Deceptions (9 page)

A kill confirmation had been scheduled for five hours ago. With every single moment that passed, rage built. This should never have happened. The whole mess should have been taken care of years ago. When Nate had been put in the ground, the girl should have been buried, too.

Both eliminated, no more problems.

The years had passed so swiftly. Everything had been moving along just perfectly and then...that damn reporter had started poking around. He'd made connections that he shouldn't have discovered. He'd followed a trail that should have
never
existed.

And he'd learned the truth about Nate.

Elizabeth Snow had been working with the reporter. When Steve Yeldon had first called, he'd mentioned the girl.

Not a girl now. A woman who is out to destroy me.

But that couldn't happen. Too many sacrifices had been made. Too much power was at stake. No, Elizabeth Snow couldn't be allowed to expose what she knew.

And if no one else was around to do the job and eliminate Snow...
then I'll just have to do it myself.

Elizabeth would never see the threat coming.

* * *

“I
WANT
YOU
to come and meet my family.” As soon as he said the words, Mac saw Elizabeth stiffen.

Dawn had come, and he'd been awake as the sun rose. He'd watched it lift over the lake, a sight he hadn't seen at the ranch in years. When he'd gone back to the guesthouse, he'd found Elizabeth waiting on the porch for him. Fully dressed, her cheeks rosy and her eyes shining, she'd been a gorgeous sight to see.

Her smile had stretched slowly when she saw him approach. A warm welcome, a look that said she'd been waiting just for him.

When has anyone else ever looked at me that way?

“Um, your family?” She pushed back her hair. He'd noticed that she did that when she was nervous. The quick tuck of her hair behind her left ear was a dead giveaway. “But...they know what happened to Grant, right? They know I got him shot.”

She seemed to be stuck on that. It had only been a flesh wound, and Grant was recovering just fine. “They know everything that went down, Elizabeth, and trust me, no one blames you for anything.”

Her expression said she didn't believe him.

“Brodie and Davis—my brothers—are up at the big house. Jamie and Jennifer are both up there, too.”

“That's a lot of family.”

No, actually, it wasn't. He had plenty more family members to go around. His sister lived on a nearby ranch with Mark Montgomery. Grant's wife, Scarlett, was at the hospital with him. And Sullivan—he was down at the police station, gathering intel.

Sully is always trying to work off a debt that the guy doesn't even owe me.
With family, there was no debt.

“I'd like you to meet them,” he said, but he wasn't going to pressure her. If she didn't want to deal with his family right then, he understood. The woman had been through hell. She could—

“Now?” Her voice sharpened.

His brow furrowed.

“Is that them coming right now?” She pointed behind him.

Mac spun around. Sure enough, a black pickup truck was turning in the drive that led to the guesthouse. “That's them,” he said grimly. He shouldn't have been surprised that his nosy brothers had decided to come out for a visit
before
he could lure Elizabeth up to the main house. Brodie and Davis—when they were together—could be particularly difficult.

The pickup braked, and Brodie jumped out first.

Davis followed suit, slamming his door and tossing a friendly wave to Mac.

“How can you tell them apart?” Elizabeth whispered.

Davis and Brodie were identical twins. Davis was the older twin, just by a bit, but he never let Brodie forget that fact. He never let
anyone
forget that fact. Mac leaned toward Elizabeth and murmured, “Brodie is the one smiling.”

“
That's
a smile?”

Mac laughed. The sound kind of boomed out of him, but Elizabeth was right. Brodie's smile wasn't exactly warm. No one had ever accused the twins of being the life of any party. But then, compared with Mac...they were thought to at least be more easygoing.

“What in the hell is that sound?” Brodie frowned at Mac. “Is that
you
? You damn well don't ever laugh.”

So he didn't laugh much. Big deal. Mac shrugged. “I am now.”

Appearing thoughtful, Brodie glanced at Elizabeth. “Yes, you are.”

