wouldn’t do any good to argue with the special agent. He had preconceived notions and the only way to fix the situation was to prove it couldn’t be Jared.
Because it wasn’t. No matter what the man said, he couldn’t buy that his brother was a killer. He could buy that Jared was keeping secrets. It was time to acknowledge that his childhood wasn’t as cut-and-dry as it had seemed. Tomorrow morning he and his brother were going to have a long talk.
After he got through tonight. One clusterfuck at a time.
“You’re being awfully narrow in your thinking, Special Agent,” Case interjected. “I’ve studied those files too. The brothers, Brad and Tad, they came from an abusive home. From the time their father left them, their mother went through multiple men, several of whom abused both boys according to CPS records. The boys went to live with their grandparents, but both of them were in and out of trouble. The grandmother had enough money and power to cover a lot of it up, but they both had some violent encounters.”
Rush shook his head. “Yes, I’ve read the files. I also know that the publicist has had some complaints of sexual harassment filed against him, all of which have been dropped.”
“Settled,” Case corrected. “The cases were settled and the records sealed. There’s a big difference and you know it.”
“Not to mention the fact that his assistant has an obsessive interest in him, and I would say she’s got some narcissistic tendencies.” Kai had come to a few of his own conclusions. All it had taken was a single ten-minute conversation with her to realize Lena was a vengeful woman. She’d talked a lot about the people who had done her wrong and how she’d dealt with them. “Everyone’s got issues. If you truly look at any single person’s background, you can make a case for violence. All of us are damaged in some way. Until you have some real proof, I don’t want you focusing in on my brother. For all we know this is coincidence.”
Rush’s eyes rolled. “If you can’t do the job, let me know now.”
Kai took a deep breath. He was getting sick of the whole thing. There was a reason he worked by himself and not in a practice where he would have a boss. He had some authority issues of his own. “My job is to teach my brother about BDSM.”
“Your brother has been in the lifestyle for years. God, you haven’t even figured that out yet?” Rush stood up, his big body stiff with frustration.
“What are you talking about?” Kai asked, Rush’s words not quite making sense.
Case shot the special agent an arctic stare. “I thought my brother asked you not to mention that.”
“Your brother also told me this guy could do the job,” Rush retorted. “So far all he’s done is his secretary.”
“I can do more,” Kai promised, visions of his hands around the asshole’s throat playing through his brain.
Case stood and got between them. “He means that, Rush, and don’t judge him by his looks. He could take you on and he would very likely enjoy hurting you.”
Kai didn’t move. “See, we’ve all got issues. As for my brother, I’ll go with him tonight and I’ll watch everyone carefully. After I tag a woman’s phone.”
If it weren’t for Ian, he would tell everyone to go to hell. Well, likely not because if he wasn’t doing this for Ian, he would be doing it for Sean. Or Case. Or Erin.
He was locked in and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Maybe what his brother had said was right. He’d spent the last few decades of his life trying not to have ties only to find himself bound tightly again. He’d run from one brother only to find an entire family, and he’d slid into it because it seemed like Ian was the only one with real responsibility. But in a family, everyone had responsibility. It was only a matter of time before it reared its head.
The responsibility was chafing. It reminded him of all the reasons he’d walked away in the first place. Sometimes it took him back to that place where he was twelve and his mother was working an overnight shift and Jared had fallen and hit his head. There’d been so much blood and it had been his fault because he wasn’t watching his brother properly. His mother hadn’t yelled, but the point had been made.
“Ferguson, I’m sorry. I’m under