by Anna Blakely
“Huge fucking coincidence if they’re not,” Grant grumbled.
Coop’s wheels turned. “Okay. So maybe Billy is involved. After all, his signature is on the P.O.s.”
“Those could’ve been forged,” Derek pointed out while typing.
“Maybe,” Coop agreed. “Maybe not. Hell, for all we know, he’s the one who built the damn bomb.”
Jesus, Grant prayed that wasn’t the case. Brynnon had been dealt enough shit lately. The last thing she needed was to discover her own brother had blown up the home she loved, almost killing her in the process.
“That’s the whole fucking problem.” He stood abruptly, sending his chair rolling across the floor behind him. “We’re in here making guesses while Brynnon’s sitting with her father waiting to see if her brother’s gonna pull through.”
Sympathy clouded Coop’s hazel eyes. “I get that, but until we have more to go on, that’s all we can do.”
Grant wanted to scream. He was sick and tired of grasping at straws. Worse, he hated seeing Brynnon scared and upset.
Her tears fucking gutted him, and he refused to sit around with his thumb up his ass hoping the answers would fall in their goddamn laps while she was forced to sit and wait for the next attack.
“We’re better than this.” He went back to the papers in front of him. “There has to be something here. Some piece of evidence that will explain what the hell is going on.”
“I don’t know, man.” Coop sounded less than hopeful. “Derek’s looked over this shit already and we’ve looked at it three times. There’s nothing there.”
“Doesn’t really surprise me.”
Both men turned their attention to Derek. “What do you mean?”
“Hill’s right.” He stood. “We need to quit guessin’.”
In full geek mode now, Derek began pacing the room and talking through his thoughts. Grant and Coop both watched and waited for the former SEAL to do his thing.
“For argument’s sake, let’s assume everything is related. The bridge, the bomb, the shootin’...all of it.”
“Okay,” Coop agreed, his voice leaving a trail.
“Let’s also assume Wright’s missin’ P.I. was on the right track, and someone in Cantrell’s company did falsify those P.O.s. The most plausible reason would be so they could spend less on supplies and launder the extra money.”
Still sitting in his seat, Coop looked up at Grant. “No offense to Brynnon, but from what I’ve seen of her brother, that sounds like something he’d do.”
Knowing what she’d shared about Billy’s past, Grant couldn’t really argue against the comment. “Okay.” Grant went along with the scenario. “Say, for whatever reason, Billy ordered shit supplies and pocketed the extra cash.”
Derek nodded, adding, “No one’s the wiser. Then news of the bridge collapse hits. After that, he’d have to rush to cover his ass.”
“Not to be the only asshole in the room”—Coop jumped in— “but Billy doesn’t exactly strike me as the cunning type. Player, yes. Bullshitter extraordinaire, absolutely. But to get away with something like this? That would take a hell of a lot more than his boyish charm.”
“He’d need help,” Grant surmised.
“It would have to be someone with deep fuckin’ pockets and a lot of pull,” Derek thought aloud.
“Wait.” Grant thought of something. “I can see him covering this shit up on the business side, but how the hell could Billy Cantrell cushion a military investigation involving multiple casualties?”
“Same way you or I would.” Derek grinned. “Find whoever’s in charge and bribe them.”
“That’s it!” Grant snapped his fingers. He began rummaged through the papers again, finally finding the report he’d already read. “This is the official results of the investigation Ryker got for us.” He flipped through the stapled packet to the last page. Homing in on the signature, he read off the name of the man in charge.
Derek immediately began working his technical magic, and within minutes, he’d accessed the guy’s bank account records from the time of the investigation.
“Bingo. What’s the date of the report?” Derek smiled when Grant told him. “This has to be it.”
On the edge of his seat, Coop asked, “What is it? What did you find?”
“A wire transfer to the account in the amount of ten thousand dollars.” Derek’s eyes met Grant’s. “It posted the same day the investigation officially closed.”
