DarkestSin (21 page)

“And what were you told?”

She wasn’t making this easy on him. “You and Scott were to
be watched 24/7, but I was told to stick close to you. In the beginning, I
staked out your place, followed you around.” He averted his eyes. “Later, I
didn’t have to be so covert to watch out for you.”

“No wonder you weren’t shocked when I opened myself up to
you and told you about my past. You already knew. God, I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“No, I mean, yes, I knew, but no, you’re not an idiot,
baby.” He shifted a little closer to her. “I had a job to do, but I was
attracted to you from the very beginning. Once we became involved, the line
between my job and my love life became very blurry. Yours and Scott’s safety
became a very personal issue for me.”

“Then why not tell me? Because you knew me from somewhere
and were ashamed of your past? Damn you, Brody! I told you I was beaten and raped
by the man you’re buddy-buddy with in that picture. How do you expect me to
feel about that?”

“After we became involved, I learned of a possible
connection to Collins, and I’ve been investigating it. Until you brought this
picture here, I haven’t been able to find anything concrete linking me to him.”

“Why would you? If you were a killer working for him, I’m
sure you didn’t leave a bunch of evidence lying around. You should have told me
this. Why bother trying to verify it first?” she yelled, jumping to her feet,
and Brody jumped up too.

“Because I love you, and it scares the shit out of me that I
could’ve done something to hurt you!”

She stared back at him, working her mouth as if she were
trying to speak. “You love me?”

Oh shit. He hadn’t meant to blurt that out. He’d been trying
to keep a lid on his feelings until he knew he was free to love her without
worrying if he was the one who’d killed her daughter. Up until she’d shown up
here with that photo, he was starting to believe that maybe Colonel had gotten
his information wrong—their intel wasn’t always foolproof when dealing with
unsavory characters—and that the baby had actually died of SIDS. He took a step
toward her. “Yes, I—”

“Don’t.” She lifted her gun to halt his progression and took
a step back. “Just stay where you are. I-I need to think about this.”

Instead of retreating, he sat on the couch where he’d been
standing. If she sat back down, at least they’d be a little closer. He steepled
his hands over his mouth and watched her, waiting. He knew this was a lot for
her to take in and he had to give her time, but he’d give anything to be able
to pull her into his arms without her freaking out.

“Let me make sure I’m clear here. You work with the FBI, but
you were a contract killer who worked for my ex-husband. And you expect me to
believe that you had no idea who I was when I moved to town?”

“I didn’t say that. I said I didn’t know of my possible
connection to Collins until after we became involved. The moment I saw you, I
recognized you from somewhere but couldn’t place you. I was informed of our
responsibility to watch out for you the Monday after we met.”

“I see. And what are you not telling me?” Her eyes narrowed.

Oh fuck. He swallowed. “I, er, Colonel told me something
about our past I’ve been trying to confirm one way or the other.” He shut his
eyes because he just couldn’t look at her and see the disgust on her face when
he spilled the rest of this. “He, um, told me I knew you because Collins had
hired me to kill your kid.”

She gasped and his eyes flew open. “What the fuck? Marco
wanted Scott dead?” She backed away, shaking her head. “Why? He wanted a son to
begin with. Th-that doesn’t make sense.”

“Not Scott,” he breathed.

Xan’s brow furrowed in confusion, then her eyes slowly
opened wide as the color drained from her face and she wobbled on her feet. He
started to get up, but she grasped the side of the couch, dropping that photo.
“No.” She shook her head. “She, she died of SIDS. I-I saw the autopsy report.”
Her voice cracked as she fought not to cry.

“Xan.” He stood slowly.

Her trembling hand covered her mouth and she whispered, “Are
you telling me you killed my baby?”

That was it. He couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped over to
her and clutched her arms. “I don’t know. God, Xan, I don’t know. After I found
out, I tried staying away from you, but I couldn’t. And I’ve been doing my damnedest
to find some answers. I don’t want it to be true.”

And then she wailed—a sound that’d haunt him until the day
he died—and beat her weak little fist against his chest as she screamed and
cried. The force of her blows not enough to hurt him physically, but he felt
each strike clear to his soul. And because she didn’t try to pull away from
him, Brody held on to her arms and let her take out her pain on him.

