“I’ve already spoken to Dad about it. He said no career was worth covering up the wrongful deaths of those American soldiers. He wants me to keep digging.” Brynnon looked around, wondering just how far the coffee shop was. “Are we close, or did we take a wrong turn?”
With an odd look, Martin gave her a small smile. “Actually, I remembered seeing Grant as I was coming out of the restroom. He told me they were going to be in a conference room located on this floor. He told me how to get there, in case you needed him for something. I thought, if you want, we can go by there first to see if they could use some coffee.”
Surprised he’d actually thought of someone other than himself, Brynnon said, “Oh. Okay.”
They went down hallway after hallway until finally, Brynnon heard Martin say, “It’s down this way.”
They’d passed by several staff members since leaving her brother’s room, but this hallway was completely empty. An odd feeling began to settle in Brynnon’s gut, but she brushed it off as emotionally induced paranoia and kept walking.
He pushed open another door. When they walked through it, a rush of cold air nearly took her breath away. The winter air sent a flurry of goosebumps over her exposed arms and Brynnon stopped in her tracks.
Looking around, her heart thumped a little harder when she saw the concrete floors, walls, and pillars. A large, metal sign attached high on one of the walls caught her eye. It read, ‘Employee Parking Only.’
Already shivering, she glanced back at the door they’d just walked through. “Martin, I think we took a wrong turn. This is the employee parking garage.”
He smiled wider. “I know. Grant told me about a short cut. It’s right through there.” He pointed to a door on the opposite side of the garage. Giving her his prized, politician’s smile, he said, “Trust me.”
Brynnon wrapped her arms around herself to help fight off the cold as they made their way across the open space. Temperatures had dropped drastically in the short time since they’d arrived, and a strong wind whistled eerily as it traveled passed the garage’s dark opening at the top of the ramp.
Martin smiled over at her. “I know Derek’s good at what he does, but I really don’t see how a couple of doctored P.O.s are going to lead you to the person you’re after.”
Brynnon’s steps faltered, her heart stuttering inside her chest.
Noticing, he looked over at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”
A gnawing feeling settled deep inside her gut as she stopped moving. “I never said the documents that were falsified were purchase orders.”
Martin stopped as well. He thought for a moment before smiling again. “Sure, you did. You said Derek found something off with the P.O.’s for the Kunar job.”
Pulling a pair of black leather gloves from his pocket, he began slipping them onto his hands. That same, gnawing feeling she’d experienced seconds earlier grew teeth. Their bite painful and shocking.
“No.” Brynnon shook her head. “I didn’t.”
Calling him out on his bullshit here, in the middle of a freaking parking garage with no one else around, was stupid. Unfortunately, Brynnon realized this a second too late.
Quickly trying to recover, she smiled back at him. “You know what? I’m sure you’re right. It’s been a long few days, and with everything that’s happened, I probably just forgot I’d mentioned the P.O.’s.”
Martin stared back at her. His lips were still curved into a smile, but his eyes held no humor. “I’m sure that’s it.”
Suddenly fearful of a man she’d known half her life, Brynnon took a step backward. “I’m really not in the mood for coffee anymore. I-I think I’m just going to go back to Billy’s room.”
Turning around, she started walking back in the direction they came. She made it three steps before hearing the metallic sound of a bullet being chambered.
“No. You’re not.”
Brynnon spun around, her heart leaping into her throat from what she saw. Martin, her brother’s best friend and a man she’d known over half her life, was holding a gun. And it was pointed directly at her heart.
****