Sighing, Davis hurried forward. He held out his hand to Elizabeth. “I swear, my brothers have manners. They just forget them sometimes, ma'am.” He gave her a wide grin. “My name's Davis. I'm the older and wiser twin.”

“In your dreams,” Brodie fired back.

Elizabeth shook Davis's hand. “It's nice to meet you.”

Hmm...there weren't many
nice
things about Davis. At least, most people didn't think so.

Brodie elbowed his twin out of the way. Then he flashed Elizabeth a smile. “You're the reason I keep finding thriller books all over Mac's place, even though the tech junkie has a half dozen e-readers.”

Mac actually felt his cheeks burn. Brothers could be such a pain. Maybe meeting the family hadn't been his best idea ever. “It's not half a dozen. And I like paperbacks, too,” Mac muttered.

“Yeah, and you like the librarian.” Brodie backed up a step. “It all makes so much more sense now.”

Elizabeth glanced at Mac.

He tried not to glower at his brothers. Did they all know he'd been mooning over her? He'd thought that he actually played things pretty cool.

“If Mac gives you any trouble,” Brodie said with a hard nod, “you just come to me. I'll set him straight.”

Mac had to snort at that. “The day
you
can set me straight on anything—”

“Dude, you're talking to your elder,” Davis tossed out. “Watch yourself.”

The twins were pushing him. Mac's eyes narrowed on them. Had he seriously
wanted
to introduce Elizabeth to them? Had he been having a crazy moment or what?

“You know you're safe out here,” Brodie suddenly said. “You don't have to worry about anything, Ms. Snow. We've got great security on the ranch. So while you're staying here—”

“I was just staying for the night,” Elizabeth blurted. “Not any longer. I—I'll be going home soon.”

Brodie and Davis both turned their steely gazes on Mac.

“That so?” Davis asked as he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “'Cause Sully told me the guy in custody isn't talking. The fingerprint checks haven't turned up anything on his ID. Cops don't know who he is, and there's no clue as to who hired him.”

“And that,” Brodie added, his glittering gaze on Mac, “means she's still in danger. You're really going to let her just waltz out of here?”

Mac opened his mouth to reply.

But Elizabeth waved her hand in front of Davis and Brodie. “Hi, there! Over here! Remember me?”

The twins looked at her, frowning.

“There you go,” Elizabeth said, her smile stretching. “That's me. The woman who gets to make decisions for herself.” Her hand lifted and touched Mac's chest. “Mac is awesome. A fantastic PI and a great guy, but he doesn't decide what I do or what I don't do. I decide that.” She squared her shoulders. “And
I've
already decided that I'm not going to be hiding out here. Grant was hurt protecting me. No other McGuire is going to be targeted.”

Brodie's brows climbed. “But we're used to being targeted.”

“It's kind of our thing,” Davis added. He almost sounded disappointed.

Mac sighed.

“Nobody else in your family is going to be hurt,” Elizabeth said determinedly. “I needed a place to crash, so I came here. But I'm not hiding. I'm not ever hiding again.” Her chin notched up as she focused on Davis. “You said the guy in custody wasn't talking? Well, maybe he'll talk when I'm the one in the room with him. Because I think I deserve some answers, and I'm going to have them.”

Davis's gaze seemed to measure her. Then he glanced back at Mac and ordered, “Marry her.”

He wanted to kill his brother.

“Now,” Davis added, nodding. “Before she has the good sense to get away from you. Seriously, marry this woman.”

Mac looked over at Elizabeth and saw the horror on her face. In that instant, he truly wanted to punch Davis.

“It's not like that,” Elizabeth blurted. “We're not— It's not like that.”

Well, hell.

“We're not serious.” Elizabeth looked rather frantically at Mac. “I just hired him. There aren't any ties between us.”

The hell there weren't.

“Oh, man, look what you've done,” Brodie muttered. “Seriously, I bet Mac wants to beat the hell out of you right now.” He shoved Davis back. “The guy lacks tact. He just meant that he liked you,” he hurried to explain to Elizabeth. “Pretty much the only person he can talk sanely with is Jamie. Everyone else doesn't get him. He is so lucky he found that woman.” His breath heaved out. “Davis and I just came by because we wanted you to know that you could count on us.” His voice had softened. “We're up to speed on your case. We know what a nightmare it's been, and if you need us, we're here.”