Grant’s heart sped up. “We find out where that money came from, we find who was responsible for the bridge collapse.”
Coop nodded. “With any luck, it’ll lead us to whoever shot Billy.”
Derek’s computer beeped again, the sound different than his earlier message alert. He rushed over to check it.
“That’s odd.” His brows turned inward as his fingers moved with rapid speed.
“What?” Both Grant and Coop asked in unison.
Still focused on his keyboard, Derek said, “I got into Billy’s apartment building feed, but there was another security server detected. One that runs off a completely separate network.”
“Can you figure out where it’s coming from?” Grant asked.
His friend’s blue eyes narrowed. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” Derek looked back at his computer. “It’s more advanced, but the network it’s connected to is one I’m familiar with.” A few more clicks of the keyboard and, “Holy shit.”
“Find something?” Coop asked unnecessarily.
“You could say that.” Derek’s gaze slid to Grant’s. “It’s connected to Billy Cantrell’s apartment.”
Grant looked across the table expectantly. “So, the guy had a security system installed. What’s so strange about that?”
“Not just any security system. This one is on a twenty-four-hour recording setup. Not for the hallway, but”—Derek spun his laptop around for the other two men to see—“inside the apartment.”
“Holy shit. Can you rewind it to earlier tonight?”
Derek’s expression turned deadpan. “I swear, it’s like y’all have no faith in my abilities whatsoever.”
Sighing dramatically, Derek turned his computer back around and began working to rewind the feed. Talking while he worked, he said, “If we can get a clear shot of the shooter’s face, we can nail the son of a bitch.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. This feed runs through the entire apartment. Including the bathroom.”
“Jesus,” Coop spoke beneath his breath. “Paranoid, much?”
Grant and Coop both walked around to the other side of the table. With Coop’s help, Derek was able to narrow down when he’d spoken to Brynnon on the phone. Using that as a starting point, he found that portion of the recording and hit play.
The screen came alive. Divided in equal squares, they could see every inch of Billy’s apartment, all at the same time.
Clearly upset, they watched as Billy spoke to someone on the phone. The feed didn’t have audio, but Grant could tell he was apologizing repeatedly.
“He’s talking to Brynnon,” he stated for clarification.
A few minutes later, after ending that call, Billy went into his bedroom and removed a second phone from a safe he kept under his bed.
Stating the obvious, Derek said, “It’s a burner.”
Again, they couldn’t hear the conversation, but there was no doubt Billy was upset about something. His facial expression and other body language suggested he was yelling at whoever was on the other line.
With a look of resolve, Billy ended that call, slammed down the phone, and walked over to a desk butted up against one of his bedroom walls.
“What’s he doing now?”
Billy opened a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper. His hand flew across the blank sheet as he hastily wrote out something. The camera angle didn’t allow for them to make out what he was writing, but Grant had a feeling he already knew.
“It’s a confession.” Both me
n looked at him. “Brynnon told me he kept apologizing over and over again when he called her. She thought he felt bad for her having lost the cabin, but I think it was because he felt responsible.”
“I spoke to Eric before I came here,” Derek said of his detective brother. He pointed to the screen. “If that’s a confession, the police didn’t find it.”
Grant continued to watch as a desperate man wrote down his greatest sins. “That’s because the shooter didn’t want them to.”
Sure enough, after fast-forwarding to the hour EMS was called, Grant’s prediction was proven accurate. He wasn’t surprised when the man who shot Billy picked up the letter and shoved it into his pocket. What he hadn’t been expecting was the face he saw staring back at them.
“No way.” Coop stared at the frozen screen, slack jawed.
Beside him, Derek whispered a disbelieving, “Jesus Christ.”
Grant remained silent. He studied the man’s face, his blood turning hot with fury knowing the son of a bitch was under their noses the whole time.
“Of course, it’s him.” Derek ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Should’ve fuckin’ seen it.”
Shaking his head, Coop looked at the frustrated man. “Nah, D. No way you could’ve known.”
