She turned and began hitting and kicking the other man like a banshee. He lost his grip, and for a moment, she thought she might actually escape. But then…
“Big mistake, bitch,” a voice growled from behind.
With a hard yank on her free arm, Kam felt herself being spun back around. She didn’t see the fist heading for her face until it was too late.
Her head snapped to the side. Pain exploded in her cheek. She was unconscious before her body even hit the ground.
CHAPTER 18
“What the fuck did you do?”Van stormed into the team’s conference room with a bubbling rage coursing through his angry veins.
It was the weekend, which meant the rest of the office was empty aside from him and his team. Not that it would have made a difference either way. He was pissed as hell, for a bunch of damn reasons, but one of the biggest had just turned his way.
Logan stopped mid-sentence, abandoning whatever he’d been about to say as Lucky, Archer, and Chase looked over at Van, as well. The claws of betrayal reached deep into his chest as Logan’s hazel stare gave away the man’s guilt.
“Whoa, take it easy, big guy.” Lucky hurried toward him before sliding directly into his path. With a palm against Van’s chest, the tech genius said, “Just take a breath, and tell us what’s got your panties all up in a twist.”
“Ask him.” Van jutted his bearded chin toward Logan. He could easily make his way past Lucky, but the truth was he was grateful for the excuse not to pound Logan into the ground.
Everyone in the room turned to Logan, who was already shaking his head.
“It’s not what you think,” he started to explain.
But Van wasn’t in the mood for bullshit excuses.
“What Ithinkis that I just finished having a nice little chat with your close buddy, Webb. Who, by the way, had two men pull their fuckinggunson me while they forced Kam to go with them against herfuckingwill!”
“Wait, what?” Lucky frowned, moving out of Van’s way to turn his attention back to Logan.
At the same time, Archer let out a shocked as hell, “They didwhat?”
Chase’s wide-eyed gaze slid back and forth between Van and Logan as the four of them waited to hear what their fearless leader had to say. But when he started talking, it became clear that Logan was just as surprised by the news Van had shared.
“What do you mean Webb’s guys pulled their guns on you?”
“Just what I said,” Van grumbled. Was the guy not listening? “Kam and I had just gotten back, and we found an SUV with government plates intentionally blocking us in. A man in a suit was standing outside; a second guy got out of the driver’s seat, and then…there was Webb.” Van reached around to his back pocket and pulled out the court order the asshole had so smugly provided. “He gave me this.” Van slapped it against Logan’s chest. “And then he threatened to arrest both me and Kam for interfering in an official federal investigation if we tried fighting him on it.”
“Wait…official investigation?” Chase’s blue eyes filled with confusion. “I thought this whole thing was being kept under wraps.”
“It was.” Logan took the crumpled paper in his hand and gave it a cursory glance. “But Webb called to say his flight was coming in early, and?—”
“And you told himexactly where we’d be.”
His teammate didn’t deny Van’s claim, which was just as good as a full-on confession. Instead, Logan explained why he’d given up his and Kam’s location despite Van having specifically asked him not to.
“And…” The other man continued his previous thought, looking almost as pissed as Van felt. “I told Webb we wereallonboard with the thought that Kam wasn’t the one who put a hit out on our team. When I passed along your thoughts and why you feel so strongly in her innocence, he said he wholeheartedly agreed.”
“He did?” Archer’s dark brows turned inward. “I’m surprised you were able to convince him so easily.”
“It wasn’t just me,” Logan added. “Apparently, there was some new intel that came in from one of his assets over the last twenty-four hours, which all but exonerates her.”
“What intel?” Van demanded. “Webb didn’t say shit to me about any new intel.”
“That I don’t know. He said he wanted to get her settled somewhere safe. I tried arguing, but his mind was made up. He said he’d give us a call as soon as he could to fill us all in.” Logan swallowed. “He also said that, in light of this new evidence, he decided to read the president in on what we’ve been up to. Said he pleaded our case, and the president is totally on board.”
Lucky spoke up next, asking, “What’s that mean, he pleaded our case?”
“It means he told the president everything,” Logan explained. “How we’ve never stopped looking into what happened to Hunter. How Webb has been helping us along the way. All of it.”