“I’m sorry, so sorry,” he murmured over and over, and she
finally stopped her assault and collapsed into his arms, bawling. He held her
and stroked her hair, whispering his apologies over and over. Long moments
later, she finally relaxed into his embrace, and he squeezed her tighter. He’d
give anything to take her pain way.

Then she seemed to remember what he was apologizing for
because she pushed him away and took several steps back, heading for the door.
“Stay the hell away from me,” she croaked as she waved her gun at him. “Don’t
come to my house, don’t call me, don’t you fucking drive down my road.”

He followed her. “Xan, you have every right to be—”

“Don’t say another word! You killed my baby.
You.
The
man I…the man I’ve been sleeping with. You better pray we don’t run into each
other again because I’ll kill you. And that’s not some idle threat.”

She stomped out of his house, slammed the door and fired up
that rusty old car of hers, and he just sat back down and stared at the floor
where the photo of him and Collins had landed. He bent over and picked it up,
staring at it with burning eyes. He blinked a few times and felt a suspicious
wetness trail down his cheek. The last time he’d cried he was drunk off his
ass.

Now he just had a hole in his chest.

He took a deep breath. He knew his relationship with Xan was
going to end sometime and he couldn’t dwell on what he’d lost because he still
had a job to do. The fact his heart was splitting didn’t matter. He couldn’t do
anything for her if he let his emotions consume him. Clearing his throat, Brody
got up and grabbed his phone. He dialed first Blade and then Gage, asking them
both to meet him at Colonel’s house. They were both grumpy being woken up so
early, but neither complained about helping him. He had a major problem to
contend with and he needed help. Someone had left a photo where Xan could find
it, and the reason could not be good—either Collins’ men were closing in on her
or someone wanted her to think that.

It was time to bring the boss man up to speed.

* * * * *

“Jesus, Brody, you do know what time it is, don’t you? What
if I was curled up next to a lovely lady all nice and sweet-like in my bed?”
Blade asked, sipping his coffee as he leaned against his truck parked outside
of Colonel’s house.

Brody could’ve retorted with some macho comeback about how
Blade never brought women home, but he wasn’t in the mood for banter. Instead
he shut his truck door and walked toward Blade. “I called Colonel on the way
over here. He’s expecting us,” Brody said as Gage pulled in behind him.
Thankfully, Gage just nodded without bitching about the hour, and they all
walked up to Colonel’s door. He opened it before they got a chance to knock.

“If y’all are done pussyfooting around out there, get in
here and tell me what’s so damn important it couldn’t wait.”

Colonel didn’t wait for a response. He turned and stalked
toward his living room, and Brody and the other guys followed. After Colonel
served up some coffee and they all took seats, Brody brought Colonel up to
speed on everything. His research into Xan’s past agents and any possible
people who’d sell her out to Collins, leaving out the two undercover agents who’d
already been excluded—no need to divulge that information. Colonel sat quietly,
listening, but Brody could tell his lack of comments wasn’t a good sign. Oh
yeah, Colonel was definitely not happy.

“Why am I just now finding out about this?” he exploded.

“Because we haven’t found anything conclusive on Jeff
Coleman or Dave Simmons,” Brody said. “Plus Dale Adams is still lurking around,
and we don’t know how he fits into this either.”

Colonel let rip a litany of curses as he stood and paced,
and Brody waited him out. No need to piss his boss off even more. Finally, he
faced Brody. “Why’d you tell me now? If you’ve been keeping this from me then
something must’ve changed for you to be singing like a little fuckin’ bird all
of the sudden.”

Brody reached behind him and pulled out an envelope he’d
stuffed in the back of his jeans and under his shirt. Then he handed it to his
boss. “Someone sent this to Xan or left it for her where she’d find it. I’m not
sure. I didn’t get a chance to ask.”

Colonel yanked the photo away from Brody and scowled. “I
see.”

“What is it?” Blade asked, bobbing his head to the side to
get a look.

Colonel passed it to Blade. “A picture of Brutus with Marco
Collins.”

“What?” Blade’s eyes got twice as big as he took the photo.
“No fuckin’ way,” he breathed.

