She blinked. What was she doing? Was she willingly going to leave with Snowdon like a lamb to the slaughter?
She jerked her arm away. Turning, she looked up at her brother. She traced the familiar lines of his face with her gaze. Had his eyes always been so mean looking? His jaw always so soft? He looked a stranger.
In truth, he most likely always had been.
“No,” she told him.
The pistol in his pocket bulged against the fabric. He chuckled. “My sister and I were to leave for home, but it seems as though she's changed her mind. Are you certain, Jules?”
The familiar nickname burned into her skin like a brand. She wanted to smack his mouth.
No, she wanted Brogan to smack his mouth. He had the skills to make her brother hurt. Make him bleed.
“Father is arriving at Bluff Hall soon,” he continued. “It will just be he and I alone together if you don't come.”
She pressed her hand to her side. Her breath came in short bursts. She’d laughed with her brother, played silly games with him, cried on his shoulder when their mother died.
And now he was trying to blackmail her into going with him, so he could kill his entire family with no one the wiser.
She took a step back. Another. Until she felt the presence of Mr. Hurst’s body behind her.
“I guess she's changed her mind.” Snowdon shrugged. “You know how women are.”
The agent slid in front of her, never taking his eyes off Snow. Instinct must have told him something was wrong between brother and sister. That, or Brogan had told him her brother wasn't to be trusted.
“I know what this woman is like,” Hurst said. “She has a good head on her shoulders. If she doesn't want to go with you, she has a reason.”
The cloth covering the gun barrel shifted.
Juliana held her breath. Even after everything Snowdon had told her, after all the attempts he'd made on their father's life, she couldn't believe he would pull the trigger. Shoot her in cold blood. She didn’t want to believe it.
She saw every expression that crossed her brother's face. It seemed like she could see every strand of his hair as a soft breeze ruffled his locks. She knew the moment when he made his decision.
“I’ll see you around, Jules.” He pulled his hand from his pocket and tipped his hat. He turned for the carriage.
It wasn't until it had rolled halfway down the block that the sounds of the street came roaring back.
Mr. Hurst turned to her. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, numb.
“Can I get you anything?”
Brogan. She wanted Brogan. Wanted him to wrap his arms around her, hold her tight, tell her everything would come out right in the end.
She swallowed.
Nothing would be right again.
Her brother was a killer. And Brogan… Brogan wasn’t there to offer her comfort. He didn’t want to be the man to help her pick up the pieces of her soul.
“I need to speak to the agent in charge of my investigation,” she said, her voice hollow. “I have new information to disclose.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Brogan slapped the flat of the blade of his whittling knife against his palm.
He wanted to slap it against something else. Juliana’s brother deserved that and more.
