Give Me War - Kate McCarthy Page 0,15

of his neck with a muttered curse.

“Mitch.” I’m barely holding on. Seeing my eldest brother lose it is going to snap the tenuous hold on my panic.

My brother straightens, pushing away from my car, and I watch as he locks himself down until there’s nothing left on his face except determination and hard eyes. He does it like a trained professional, so well that when the words, “I can’t lose her,” leaves my terrified lips, he doesn’t even flinch. He just nods and turns his head, jabbing his finger at Kelly. “Call off your Sentinels,” he barks. “Right now.”

Kelly shakes his head. “No fuckin’ way. You—”

Mitch holds up a hand, cutting him off as he dials a number on his phone. He puts it to his ear and strides away.

Kelly looks at me and I shake my head, knowing I need to trust my brother. “Just do what he says, Daniels. As much as I want to, we can’t rush into this until we know more.”

“That’s your plan?” Kelly snarls in my face. “To just stand around and wait for the police to bumble their way through, wastin’ hours of time with their stupid paperwork and procedures?”

“Daniels,” Fox interjects with a hand on his shoulder, holding Kelly back when it looks like he wants to come at me.

The leash on my panic snaps and I come at him instead. That he would accuse me of sitting on my hands while some fucker has my wife? “What do you even know, huh? You’re ready to go all out guns blazing while we have no proof that the Vipers even have her.” I shove his chest hard. He stumbles back before leaping at me. Pushing me back. I take a swing but everyone jumps in, holding us back from each other, and I don’t land the hit I’m so aching to give. “You got proof, Sentinel?”

“Whadda you want?” he yells. “A fuckin’ affidavit? Let me go waste a coupla hours while I write you one up.”

“You sonofabitch.” I shove forward, pushing against the arms that hold me back. “Why should I trust you? Huh?”

Kelly stops struggling at my words, pissed, and flings Fox and Jake away from him.

We all stand there, a cyclone of wild, raging testosterone, until Casey steps in, his voice quiet as he looks at me. “You should trust him because I do.” Kelly freezes, looking to his brother. Casey nods at him, then looks at me. “He’s here because he has your back, just like we all do, okay? So what’s your plan?”

I don’t have a goddamn plan. Instinct tells me to go in, all guns blazing just like I know Kelly would do given half the chance. But my head tells me we need to be smart about this. I can’t risk Evie being caught in the crossfire. She’s been there once before and I can’t believe we’re here again. In the same situation.

I take a rough breath and meet Kelly’s frustrated blue eyes. Casey’s right. He doesn’t have to be here. He doesn’t have to risk anything. He’s on my side, for fucks sake, and having a Sentinel on my side is a valuable thing. I give him a nod. “You’re with me.” Then I look to Coby, my brother-in-law. We started Jamieson and Valentine Consulting together. Just the two of us, before bringing Travis and Casey on board. He’s one of my best friends and I can’t blame him for pinning this on me. But we don’t have time to hash this out right now and he knows it. “You too.”

I start walking, heading for the shops across the road. He falls into step beside me.

“Jared!” Mitch yells at my back.

I don’t stop.

The shops along the strip are all open, though only one would’ve been open at the time Evie was at the beach. It’s also the closest shop to where she was parked. A bakery that also serves coffee. I go straight for it, pushing through a line of customers as I approach the server—a guy in his late teens with a slender frame, a harried expression, and a badge telling me his name is Theo. “Mate, you have cameras?”

“Cameras? What?” Theo jerks his head at the griping customers behind me. “You want something, you need to get in line.”

Coby is already canvassing the store. He looks to me and shakes his head. “No cameras.”

Fuck.

“What time did you start work?”

“What?” He shakes his head like I’ve lost it. “Dude, you need to go.”

Kelly’s voice