Kylie opened her mouth, but Devon cut her off before she could answer. “I’m not sure.” He cut a glance at the three DEA agents, all within earshot, and no way was he going to let whichever one of them was dirty get away with putting Kylie’s life at risk. Hell, for all he knew, it could’ve been Moreno herself, although that seemed less likely since Kellan had trusted her. Still, Devon wasn’t taking any risks. “I must’ve been sloppy somewhere along the way.”
“Bullshit,” Kellan said at the same time Kylie flinched, but Devon continued despite the punch of emotion in his gut.
“Fagan muscled his way in, tried to grab Kylie. I took a lucky shot. That’s about all there is to it.”
Moreno frowned. “That’s pretty careless for someone who should know better. Not only did you risk Kylie’s life, but now everyone working with Fagan will go deep underground. We’ll probably never catch most of them.”
“Hey,” Kellan protested, but Devon put his hand on the guy’s shoulder. This was hard enough as it was.
“You got Fagan. Kylie’s safe. Now, can we get out of here to give our statements? Because you might not like them, but I think you’re going to want to hear them.”
Devon pushed back from the table in the interrogation room, his chair scraping across the linoleum as he propped his forearms over his thighs. “And that’s everything that happened.”
For a long beat, the man sitting across from Devon said nothing, finally breaking the taut silence with, “You’re telling me Xavier Fagan paid off an agent in my unit in order to obtain the location of a witness so he could murder her in cold blood before we could take her into custody.”
Devon darted a lightning-fast glance at the ceiling-mounted camera, then the one-way privacy glass, where he knew no less than four people had to be watching on the other side.
“Affirmative. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Special Agent Brett Collins, a.k.a. Detective Moreno’s contact and head of the DEA’s field office in Chicago, looked at Devon with an unreadable stare. “That’s a pretty hefty accusation.”
“I’m aware,” Devon said, especially since he’d made the accusation a half a dozen times since arriving at the field office four hours ago. “But since my statement is the truth, I’m not going to be changing it any time soon. No matter how many different ways you ask me what went down.”
“Mmm.” Collins scrubbed a hand over his salt and pepper goatee. “Well, Ms. Walker’s story corroborates yours, and there was a clear and present threat to her well-being. For now, I’m inclined to let you walk. Provided that you agree not to disclose the details of what Fagan told you to anyone.”
Devon didn’t envy the guy for the investigation he’d have to launch into his own field officers’ conduct, that was for damn sure. “Of course. You don’t think Kylie’s still at risk, do you?”
“On the record, I’ll tell you that I can’t disclose any information pertaining to the case. But off?” Collins paused, one shoulder of his white dress shirt lifting in a half-shrug. “Fagan was the head of the snake. Whoever his informant is will probably hide. Not that it’ll help when I get my hands on him.”
Devon followed the man out of the interrogation room, his pulse doing the hey-now in his veins as he spotted Kellan in the main hallway.
“Hey. Jesus, I thought they were going to keep you in there all month. Is everything okay?”
The entire chain of events kind of turned okay on its ear, but given the fact that he was too hungry, tired, and fried to make like a thesaurus, okay would have to do. “Yeah. How’s Kylie?”
“She’s okay. I sat with her while she got checked out by paramedics and made her statement,” Kellan said, his eyes shifting around the busy corridor. “But she’s tough. And she was definitely adamant about what happened.”
“That sounds like her,” Devon said. His stomach suddenly felt like someone had dropped it in the spin cycle, but the words had to come out. “Listen, about your sister?—”
“Is this the part where you tell me you’re into her?”
What. The. Fuck. “Uh,” Devon stammered, and seriously, this was not how he’d pictured this going.
Kellan crossed his arms, but the corners of his lips tugged upward into a smile. “Look, I’m not ever going to be wild about my sister seeing anyone, but she told me how she feels about you. What you did to keep her safe. If she’s going to be with anyone, it should at least be a guy who’s good enough for her.”
“Are you sure that guy is me?”
“I trusted you with Kylie’s safety from the beginning, man. Not just because you were close by, but because you’re you.” Kellan paused, sliding a hand over the dark stubble covering his chin before continuing. “Look, I know you’ve carried around a lot of guilt over what happened in Afghanistan. But what happened that day wasn’t your fault.”
“I know. I mean, I do now,” Devon said, and damn, it felt good to mean the words.
“Good. Then you also know you’re good enough for my sister.”
Devon blinked, shaking the hand Kellan had extended in his direction. “Thanks. I promise to treat her right.”
“Do yourself a favor,” Kellan said, his blue stare sharpening like razor wire. “Just don’t ever tell me about it, okay?”
“Copy that.” He bit down on his smile. “You headed back to Remington?”