Davis nodded. “Right. Um, we're here.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth told them.

She didn't realize what was happening, but Mac did. His brothers were taking her in—the way they would family—extending their protection around her. He might still want to punch them—particularly Davis—but he knew their hearts had been in the right place.

They usually were.

“How's Grant doing?” Elizabeth asked as worry flickered over her face.

Brodie smiled. “He's in fighting form, don't you worry about that. The docs stitched him up, and Scarlett is making sure he takes it easy. If anyone can get Grant to follow a doc's orders, it's her.”

“That's good,” Elizabeth said. “When that guy came into Mac's house—”

“Grant said you stayed cool,” Brodie added. “And that when the time came for you to pull the trigger, you didn't even hesitate.”

Her gaze lowered to the hands she'd twisted in front of her. “I didn't realize he was wearing a bulletproof vest.” Her voice had gone hollow. “When I fired, I thought I was killing him.”

And she still didn't hesitate.

“I had to protect Grant.” She glanced over at Mac. “And I wasn't ready to die.”

He sure as hell hadn't been ready for her to die. He never would be.

“I want you to take me to the police station,” Elizabeth said to Mac. “I need to talk to the man in custody. I have to find out why I've been targeted.”

Like he could refuse her anything. Mac nodded.

Her breath expelled in a relieved rush. “I'll get my bag from inside. That way, you don't have to bring me back later.”

Oh, bringing her back was definitely still on the table.

Elizabeth glanced at his brothers. “It was...interesting to meet you. Something I won't be forgetting anytime soon.”

Brodie laughed. “I see why he couldn't stay away from that library. You don't take crap from anyone, do you, Ms. Snow?”

“Not anymore,” she said firmly.

Then she hurried inside the guesthouse. When the door closed behind her, Mac glowered at his brothers. “You guys don't even understand the meaning of subtle, do you?”

Davis winced. “Sorry. I just think you need to grab that woman—and hold tight.” His face sobered. “You were laughing, man. Laughing. Do you know how long it has been since I heard you laugh? You looked at her, and your whole face lit up.”

He hadn't realized...

“Maybe she doesn't see it when she looks at you,” Brodie cut in. “But it's obvious to us because we know you...you're in deep with her.”

In deep.
Drowning.
But she thought...
There aren't any ties between us.
She was wrong, and he'd prove it.

“We know something bad went down with you and Sully years ago,” Brodie said, his voice quiet. “You think we couldn't tell the change? It was like a light switched off inside you.”

Because he'd lost his parents and they'd come close—far too close—to losing Sully. His brother had nearly died right before his eyes. His world had been full of fury. Hate. He'd had to fight his way back to normalcy.

His brothers had helped him. His sister had been his light.

Then one day, he'd looked up and seen Elizabeth.

Davis's hand curled around Mac's shoulder. “I just want you happy. We've all had enough hell. We deserve more.
You
deserve more.”

But the past wasn't buried—not yet. Not for Elizabeth and certainly not for him. “We still don't know who killed our parents or why.” There had been so many false leads and suspicions over the years. At some time or another, all of the brothers had feared
they'd
caused their parents' deaths. That the battles they'd fought had followed them home, and their parents had gotten caught in the crossfire.

And Ava had blamed herself. She'd thought that she should have saved her parents. She'd thought that she should have fought harder for them.

But Ava had done all that she could. They all had.

“We know our mother was keeping secrets,” Davis said slowly. “Just like my Jamie, she had to start over with a new life.”

Davis had fallen hard for the local vet, and then he'd learned the dark truth that Jamie had tried so hard to keep hidden.
Witness Relocation.
Jamie had been given a new identity and shipped far from home. Only that hadn't stopped the madman after her. He'd tracked Jamie to Texas and almost killed her.