“But I should have. Think about it. The guy worked side-by-side with Billy at Cantrell Construction. He would’ve had access to the paperwork and the connections required to pull off a cover up of this proportion.”
Still attempting to placate their teammate, Coop said, “He’s also been a part of the senator’s family for years. Hell, the guy is Billy’s best friend. No one suspected him.”
The image of Martin Downing pulling that trigger was permanently burned into Grant’s mind. After a late-night visit to Billy’s apartment, the two men had argued. Tempers flared, Martin appeared to have panicked and shot Brynnon’s brother.
“He had no idea the cameras were there,” Coop stated softly.
Derek shook his head. “Nope. He avoided the ones in the building entryway and hallways but didn’t bother trying to hide his face once he got inside the apartment.” Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Who wants to tell the senator?”
Coop’s eyes bounced between Grant’s and Derek’s. “Rock, paper, scissors?”
“I’ll tell him,” Grant offered. With one final glance at the man who’d been a part of Brynnon’s family for years, Grant headed for the door.
“I want Brynnon out of the room and away from Downing first. He could get desperate and do something stupid.” The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt. “When we get there, I need one of you to come up with a reason for her to leave.”
“Like what?”
Grant thought for a minute. “Say her friend, Angie, is waiting downstairs or something. I don’t give a shit what excuse you give I just don’t want her anywhere near the prick when he realizes we know the truth.”
His heart broke for Brynnon, knowing this was just one more blow she’d have to endure. As Grant and his teammates made their way back to the ICU, he made a silent vow to be there for her. Every fucking step of the way.
****
“Martin, what are you doing?”
“What I should’ve done a long time ago. Now, walk toward me, slowly.”
Brynnon’s mind raced, her heart beating hard and fast. As she took a tiny step forward, she wondered if it might actually explode from fear.
Rubbing her cold arms with her hands, she glanced up toward the ceiling. “Martin, there are cameras in here. This is a secured Homeland facility, for Christ’s sake. How the hell do you think you’re going to get away with this?”
“Easy, actually. The staff schedule is posted on the wall in the emergency area for all to see. Shift change doesn’t happen for two more hours. Cafeteria’s closed for the night and security is surprisingly minimal. It’s still dark outside, and I parked around the corner, as far away from the nearest light post as I could. The security gate is a couple hundred feet away, next to the road, and with the sound of that wind, there won’t be anyone around to hear you if you scream.”
Brynnon felt herself grow pale.
“See? That, right there is the problem with you.” Keeping the back of the gun pulled in snuggly against his chest, he moved toward her, instead. “You’ve always underestimated me. Always thought you were smarter and better than me. Still do.”
“No.” Brynnon shook her head. “I-I didn’t. I don’t.”
“Yes, you do!” He clenched his perfect teeth together. “Your brother did, too.”
A sickening realization began to seep in. “It was you, wasn’t it?” Nauseated, Brynnon stared back at the man who’d claimed to be like family. “Y-you shot Billy.”
“I had to!” he yelled. “It was his own fault. He’s the one who started this mess in the first place. All I ever did was try to protect him and your father.”
Martin shook his head, erratically pacing the immediate area before her. The entire time he moved, the gun remained pointed directly toward her.
“Billy got scared after the bomb destroyed your cabin,” he continued on. “He called me after he spoke to you. Said he was going to tell your father everything.” Dark eyes pleaded with her to understand the unforgiveable. “He would’ve ruined both our lives, and I couldn’t... I couldn’t let that happen.”
He moved back and forth some more before stopping directly in front of her. An almost hysterical laugh escaped the back of his throat. “You want to know the most ironic part? I’m the one who set the bomb in the first place.”
Anger worked its way passed her fear, Brynnon forgetting for a second about the gun. “You blew up my cabin? Martin, I could’ve been killed!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” he shouted back, his voice echoing off the concrete structure. “Besides, you weren’t even supposed to be there.”
