by Mandy Harbin
Xan hated the idea of staying here when her son was going to the hospital, but she knew Colonel was right. Jack would want to talk to her and look around. It didn’t make any sense that Scott would be taken and Chad drugged. This could be all one big setup. She could go running to her baby boy right now, but she wouldn’t be any help if Marco got her while she was on her way to the hospital. For all she knew he was here, sitting back, waiting for his opportunity to take her. She wouldn’t be any use to Scott dead.
And she didn’t know how to feel about Brody being the one to protect her son. When he could’ve been the one to kill her daughter. How could a man take the life of one of her kids but protect the other? She couldn’t wrap her head around that. Unless Marco still had some crazy-ass idea about having an heir to take over the family business and was still using Brody to make that happen. Could Brody be one of Marco’s minions? She didn’t know what to believe, who to trust. She looked at Brody and his eyes softened. He was staying away from her, but she got the feeling that he didn’t like it. Too bad. What they had was damaged and when this mess blew over, she’d probably be literally sick with the idea of loving a man who’d done something so vile. “Don’t you hurt him,” she choked.
“Never,” he breathed. She nodded and he walked toward the door, stopping when he was beside her. “I’d die before I let anything happen to either one of you. I know you’re hurting right now, but you have to know that.”
Her breath hitched and she swallowed to stop the sob that was building as she watched Brody and Blade leave.
He’d said that to comfort her, but the thought of Brody dying was just one more devastating thought in this horrible day.
* * * * *
Brody parked his truck in the hospital parking lot and rushed into the ER. After asking a bunch of questions and lying about his relationship to Scott, he finally found out that he’d been admitted into the hospital and was given his room number. He took the elevator to the appropriate floor and walked down the hall to Scott’s room. When he pushed the door open, Roc had been hovering over Scott in the bed and jerked around to look at him. What the fuck?
“What are you doing here?” Roc spat.
“Get away from him,” Brody ordered as he stalked into the room and over to Scott, looking at all the wires and shit for anything out of the ordinary as if he had a clue what was ordinary. “What the hell were you doing?”
“Nothing.” Roc crossed his arms and stared at Brody. Yeah, he liked the fact that his coworker had to look slightly up at him. It was a male thing.
“Didn’t look like that to me.”
Roc pointed at Brody. “You’ve been on my case since the whole Mimi thing happened, and you can get the hell off it at any time, bro.”
Brody growled. “That doesn’t answer my question. What. Did. You. Do?” He was reaching for the nurse call button, so someone experienced could check out Scott’s setup, make sure everything was copacetic.
“You’re one paranoid motherfucker, Brutus. I didn’t do a damn thing. It sounded as if the kid was wheezing a little and I leaned in to hear his breath better.”
Brody was about to respond when Scott stirred, so he focused on Scott instead. “Hey,” he crooned. “How are you feeling?”
“Sleepy,” he mumbled. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’ll be here later.” No need to tell him why she wasn’t here right now.
“Doc said that he’ll be sleeping on and off all day. They gave him something to counter the medication, but whatever. That’s what he said,” Roc said, shrugging.
Brody wanted to haul off and pop that jerk in the face. But he schooled his expression instead. “Colonel wants you back at Walmart, checking out the scene. He’ll be sending someone over to help.”
“Thank God. I hate hospitals.” Roc left, moving faster than Brody had ever seen, but he didn’t really care. At least he didn’t have to look at him anymore.
Scott had fallen back asleep, so Brody sat down and waited.
And waited.
Two hours passed before Scott woke up again, thirsty. Brody poured him some ice water and watched him sip it. “What’s taking Mom so long?”
Brody didn’t know for sure. He knew the feds liked to be thorough and could question people for days and days if they wanted to, but he figured once her agent showed up, he’d bring her out here and question her, and protect her, while she mothered Scott. “What do you remember?” Brody asked instead of answering.
