Jaxon turned away and kept talking into his radio.
Malik closed in on Gray. “What’s going on?”
“A war, from the sound of things.” He pointed down at the body. Levi had been covered up before they arrived. Not moved, per his instructions. The scene had been secured and blocked, and he’d hauled ass on his private plane to get there. But it wasn’t like they could just leave the body outside much longer. Decomposition and all sorts of screw-them issues would be occurring.
He eyed the ranch house. It had already been searched. Nothing important had turned up. Nothing overly useful.
“They can’t be that far away,” Malik murmured. “We were here damn fast.”
Yes, they had been. Because he’d gotten a text right after the shooting and had been on the way instantly. A text that had not come from Cass.
Are you holding out on me, cuz? He didn’t like that Cass hadn’t told him about the shooting. Not the best sign.
“Do you know where they are headed?” Malik asked.
Oh, he had a pretty good idea. The finale had been in the works for a very long time. But the players in the finale had shifted a bit. Agnes shouldn’t have been involved. She was, though. And maybe…maybe that was a good thing.
Especially if Cass’s own crew couldn’t be trusted.
Or maybe Agnes being involved is bad. Bad as in, the worst mistake I’ve ever made. Because he could have stopped things. He could have planned an alternative that didn’t involve her riding off with Cass. But when he’d plotted, and, yes, profiled, having Agnes at Cass’s side had seemed like the best option.
Because I trust Agnes completely. She might doubt herself, but I don’t doubt her. And I know that she will protect Cass’s back. Cass. His family. His cousin, yes, but more. His brother by choice.
But Cass wasn’t aware of the other players also closing in. One particular player was pissed that Agnes was riding straight into danger with Cass. Ryan Quinn was a dangerous bastard on his good days. On his bad days? The man was hell on earth. He usually worked covert ops for Uncle Sam, but this time, he was going off script. And making new problems for Gray.
As if Gray wanted more problems in his life.
Why couldn’t Ryan have been tied up with a case in Spain or Russia or somewhere else across the Atlantic right now? Instead, Ryan was screwing up Gray’s plans.
I’m staring at a dead body. The second one since Agnes and Cass paired up. That couple is lethal. And as to why the guy on the ground was dead…
“He betrayed Cass,” Gray said as his gaze flickered back to the dead man.
“How do you know?” Malik asked.
He crouched beside the body once more. With his gloved hand, he lifted the edge of Levi’s shirt. “When you betray your MC leader, you don’t walk away clean.” In fact, you rarely walked away. He pushed up the bloody material to reveal the slash in Levi’s side.
“Shit.” An exclamation of surprise from Malik. “Is that a ‘T’ carved into his skin?”
Yes, it was. “T for Traitor,” Gray murmured.
“Damn.” Then. “Damn…what in the hell has Agnes gotten herself into?”
I told you already, a war. One that has been a long time coming.
“You swore to me Cass would watch her back.” Now Malik was angry. Fair enough. The guy liked and respected his partner. A week after Malik had joined Gray’s team at the Bureau, Agnes had shoved him down two seconds before a bullet would have blown his brains out. She’d spotted the shooter hanging out in the alley. Malik hadn’t. She’d saved his ass.
He’d been watching hers since then. And Malik didn’t always think others could protect the woman as well as he could. But in this instance, Gray was sure that Cass wouldn’t let anyone hurt Agnes. I better not be wrong. “He will watch her back.”
“Until what…the others find out she’s working undercover? Then is she gonna get a T carved into her skin, too? And what the hell will happen to Cass? If the others find out the truth…”
Gray rose to his full height. “Cass has always understood what will happen to him. As for Agnes, I don’t think Cass will let anyone carve up her skin.”
“You don’t think? Or you know he wouldn’t?” Malik’s strained expression showed his worry.
“He wouldn’t.” Gray hoped that he sounded confident. Usually, people couldn’t see past his lies. And they never saw when he was uncertain. I am very, very uncertain right now. “He won’t let anyone even so much as put a mark on her.”
Agnes eyed the needle. She bit her lower lip. She squinted and eyed the needle harder. “So…” A long, drawn out Sooooooo. “Where will you be putting the tat?”