Gage whistled. “Not good, man,” he said as he leaned over
and looked at the picture while Blade held on to it.

“I know,” Brody sighed, glancing back at Colonel. “You see
the problem here? Either Collins is on to her or someone wants her to think he
is.”

“Or someone is really handy dandy with Photoshop, man, and
wants to cause you some trouble,” Blade said.

“Doubtful,” Gage argued. “They’d have to know about his past
for that to be the case, which would seriously limit the suspect pool.”

“Only the guys at the shop know about me,” Brody said,
picking up his cup of coffee for the first time and sipping. He hadn’t
considered the possibility of someone trying to sabotage his credibility with
Xan. Even if that were the case, it didn’t make that picture a fake.

“Son, do you honestly think the FBI doesn’t have a bead on
you? I’ve been accepting contracts from them for years. We may hit dead ends
when looking into your past, but I’d bet my life the feds know how often you
take a shit now and could compare it to how often you did before your
accident.”

And that was true too. Brody’d tried every avenue to find
out about his past once he knew he could do it without drawing unwanted
attention to himself. He hadn’t had much luck, but Colonel had found some old
connections who’d pieced some of the information together. And when he’d tried
getting info from the feds, he hit a brick wall. So it’d make sense that they
wouldn’t mind knowing everything about him without sharing.

“You have a point, boss, but what about Xan? And Scott?
They’re not safe. Someone got close enough to her to leave that photo.”

Colonel pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
“Hunter had night watch,” he said to Brody and then into the phone “Where are
you?” He pulled his cell phone away and fumbled with it to put it on speaker so
everyone could hear.

“Lost him and just got back. Xan Bradley was MIA when I
returned.”

“Repeat that, Hunter.”

“Followed suspicious vehicle leaving the Bradley house
shortly after oh four hundred. Lost him and just got back. Xan isn’t here.”

“Description?” Brody barked.

“Black SUV. Called Bear with tags, and he ran them. Vehicle
was stolen.”

Shit, this wasn’t good.

“Stay at her house.” Then to Brody, “Do you know where she
could be?”

“She was upset when she left my house this morning. Hunter
had reported that Scott was staying over at a friend’s house, so she could be
anywhere.”

“I’ll call Roc to scope out the town to find her,” Colonel
said into the phone.

Brody growled. He still was pissed at Roc for his behavior,
and he didn’t care if Colonel knew it. His boss’s gaze cut to him and he shook
his head in warning. Fuck that. Roc had been an even bigger asshole lately. It
seemed like the more time Brody had spent with Xan, Roc got more irritated.
Brody hadn’t lashed out since he’d only been around him at the shop, but what
Brody wouldn’t give to find that punk in a dark alley. “You tell him not to
engage if he finds her,” he spat.

Colonel sighed, but nodded. “Report back, Hunter, if you see
anything out of the ordinary or if Xan returns.”

“Got it.”

Colonel killed the call and looked at the men in his living
room. “I’ll contact the feds and see what they know, but I have to be careful
because I have a bad feeling about this. We were pulled on the case as soon as
her ass showed up in town, then Adams pops up here, now this. Collins is good,
but this is fast work even for him. I think he still has a man on the inside.”

“You don’t think it’s a former agent?” Gage asked, scooting
to the edge of his seat.

“Hell, with deep pockets it could be a combination of past
agents, current feds, and even plants in this town. He could’ve orchestrated
her every move and identity change for all we know. Bottom line, she’s in
danger.”

But Brody would kill anybody, fed or not, who so much as
touched her.

* * * * *

Xan drove around town aimlessly, trying to get a handle on
her emotions. She’d cried until she couldn’t cry anymore and then she’d called
Jack. Of course he’d freaked about her leaving and lectured her about not
staying put like he’d ordered, and when she told him where she’d been and that she’d
left the damning photo at Brody’s house, he’d really lost it. She knew it was
dangerous confronting Brody, but she was shocked and pissed and upset and had
gone through those emotions over and over in the last hour, in no certain
order. Jack wasn’t a woman scorned, so he didn’t understand her logic but said
he’d take care of it, whatever that meant.