High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (27 page)

When we got off the elevator, we heard shouting coming from the waiting room. One of the voices sounded like Sean. Logan and I took off down the hall, just in time to break up the fight. Sean and Mark stood nose to nose, their angry glares glued on one another.

Logan pushed them apart. “That’s enough. It’s not the time or place for this shit.”

I held my breath, suffocating in the tension that filled the room. Janie’s parents and brother were nowhere to be seen. Luckily, both Sean and Mark backed up and I could finally breathe.

Sean stormed to the opposite side of the room, running his hands angrily through his hair. I approached him cautiously, gently placing my hands on his back. “Sean,” I whispered.

“The fucker knew,” he growled.

“Knew what?”

“That she’d been in the hospital since this morning and nobody felt the need to call me. She probably thinks I don’t care.”

My blood boiled as I turned to glare at Mark. It was obvious by the smug look on his face, he knew what was going on. Turning back to Sean, I put my hand on his arm and squeezed. “That’s not true,” I murmured softly. “She knows you care.” I guided him to the nearest chair and sat beside him. I didn’t realize how much he loved her until that moment. He was torn and it broke my heart. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. Maybe you’ll get to see her soon.”

About an hour passed, when Janie’s brother, Brandon, trudged into the room. His face was red and his eyes tired. I didn’t care how upset he was; I was angry no one felt the need to call Sean. Sean jumped to his feet and I joined him.

“How is she?” he demanded.

Brandon swallowed hard, his voice so low I could barely hear. “She’ll be fine. A piece of the windshield had lodged in her neck, narrowly missing her artery. She lost a lot of blood, but I donated mine.”

Sean let out a big breath, running his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t anyone call me?”

Brandon’s brows furrowed. “I thought you knew. Mark said he was going to call you.” Sean’s body shook with rage. It was then we all realized what was going on. Brandon turned an angry glare to Mark. “Why didn’t you call him?” he shouted.

Mark shrugged. “Lost track of time.”

“You son of a bitch!” Sean lunged, but Logan stepped in his way.

I grabbed Sean’s face, his eyes wild with rage. “Calm down, Sean. If security comes in here, they’ll kick you out. That’s not what you want right now.”

Logan put as much distance between Sean and Mark as he could. However, that didn’t stop Brandon from punching Mark in the face. “Get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to look at your face right now.”

Mark wiped his bloody nose onto his shirt. “I’m not leaving until I see her.”

Sean tried to push his way past Logan, but I grabbed him around the waist. “Don’t.”

Logan joined Brandon, towering over both him and Mark. I half expected a fight to break out, but thankfully, Mark backed up and snarled at them before storming out of the room.

Brandon collapsed into one of the chairs and sighed. “I don’t understand what the hell his problem is.”

“What happened to Janie?” I asked him.

He rubbed his eyes, his shoulders slumped and defeated. “She lost control of her car this morning on her way to the school. The guardrail stopped her from going over the side of the mountain.”

“Oh my God,” I gasped.

“She’ll be okay though. You can go in and see her if you want. She’s been in and out all day.”

“What room number?” Sean demanded.

Brandon told us her room number, and we all three went down the hall. Logan stood outside the door, so Sean and I could see her. When we got into her room, the lights were dimmed, but I could still see the damage. Her eyes were black and blue, with cuts all over her face. Her neck was bandaged where the shard of glass had penetrated her skin.

Sean slowly sat down beside her, gently taking her hand. “I had a feeling something was wrong when she didn’t call me back.”

“And you were right. I’m so sorry, Sean. About everything.”

“When you say
everything
, do you mean the shit about Logan?” he hissed low.

I knelt down beside him and grabbed his other hand. “I was wrong. I knew I was the second I looked into your eyes. I even told Logan the same thing. Please tell me we can get past this. I don’t want you mad at me.”

A sad smile spread across his lips. “I could never stay mad at you, Kass. You’re the one who brought Janie into my life. I’ve never been happier.”

I squeezed his hand. “Glad to hear it.”

“Me too,” Janie whispered gruffly.

Gasping, I let his hand go and made my way around to the other side of the bed. “Janie,” I breathed.

Sean kissed her hand and tears fell down his cheeks. “Thank fucking God, you’re okay. I was so worried about you.”

She tried to swallow and tensed with pain. “I was worried about me too. Don’t know what happened.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“My brakes stopped working as I was going down the mountain. I thought I was going to die.”

“So that’s it? Your brakes just
stopped
working?”

Closing her eyes, she placed a hand over her neck, hissing in pain. “Yes. It was so strange.”

