Sabrina was the one to answer. “Because he was outnumbered two to one by then. Because when my brother and that fat, smelly pig were wrestling, I scrambled off the bed and grabbed the gun from the unconscious man.”
“Jonny dropped his weapon when Cooper headbutted him,” Knox supplied helpfully.
“I turned and aimed it at Fat Eddy the instant I had it in my hands.” Sabrina’s shoulders began to shake, and Julia scooted down the couch to grab the woman’s hand.
“Fat Eddy is a lot of things, but he’s not an idiot,” Knox interjected quietly. “He knew if he started spraying bullets, we’d return fire, and the odds were in our favor. So I held my gun on The Rat. Sabrina held her gun on Fat Eddy. And we backed ourselves right on out of that house.”
“I should’ve shot him,” Sabrina said now. “I was scared and in shock because—” Her voice broke, but her expression hardened. “I should’ve shot him,” she repeated with a growl of disgust.
“You did the right thing by getting out of there,” Hew assured her.
Whatever anger and anguish showed in Sabrina’s expression was magnified in Hew’s. Britt wondered if his irascible teammate might feel more for the brown-eyed waif than simple pity.
“He’s right,” Julia agreed. “And once we take down whoever set up Knox and your brother, I promise I’ll help you make Fat Eddy pay.”
A dozen heartbeats of silence followed that pronouncement. Then, Knox nodded. “I can see why Britt likes you. You’re tough as old shoe leather. He alwaysdidgo for the scrappy ones.”
Britt shifted uncomfortably when Julia shot him a curious glance. He relaxed when she quickly turned her attention to his brother. “Do you think it was Keplar? He’s been champing at the bit to find you. I’d say he’s been almost zealous in his hunt. You think it was him who double-crossed you?”
Another log popped and fizzed. The smokey, woodsy scent mixed with the subtle tang of furniture polish. They were homey smells.Comfortingeven. On a different night, Britt might have appreciated them.
Tonight, they only registered in the far corner of his mind. Because his entire attention, every fiber of his being, was focused on Julia. On the little dent in the middle of her lower lip. On the way her light brown eyes melted to gold around her pupils. On the razor-sharp intelligence she displayed with every word out of her mouth.
He’d been plagued by uncertainty on the drive from the old farmhouse to Hunter’s secret cabin, wondering if he’d made the right call by bringing her along or if his obsession with her had pushed him to make the dumbest decision of his life. Now, he felt the satisfying tug of vindication.
Julia O’Toole was everything he’d imagined her to be. Andmore.
“If you’d asked me that question three days ago, I’d have said there was no way. Keplar is rough around the edges, but he’s no turncoat. His entire identity is tied up in being an FBI agent. He’d never risk his badge to make a quick buck from the cartel. But now?” Knox shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Anything is possible, I reckon.”
Julia sighed and turned back toward Britt. He braced himself for the impact of her eyes.
He’d been unmoved by the glare of his drill sergeant in basic training, had barely batted a lash when he’d faced down the hateful gaze of an enemy combatant who’d managed to get the drop on him during a night operation in Kandahar, and, unlike some of the Knights, Boss’s snarling scrutiny barely fazed him. But it took effort not to instinctively look away from Julia’s intense focus, from that unwavering directness when her eyes met his.
“So I’m guessing you plan to have Ozzie hack into the professional and personal accounts of everyone who knew about Cooper and Knox’s covers”—she inclined her head toward his brother—“and hope Ozzie can pinpoint which one of them is in league with the cartel?”
“Got it in one.” He nodded and then blinked at Hew because Hew made the mother of all rude noises. If looks could kill, Hew’s expression would have Britt six feet under and pushing up daisies. “What?” he demanded. “What’s wrong with your face?”
“What’s right with yours?” Hew countered sarcastically. “You told her about Ozzie? You realize she’s a frickin’ fed, yeah?”
Right. Shit.
He’d forgotten to warn Hew that he’d had to come clean about their onsite computer whiz.
“There are times when the only choices left to a man are bad ones,” he confessed with a shrug.
“And what the fuck isthatsupposed to mean?”
Britt opened his mouth to answer, but Julia did it for him. “I’m not stupid, Chief Birch. I know the difference between a desktop PC and the serious setup you guys have there at Black Knights Inc. When I questioned Sergeant Rollins about it, he told me the truth about your coworker’s side job.”
Hew blinked in surprise. Britt figured that surprise had less to do with her knowledge of computing hardware and more to do with her having called him by his rank.
“And here’s hoping you don’t use that against us once this mess is over.” The stare Hew pinned on Julia offered no quarter.
She didn’t need any. She lifted her chin and challenged, “Your words form a statement, but your face forms a question.”
Abso-fucking-lutely glorious, Britt thought proudly.
“My question is, will you use what you know about Ozzie against us once this is all over?”