“Nothing. Last thing I remember was kicking Chad’s ass in Battle Warfare.”
Brody figured as much, but he had to ask anyway.
His cell phone vibrated, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now Xan was on her way and he wouldn’t have to stall.
Damn. It was Blade’s number. “Yeah?”
“Got him. But he ain’t talking.”
“You found Adams?”
“Yep. Hog tied him and brought him back to the shop. I tried calling Gage to see if he could help interrogate this ass-wipe, but he ain’t answering his phone.”
Brody sighed, rubbing his head with his free hand. “Did you get anything out of him?”
“A little piss. He’s shakin’ like a dog shittin’ peach seeds right now. I think he’s working for someone. Just a hunch, but he didn’t seem too scared about being found, but once I was able to grab and tie him, his behavior changed. I mean, sure, anybody would be scared being tied up, but it seemed a little odd. Kinda like being captured was worse than being killed.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like torture.” Because if Adams had anything to do with what was happening to Xan and Scott that was what would happen when Brody got a hold of him.
“Maybe. Oh hey, Roc just pulled up. Maybe together we’ll be able to get this shithead to talk.”
“I thought he was supposed to stick around Walmart. Surely the feds aren’t done there yet.” What the hell was Roc up to?
“Don’t know, bro, but I’ll be in touch. Holler if you hear from Gage. It’s not like him not to answer.”
Yeah, that was very odd. But everyone was stretched thin right now.
He pocketed his phone and looked at Scott.
Asleep.
He didn’t know if he was relieved by that or not. It’d buy him some more time, but he hated that the drug was taking as long as it was to get out of his system. At least he was alive. And he’d stay that way if Brody had any say in the matter.
Another hour went by as Brody fumbled his phone, willing it to ring, and watched the door, hoping Xan was too pissed off to call him ahead of time and would just walk in. No luck.
But another fifteen minutes later the door did open, and Bear walked over to him.
“How’s Scott?”
“Okay. How’s Chad?”
“Better. He’s in and out of consciousness. Roxie’s still with him.”
“Have you heard from Colonel?” Bear was his number-two man, so maybe he’d called him instead of Brody. He was going insane just sitting here, not knowing what was happening with Xan.
“Nope.”
That was it. He pushed Colonel’s number on his cell phone. “I’m calling him,” Brody said unnecessarily. “I know the feds like to take their sweet-ass time, but a little update wouldn’t kill him.” Brody listened as the phone rang. And rang. And rang. Shit! “He’s not answering.”
Bear frowned. “That’s not like him.”
No, it sure as hell wasn’t. “Can you stay here with Scott? I’m going to Xan’s.”
“Sure.” Bear nodded as he sat on the windowsill.
“I mean watch him, man. Don’t let anything happen to him.” Brody hated leaving him with anybody else, but he trusted Bear.
“This isn’t my first day on the job, Brutus. Go. Call me when you find out something.” He made a shooing motion with his hand, then crossed his arms as he settled into the seat.
Brody grunted but didn’t say anything else. He hurried out of Scott’s room and out of the hospital. He tried callin
g Gage on the way, but he didn’t answer. He called Blade and he did answer, but said that Roc was busy convincing Adams to spill what he knew. Roc had been on Brody’s bad side since Xan had shown up in town, but it seemed his badass attitude was finally coming in handy.
A few minutes later, Brody was pulling onto Xan’s street and a chill ran down his spine.
He’d expected the area to be hopping with feds at both Roxie’s and Xan’s houses, but there weren’t any marked—or unmarked—cars around. And no one was walking around conducting a typical investigation. What the hell?
He pulled into Xan’s driveway behind Colonel’s car. Xan’s car was still here too. He got out and ran up the porch stairs and knocked before turning the knob. He was too impatient for a formal invite.
