Adam hitched his chin in the truck’s direction. “What’s the hurry?”
Grant shrugged and grimaced. “He needs to get laid.”
“Fair enough,” he said, taking note of the hand Grant slipped inside his jacket to rub his left pec. “Chest still bothering you?” He took a bullet meant for Gray, if he needed more time to heal, Adam would give the order to make it happen.
“Nah, I’m good. Doc set me up with some T3s, so you can drop any fantasies you have about benching me, coach.” Turning his body, he set himself square in front of Adam, arms crossed, rust-colored eyes pissed under the brim of his ball cap. “Now, you gonna tell me what the fuck you’re up to, or do I have to lay down a beating?”
Adam cocked a brow but didn’t otherwise make a move. The man was tough as any he’d ever encountered, but only one of them would survive hand-to-hand combat, and it wasn’t Grant, injured or not.
Sure as shit, he was former military. Probably an elite unit. Well trained. Highly disciplined. Used to giving orders and taking them landed him somewhere in the middle of the chain of command.
On the surface, he was a good fit for the JTT. Dig a little deeper, and one soon discovered, Grant didn’t exist in the digital world. He was an enigma. A mystery Adam had yet to solve. Not for lack of trying. There were no records on Grant Kincaid. None that weren’t bought and paid for and buried under ten layers of bureaucracy.
The best of the best had already looked, and Jay had found jack squat. Unless he started talking, there was no way to know Grant’s real identity or what he hid from, and so far, the bastard hadn’t been willing to share.
Brought in by Adam to help run Johnson’s arms-trafficking operation, Grant stood out as a professional among wannabe gangsters. A hired gun, he’d been in it for the money. Until Gray had come along.
Defying orders to bring her in alive, he’d put his life on the line multiple times to save hers. The man had proven himself beyond a reasonable doubt, and Adam trusted him. Well, trusted him as much as he was capable of trusting anyone. Even so, if his instincts were misfiring, Chase’s willingness to put Gray’s life in Grant’s hands went a long way to reassure.
“We need the colonel’s hard drive,” Adam said. “But if you don’t want your bag back, I can send Z after Hoyt, and you can be on your merry way.” It was a bluff, pure and simple. A sucker for Gray, Grant wasn’t leaving before they neutralized the threat against her.
As to Peter Hoyt, he was the colonel’s former aide, a coward and a deserter who bailed when things went south. No one busted a vein about him leaving, but the canker had a van full of JTT equipment, including Grant’s duffel and the colonel’s personal laptop.
A man who kept his fair share of secrets, who knew what Adam’s father had hidden in the files on his hard drive. Sure, the data encryption was the best available, and unless you had the colonel’s fingerprint and twenty-two-digit alphanumeric code, you weren’t getting access.
Wouldn’t stop Johnson and his men from trying though, and with the targets on their backs, the JTT couldn’t take the risk.
“Fuck you, Grayson.” Grant dropped his arms and stepped in close, hands cranking into fists. “You’re not as hard to read as you think you are. You’re going after Johnson. Alone. Not the smartest move I’ve seen you make, and what about Gray? She’s gonna rip you a new asshole when she finds out.”
He was wrong on two counts. Adamwashard to read, and the only person who could happened to be taking up space in his personal bubble. As to Gray? His sister would do a hell of a lot worse than cut him a new sphincter. She’d gut him—sternum to scrotum.
“At least take me with you for backup.”
Adam shook his head. “Can’t. Need you here next week.”
“Why? Chase has Gray cove—” Puzzle pieces falling into place, Grant got the big picture fast. “Motherfucker! You think he’s planning to go after Johnson when he gets back.”
“Wouldn’t you?” He didn’tthinkChase was going after Johnson. He fucking knew it. They had one link to the missing JTT member, and there’d be no stopping him until they found Tak or the grave he’d been buried in.
“So, what? You’re planning to get there first, and if you fail, he’s next in line to take up the charge.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s fucked up, man.” Grant shook his head. “The colonel left you in charge with Chase as your second. What happens if you both bite the bullet? Then what? What about the rest of the JTT? And Davis? And Gray? Who takes care of them?”
Staring the answer in the face, Adam bet it wouldn’t take him long to clue in, so he stayed silent and let the man work it out. When he did, the look of abject terror on his face might have given Adam pause if the reason for Grant’s sudden spike of fear wasn’t funny as fuck.
If both Adam and Chase cashed in their tickets, Gray’s instincts to drink, vomit, and run were going to kick into overdrive, and good luck to the man standing in her way. No question, if things went sideways, Grant would get the sharp end of her fury, straight through his spleen.
The hand restingagainst Eve’s forehead wasn’t the one she’d grown accustomed to. Bryan’s hand was clumsy, his palm heavy when he checked to see if her fever persisted. This hand was dainty, almost birdlike in its fragility, gentle fingers trembling as they feathered their way from temple to neck.
Light pressure on her carotid indicated a pulse check, and she felt her heartbeat, weak and thready, echo within the flames consuming her. Yes. She was burning up. And yes, she was still alive. Bryan making every effort to keep her that way.
Maybe now?
Maybe with the arrival of a tiny bird, her time had come, and this nightmare would end.
No!Anger sharpened her mother’s protest. Or was it her own? She couldn’t tell anymore. Her brain addled with sickness and fear, the veil between the living and dead had thinned. Her mother had comforted her. Held her hand and urged her to be strong. Eve had tried. Lord, she’d tried. But she was tired now, loss of blood and a raging infection taking their toll.
