Her son was probably never far from her mind. “The Kindred will keep their word.” Devon reassured her by stroking her arm. “Brodie told you he wouldn’t hurt Thad.”
“Unless he steps out of line… and I’m not sure that he won’t. How can I be sure? He’s so angry. I need a chance to talk to him, but how can I possibly do that? What if he says something that upsets Brodie?”
“You trust Brodie.”
“Yes, but I feel like it’s a no-win situation. If he says something to upset Brodie, sometimes emotions take over and mistakes are made, so… maybe he will be hurt. Except, even if I get a chance to talk to him and we can convince him that what he’s done is wrong, then Syn will be here and they could hurt him, and I can’t trust them.” Tired, to the point of being haggard, Bess exhaled and touched her fingers to her hair while with her other hand, she clutched Devon tighter. “I’m so confused. I’m so angry at Thad for betraying his family. But, as a mother, I’m just terrified that he will get hurt.”
Slipping down a stair, Devon looked up with a reassuring smile, trying to encourage Bess to be optimistic while sympathizing with her point of view. “We’ll talk to Zave. You know he and Brodie are close. Nothing will happen to Thad if Zave tells Brodie to protect him.”
Tears shone in Bess’ eyes, and it broke Devon’s heart to see the pain. “You should be so angry with him. Zave is angry, I can tell by the look he gets in his eye. I’m worried that things will never go back to the way they were.”
That was one promise that Devon couldn’t make. “They won’t. I don’t know how this will work out or if the Kindred will get what they want. This could drag on for months or years. Whatever happens, you did your best and this wasn’t your fault.”
“You must spend your life saying that to Zave,” Bess said, cupping a hand around Devon’s cheek. “You’re such a good girl, so patient and accepting. You came to us exactly when we needed you.”
Devon had just been thinking about how Zave had found her exactly when she’d needed him. “Zave told me once that the way to deal with a Kindred op was one minute at a time. I’m kind of like you, I just try to visualize what will happen next and play scenarios forward, but when I did that, when they wanted Rig and me to fight so Syn would go after him, I… I nearly lost my nerve. I questioned if I could be part of the Kindred or even be with Zave if I couldn’t take the risks that they take so easily. But when we came out the other side and we were on that plane coming home, everything came together for me.
“There’s always a chance that someone will get hurt. But as long as our intentions are good, we have to trust that things will go our way.”
“Losing Melinda rocked our whole family,” Bess said. “Twelve years later, we lost Philippa, Zave’s mother, and it was like reliving the tragedy all over again. My brother Art died, nearly two years ago, and I can’t describe the grief that almost consumed all of us.” Her words were harrowing, and yet, she smiled. “He taught the boys, he taught me, that everyone is headed for their one day. The one day when we all go on our own mission, and we don’t come back. Brodie was always able to accept that, like he accepted every other word my brother said. In fact, he told Zara about ‘one day’ like it was no big deal, though it shook the girl to her core.” Her smile was warm, but resigned, and a tear trickled from the corner of her eye. “I think about my brother every day, and I know Brodie takes him on every mission. Losing him wasn’t like losing the others. Although they didn’t know it at the time, they died for a purpose, for standing up for something that was right, and I’m proud of all of them for that.”
“You should be,” Devon said, rocking her knee with their joined hands. “You should be incredibly proud of them. I’m sorry I didn’t meet them. I know they’ve had an impact on you all.”
“Art told Brodie, and Zara, and Tuck that they were his legacy. Zara told me everything that my brother said at the end. And when he knew he was finished, the first thing he did was tell Brodie that he was his greatest achievement.”
“Brodie is a good man,” Devon said, because although he was terrifying and detached, he was braver than anyone she’d ever met.
“When you told me about what Thad had done, I was so ashamed of him. I’m still ashamed of him.”
It was impossible to put herself in Bess’ position. The warring emotions must be torturous to cope with. “That doesn’t mean you don’t love him.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Bess said, and the distant look returned to her face. This time, it was glued to the carpet. “I know he’s alive. But I think, ‘what if I can never hold him in my arms again? What if I can never tell him that I love him?’ Thad was my baby and my legacy and my greatest achievement. For most of his life, it was just him and me. We were so close when he grew up. Even after he moved out, he’d call five times a day and visit all the time. It seems like a lifetime since I heard his voice.”
If Bess was missing her son this much, she had to assume, or at least hope, that Thad missed her this much in return. But there was no guarantee of that. Thad had made his choice and had made no attempt to get in touch with his mother. Maybe because he knew his mother would judge him, as mothers were supposed to do in disciplining their children for bad behavior.
“Don’t give up hope,” Devon said, although she wasn’t sure what outcome the woman should hope for.
“I can’t understand why he did this. If this mission goes ahead and something happens to him, I’ll never know why.”
The door behind them burst open before a ruckus of people came into the stairwell. The activity forced both women to stand straight. Although as soon as Bess sniffed and the four people saw what was going on, they stopped talking.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Zave asked, but it was Zara who pushed through the men to come over to hug them both.
