Jethro looked toward a pregnant Dana in the chair across from him with Wolfe sitting on the floor, his back against her chair, his legs extended. “None of you are going to cover me. Period.”
“Might need an intervention,” Wolfe said calmly.
Angus remained stoic. Wolfe’s intervention style usually involved a broken nose. “That’s not necessary. Boot upthe interview.”
Nari typed and an interrogation room took form on the brick wall. Jethro sat on one side and a man with similar features sat across from him. Jet’s hair was lighter and his shoulders broader, but there was no question theywere brothers.
“What gave me away?” Fletcherasked, smiling.
Before Jethro could answer, the screen fizzledand went dark.
“Hey,” Nari said,typing rapidly.
Jethro sighed. “We’re not a backwoods corporation. You’re dealing with MI6 there. Even if you had Brigid hack them, which apparently you did, they wouldn’t just let it go.”
Angus looked at Jethro. “Well, I guess you start talking, then. Here’s what I know so far. Your brother was a serial killer who apparently liked to disembowel people, and he’s somehow circling around you right now. So what’s your connection to the two victims?”
“No connection,” Jethro said, sliding off his glasses and tossing them onto the glass coffee table.
Angus searched his face for any sign of deception. “You’re trained to lie?”
“Yep,” Jethro said. “But I’m not lying. Also, my brother wasn’t a serial killer.” He paused. “Let me rephrase that. He fits the description because he killed many more than three people, but he doesn’t fit the psychopathy that you’re accustomed towith serials.”
“Go on,” Angus suggested, keeping his tone light when Nari put her hand on his thigh in warning.
Jethro caught the action and his eyes flared. “Fine. Fletcher is older than me by a year, and there was always something off about the chap.” Jethro fetched his wineglass from the shelf by his elbow and then swirled the thick liquid around. “You know. Charming and brilliant, but with odd proclivities. Let’s just say that the animals in the vicinity of our childhood home oftendisappeared.”
“Sounds like the childhood of a serial killer to me,” Dana said thoughtfully.
Jethro shrugged. “Maybe. He attended university to be a barrister, and he created an admirable practice. Well, until it became apparent that he was also killing people.” Of course, he’d also worked for MI6, but Jethro couldn’t admit that unless he personally received clearance.
Nari took a notebook from the bottom of the pile and began to scribble in it. “Don’t tell me. Society blondes and then older menstarted dying.”
“No,” Jethro scoffed. “Again, my brother is not aserial killer.”
Angus looked up. “How about youexplain that?”
Jethro cocked his head. “My brother was a contract killer. One of the best, actually.”
Dana gasped. “Your brother killed people for money?”
“Yes,” Jethro said.
“Was it a game between the two of you?” Angus asked.
Jethro looked at him, his brows drawn. “I really don’t know, Force. I believe he enjoyed killing before I was brought in on his case, but once Iwas, it felt…”
“Personal?” Angus asked.
“Yes. MI6 brought me in because the deaths kept occurring in places familiar to me, and a pattern emerged. Oh, I didn’t know the victims, but I knew the places. It was as if he was doing a job and then taunting me.” For the first time there was a fine edge to Jethro’s words. He shrugged. “I chased him, he made a fortune, I figured out his pattern, and I went afterhim full time.”
“You caught him,” Wolfe said.
“Yes.” Jethro finished his wine. “He stabbed our mother right before I got to her and she died in my arms. Neither one of us was close to her, but he knew I’d blame myself for not getting there in time. I did.”
Angus would unpack that later. “How’d your brother get free?”
“I’m waiting for the report to learn the details, but he’s brilliant, so I’m not surprised.” Jethro held out his glass when Nari motioned with the bottle, and she leaned over to refill it. “Now he’s here, and no doubt he’s been hired to killthese victims.”
