“You have a big mouth, Maddox,” he growled.
Cord nodded to that as well. Lifting his hand he rubbed at the side of his face again, his expression so heavy Kenni’s heart clenched in pain for him, as well as herself.
“I’m sorry, Kenni,” he whispered, his gaze meeting hers squarely, the regret so heavy in his eyes she could only stare back at him silently. “I failed you.”
“No, Cord…”
“You were seen the night of the fire escaping with a marine, still in uniform. An old homeless soldier saw you running and heard the gunshot that put a bullet in your shoulder, he said.”
“Yes,” she affirmed tightly.
“We looked for you,” Deacon snapped, dragging her gaze to him. “For almost eight years, Kenni, we searched for you.”
“I found out about our uncle Charles—Gunny, you called him.” Cord’s voice didn’t change, but his expression grew heavier. “We met a few friends who were searching for him. They lost him in Chicago.”
“He’s dead,” she said, answering the question in Cord’s voice. “He sent me to collect a vehicle we were going to use to leave town. He was supposed to meet with someone who could tell him who was giving the orders and sending men out to kill me. When he didn’t show up at the meeting place, I went back to the warehouse.” Jazz moved then, shifting from the door frame, his arms coming around her comfortingly. A move that brought a glare to each of her brothers’ faces. “I only found his blood…” Gripping Jazz’s forearms tightly she broke off, her lips trembling despite her dry eyes. “I’d taken several pictures over that week of men that resembled those I’d known in Loudoun. I matched a couple once I arrived.”
“Who?” The question was soft, the sound so nonthreatening Kenni watched Cord warily.
“Later, Cord,” Jazz said as the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive could be heard. “Slade’s here and I want to see that video. And I think the three of you need to do more than focus on who to kill. Focus on who’s alive instead.”
“They’ll pay, sunshine,” Cord promised, that too-soft, too-gentle voice sending a shudder racing up her spine. “I promise you, they’ll pay.”
CHAPTER 15
The DVR was still encrypted when Slade and Zack arrived.
“I want that program,” Slade growled as he handed her the device, his gray eyes gleaming with amused irritation, his expression rueful. “Or I want to play with cracking it.”
“Not hardly,” Kenni drawled, turning back to the table where her laptop was waiting and taking the chair in front of it. “Gunny spent two years building the security encryption just for me. I think I’m rather possessive of it.” Slanting a thoughtful sideways look for a second, she added, “I might give you a shot at cracking it, though.” Just to see how long it would take him.
Turning to her brothers Slade nodded warily, obviously waiting for Kenni to pull up the video.
Deacon and Sawyer moved around the table to see the computer screen, arms crossed over their chests, their glowering expressions giving them a savage cast.
They were furious. Kenni could feel the waves of rage pulsing around them. They were doing nothing to hide it, but it was Cord’s silent, icy expression that had everyone’s nerves on edge.
Even Kenni’s.
Once that expression would have meant Kin arriving from three different states then disappearing with Cord for days at a time. She understood now that the groups were more than just friends of her brothers or some ordinary hunting trip. No doubt, blood had been shed on each of those excursions.
It took only seconds for the computer to recognize the DVR’s hard drive and pull it up. Clicking on the decryption program, she opened the video file within it then sat back and watched the status bar as the file loaded. It opened with a request to choose the file needed.
Motion-activated indoor cameras automatically recorded until all movement had stopped for five minutes. Choosing the first recorded file for that day she watched as it opened, revealing the two black-garbed figures entering the back door of the rental house.
They began there, systematically tearing it apart with no regard for neatness, just as they began talking without considering who or what may be listening.
“Do you really think if she’s that Maddox bitch, she was stupid enough think she could stay hidden?” the shorter of the two man team murmured.
She knew that voice.
Frowning, Kenni watched their movements, the shape of their bodies, and their stride as they moved around the kitchen.
“Oh, she’s Kendra Maddox. The DNA tests confirmed it. Why do you think the boss is so desperate now?”
Kenni straightened in her chair. DNA?
A muted chuckle sounded then. “Wouldn’t Colter be pissed to know we have his lab contact? She keeps telling him the results haven’t come back yet. It’s all I can do not to thank him whenever I see him, for being the nosy bastard he is.”
Slade.
The blood she’d gotten on the kitchen towel at his house. Evidently Jazz hadn’t rinsed and bleached it as he’d led her to believe.
Behind her, Slade cursed under his breath, the sound rife with anger. Served him right for stealing her damned blood. But it didn’t serve her right, because his actions had been the catalyst for the renewed attempts against her.
“Before or after Cord let you know I wasn’t really Annie Mayes?” she asked her friend’s husband.
“After,” he growled. The knowledge that his lab contact had sold him out must not be sitting well with him. “The background you came in with actually satisfied me,” he added, the rueful irritation in his tone almost amusing.
“Marriage is making you lazy,” Cord accused him disgustedly. “It didn’t satisfy me for a minute.”
But then Cord had been born suspicious.
“She has cameras,” one of the men on the video stated as they entered the living room, staring at the picture she’d hidden the lens behind.
Striding across the room and reaching up, he jerked the frame from the wall. Thankfully the camera on the other side of the room activated and began recording.
Bastards. They snapped the camera from its connection before following the wires through the wall, busting drywall and pulling them free as they went.
“Damned bitch,” one of them breathed in irritation. “I have half a mind to feed her to my damned cat once she’s dead.”
Her eyes narrowed on the video. The way he’d spoken had triggered a memory not yet fully formed.
The silence behind her was deafening.
The threats continued as they traced the wires to the next camera in the bedroom, once again missing the backup there. Finding the decoy box they ripped it from the wall and packed it and the cameras into a black pack. Then they proceeded to destroy the bedroom.
“Don’t forget to destroy the clothes.” The order was given with an air of amusement. “Boss says it’s about the worst thing we could do to her. I guess she likes her pretty clothes more than most women.”
No, it wasn’t that she liked her clothes more than most; she just wouldn’t have had the cash to replace the quality of clothes she did have. Two years without being hunted like a rabbit and she’d managed to purchase a few of the more fashionable items she might have had if her world hadn’t exploded on her ten years ago.
They took a lot of enjoyment in destroying them as well. As they ripped, tore, and cut the material, they also found a lot of enjoyment in discussing the “boss.”
But what were they looking for?
Nothing in particular had been mentioned, though they systematically went through every drawer, looked beneath them, tore at the carpeting, checked the vents.
“Nothing.” The announcement was made as one of them exited the bathroom after destroying it as well. “She doesn’t have anything.”