by Karen Rose
Marcus tamped down his irritation and shoved at the defensive wall that sprang up reflexively. ‘So I should hide in this office for the rest of my life?’
Stone’s eyes opened slowly, his jaw tight from gritting his teeth as Marcus had told his tale. ‘No. But that doesn’t mean you have to charge to the rescue every damn time somebody gets in trouble.’ He slapped the arm of the chair in frustration. ‘Goddammit, Marcus. Mom needs you. Audrey needs you. So does Jeremy.’ He swallowed hard. ‘And so do I.’
Marcus’s temper drained away. His mother and stepfather had been nearly destroyed by Mikhail’s murder, and Audrey . . . His sister had grown up overnight, both grieving their brother and terrified at their mother’s fragile state. And Audrey wasn’t the only one.
He and Stone had also been walking around their mother on eggshells, neither of them wanting to distress her further. Marcus had seen her like this before. He knew exactly how bad it could get.
However, out of all them, Marcus worried about Stone the most. Stone was a pressure cooker waiting to blow, never admitting how ravaged Mikhail’s death had left him. Marcus had been preparing himself for the worst for nine months. But he wasn’t prepared to change who he was. He wasn’t prepared to stop helping people who had nowhere else to turn.
‘I know,’ he murmured. ‘But we have each other. Who did Tala have?’
For a long moment there was silence between them. Then Stone exhaled. ‘You’re going to get yourself killed someday.’
‘But not today,’ Marcus replied evenly.
Stone narrowed his eyes, his anger unhidden. ‘The day is still young.’
Marcus’s temper sparked. ‘I wore a damn vest! Just like I promised I would.’
‘Then I guess you’re just lucky that he only shot you in the back.’ Stone flung the words back sarcastically. ‘What if he’d decided to finish the job like he did with the girl? A vest ain’t gonna protect your fool hard head from a bullet. You think you’re charmed or something? That you’re invincible? Unkillable?’ His voice had grown louder with each word, until he was shouting. ‘Are you really that fucking stupid?’
Marcus winced. No, he was not that stupid. He weighed the risks, considered the odds. And he always decided that the victim he was saving was worth whatever it took.
Stone sucked in a startled breath. ‘You want to die,’ he whispered. ‘You sonofabitch.’
Marcus shook his head. ‘No. It’s not like that.’
Stone straightened in his chair, his gaze growing coldly furious. ‘Then what is it like? Tell me so that your slow brother can understand.’
Marcus rubbed his temples, where a headache was now in full force. Stone only pulled the ‘slow’ card when he was really upset, a throwback to the childhood that neither of them ever wanted to remember, but that neither of them could ever seem to forget. The same events, the same loss, had touched them so differently, forming them into the men they were today.
‘I didn’t ask you to come in this morning so that we could fight,’ Marcus murmured.
Stone set his jaw, his hands clenching into fists. ‘That’s just too damn bad. ’Cause we’re gonna.’
‘Oh for God’s sake. I don’t want to die, Stone,’ Marcus said, suddenly too exhausted to argue, much less fight. ‘But I see people like Tala and . . . they deserve to have a life.’
‘More than you do?’ Stone demanded.
Again Marcus let his silence speak, and Stone shoved his hands through his hair, yanking on the ends like a man at the edge of his sanity.
Which was far too close to the truth. For both of them.
‘And they said I was the slow one,’ Stone snarled, releasing his hair. Roughly he smoothed it back, dropping his chin to his chest in defeat. ‘You’re a goddamn stubborn idiot.’
Under the circumstances, Marcus supposed that was fair. ‘Will you help me anyway?’ he asked quietly.
Stone’s eyes flew up, their gazes clashing like swords. ‘Help you kill yourself? No. No fucking way in fucking hell.’
‘I don’t want to die,’ Marcus repeated, more forcefully this time. ‘I’m asking you to help me deal with this whole Tala situation, and with Jill. Sooner or later some other paper or news crew will see my name in the police report. They’ll know I was with a seventeen-year-old girl in an alley when she was shot to death. I’d like to get the real story out there before I’m turned into a sadistic pedophile.’
