But that wasn’t what Arty McDaniels had wanted at all—she knew it in her gut. He’d wanted Cormac found all right, he wanted him found so he could kill him, and she’d helped him find the man he wanted to murder.
The more she thought about it, the more she was sure she had a much better picture of what had likely really happened the night McDaniels’ “friend” was allegedly murdered, and it had nothing to do with Cormac.
He was damn well in cahoots with these Russians somehow. They needed to shut Cormac up before he found the right cop to listen to him—unlike the cops his sister had tried to convince.
“So all that bullshit about bringing Cormac to justice in honor of his buddy was crap? How the hell did he get this Vitali into the system to begin with? Did he hack it?”
Arty McDaniels had come complete with loads of information from official sites, all declaring Cormac was wanted for the murder. “I guess if he was willing to come to us for help in capturing Cormac with a fake name and a fake story, he’d surely be prepared to create falsified documents. And why else would he try to kill me if his story wasn’t bullshit? Why would he want me dead if I found Cormac for him? Did he get suspicious because I’d come to New York?”
“New York? What the hell are you doing in New York?” Viktor yelped.
Squeezing her temples, Teddy clenched her teeth. “It’s a long story, and I’ll explain in a minute. But what I’m sure of is, McDaniels wants anyone who came in contact with Cormac and might’ve heard the real story dead. He just needed him found. Was the plan always to kill us both after I’d found him, and make us disappear just like his buddy? No one would know the truth, right? You’d both think I got lost on the bounty. The forest is a big place, Viktor, but he needed someone who knows it like we do—like I do. Also, no one’s looking for Cormac but his sister, and she’s at the root of all this. She’s the one who saw what happened. So who’d know the difference?”
“What is the real story, Teddy? What happened with this guy’s sister and why the hell are you in New York?” Vadim asked.
As she explained what Cormac had told her this morning about Stas and Toni and why she’d come to New York, leaving out the part about Shamalot and life mates, her brothers listened in silence.
When she was finished, Viktor finally spoke. “That means this was all some kind of crazy setup. He just needed someone skilled to track Vitali. I’ll hunt his sorry ass down, Teddy. He’ll beg for death when I’m done with him!” he bellowed into the phone, followed by the slam of a fist. Probably on the center island, if the sound of plastic apples falling to the ground was any indication.
Then another wave of horror hit her. “You know what else this means, don’t you? If he came for me, he might come for you guys. He won’t want anyone left to identify him. You and Vadim aren’t safe.”
“Screw safe. I dare the jackass to come at me.”
“Viktor, save the Superman bit,” she scolded. “I’m just asking that you watch your backs. Please. At least until I figure this out. And maybe do a little investigating with some of your contacts. Find out who this Arty McDaniels really is.”
Viktor lowered his voice then, gentling his tone. “You don’t owe this Vitali anything, you know. How were you supposed to know our client was a maniac?”
Except, she did owe Cormac something. She’d helped this McDaniels find him. Handed him over on a silver platter. But it wasn’t just that. He was her intended. She’d avoid telling her brothers that for now, but she knew. She just needed to get used to the idea before she shared it with more people than those who already knew.
“I do owe him something, Viktor. I led McDaniels straight to him, and while I didn’t know that then, I know it now. What have we always said about this bounty business? Sure, it makes us money, but we find bad guys law enforcement can’t because we can track better than any human ever could. We do it because of what happened to Dad. In his honor.”
There was a low grumble from Vadim at the mention of her father, but it was a clear reminder of their reasons for taking up bounty hunting to begin with. It had begun to avenge his murder when no one else would investigate deeper. It had ended with Vadim near death, but they’d caught the bastard, and they continued to catch bastards for that very reason.
Some people managed to escape the law. Teddy and her brothers ensured criminals were brought to justice. They only took cases where the client agreed to meet with law enforcement officials if the bounty was captured—which McDaniels had agreed to do. In fact, he’d signed a contract saying as much.