“Martin, w-what did you d-do?”
“What I’ve always done. I protected your family.”
“I don’t...” Brynnon shook her head. “I d-don’t understand.”
“Of course, you don’t. No one ever has.”
Body shaking, Brynnon pleaded with him to make sense of what he was doing. “So, tell me. Let’s g-go inside, and you can explain what h-happened. Whatever’s going on, m-my dad and I can help you f-fix it.”
“It’s too late for that, now.”
Ignore the cold and keep him talking.“W-what did Billy d-do?”
“The dumbass borrowed money from the wrong people. They’d threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay, so he laundered money from your dad’s construction company.”
Brynnon felt as though her world was shattering around her. Fearing she already knew the answer, she still had to ask, “How?”
“He was in charge of the supply orders, so he made it look like the company had ordered the better, more expensive materials. Instead, he got them from some fly-by-night company that went bankrupt less than a year later.”
The picture of Jordan Wright and his father flashed through her mind. Her stomach churned. “The cheap materials were used to build the bridge in Kunar.”
Martin nodded, shocking the hell out of her when he started to cry. “Your brother had no idea that would happen. He just wanted to pay the man he owed off so he could start fresh.” He sniffled. “Billy knew what happened in Kunar was his fault. He came to me, panicked. He was terrified your dad would find out what he’d done, or that he’d be sent to jail. So, I did what I always do.” He looked back at her sadly. “I fixed it.”
“H-how? Martin, the m-military looked into it. How were y-you able to—”
“I knew the guy in charge of the investigation. I also knew he’d been having an affair for years. If his rich wife ever found out, he’d not only lose his military pension, he’d lose every dime he ever had. So, I paid him off to keep quiet and then—”
“C-covered it up on the c-company’s side,” she concluded for him.
Martin nodded. “I made fake purchase orders to cover up what Billy had done. Used my own fucking trust fund to pay off anyone else who could blow the whistle on us. And it worked, too.” He chuckled humorlessly. “That is, until Wright’s P.I. contacted me a few weeks ago. I didn’t know what else to do, so I offered to meet with him. I kept thinking I could figure out a way. Maybe bribe him, too. But everything got out of hand.”
A sinking feeling knotted in her gut. “Y-you k-killed him.”
Martin started to cry again, his mood swings bouncing from one extreme to the other. “I didn’t mean to. We met at night, down by the river. I swear, I just went there to talk. I thought I could pay him off like the others, but he wouldn’t listen. He got his phone out and started to call the police. I had to shoot him.”
Sadness filled the man’s eyes as he stared back at her. The lines on his forehead smoothed, and when he spoke again, his voice held a tone of acceptance.
“I had no choice, Brynnon. Not then, not now.”
Martin had been a part of her family for years, and her brain struggled to believe he’d killed one man, shot her brother...and had just confessed everything to her.
“I didn’t go to Billy’s apartment tonight with the intentions of killing him. In fact, it didn’t even cross my mind to bring this in with me.”
From his other pocket, Martin pulled out a long, black tube. In less than a second, she realized what it was for.
“I did, however learn a thing or two after.”
Brynnon watched as he attached the silencer to the end of the gun’s barrel.Oh, god. He’s going to kill me.
Feeling as though she had no other choice but to fight, Brynnon reached for the gun.
“No!” Martin fought back hard.
With her hands wrapped around the cold metal, growling as she attempted to break it loose from his grasp. When Martin’s finger slid down to the trigger, Brynnon used all her strength to turn the barrel away from her body.
The gun went off, a sharp zipping sound passing by her just before the bullet hit the concrete wall behind her.
“You stupid bitch!”