Yes, it was, and I didn’t like the sound of it. “All right, you two, I’m gonna give you some privacy. Sean,” I said, heading toward the door, “call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

Logan was still by the door when I walked out. “Everything okay?”

I shook my head. “Far from it. She’s awake, but we need to talk to Gary.”

“Speaking of Gary, I never told you about Levi’s bike. I went to see it at his nephew’s shop.”

My heart stopped. “And?”

He pulled out his phone and showed me the pictures. I felt sick just looking at them, tears springing to my eyes. “I found a streak of red paint. I’m thinking it’s from the person who ran him off the road.”

Anger welled as I pictured the accident in my head. Shaking off the images, I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. “That’s like finding a needle in a haystack. There are too many red cars and motorcycles out there.”

He shrugged. “It’s still something. What all did Janie have to say?”

I looked right into his eyes. “That her brakes stopped working. Don’t know about you, but I don’t like the sound of that.”

Taking my hand, he led me down the hall to the elevator. “Me either. I’ll call Gary first thing in the morning.”

“S
o the brake lines weren’t cut? You sure?” I asked again, looking through the pictures. I did as I’d said and called Gary first thing the next morning. The police had done a thorough inspection of Janie’s car, and came to a conclusion I wasn’t expecting to hear.

“There was no sign of tampering,” Gary assured me. “The brake lines were rusted and gave out. It was only a matter of time. You can see that in the pictures.”

“But how can that be? She had a fairly new car. They wouldn’t have rusted this fast.”

Gary sighed. “Where you live it wouldn’t, but here with as much salt as we use during the winter, our cars don’t hold up as long.”

In Charlotte, we barely had snow, so we didn’t have to worry about salt damage. I couldn’t imagine Janie’s breaks giving out so fast. “Maybe, but I don’t think that’s it in this case.”

He chuckled. “Are you always this cynical? I guess you have to be in the FBI. Always thinking of possible scenarios.”

“You’re right. It’s hard to trust something if you don’t see the proof yourself.”

“It was a horrible accident, Logan. You have the pictures right in front of you. I’ll be by later to pick them up.”

Straightening the pictures, I placed them back in the file. “I’ll be here.” I hung up and stared at the folder. It just didn’t make sense. The good thing was, Janie was back at home and healing. My phone beeped and I glanced down at it.

Micah: Meet me in the woods.

Me: Be right there.

We’d been meeting in the woods behind my cabin to discuss the case. It was the only place we knew where no one would see us talking. For the past week, Micah had spent most of his time with Mark and Jacob, hoping they’d let something slip. Unfortunately, nothing had come of it. They hated me and some of the guys on the Bennett team, but that was as far as it went. Kassie swore up and down Micah was going to try and kill me. If she only knew.

I walked out to my backyard and into the woods. The sound of a dirt bike rumbled in the distance, then I saw him through the trees, headed my way. He stopped right in front of me and took off his helmet.

“It’s runnin’ better, don’t ya think?” he said.

I circled around his dirt bike and smiled. “That it is. You’ve been busy the last couple of weeks.”

Micah snorted. “Needed something to keep me entertained.” He’d bought a used dirt bike and spent the last several days fixing it up. It almost looked brand new.

“What about women? That always seemed to help you.”

His jaw tensed. “Not this time, bro. Right now, we have other problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

Hopping off his bike, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a crinkled piece of white paper. “Take a look. I found it on my doorstep.”

I opened the letter and read it. “Holy fuck.”

Want to get rid of Chandler for good? Meet me at the diner at noon.

“Whoever it is knows where I’m staying. They’ve been watching me.”

I handed him the letter back. “They’re pretty bold if they want to meet you in public.”

His brows furrowed. “I was thinking the same thing. Either way, I’m gonna go. We have no choice.” He hopped back on his dirt bike. “Maybe we’re getting close to catching this fucker. I’ll wear my wire so you can listen in.”

“Sounds good. I’m curious to hear how they want to get rid of me.” Being an agent had its risks. When I pursued a criminal, they were running from me and attacked when I got close. This was different. Whoever this person was wanted me out of the picture. They were deliberately going to come after me. Little did they know, I was more than ready.

“Me too. But at least you know you’re safe tonight. Give Kassidy a big kiss for me. It’ll be her birthday present.”

I shook my head. “She’d punch me in the face if she knew it was from you. Soon, she’ll realize you’re not so bad.”

He scoffed and kick-started his bike. “Maybe her sister will too. Be ready at noon tomorrow.”

He took off down the trail and I ran back to my cabin to take a shower and call Richard. I’d have to leave training a little early tomorrow; it was Kassie’s birthday. As much as I wanted to tell her what was going on, I couldn’t. I needed to make sure her day was perfect. I had so many birthdays to make up for.