“Logan—”
“You werethere, Mike.” Pain etched across Logan’s face. “My mother let you into her home. She made you meals and invited you to family events. You came to my high school graduation, for fuck’s sake!”
Van stood to the side, pretending not to notice the single tear that had just fallen down the side of Logan’s face. He didn’t fault the man for being overcome by his emotions.
The situation was turning into an even shittier one than any of them could have imagined.
“So let me get this straight.” Van decided to jump in and help Logan out, because dammit, he needed to get to Kam and make sure she was okay. “McDowell accidently kills Logan’s dad, but instead of reporting it as friendly fire, which it was, the two of you concocted some bullshit story that your enemy actually was the one who did the shooting?”
“Worked, didn’t it?” McDowell quipped.
The man was seriously one disturbed human being.
“Not working so well for you now, is it, Mr. Vice President?” Van shot back.
The well-dressed man’s narrowed gaze slid to his. “So what will it take, Mr. Braddock. Oh, yes, I know all about youand your little team. If it’s money you want, I can certainly make that happen. Think of your business…what’s that little security firm of yours called…that’s right. Eagle’s Nest Securities. Just imagine the kind of business you boys would get if you were endorsed by the Vice President of the United States. You’d be billionaires by the end of the year.”
“We don’t want or need your blood money, asshole,” Van growled.
“Okay, fine.” McDowell glanced back over to where Kam was sitting, too still. “Perhaps we can agree on some sort of trade. The woman’s life for your silence?”
“Go to hell.”
“Funny. That’s exactly what she told me to do right before Felix gave her an up-close and personal display of his boxing skills. You should have seen the way he went at her. It really was quite something to see.”
Van was so tempted to put a bullet between his beady eyes, just like he’d done to Damon Young when the dickhead shot at him and Kam out on his boat. Instead, he followed his training and kept his cool.
Sort of.
He stared McDowell down. “I will shoot you where you stand if you so much asthinkabout moving her way.”
As it was, Van couldn’t allow himself to look at Kam or wonder how badly she was hurt. If he did, his focus would be split, and that would put them all—her included—at risk. So he forced himself to hold back as long as he could.
“So what happened?” Logan demanded of Webb. “You agreed to keep your mouth shut about my dad in exchange for this bastard’s support of your career?”
Webb gave a defeated sigh. “Your dad was one of my closest friends, but he was already dead. Telling the truth about what happened and ruining both my and John’s careers wouldn’t have changed that orbrought him back.”
A look of disgust filled Logan’s tortured gaze. “Maybe not, but at least you would have been able to keep your honor. Now you’re just like every other politician out there, lying to everyone around you every fucking day of your pathetic life.”
“I take offense to that remark.” The V.P. started to head in Logan’s direction.
But Van shifted his body and pointed his gun at the man’s head. “Move one more inch, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“What are you going to do, Braddock?” the other man challenged. “You going to shoot an unarmed man?”
“Why not?” Van shrugged. “You’ve admitted to shooting a decorated American soldier in the damn back. Seems like the perfect kind of justice to me.”
Poetic, actually.
“I may have shot Nicholas Hayes, but like I said, it was anaccident. You, on the other hand, are threatening cold-blooded murder.”
Logan kept his weapon trained on Webb as he spoke directly to McDowell, “Let’s talk about murder a minute, since you brought it up. Now that I know you two assholes covered up my dad’s death, how about you tell me the real reason our team got shot to hell that day on the mountain.”
“And why you’ve gone to so much trouble to make us think Kam’s the one behind it all,” Van added.
Because that shit still made zero sense.
Van and the others watched Webb closely as they waited silently. And once again, the answer wasn’t one he could have guessed.
