Beg for Mercy (48 page)

T
he news of Nate Brewster’s death hit the media within two hours. The story of how the Seattle Slasher had recorded his murders and the speculation that he’d framed Sean Flynn for the murder of E
vangeline Gordon had the press practically wetting their pants in excitement.

Carl Grayson opened the door to his stepfather’s office. The man who had married his mother fifteen years ago called himself David Maxwell, but Carl knew that name was an invention, a new identity to hide the past he’d left behind in some dusty town in the eastern part of the state.

The past he’d invited in when he reached out to help his sick fuck of a nephew had come back to haunt him in a big way.

Now David’s powerful shoulders slumped as he stared out the wall of glass at a view that included the Space Needle.

“You took care of it?” he said without turning.

“Yes,” Carl said. “As far as anyone is concerned, Nate was acting entirely on his own.” He’d done a clean sweep of both Nate’s properties, leaving behind the relevant videos, as well as interesting finds like passports for both Nate and Megan Flynn under false names. “I’ve been assured
that any official investigation into the murders ends with him.” No one who had any say in the matter would allow an inquiry to move forward. Not if they wanted to avoid total and absolute ruin.

His stepfather nodded shortly. “What about Talia?”

“Still missing,” Carl said grimly. She’d disappeared without a trace from the hospital where she’d received treatment for her knife wound. “Rosario is gone too.”

“How?” David raged. “How the fuck could they just disappear like vapor?”

Carl shrugged. “They probably had help. But we haven’t been able to find a trail.”

“For her sake, she better hope it stays that way,” David said bitterly. “I never thought…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised. She’s no better than a whore.” A feminine voice cut through the office like a blade.

“Mother,” Carl cautioned.

His mother rolled her eyes. “Serves you right. You got careless, letting him run wild like that. You should have taken care of him years ago.”

Carl couldn’t agree more.

“It’s over now,” David said. “Nate’s dead, and it’s over.”

Carl shook his head at the grief in the older man’s voice. He never understood his stepfather’s commitment to the sicko, his compulsion to protect Nate. So what if David was the only family Nate had left after his mother and sister had been killed? Nate put them all at risk with his behavior. But David had refused to see it, convinced they could channel Nate’s urges to serve the organization.

But Carl had known from the beginning that Nate was flawed to the core, that his appetite, his sickness, was beyond their control, regardless of how they tried to manage and channel it.

Nate had been a vicious dog, one who couldn’t be muzzled or contained. He’d needed to be put down.

Carl’s only regret about Nate’s death was that it hadn’t happened sooner.

Now there was nothing to connect the prostitution ring or the murders to them.

size="3">Except for Talia Vega, who knew damn well what would be waiting for her if she ever dared to breathe a word.

“You’ve got a visitor, Flynn.”

Sean rolled to face the door when he heard the voice calling through the cuff port in his door.

Lights-out had been two hours ago—a relative term since the single overhead light in his cell was never actually turned off.

He wondered if it was Megan. She’d been in two days ago along with Brockner. Sean’s brain was still in a twist from what he’d learned about Nate. It still didn’t seem real that the man Sean once considered a good friend could be such a monster. The story Megan told seemed too ridiculous to be real, but he still hadn’t recovered from the sight of her bruised face and bandaged hands.

Because of a man Sean had brought into their lives. He wished he could dig Nate Brewster up and kill him all over again.

In the last forty-eight hours, he’d experienced every emotion from grief to anger to guilt.

Most importantly, he’d felt the cautious burn of hope. They had evidence now that Sean didn’t kill Evangeline; that was the important part. After three years, the truth had finally come out, and Sean was going to get another chance. Soon he’d be free on bail, and if things went the way Megan and Brockner promised they would, soon Sean would be free for good.

Sean cuffed up as ordered and followed Joe, one of the head guards, down the dark corridors of the prisons to the same common room where Megan and Cole Williams had paid their midnight visit a little less than a week ago.

Sean’s lip curled, half smile, half sneer, when he saw the woman seated at one of the tables. “Ms. Slater. Didn’t expect to see you.”

Her pale blond hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and she didn’t have on a lick of makeup. But with her big blue eyes and perfectly sculpted features, she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever laid eyes on. The kind of woman who made his hands itch to mess her up a little.

Not that Sean would ever try. After what she’d put him through, Sean knew better than to tangle with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Krista Slater.

Sean took a seat at the table across from her while Joe hovered a few feet behind him. He rested his cuffed wrists on the table with a thunk.

She tried but couldn’t quite hide her flinch. “I wanted to apologize in person, for everything you’ve been through.”

Sean kept himself perfectly still, careful not to let her see the rage and resentment simmering under his skin. He
raised his shackled hands. “You think that makes up for this?”

“Of course not.”

Sean could see the pulse beating in the delicate skin of her throat, could smell the scent of her perfume getting stronger as her body temperature increased.

