“Get up!” Jazz demanded furiously.
Hell no. That shit wasn’t happening. Those freaky-ass rainbows scared him.
“Tell Kenni some bullshit like that again now,” Jazz snapped. “Next time I’ll break your face.”
“It’s the truth. She has to stop running.” Cord coughed, barely managing to hold his breakfast down.
“Maddox, you wouldn’t know the truth if it dry-fucked your ass,” Jazz sneered. “You stupid fucker. You’re so damned blind it amazes me you’re still able to walk.”
Cord stumbled to his feet, wondering where the hell Banyon had run off to.
“You’re too blinded by lust to see what’s right in front of you.” Cord stumbled against the porch, keeping a wary eye on Jazz. “You’re going to lose her if you keep babying her.”
Jazz took a step closer.
“Dammit, Jazz, you hit me again and we’re going to have problems,” Cord warned him, slurring a bit.
Damn, his face hurt.
“Get off my property and stay off!” The order sounded serious.
Hell, Jazz sounded serious. Jazz had never thrown Kin off his property, no matter their disagreements. And there had been a few over the years. Pop would be pissed over it, but once he found out it happened after Cord learned Kenni was alive and living with Jazz, then he just might throw Cord out of the clan for a while as he’d threatened ten years ago.
That just wouldn’t do. Not at all.
Cord tried to laugh but shit, it hurt. “Come on, Jazz, we’re going to figure out what the hell is going on here and then we’re going to kick some ass. Kenni’s going to be fine.”
Jazz moved for him again.
“Hit me again, Jazz, and I swear to God I’ll turn into the best brother she’s ever imagined having and talk her home before you’ve realized what happened,” he swore. “Go ahead, test me on it.”
* * *
Jazz paused.
The problem was, he was pretty certain Cord could do it. He wasn’t nearly so confident that she belonged to him totally yet.
“When you two are finished posturing, we might need to talk.” Slade broke the stare-off he and Cord were having.
Turning his head, Jazz met the other man’s gaze, frowning at the icy rage in Slade’s eyes.
“Phoenix talk already?” Jazz questioned him. He hadn’t expected that.
“You and Cord need to come to the basement,” Slade informed him. “We came upstairs to get the two of you before you decided to try your fists out on his face. Phoenix is refusing to talk unless Cord’s willing to make a deal with him first.”
The Maddox Clan was notorious for not making deals. What Phoenix had done was a killing offense and one that no order had to go out on. Every Kin, in every state, would be gunning for him if he was seen.
“I’m always willing to talk.” Cord shrugged.
He knew what Jazz knew. It wouldn’t matter what Cord promised, the Kin would carry out the sentence. It was a check-and-balance system designed to ensure that certain laws within the Clan were never broken. The murder of a Clan member being rather high on the list. Phoenix should be aware of that and if he wasn’t, then Cord wasn’t required to inform him of it.
Moving stiffly, the elder Maddox limped back to the porch, and Jazz couldn’t help but let a mocking smile tug at his lips. He may act as though the fight hadn’t fazed him but his face looked like a bull had kicked it and he wasn’t moving easily. It would be a while before he forgot what it meant to piss Jazz off now.
Moving through the house, Jazz paused long enough to give Marcus and Essie the order to join Kenni in the bedroom.
A heavy steel door secured the basement from the upstairs while another secured it from the outside entrance. Locking both doors ensured Phoenix stayed where Slade and Zack had left him. Of course, the hard nylon wrist and ankle restraints helped ensure he didn’t escape.
Slouched in a hardwood chair, he sat morosely between the shelves of camping supplies on one side and several antique desks and sideboards on the other. In front of him Slade and Zack had pulled two chairs over to old wooden worktable Jazz sometimes used when repairing household appliances or lamps.
Moving to the table, Cord perched on a corner and stared back at Phoenix through one bloodshot eye. The other had already swollen closed.
“Jazz hits hard, huh?” Phoenix remarked despondently, more for something to say than anything else.
“What kind of deal do you want, Phoenix?” Cord wasn’t wasting any time on the other man.
Phoenix must have expected that, though, because he didn’t protest, just gave a small nod of his head before breathing in roughly.
“I know I’m dying as soon as I’m off Lancing’s property,” he stated without inflection. “I just want you to make sure I’m buried next to Colby. He was my twin. We’ve never been separated. I don’t want to be separated from him now.”
Cord just stared at him. Evidently, such sentiment from a man willing to kill another’s sister was a little hard to take in. Jazz knew it had shocked the crap out of him.
“Fine, I’ll bury both of you in the same hole, how’s that, Weston?” he finally snapped. “If you know who’s behind this and you have proof. Otherwise, I’ll have you buried on opposite ends of the planet. You got it?”
“I have proof,” he promised. “I told Colby we couldn’t trust her and he wouldn’t listen, but he helped me get proof, just in case. I have several meetings recorded and pictures of her killing Kin herself. I have everything you need. I swear.”
“Where is it?” Cord wasn’t taking chances.
“On the chain.” He lifted his neck to display a heavy gold chain with a small silver-and-black pendant. “The pendant slides open on the back. There’s a computer chip there. It has everything.”
“Convenient,” Cord murmured as Jazz moved to the other man and with a quick jerk of his hand snapped the chain from his neck.
Turning the pendant backward he saw the small catch that held the back on and released it. In it lay a small black micro SD card.
“Get Kenni,” Cord suggested. “Have her bring the laptop. She has a right to hear this.”
Turning, Jazz nodded to Slade to go after Kenni.
As Slade turned and moved quickly to the stairs, he turned back to Phoenix. “How did you get past my security?”
“She had one of the devices that overrides the security codes,” he answered, his voice thick with the tears that dripped down his face now. “She gave it to Colby and told him to make sure he returned it by this evening. She’ll be waiting for him.”
“Where?” Cord rasped, the rough tone of his voice a sound that assured a man death was coming soon.
Phoenix flinched.
“You’ll know once Kenni brings the laptop. You’ll know where to go.”
Glancing over at Jazz, Cord gave a brief nod as they waited.
Minutes later Slade escorted Kenni down the steps, laptop in tow, and led her to the table.
Her face was still far too swollen, but the ice she’d taken up with her seemed to have helped. Her eye wasn’t totally swollen shut, and the bruising seemed to have stopped at the mottled-blue stage.
Bastards.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, opening the computer and powering it up.
He gave a brief nod as he stepped to her. When the screen came up he handed her the micro SD to slide into the reader.
“Wait.” Phoenix’s voice had them pausing and looking back at him.
“You might want to have her wait to see it,” he suggested. “Warn her first.”
“I don’t need a warning,” she told him softly then activated the reader as she stared at the screen.
* * *
Maybe she had needed a warning.
Maintaining her composure would have been impossible if Jazz hadn’t been there. His arm slid around her back, giving her the support she needed to keep from falling when the first video began playing.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Colby asked the slender, dark-haired woman.