“Nothing.” Devon grinned, and Zara leaned back to swipe tears from her cheeks. Devon hadn’t noticed that she was crying. “Must be my time of the month,” she said, and her brief exchange with Zara was enough to let the woman know she shouldn’t pursue the conversation.
“Well, it’s done,” Zara said, taking the hint. “Mitchell took some convincing. I guess Grant isn’t as influential as he thought. They’ll be here tomorrow. That gives us time to prepare.”
With an arm around both women, Zara urged them down the stairs. The men’s curiosity wasn’t satisfied, but it would have to do for now because she couldn’t reveal Bess’ secrets to the group. Although, she fully intended to talk to her husband at the first opportunity she got.
They hadn’t spoken about Thad in a while, but Zave would know how Brodie and Tuck felt. So, as Zara made plans with Bess to tour the island, Devon fixated on her husband.
Kadie was bringing coffee into the dining room when they all got back there. Rig was seated at the table waiting too. Devon told Zara and Kadie about the lagoon and Bess laughed at Zara’s declaration that they should skinny-dip, then explained Zave’s reaction to Devon’s request to do the same.
Rig didn’t like the story, but Devon slipped away to creep toward the trio huddled in front of the window. Brodie saw her coming and stopped talking, which was enough to make Zave and Tuck turn to her.
Slipping a hand into Zave’s, she tried to ignore the irritation that radiated from them all. Being interrupted was something that never happened when they were holding their private meetings. “Can I speak to you?”
“We’re talking,” Zave said, glancing back at his colleagues.
“It’ll just take a few minutes.”
The most understanding of the group, Tuck supported her, “She wouldn’t have come over here if it wasn’t important.”
“Yeah, hear her out,” Brodie agreed, though was more grumbly than the hacker.
With their permission in place, Zave exhaled and pulled her to the door at the top of the room and into the hallway beyond. But he didn’t go any further. “What is it?” he snapped.
His attitude pissed her off. “Tuck is
right, you know, I wouldn’t have come over if it wasn’t important. Maybe you should think about that before you get angry… or are you looking for a fight?”
“I’m not looking,” he mumbled. “I don’t like being interrupted. It embarrasses me.”
“I embarrass you, is that what you mean? Because I dared to ask for a minute alone with my husband? You know, if Zara wanted to be alone with Brodie, she would stand up and shout the width of the room at him. Kadie wouldn’t even have to open her mouth for Tuck to know what she wanted.”
“So I’m not as good a partner as they are?” he asked. “Maybe you’re the one looking for a fight.”
“You’re so used to being alone, so used to being an island, that you forget who the fuck I am. I’m not just your girlfriend, I’m your wife, and I reached out to you because something important happened on those stairs and I wanted to share that with you, to ask for your help and support. Not the Kindred’s. My husband’s. But you know what?” Stepping backwards, she narrowed her eyes. “Fuck you.”
She didn’t know any quicker way to get back to her room except to turn around and go back through the dining room. Brodie and Tuck were by the table now, and conversation was much livelier. One of the women was laughing until they noticed her and her intent fury.
A second after she stormed diagonally across the room, the hilarity died. “Devon?” Bess asked, but she ignored the voice and went through the other door to return to her room.
She didn’t mind that Zave was distant most of the time. She didn’t mind that he was so happy to be alone that he often cut her out of his day. She was way more patient than most women would be.
Her bedroom was familiar, but being here infuriated her, because while on an island she couldn’t simply go out for a breath of fresh air, grab a coffee, or take in a movie while she cooled off. The island had been a sanctuary, and the place was still welcoming even when the man couldn’t be.
“Fuck me?” he roared when he slammed into her room two seconds later. “Fuck me?”
“Yeah! Because if I need something, I should be able to come to you! So, fuck you if you can’t be there for me!”
“Then what?” he asked, marching over to get into her personal space. Pushing on his chest, she tried to get him to back off. “You’ll find someone who can?”
She didn’t say she was leaving him or that she wanted someone else. “When I tell you I need something, you always get it for me, with everything. Except this?”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t get it for you. You tell me what you need, shy, and you’ll get it,” he snapped without affection.
Did he think that she’d chosen the moment he was convening with his Kindred cohorts to go over and ask for a new paint set? He couldn’t think she was that shallow or ridiculous. “Support! Zave, I need support! I need to tell you something personal and sensitive, and I need to know you won’t get upset or jump to conclusions. And when you’re in this kinda mood—”
“I was in no kinda mood until you gave me your attitude.”
“I didn’t give you any attitude! I was polite and respectful! I came over to ask for your attention for just a minute, and you won’t move until you have the permission of two other men! Am I supposed to be bleeding or waiting for aliens to land, like you said, before I’m allowed to speak to you? Or is it just sex you want? You thought, ‘Hey, if I marry her, she has to stay on the island and I’ll have my own personal slut!’”
He blinked as his head shook. “Where the fuck did that come from?” he asked. “We’ve been through this. You’re here because I love you and I want to be married to you.”
She didn’t doubt that; she was just frustrated. “So what the fuck was downstairs all about?” she asked.
They’d argued before but never in such close proximity to so many other people. She hoped that the floors and ceilings were soundproof because the dining room was directly below. Someone had to be sitting on top of Rig, preventing him from coming up to find out what the fuck their domestic was all about.
