“No shit,” Ace agreed, snow falling onto his dark hair. “You keeping her?”
After last night, Brock wasn’t sure he could let her go. But they had the case between them. “I don’t know.” He walked around the side of the truck to view the bullet holes. He flushed with anger, centering himself in the moment. “I am going to find the person who shot at her.” And rip off his head.
Christian nodded, probably at the unsaid part. “The storm covered all tracks, which we expected. Also, no shell casings, which is impressive that whoever shot at you had time and could find them all in the snow before taking off. I don’t think we’re dealing with a moron, although he hasn’t hit his target yet.”
Brock didn’t like theyet.“Did you find anything at the bottom of the hill?”
“No,” Ace said quietly. “We can ask in town if anybody saw a car or truck come through, but you know that parking area leads to a back road headed north. The guy could’ve gone anywhere around the river.”
“Or to several subdivisions,” Christian added.
Brock sighed. “Okay. She can’t stay at the B&B because it’ll put Flossy in danger. She’ll have to stay here.”
Christian’s lip twitched, and he almost smiled. So close. “I assume there’s a place for her to rent somewhere around here. She’s a Fed, Brock. She can take care of herself.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Brock countered instantly.
Ace sighed. “He is so keeping her.”
Christian’s gaze narrowed. “How? How can you possibly think of keeping an FBI agent? After…everything.”
Brock wiped snow off his face. “Stop talking about her like she’s a wayward puppy. I like her.” He kicked a chunk of ice out of his way. “She needs protection right now, whether or not she’s trained. Nobody is trained for Alaska like us.”
Ace stepped closer to him, his eyes burning. “I know she’s not a puppy, just as I know you’ve never been able to turn away from any woman or stray who needs covering. Just ask yourself if that’s what’s going on here. Is your hero-savior complex causing you to like her? She’s a fucking Fed, Brock.”
“Hero-savior complex?” Brock snorted, his temper igniting instantly. “Seriously? You turning into a shrink, brother? Is that why you don’t look hungover for the first time in too long, or is it because Christian dragged your ass away from the bottle?”
Ace moved for him, obviously looking for a fight.
Brock was more than happy to give him one. He tensed his legs for the hit.
Christian instantly put his body between them. Fuck, he moved fast. “Knock it off. We don’t have time to fight each other. Somebody is shooting at your Fed, there’s a missing dead guy from EVE without his eyes, and I can’t get ahold of Damian. Get your heads out of your asses.”
Ace stepped back first. “That’s a lot of words for you, C.”
“No shit,” Christian muttered, edging a safe distance away.
Brock stilled. “You can’t reach Damian?”
“No,” Christian muttered. “We always check in once a month, and I haven’t heard anything for six weeks.”
“He’s probably on a mission,” Ace said, not sounding sure. He scrubbed his hand through his shaggy hair, scattering snow and ice. “I hate it when he goes dark. If he needs backup, we won’t know it.” Stepping away, he shook more snow off his thick jacket. “Speaking of backup, what’s your plan with the agent?”
Brock shook his head. “She wants to interview the Randsoms today, and somehow she got an appointment at EVE for this morning.”
Christian’s eyebrows lifted. “EVE? No shit? She’s got some pull.”
“So you’re going to be the sheriff?” Ace asked.
Brock’s ears heated. “No. You know I’m not.” He didn’t need to go into the why—in fact, he didn’t want to. Not yet. Not now. He cleared his throat. “Wyatt said he saw you close to the EVE victim, Christian. Were you there?”
Christian frowned. “No. I’ve seen him out fishing before, and he’s seen me out hunting, but not this past week. My guess is that he’s just mixed up after freezing his ass off out there for a night.”
“All right.” Brock had no reason not to believe his brother.
Ace braced his shoulders. “Don’t you think it’s time we talked about?—?”
“Brock?” Ophelia opened the front door and stopped short at seeing the three men. She wore one of his T-shirts with her long legs and adorable feet bare. The woman was the sexiest thing in existence. Her face turned a lovely pink. “Oh. Um. Good morning.” Then she shut the door and disappeared.