Stone paled. ‘Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t think past you being shot.’
‘Well I need you to think a little further out now.’
Stone squared his shoulders. ‘What do you want me to do?’
Finally, Marcus thought. He’d expected a little anger from his brother, but not the shit storm he’d just sailed through. Mikhail’s death had them all riding too close to the edge, Stone most of all.
‘I want an article with your byline on the Ledger’s home page ASAP, and in tomorrow’s edition on the front page, above the fold. I want you to report that I had been approached by the victim in the park and that she asked me to meet her so that I could help her escape an abusive household. That we were meeting a CPD cop, but that the victim was shot minutes before the cop arrived.’
‘Abusive household,’ Stone repeated. ‘Not the fact that she’d been “owned”.’
‘No. That’s for the cops to follow up on.’ And for me as well, he thought, but he wasn’t going there with Stone right now. His brother had been far too shaken by what had already happened.
‘Okay,’ Stone said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously, and Marcus knew he had not been fooled. ‘How do you want me to explain the fact that you were in an alley in a shitty part of town?’
‘Say that Tala didn’t want to be picked up in her neighborhood because she was afraid word would get back to her abuser. Just don’t make it sound like a quote. A quote could be challenged by anyone who has access to all the evidence.’
‘Specifically the video you handed over to Bishop.’ Stone grimaced, as if merely saying Scarlett Bishop’s name left a bad taste in his mouth. ‘Why the hell did you do that, anyway? You didn’t have to reveal the video files, much less give them away.’
Yes I did. I really did. If for no other reason than to obliterate the mistrust that had suddenly shadowed her dark eyes. He had grown accustomed to that look from others in the five years since he’d taken the Ledger’s reins. People – especially cops – tended to despise newspapermen, and Marcus could live with that. Because at the end of the day he knew that whatever he’d done, whatever he’d had to do, it had been the right thing for those too helpless to defend themselves.
But seeing that look in Scarlett Bishop’s eyes . . . It stung. And it made him angry. Because alongside the mistrust had been a bruised fury that had seemed far more personal than the normal contempt cops had for the press. Some reporter at some point had crossed a line and hurt her.
Marcus would do whatever it took so that she never had cause to look at him that way again. Even if it meant trusting her with his own pain. She had to have viewed the videos by now. She’d seen his visceral, personal reaction to Tala’s murder. He’d allowed her to see his heart.
‘Marcus?’ Stone leaned forward, snapping his fingers in front of his brother’s face. ‘You still in there?’
Marcus blinked, bringing Stone’s worried face back into focus. ‘Yeah, I’m here.’
Stone leaned back, worry becoming wary regard. ‘You got all glassy-eyed there for a second. Maybe you should see a doctor.’
‘I got checked out by the paramedics. I’m fine.’
Stone was unconvinced. ‘They told you to go to the hospital, didn’t they?’
‘Yeah, but I’m okay.’ Actually he felt a little queasy, but he always did at the mere thought of entering a hospital. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. ‘I gave Detective Bishop the files because someone murdered a young woman right in front of me. It was the—’
‘Right thing to do,’ Stone interrupted, rolling
his eyes. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it.’
Marcus wondered sometimes. Stone could be shown the right thing, but his brother didn’t always get it on his own.
‘It also takes me out of the suspect pool,’ Marcus said quietly. I hope.
‘Let me see it too.’
‘I don’t think you really want to.’
Stone’s expression hardened. ‘No, I don’t, but I need to know what I’m up against in case Bishop decides to release the video to the rest of the press. Show me. Now.’
Marcus didn’t think Scarlett would do such a thing, but he kept that opinion to himself as he turned his monitor around so that Stone could view the screen. Stone watched in silence, flinching at the gunshots, his face going positively gray after the second bullet knocked Marcus flat on his face. And then, when Tala’s splintered skull came back into view, his breathing became hard and choppy.
‘You okay?’ Marcus murmured.
Stone jerked a trembling nod and kept watching. When the video ended, he drew a deep breath, let it out in a shuddering exhale. ‘You gave her . . .’ he started, his voice rusty. And breaking. He cleared his throat hard. ‘You gave her this exact file?’