“Xan?” he called out as he stalked into the living room. No answer and no sign of either one. Shit, this wasn’t good. He called her name louder as he ran into the kitchen. Still no Xan or Colonel. He let out a frustrated growl as he rubbed his hands over his face and into his hair, pulling some strands loose from the thong holding it back. Then he started down the hall. Just as he started to yell her name again he heard a faint sound coming from Scott’s room. He turned the doorknob, but it was locked. He held on to the handle and shoved his weight against the door, busting the flimsy thing open.
And froze.
It took him about two seconds to process what he was looking at. Colonel, tied to the bed, gagged with blood running down his cheek. Brody ran to his boss and gently rolled him onto his back. “What happened?” he asked as he removed the cloth covering Colonel’s mouth.
He groaned. “What does it look like?” he panted. Then he sighed, shaking his head. “Bradley said she had to pee and went to the bathroom. She was gone several minutes, so I walked down the hall to see what was taking her so damn long. Someone got me from behind, knocked me out. I didn’t see who. When I came to I was like this.” He gestured to his restrained body. “Will you fucking untie me already?”
Brody cursed as he set his boss free. He’d be pissed at Colonel’s attitude, but he knew he would’ve acted the exact same way if he were in his boss’ shoes. And if the woman he loved wasn’t missing now. Shit! He wanted to hit something.
Colonel winced as he sat up. “Sorry I was short with you, son. I’m mad they got through me. I don’t like fucking up.”
“You didn’t. We should’ve never left you alone with her. In fact,” he pulled out his phone, “Scott needs more protection.” He dialed Blade’s number. When he answered, Brody gave him the bad news and asked him to hightail it over to Scott’s room to backup Bear. He trusted Blade the most and now that Brody had to put all his attention on finding Xan, he knew he could focus more on Xan and less on Scott if Blade was there. When he got off the phone, he turned back to Colonel who’d gotten out of the bed and started pacing. “Call Roc. Tell him to lock up that weasel, Adams, and get over here. We need Gage and Hunter too. The four of us will look for Xan.” Brody stared at his boss, practically daring him for saying something to contradict his orders. Brody wasn’t the boss around here, but right now, he damn well was.
Colonel just nodded and pulled out his phone to make the calls. Within minutes he’d issued the orders to the other guys. Except for Gage. He still wasn’t answering his phone.
“Did you hear anything?”
“No.” His tone was clipped.
Brody needed any information Colonel could provide, so he took a deep breath and tried another route. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking Scott’s abduction was a fucking diversion. One of those make some noise over here while we swoop in and take the real prize kind of things.”
That was what he was thinking too. It was the only thing that made sense. But why now, and how had Collins been successful? Plus, Colonel looked as if he were mulling over something else as he chewed on his fingernails and paced. Brody didn’t have time to think about that for long because he heard someone pulling into the driveway. He and Colonel walked into the living room as Hunter walked in the house.
“I didn’t find anything on Coleman.”
No shocker there. He turned to his boss. “What’d the feds say when they finished?”
“Nothing. They dusted both the houses, asked her a few questions, and left. Her agent never showed.”
Brody heard another vehicle pull up, and several seconds later Hunter and Roc walked in. Brody tamped down his instant need to hurt Roc because he needed the prick’s help.
Colonel brought the guys who’d just entered up to speed, then he turned to Brody. “Remember when I said that I thought Collins had a man on the inside? What if that inside man isn’t working for the feds?” He shook his head. “I mean, I’m sure he has someone on the inside with the FBI, but what if he had an inside man in another organization.”
Brody’s brow furrowed. “What? Like the CIA?”
“No. Like Sheppard’s Garage.”
Brody’s heart dropped and the other guys stared wide-eyed at Colonel. “What the hell does that mean? You think one of us works for Collins?” Brody didn’t want to believe that, but his eyes shot to Roc. If anybody worked for Collins it’d be that motherfucker.
Roc scowled at him. “Hold up there, hoss,” he tapped on his chest, “I’m not working for no one but Colonel.”
