“No. Nate and I saw it before a virus uploaded and pretty much exploded his system. What a mess.” He sucked in air, pain filling the oxygen around them. “I saw Jory die. Or rather, a video of his death.”
“Are you sure?” Shane whispered. Videos could be doctored.
“Yes. A woman shot him point-blank in the chest.”
“A woman?” Pain filled Shane’s body along with air as he breathed. “Just one shot?”
“No. Several.” Matt scrubbed his face. “I saw him fall. Saw his eyes go blank.” He coughed, closing his eyes. “I lost him.”
“Not your fault.” Shane shifted, hiding a wince at the pain. “So I went undercover to find out who killed him—and what he’d found before he died. Did I check in?”
“Yes. Not with information, but you let Nate know you were alive every other month. Until a month ago. Then you took off—without a word. We didn’t even know you’d broken cover until you triggered the Internet alerts looking for us.”
Shane sighed, his head aching. Something there… a memory. Reality flashed through, hard and bright. “I was heading to Seattle, to you, Matt.” He remembered going by his old base for mail and getting the divorce papers. “I stopped here on the way to deal with the divorce.” He’d waited for Josie at her house, the buzzing of the planted bugs instantly alerting him she was in danger. “Figuring the commander had found her, I set up my own bugs to find him, and the next day I had the run-in with Max’s men.” Ending up with him getting amnesia. “But I was coming to you. Something happened, I knew something.” He grabbed his head. What the hell was it?
“We need to figure out what you found.” Matt lowered his voice. “Shut your eyes and relax.”
Shane shut his eyes, forcing his heartbeat to slow. His breathing to even out. Such physical control the scientists had given him. An explosion ripped behind his eyelids. “Jesus.”
“What?”
“I remember blowing the facility up five years ago.” He opened his eyes. “We escaped. The barracks, the base… we blew it up and ran.” The horrible place they were raised, the horrible place where they were trained to kill. Destroyed. It was easy to blow the place to hell. But they’d remained safe for the time being because of Jory. He figured out how to corrupt the computer system—with most of their records—which made them harder to track and even harder to find. Jory was by far the smartest one of them.
“Maybe you should sleep. See if anything comes back in your dreams.” Matt’s voice lowered to a hoarse rumble.
Sounded like a good idea. “What’s your plan?” Shane asked.
“I’ll keep watch until you get your memories back, and we find out what you discovered.”
Doubt made Shane clear his throat. “Can you be away from your job any longer?” Another memory… of Matt searching for a witness. “You’re hunting somebody?”
“Yes.” Matt stood. In profile, Matt’s face appeared even harder than usual. Two strides had him at the door. “Get some sleep, Shane. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
His brother. The one who’d driven Shane so hard to train, so hard to fight. So he’d survive their childhood.
But they weren’t kids anymore. It was time someone protected Matt. Shane ran his hand through Josie’s silky hair. He’d been trained by the best, and he knew how to survive. Survival meant both Josie and his brothers lived. So he’d make sure they won. No matter the cost.
Chapter 26
Josie stretched awake in the hospital bed, her face tucked into Shane’s shoulder. His steady breathing lifted his chest, and she wriggled out of bed to stand alongside his quiet form. She stepped into her tennis shoes, running her gaze over him. Even in sleep, an intensity lived on his face.
No softness, even now.
This was the first time she’d ever had the chance to watch him sleep. He had always been alert, ready to jump into action before she even left the bed. The doctor must’ve prescribed something incredibly strong in his IV.
Early light filtered through the blinds, scattering dust mites through the air. Bleach and the scent of freshly laundered linens filled her nostrils. The low murmur of voices wound through the hallway outside.
Her heart ached. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt, and she guessed it didn’t. The pain came from the uncertainty of where she stood with the sleeping soldier, and the damn kill chip. Would it actually take him out?
The smell of coffee out in the hall made her stomach rumble.
She reached for her cell phone on the counter and tucked it into her back pocket. Brushing her hands through her tangled hair, she tiptoed into the hallway and headed for the vending machine at the end.
“Mrs. Dean.” Detective Malloy glanced up from his perch on a worn chair, where he was scribbling in his notebook. “Sleep well?”
Josie faltered. “Yes, thank you.” What the heck was he doing there?