“I have my cousin locked up in my house. And I have at least four guys planning an assault on this place tomorrow, because don’t think for one second they don’t plan to bring every weapon in their fucking arsenal to try to take this place. So I’m sorry if I’m a bit on edge at the moment!”
Although he didn’t sound on edge, he just sounded angry. “You’re not the only one dealing with this,” she said. “In fact, I know this is your fucking house and I know you must be worried about losing it, but there’s someone who this is more stressful for.”
“You think it’s more stressful for you?” he asked. “You’re going to be nowhere near the fucking meet. I don’t care if I have to lock you in our bedroom upstairs, you’re going to be safe and far away from every one of those fuckers—”
“I’m gonna be there,” she said. “And I’m gonna look in every one of their faces to let them know that they don’t fuck with the Kindred. Maybe Kadie and I don’t count, like Caine said, but the Kindred’s demand was that every party be present and that includes me.”
Kadie might choose not to be there, as she and Tuck had arrangements about when she did and didn’t take part. But Devon had made no such promises to her husband. Rig wouldn’t sit this one out. The Kindred would need all the manpower they could muster. So Devon wasn’t going to let her husband and her brother walk into that fraught situation without as much back up as she could offer.
“This is fucked up enough without the woman I love standing there.”
They had to deal with one argument at a time, and this one hadn’t started over tomorrow’s meet. “This isn’t what we’re fighting about,” she said, opening her arms at her sides. “Whether or not I’m there tomorrow isn’t up for debate. I will be there. With you. With Brodie. With Zara. With Tuck. Kadie, if she wants to be there. And with Bess.”
“Bess won’t be there, either,” he said.
Could he really be this naïve? One of the smartest men in the business world and he didn’t see who this situation was most stressful for. “Bess hasn’t seen her son since before you and I were married,” she said, and some of his anger seeped away as clarity took over. “She’s terrified that he’s going to get hurt. She’s terrified that even if the Kindred promise not to harm him, Syn will if he shows any hesitation in hurting the Kindred or doing what Mitchell asks. She still believes that he can be redeemed.”
“Redeemed?” he asked, reversing a fraction of an inch. “It would take a helluva lot for him to be accepted back into the Kindred. She can’t really think that we’re going to—”
“All she cares about is that he lives. I mean, she wants him to be back with you and with Brodie, and I think she wants things the way they were, but all she cares about, really, deep down, is that he lives and he stays the hell away from Syn.”
His eyes closed so slowly that she could almost hear his internal groan. Turning on the spot to put his back to her, Zave gave her a chance to take her own cleansing breath to let the stress of the argument dwindle. She guessed they weren’t really arguing with each other; they were just stressed and worried.
Her theory was reinforced when she rested a hand on his back and slid it down to the groove of his spine. He didn’t back away or argue with her. He stayed silent for another minute and then bent his arm around to take her wrist so he could hold her hand as he returned to face her.
“I’ll talk to Brodie.”
She knew he would and that was all she wanted, reassurance that Bess’ feelings would be taken into consideration. This wasn’t about saving Thad or even about forgiving him. Bess was still Kindred, even if Thad wasn’t.
“You won’t hurt him?” she asked, and he shook his head. “How will you stop him from leaving with Syn?”
His brow slunk downwards and he peered into her. “Syn won’t be leaving this island, shy.”
A chill tickled her shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Leatt’s irrelevant, Caine’s
an asset, Thad is family…”
“And Mitchell?” she asked when he said nothing about Syn’s leader.
Brushing the back of his fingers down her cheek, he bowed to kiss her. “He has an appointment with Maverick we intend to ensure he keeps.”
TWENTY-ONE
Less than twenty-four hours later, the stage was set. Devon had never been so terrified, she’d become accustomed to the flavor of adrenaline in her throat. After Zave had left her alone in her bedroom, she’d pondered what he said but wasn’t horrified by it. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. There could be no other outcome.
She didn’t know if Zara knew or if Kadie did or who of the men had broached the subject in the first place. It didn’t matter.
No more talk of plans or strategy joined them at the dinner table last night, but when the women said they were retiring to one of the dens for wine and conversation, the men didn’t object or join them.
That must have been when they came up with the details of how to approach this day because the next morning, Devon awoke to her husband’s attention.
He didn’t usually initiate morning sex, maybe it was a tradition he wanted to start that they should make love before Kindred missions. But she doubted it. It was more likely that he was worried that Syn would bring law enforcement or the media as back up and that they may not have many more chances to be intimate. She hoped that was his thought, because the alternative was he considered the chance that someone wouldn’t make it out alive.
The Kindred were strong together. They stood in the entryway, listening to the helicopter rotors closing in. They couldn’t just shoot the men as they stepped off the aircraft. They had to ensure that Syn had brought Game Time because they weren’t devices that could be left out in the open for anyone to discover.
Grant was still a prisoner and technically, Caine was on their side, but there was no guarantee Caine knew the true location of the devices. He’d even admitted to Zara that he wasn’t sure Mitchell had been honest about the whereabouts of the tech.
Finch (Kindred #6) Page 25