Before Nightfall - Kat Martin Page 0,35
he said, remembering the younger sister Daniel Kegan had talked so much about. “You look like him. Same color hair and eyes.” An image of Danny’s face arose along with a painful memory of the day he died. Bran forced away the images of blood and death and concentrated on the woman.
Nervously she licked her lips, which were plump and pink and fit her delicate features perfectly.
“My brother said if I ever needed help, I should come to you. He said you’d help me no matter what.” She glanced back toward the door, and his mind shifted away from the physical jolt he felt as he looked at her to the worry in her eyes.
“Danny was my closest friend. Whatever you need, I’ll help. Come on. Let’s go into the conference room and you can tell me what’s going on.” When her gaze shot back to the door, his senses went on alert.
“I didn’t mean I needed your help later,” Jessie said nervously. “I meant I need your help right now.”
Gunshots exploded through the windows. “Get down!” Bran shoved Jessie to the floor behind his desk and covered her with his body as glass shattered and a stream of bullets sprayed across the room.
Ryker popped up, gun drawn, and ran for the door. Maddox and Lissa were shuffling through their desks, arming themselves. Wolfe drew his ankle gun and ran for the rear entrance, ready for any threat that might come from there.
“Black SUV with tinted windows,” Ryker called back. Six feet of solid muscle, dark hair and eyes, Jax was a former navy SEAL, currently a PI and occasional bounty hunter. “Couldn’t get a plate number.” Jax’s gaze swung to the front of the room. “Mindy, you okay?”
She eased up from beneath her desk. “I-I’m okay. Should I call the police?” Around here, it was never good to jump to conclusions.
Bran hauled Jessie to her feet. He could feel her trembling. Her eyes looked even bigger and brighter than they had before. “Are they coming back?” he asked.
“I—I don’t know. It could have just been a warning.”
Bran turned to Mindy. “Unless someone’s already phoned it in, let’s wait to call the cops till we know what’s going on.” His attention returned to Jessie. “We need to talk.”
She just nodded. Her face had gone pale, making a fine line of freckles stand out on her forehead and the bridge of her nose.
Bran took her arm and urged her toward the conference room. “Keep a sharp eye,” he said to The Max crew. “Just in case.”
* * *
JESSIE SANK UNSTEADILY into one of the rolling chairs around the long oak conference table. The man she had come to see, Brandon Garrett, sat down beside her.
“Okay, let’s hear it,” he said. “What’s going on?”
She thought of the men who had just shot up his office and her pulse started thumping again. “Danny said if I ever needed help—”
“Yeah, I get that. Your brother knew he could count on me. Like I said, I’ll help you any way I can, but I need to know what’s going on.”
Bran was taller than Danny, around six-three, she guessed, with a soldier’s lean, hard body, V-shaped, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. Powerful biceps bulged beneath the sleeves of his dark blue T-shirt. With his slightly too-long mink brown hair, straight nose and masculine features, he was ridiculously handsome, except for the hard line of his jaw and the darkness in his eyes that contrasted sharply with their beautiful shade of cobalt blue.
“Start at the beginning,” he said.
Jessie took a shaky breath and let it out slowly, giving herself time to think. “I’m not exactly sure where the beginning actually is. My father was Colonel James Kegan, Commander, US Army Alamo Chemical Depot.”
Bran nodded. “Danny mentioned that. He was very proud of his dad.”
“Dad was proud of Danny, too. He was a great father.”
Bran’s gaze narrowed on her face. “You said was. When did he die?”
“He died on August 15. I still have trouble believing he’s actually gone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“My father is the reason I’m here. Just before he died, a little over two months ago, he was removed from active duty. He was charged with larceny—the theft of military property, specifically chemical weapons stored at the Depot. Because the army believed he was selling the weapons to a foreign entity, he was also charged with espionage and treason, and confined to the stockade at Fort Carson. At the hearing he pleaded not guilty to all charges, but he died before he could prove it.”
Bran leaned back in his chair. “The timing’s unfortunate to say the least.”
“That’s the thing. My father didn’t just conveniently have a heart attack five days after they arrested him. He was murdered. The perfect scapegoat for the real criminals.”
Bran’s gaze sharpened. “How do you fit into the picture, and why were those men shooting at you?”
“I’m a freelance journalist. I investigate unsolved crimes, environmental disasters, political scandals, celebrity misdeeds, anything that makes an interesting story and maybe does some good. Mostly the articles are published digitally in online magazines. But I have a certain reputation for thoroughness and honesty that has helped me grow a sizable audience. In other words, I’m good at my job.”
A corner of his mouth edged up. She remembered her brother telling her that Brandon Garrett was a heartbreaker and that if Danny ever brought him home, she was forbidden to go out with him. Not that she ever paid much attention to her older brother when it came to dating. But now that she had met Bran, she understood her brother’s warning.
“I’m guessing you decided to investigate the theft of chemical weapons from the Depot,” Bran said. “The crime your father was charged with.”
“The crime my father was wrongly accused of committing.”
“All right, we’ll assume for now that’s true.”
“It’s true. I know my father. He was a soldier’s soldier, army all the way. Add to that, he was a patriot. He would never do anything to harm our country or the people in it. Those munitions stored at the Depot? The contents are deadly. God only knows how many people could be killed.”
Bran’s dark eyebrows drew together. “Are you saying the army never recovered the stolen property?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. They’re still searching, but as far as they’re concerned, the man responsible for the theft is dead. They claim that’s the reason they haven’t been able to find the munitions, or even a link to anyone else involved.”
“But you believe they can’t find a link because your father wasn’t the guy behind the thefts.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you talk to him before he died?”
Her throat tightened. She missed him so much. “No. He never called me. He didn’t want me to know anything about it. I think he was sure he could prove his innocence and it would all go away.”
“But that didn’t happen.”
“No, and without his help, it makes all of this even more difficult.” She inhaled deeply, needing a moment to compose herself.
“I was devastated by my father’s death,” she continued. “It took a while for me to accept that he was actually gone and decide to investigate what really happened. Once I started, I was determined to prove his innocence. I had just begun asking questions and trying to get answers when I realized I was being followed and that perhaps my life was in danger.”
Bran seemed to be watching her closely. “Are you sure what you’re doing is worth that kind of risk? Your dad wouldn’t want you to die trying to save his reputation.”
“It’s worth it to me. I’m not giving up—which is the reason those men were waiting for me at the airport when my plane landed. Or I’m assuming that’s how they found me. I’m pretty sure somebody’s been watching me for weeks, but this is the first time they’ve openly threatened me.”
“Who’s they?”
Jessie gripped her hands tighter beneath the table. “I don’t know. I’m hoping you can help me find out.”
The Ultimate Betrayal
by Kat Martin
Look for it August 2020 from HQN Books!
Copyright ©2020 by Kat Martin
ISBN-13: 9780369700315
Before Nightfall
Copyright © 2020 by Kat Martin
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