‘Yeah.’
Stone lifted his eyes, and for a moment Marcus could see the boy his brother had been. So young, so scared. So vulnerable. Looking for comfort.
‘Okay. I get it now. You had to do what you did,’ Stone said.
‘Which thing? Helping Tala, or giving Detective Bishop the file?’
Stone closed his eyes. ‘Either,’ he whispered. ‘Both.’ When his eyes opened, the vulnerability was gone, replaced by his usual confident facade. It was Stone’s armor, his last line of emotional defense. When that broke down, he lost control and . . . well, that was never good. But Marcus would never share that with anyone.
But you did. You told Scarlett. Yes, he had. Kind of. He’d been lying in a hospital bed with a punctured lung, and Scarlett had come to see him. She’d been so angry with Stone because his brother had withheld information that had been vital to saving the lives of a woman and a little girl. Scarlett hadn’t understood. Hadn’t had a clue about what made Stone tick.
Marcus had lashed out. Shouted at her. Until you’ve walked a mile in Stone’s shoes, don’t you dare criticize him. She still hadn’t understood what made Stone tick, because Marcus hadn’t given her any additional details. But she’d backed off, hadn’t pushed for more like a lot of people might have done. She’d accepted his word. Respected his privacy. And then she’d stood guard over him until another cop came to relieve her. She made sure I was safe.
Marcus had trusted her then. He trusted her now. ‘I don’t think the detective will share that video with anyone who doesn’t need to see it, but if she does, my conversation with Tala will be documented publicly. Make sure that anything you print can’t be disproven by the video. Do not disclose the location of the park or her last words.’
‘You want a photo of the girl?’
‘Yes. You’ll have to grab a frame from one of the videos I took in the park. I’ll send you the same link to the files that I sent to Bishop. Also add that I’ve helped victims in the past. Pick two that don’t show up on the threat list.’
Back in control of his emotions, Stone’s eyes narrowed again. ‘Why? What does it matter if they are or aren’t on that damn list? The girl – Tala – she was the target, not you.’
‘That’s where Jill comes in. She’s seen the list.’
Stone sat up straighter, fire in his eyes. ‘How? Gayle never would have shown it to her.’
Marcus studied his brother, hoping he was stable enough for the next part. ‘Did you know Gayle had a heart attack?’
Stone’s jaw dropped. ‘What the fuck?’
‘Yeah, that’s pretty much what I said.’ Marcus told his brother what Jill had told him.
‘So the kid’s been doing Gayle’s job all this time?’
‘A lot of it, yeah.’
Stone sat back in his chair, frowning. ‘I guess we can’t really blame her. If Gayle was my aunt, I’d have done the same.’ His frown grew troubled. ‘But I never knew Gayle felt that way about us.’
‘I don’t think Gayle does. I think Jill thinks Gayle should. Anyway, the kid’s seen the list and has catalogued every threat since. She noticed that many of the threats start out vicious and abruptly go away.’ Marcus rolled his eyes. ‘She thinks I’m bumping them off.’
Stone snorted. ‘Yeah, you’re a regular Don Corleone. Why didn’t you tell her the truth?’
‘Because I don’t trust her and I don’t fully understand why, so don’t ask. Maybe what I’ve sensed all this time is her resentment of us for the relationship we have with Gayle.’ Or maybe it’s more. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid.
‘Did she threaten to expose us?’
‘It wouldn’t have been us. It would have only been me, because she doesn’t know you know about it. But she never made a threat of her own. She only asked whether what we’d involved Gayle in could land her aunt in jail. I think she believed me when I told her no, but she’s going to dig just the same, especially now that I’ve been injured. She’s worried that whoever got to me will come after Gayle next.’
‘Again, we can’t really blame her for that, especially since she thinks we’re selfish bastards who don’t appreciate her aunt enough. But if she’s told that Tala was the target, she won’t worry about Gayle getting caught in the crossfire.’ He gave Marcus a single nod. ‘By coming forward, you kill two birds with one stone. You nip any speculation of your involvement in Tala’s murder in the bud, and Jill backs off. Not bad. Not bad at all.’
‘If she believed me. I’m still not sure she did.’
