DarkestSin (23 page)

“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 calling 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.”