“Oh.” Brynnon couldn’t contain her sarcasm. “I’m so sorry for nearly ruining your plan.”
“No one was supposed to get hurt.” The crazy man shook his head, then looked back at her with an apologetic frown. “I never really wanted to hurt you. Y-your father mentioned you were coming back to the city, so I went there and waited. I watched you and Coop leave.” He laughed again. “I even waited an extra ten minutes to make sure you hadn’t forgotten something.”
“I did forget s-something, asshole. And if I h-hadn’t seen the b-bomb when I did, Coop and I both would’ve been k-killed.”
“I know!” The gun shook in Martin’s hand as he yelled.
Jesus. The man was clearly unstable. With no one else around, Brynnon knew she was on her own.
“Where’d you even get the bomb?”
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “You’d be surprised at how easy it is to acquire something of that nature.”
Feeling like she’d stepped into some sort of alternate universe, Brynnon forced herself to calm down and try to buy herself some time. She was freezing, but if she could keep him talking long enough, someone else would come by. If not, she’d try to get the gun from him herself.
“Tell me what happened, Martin.” She took a cautious step closer. “Tell me what Billy did, and I promise, my father and I will do whatever we can to help you.”
As she spoke, Brynnon started to slide her hand in her back pocket, thinking maybe she’d have a signal now that they were outside.
“Don’t!” Martin screamed, immediately changing his mind. “On second thought, yeah. Take out your phone.”
Shivering worse than before, Brynnon did as she was told.
“Now, throw it over there.” He tilted his head toward the space behind him.
More tears escaped. With no other choice, she tossed it over his shoulder, glass and plastic shattering into pieces as it landed. Still, she tried reasoning with him. “M-martin, please. Why are you d-doing this?”
He scowled in anger. “Why? Because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, Princess. You.”
Hearing him spit out Grant’s nickname for her made Brynnon want to shove her fist down the asshole’s throat. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He took another step closer, the barrel still pointing back at her.
“You just couldn’t leave well-enough alone, could you?” he seethed. “Had to keep sticking your nose in where it didn’t belong. I thought when Jessica Price nearly ran your ass over, you’d stop snooping around. Instead, you made friends with the bitch and her father. Then you got your boyfriend and his little friends to start helping, too.”
“Wait.” Brynnon pushed past her fear to try and understand what was happening. “You’re t-talking about the b-bridge.”
“Ding, ding, ding!” he shouted loudly. “Give the lady a prize!” Martin’s lip curled in disgust. “Jesus Christ, of course I’m talking about the fucking bridge.”
“Martin, w-what did you d-do?”
“What I’ve always done. I protected your family.”
“I don’t...” Brynnon shook her head. “I d-don’t understand.”
“Of course, you don’t. No one ever has.”
Body shaking, Brynnon pleaded with him to make sense of what he was doing. “So, tell me. Let’s g-go inside, and you can explain what h-happened. Whatever’s going on, m-my dad and I can help you f-fix it.”
“It’s too late for that, now.”
Ignore the cold and keep him talking. “W-what did Billy d-do?”
“The dumbass borrowed money from the wrong people. They’d threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay, so he laundered money from your dad’s construction company.”
Brynnon felt as though her world was shattering around her. Fearing she already knew the answer, she still had to ask, “How?”
“He was in charge of the supply orders, so he made it look like the company had ordered the better, more expensive materials. Instead, he got them from some fly-by-night company that went bankrupt less than a year later.”
The picture of Jordan Wright and his father flashed through her mind. Her stomach churned. “The cheap materials were used to build the bridge in Kunar.”
Martin nodded, shocking the hell out of her when he started to cry. “Your brother had no idea that would happen. He just wanted to pay the man he owed off so he could start fresh.” He sniffled. “Billy knew what happened in Kunar was his fault. He came to me, panicked. He was terrified your dad would find out what he’d done, or that he’d be sent to jail. So, I did what I always do.” He looked back at her sadly. “I fixed it.”