‘All right,’ Stone said slowly. ‘So . . . short of bumping her off, what are we going to do about her?’
‘I want the two of you to investigate each threat on that list together, and I want you to show her that they were all made by angry people just blowing off steam. That nothing’s ever come of any of them in the past and it’s highly likely that nothing ever will.’
Stone raised an eyebrow. ‘You mean you want me to lie.’
Marcus sighed. ‘No, I just want you to convince her that Gayle is safe.’
‘Then what about the threats we made go away? If I don’t tell her the truth on those, she’ll go on thinking you’re some kind of Mafia boss.’
‘I’d almost prefer that,’ Marcus muttered. ‘I could tell her to leave it alone or she’ll be taking a swim in the Ohio wearing concrete galoshes.’ Rubbing his temples, he tried to think, but his brain was starting to stumble around in his skull. It had been too many nights since he’d truly slept. ‘Find a way to explain why those people stopped sending threats. Hell, tell her we sent our lawyer after them and counter-threatened them with legal action.’
‘And if she cross-checks with Rex?’
The Ledger’s attorney was one of Marcus’s oldest friends, but he’d kept him out of the loop to protect him from any ethical dilemmas. ‘He’ll tell her he’s bound by client confidentiality. And then he’ll come over here and lecture me on all the reasons I shouldn’t be doing whatever it is that I’m doing. After which,’ Marcus continued lightly, ‘I’ll promise him I’ll stop all my shenanigans and walk the straight and narrow for the rest of my days.’
Stone snorted. ‘As if.’
‘And then Rex will roll his eyes and go away, muttering under his breath that I’m going to get myself in “Big Trouble” some day.’ Marcus shrugged. ‘Same old, same old.’
Stone shook his head. ‘All right, if that’s how you want to play this thing, I’ve got your back.’
‘You always have,’ Marcus murmured. In his own way, Stone was the most loyal man on the planet. ‘Thank you.’
Cheeks darkening, Stone dismissed the thanks with an embarrassed flip of his hand. ‘So what are you going to do now?’
‘Edit the list, then send it to Bishop.’
Stone’s eyes nearly poppe
d out of his head. ‘Why in God’s green earth would you do that?’
‘Because I promised her I would.’
‘You told her? About the list? What the fuck, Marcus? You swore us all to secrecy and then you go handing it off to her without a blink?’
‘She and Novak asked if I’d been threatened. To categorically deny it seemed unwise, so I told them that my office manager kept a list. I never planned to send her the real list.’ Stone was still staring like Marcus had three heads. ‘They were suggesting that I might have been the target. It seemed like the right thing to do.’
Closing his eyes, Stone pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Shit, boy. You and your right thing are gonna get us a lot of unwanted attention from that detective. We need a plan to get her off your ass.’
Marcus thought of Scarlett Bishop looking up at him in that alley right before the medics arrived, her eyes filled with approval. Respect. Desire. He drew a deep breath, fighting to let it out on an even exhale rather than a shuddering one. Any attention she gave him was about as far from unwanted as anything could get. ‘Don’t worry about the detective.’ The words came out a husky rumble. ‘I’ll deal with her.’
Stone’s eyes popped open to lock on his in disbelief. ‘You like her. Oh my God. You have got to be freaking kidding me.’
For a split second Marcus considered denying it, but realized he didn’t want to. ‘Why? Because she’s a cop?’
‘Because she’s Bishop. She eats men for breakfast, spits out their bones, then grinds them up to make her bread. She’s a fucking praying mantis.’
Marcus’s lips twitched. He was feeling true amusement for the first time in a long while. ‘Where do you get this stuff? She grinds their bones to make her bread? Really?’
‘She’s a hardass,’ Stone insisted. ‘A real ball-buster.’
Stone and Scarlett Bishop had not met under ideal circumstances. Deacon and Scarlett had been investigating an abduction, and Stone had been withholding evidence. To be fair, Stone had just found Mikhail’s body buried in a shallow grave, so his emotions had been unstable at best.
‘You lied to her, Stone,’ Marcus said mildly. ‘Did you honestly expect her to be okay with that?’