad PR that Facebook shit stirs up. Cap doesn’t need that heat.” He made a move to the door. “Seth, I’ll get the CCTV tapes, and we’ll go from there.”
Seth lifted his chin. “Thanks, mate.”
Heath glanced back and settled his gaze on each brother in turn. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead shook his head and walked out.
Dillon leaned over, grabbed a sheath of papers and started sorting them in some order. “How about you guys come back in a couple of hours. We’ll update you then.”
Both Adam and Zach couldn’t miss the unspoken message, meant exclusively for Adam. Dismissed. Dillon may be the oldest, but Adam had never willingly relinquished his role as leader.
The unacknowledged power struggle between the two loomed large in the family during times of stress, and Seth couldn’t see a resolution, especially now as grown men who had each forged such different paths in life. There was little common ground besides sharing a surname and having had Aurora in their lives.
And she’d been gone six years.
What a bloody mess they’d all made in her absence.
“Seth.”
He looked up at the sound of Adam’s voice, and his body stilled under his brother’s searching gaze.
“Whatever it takes, little brother, we’ll fix this.” Adam reached over and grabbed Seth roughly at the back of his neck and squeezed for a second before letting him go. “Together.” He turned to Zach, “Let’s go.”
Zach stared at Seth a moment and nodded to him and Dillon. “Later.”
“Later.” Seth gave them a chin lift before they walked out the door.
Dillon grabbed a pad and pen and settled in a chair. “Right, let’s look over the points I highlighted in the contract earlier and decide what we’ll say to Fox.”
“Right,” Seth answered as he resumed his seat behind his desk.
“We’re going to get Fox to see his lowering the price makes him look unscrupulous, someone making the most of what others may see as a deliberate act of sabotage.” Dillon scribbled notes on the yellow legal pad. “We don’t leave that office without him agreeing to stand by the original contract. We’ll get the bastard to shake your hand and take a photo of the moment if we have to.”
Shake his hand.
This morning he’d seen Adam for the first time in over a year. A year in which his brother had no doubt risked his life numerous times, had missed birthdays and holidays, including last Christmas.
And not one of his brothers had shaken Adam’s hand to welcome him home.
Including Seth.
Sure, Adam had been a complete prick as soon as he’d entered the office, but still…
Acting like strangers was where he and his brothers were at.
Adam had gone on the attack when pushed, hostile and aggressive. “Don’t twist what’s happened so that I’m responsible for this mess.”
And him, defensive, ready to strike back. “I wasn’t assigning blame. But thanks for showing where your true feelings lie.”
Seth blinked slowly as the words repeated in his head, remembering the anger in his voice, the way his lip had curled after saying the last line.
When had they started to see each other as opponents first, brothers second?
Then the answer hit Seth harder than any punch he’d received from a drunk foster parent or thug on the streets.
When they’d started to lose trust in each other.
At the time when backing each other was their biggest defense against an unknown, unseen enemy, all five of them were instead exposed, vulnerable.
The truth was right now the brothers Justice were their own worst enemy.
****
Seth sat in Stanton Fox’s office and battled the urge to clench his fists. Ten minutes and not an inch of progress had been made. “Stanton, if you don’t make a statement reflecting your disgust regarding someone impersonating me online you’ll be validating their behavior.”
“I’m not responsible for someone else’s actions, Seth. You’ve issued a statement, which is your right.” Fox shrugged with a casualness that belied the shrewdness in his gaze. “My responsibility is to my board of directors and shareholders.”
Nice side-step. “Those same people had no problem yesterday with our deal.”
Fox didn’t blink. “A lot can happen in twenty-four hours.” He lifted a hand before dropping it back on his desk. “Find this imposter you mention and bring them to heel. Such a show of good faith will appease our board and we’ll be back on track.”
“Dillon and I have started our hunt.” With limited results. Traces on servers showed they were dealing with an accomplished hacker, with a trail routed through servers ranging from parts of Asia, Russia and the Middle East. “Since my brother was targeted in one post, his captain is keen to have the matter solved. The FBI will be investigating.”
Dillon leaned forward in his seat next to Seth, his upper body tense. “Our servers were hacked from the outside. This isn’t some playacting on social media. A cybercrime was committed.”
Fox slid his gaze to Dillon. “The problem for my company is one of perception. At Brooke-Porter Digital we take our corporate image and reputation seriously. This morning a post made under Seth’s name maligned this company. That kind of incident can’t be ignored.”
Seth kept his voice even, refusing to allow his frustration to show. “And the lowering of your offer is a face-saver for your board, except the general public would not hear of the new lower offer so there’s no public relations value in the move.”
Fox slanted his mouth in wry line. “I understand you could see it that way.”
This was getting them nowhere. “So you’re saying until we find the perp, Shazad has to wear the cost—literally—of those posts.”
“Those?” Fox lifted a brow.
Seth’s voice hardened. “The one involving your daughter.”
Fox’s eyes flashed. Whether it was with anger or frustration at being called out on his lack of parental concern, Seth wasn’t sure and didn’t give a damn. The fact that Fox hadn’t yet raised the issue of Harper and what had happened to her this morning was more telling.
Where was a father’s outrage? Was his lack of concern because the prick had set Seth up, or was he really so self-involved the shaming of his daughter came in a poor second?
“Yes, that was most regrettable, not only for Harper but also for her family. Obviously I’ll be in contact with my daughter,” Fox said in a flat tone.
Christ, it was hard to believe the little café owner was the daughter of such a narcissistic, cold bastard.
“Glad to hear it. She’s had a rough morning and could do with some reassurance she’s
not to blame.” Seth’s message wasn’t subtle, nor was it meant to be.
“Indeed,” Dillon said. “Bringing us back to our earlier conversation, what you’re saying Stanton is your current offer of thirty-five million stays until Shazad can bring about a more positive conclusion to what happened this morning.”
That’s why Dillon was there. He could speak bullshit far better than Seth.
“I’m sure we’ll find a comfortable level,” Fox settled back in his chair with an exaggerated casualness. “Eventually.”
Smug prick.
And at thirty-five mil, the offer was still way higher than other interested parties. “Then for now, there’s no more to say.” Seth stood, and Dillon followed. “My brothers and I have an enemy to hunt. Our company’s respective lawyers will continue to work together on the pre-sale documentation and searches.” He spoke in a low, commanding tone, as if the option of delaying the sale wasn’t up for discussion. Extending his hand to Fox, he noted the older man’s unsure expression as the CEO shook first his then Dillon’s hand. “We’ll see ourselves out, Stanton.”
The brothers remained silent until they entered the elevator. “That bastard’s in the driver’s seat, Seth. He knows it. Likes making sure we know it, too.”
“Yeah, but hubris is a bitch, mate, and when she kicks, she aims for a man’s balls.”
Dillon raised his brows. “You’re that confident we’ll catch whoever’s behind this campaign of destruction, and Fox will have to back down?”
Seth fixed his hard gaze on his brother. “I’m confident I didn’t fight my way from nothing to where I am now so some prick hiding behind a computer or a conceited CEO could destroy my dreams of success without one hell of a battle.”
Some things were worth fighting for beyond being a grand achievement on a ‘To Do list’.
They were a mark of who he was as a man, as a brother, as a son…as a grandson.
He swallowed against the sudden tightness in his throat and smiled at Dillon. “Once we’ve had our post-mortem with the guys, I’m going to need a bloody decent cup of coffee. Know any good places?”