“I didn’t say anything about you, Roc,” Colonel said and then pointed at Brody. “You need to stand down.”
He gritted his teeth to keep from lashing out and nodded.
“I was talking about Gage.”
“What?” Now that was fucking ridiculous.
“Where have you gotten your information? You know, when you were investigating Xan behind my back.”
“We weren’t—” Brody sighed, not finishing that statement. “Gage did provide a lot of it.”
“He’s the newest guy here. If Xan’s agent is on the take—which who the hell knows since he hasn’t shown up—he could’ve worked to plant Gage here. If that’s not the case, then where the hell is he now that the shit’s hit the fan?” Colonel asked, sitting down and wincing, rubbing his thigh.
Hmm. He did have a point. But they’d discounted her agent as a possible suspect a long time ago. Brody figured it’d be best not to dismiss anybody now without properly weeding them out of the running as the mole. Oh no. What if it were Blade or Bear? They were alone with Scott right now. Either one could take the other if an attack was unsuspected.
He shook his head to clear it and get it on the right path because that thought was insane. He trusted both those guys. He was just too worked up and feeling as if he were spinning his wheels when he should be out looking for Xan.
“What do you propose?” Brody finally asked.
“I think you three should look for Bradley. I could help, but if it came down to a fight, I’m not up for it,” he growled, seemingly pissed again that the guys had gotten to him and through him to get to Xan. “I’m going to look for Gage. If he is our mole, he needs to be stopped.” With that Colonel stood. “Call me if you find out anything. Good luck, guys.”
The boss man hobbled out the front door, and Brody was left facing Roc, who he couldn’t already stand, and Hunter. “We scour the house, then the neighborhood, then the town. We start small and expand our search area,” Brody said before turning to Roc. “Did you get anything out of Adams?”
A sickening smile formed on Roc’s face, and Brody wondered why women flocked to him. His black hair and green eyes might be considered attractive on a woman, but Roc just looked mean as hell. “Yeah. Collins hired him. He’s been here since two weeks before Xan moved to town.”
“Fuck,” Brody breathed. That settled it. Collins definitely had someone on the inside. He pulled out his phone and called Blade. He told him the news and the theory about Gage. He seemed a little hesitant to believe it too, but agreed that anything was possible at this point. After Brody warned him not to let any feds near Scott, he got off the phone and faced Roc and Hunte
r. “Let’s get to it.”
The guys spent the next hour tearing apart Xan’s house, which was where the fucking FBI put her. And with someone on the inside working for Collins, that asshole probably knew everything that’d happened in this place.
Including the nights he’d spent here in bed with Xan. Collins’ ex-wife and the woman Brody now loved. If that man so much as breathed on her, Brody was going to rip him to shreds.
He just might anyway.
Might? Oh hell no. He was definitely going to tear that man limb from limb. All the damage he’d caused in Xan’s life, Collins deserved to die. Painfully.
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway pulled Brody out of his musing. He turned around and saw Hunter easing the blinds from the window to peek out. “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch. It’s Gage.”
Hunter stepped away from the window as Gage came barreling in without knocking.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Brody barked. “You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do, man.”
Gage looked frazzled, tunnels running through his curly brown hair making it look as if he’d been running his fingers through it repeatedly.
“I’ve been looking for Jeff Coleman.” He shut his eyes briefly before giving Brody a haunted look and turning his eyes to Roc. “Sorry, man. I thought it was you.”
Brody didn’t see anything wrong with that suspicion because he’d already considered Roc as the mole. It may have only been a brief thought, but he’d had it.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Roc drawled, and if Brody wasn’t mistaken, Roc seemed to be amused by the negative attention now that it seemed as if he was in the clear. But as for Gage…
“Yeah, well, Colonel seems to think you’re the mole, Gage. You’ve been able to find out a lot of helpful information, but when it was time to tussle, you weren’t around.”