She licked her lips, drawing his attention to the plump curve. He felt a faint warmth low in his gut. It had been so long since he’d felt anything close to that, it took him several seconds to recognize it as the beginning of sexual arousal.

He jerked a little in surprise and chalked it up to the fact that it had been three years since he’d been in the same room with any woman other than his sister. Stood to reason his dick wouldn’t be very discriminating. There was no other excuse for feeling even a hint of attraction for this woman.

He dragged his eyes from her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed, like she knew what he was thinking.

Throughout the trial and the months leading up to it, he’d never seen Krista lose her composure. Now she shifted nervously in her seat, and when she spoke, there was a little shake in her voice. “I’m going to make sure you’re exonerated,” she said. “When we go in front of the judge, I’m going to file a motion to drop all charges against you. With the video evidence and what Nate did to Megan, I can’t imagine a reason the judge would deny it.”

Hope blazed a little brighter. He was careful not to let her see it. “You expect me to thank you?”

Her blue eyes were full of remorse, and she looked away from his hard stare. “Not at all. I just wanted you to know where I stood. I made a huge mistake and I’m going
to fix it.” Her slender shoulders shrugged. “I didn’t want you to worry. Felt like the least I could do.”

He didn’t like feeling gratitude toward her, but it felt good to know he was one step closer to having this nightmare end. “I’ll sleep better.”

“Good.” She gave him a small smile that faded quickly when he didn’t return it. “I’ll see you next week in court.” She nodded at Joe to signal the meeting was over. “And after that, you’ll never have to see me again.”

Two Months Later

Megan shoved her makeup kit into her suitcase and ran down her checklist one more time to make sure she had everything she needed for her weekend away with Cole. Her stomach fluttered in anticipation of three uninterrupted days at a secluded cabin in the San Juans. Their time together had been limited in the last couple of months as Megan focused on helping Sean adjust to life on the outside, and Cole dove headfirst back into work.

And even though Sean had sworn up and down he didn’t have a problem with Megan’s relationship with Cole—Cole had saved Megan’s life, for God’s sake, and had gone above and beyond to make sure Sean was exonerated for the murder of Evangeline Gordon—Megan still couldn’t shake off the twinge of guilt over being so over-the-moon happily in love with Cole when Sean was still struggling.

She grabbed her bag and walked out to the kitchen where she found Sean drinking coffee, one hip cocked
against the counter. He smelled faintly of sweat and damp spring air. Emorning he went out for at least an hour-long run, rain or shine. After three years of spending almost all of his time inside, he couldn’t get enough fresh air and open sky.

A cool spring breeze rose goose bumps on her skin, but she didn’t close the window over the kitchen sink. Sean couldn’t tolerate being in any enclosed space without having a door or window open, another aftereffect of prison. In the two months since Sean’s release, Megan’s heating bills had doubled, and she’d taken to wearing full-body fleece, but it was a minuscule price to pay compared to having her brother back.

“So you’re all packed,” Sean said, nodding at her suitcase.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this? I feel bad leaving you alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, managing to scrub most of the irritation from his voice.

She knew he was getting tired of her hovering, but it was hard for her not to. Though he did his best to paste on a happy face for her, she knew he was having a hard time adjusting to life on the outside.

“You’ll call if you need anything?”

Sean dumped what was left of his coffee in the sink and grabbed her in a quick hug. “I’ll be fine. Don’t waste your weekend worrying about me, okay?”

How was she supposed to not worry when the brother she’d grown up with, the outgoing guy who was always ready with a laugh and who made friends everywhere he went, seemed to have disappeared?

She’d been so focused on getting him out of prison
that she hadn’t considered that he might emerge a different person than she’d known. But every now and then, a glimpse of him would poke through the silent, brooding surface, and Megan knew that if she was there for him and kept chipping away, the old Sean would eventually bust free.

In the meantime, it didn’t seem fair that she go skipping merrily into her future with Cole when Sean was having a rough time.

“Maybe Cole and I should wait, slow things down until you’re more settled—”

“Don’t.” Sean cut her off with a wave of his big hand. “Get that look off your face. Don’t you dare feel guilty for getting on with your life, not after everything you’ve done for me.”

“You would have done the same for me,” she said stubbornly.

“And I will have nightmares the rest of my life because of what you went through for me.”

“I wouldn’t do anything different.”

He took a deep breath. When he spoke again, his voice was softer. “I know.” A slight smile softened the grim lines of his face. “But listen to me. I want you to go away this weekend. I know you’ve missed him because you’ve been too busy hovering around, coddling me—”

“It’s not like it’s a burden!”

Sean held up his hand. “I know, and I love you for it. But it’s enough, Megan. I want you to be in love and be happy. I want you to live your life, okay?” He paused. “And I need to start living mine.”