“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Jack shot back. He took an angry stride forward, closing the gap between them, and pressed his forearm against Will’s throat. “What the fuck was that all about with Maddie?”
Will shoved him back. “Step off, Jack. I’m only going to warn you once.”
“And then what, brother?” Jack demanded. “You think you can take me on? Is that it? Do you want to throw down withme? Will that help you get over whatever bullshit is going on with you since Claire Davenport came back into the picture?”
“Leave Claire out of this,” Will snapped. “You have no fucking idea—”
Jack laughed, cutting him off. “Don’t even finish that sentence, Will, or I will be forced to fuck you up just for being an idiot. You don’t think I know what a guilty conscience feels like? Really?”
Will forced the tension from his muscles, willing his adrenaline to subside. “The flash drive Claire gave you was empty. Looks like you got your wish, Jack—I’m going to have to get my ass to Boston and interrogate her myself.”
Jack hissed a curse. “Why would she give us an encrypted flash drive with nothing on it?”
Will was wondering the same thing. Had she played them as Finn suggested, or was she unaware that it contained no information? He massaged the back of his neck, weighing the possibilities. “She was too determined to find out info on the Alliance to wipe the flash drive. And my gut’s telling me she wasn’t trying to play us.” He bent to pick up his cell phone. “I’m thinking the flash drive was blank all along. A decoy.”
“Or a double cross,” Jack told him.
Will’s brows lifted. “You think it was blank when Ralston got it?”
Jack sighed. “I think it was all a ruse, Will. I don’t think there ever was anything onthatflash drive or any other.”
Will shook his head. “Why?”
“To draw out the Alliance,” Jack told him. “To drawmeout.”
“You think Antonovich is working with Kozlov,” Will guessed. “Neither of them is mastermind material. Who aretheyworking for? I want to know if this is one of Jacob Stone’s schemes or if it’s someone else above him controlling the game.”
Jack leaned casually against the opposite wall and crossed his arms, resuming the calculated calm Will was used to. “Only one way to know for sure. I’m just going to have to come in from the cold and confront the sons of bitches.”
Will eyed him askance. “Don’t even think about it. Two attempts on your life in as many days isn’t enough for you?”
Jack shrugged. “Let’s just say I’d rather enter that particular lion’s den on my own terms. Better chance of walking out again that way.”
Will wasn’t so sure. “Odds are good, you go looking for Antonovich, you won’t be coming back, brother.”
Jack’s answering grin was tinged with sorrow and regret. “It’s something I should’ve done a long time ago, Will. I’ve been stalling the inevitable and putting other people at risk. I won’t have anyone else’s blood on my hands because I’m a coward.”
“Bullshit,” Will spat. He knew for a fact his old friend was the first one to rush in to save a fellow brother, the first to put his own neck on the line to save an innocent. Hell, he’d been on the receiving end of that bravery. A coward he wasn’t. “Say that again and I’ll clean your clock. If you were a coward I wouldn’t be alive. Neither would Claire Davenport.”
“I have to do this, Will. I’ve put off dealing with everything for too long.”
Will could relate. He’d said he didn’t think Claire had played them, that she was an innocent victim of this deadly game as much as any of them. But he wouldn’t know for sure until he got to Boston and assessed the situation.
Will heaved a resigned sigh. “When are you heading out?”
“As soon as Finn can get a lock on Antonovich,” Jack said. “I think he and I need to have a little chat.”
Will nodded, not letting on just how concerned he was about his friend entering the lion’s den he was so determined to go charging into. “Speaking of chats, I need to get Boston on the phone and let them know I’m on my way. I don’t want Claire to be too exhausted for our conversation.”
“Go on,” Jack said with a jerk of his head. “Get out of here. I’ve got this.”
Will leveled his gaze at him. “Do you?”
He could see doubt flash across Jack’s face. And fear. But a split second later, Jack resumed his reckless smile. “Of course.”
Will took a step closer to the door but hesitated, a heavy mantle of dread descending upon him. Although he wanted to order Jack to take Adam or Luke or any one of the others with him, he knew it’d just turn into an argument, and probably one that Jack would win. Jack was right about needing to settle things himself. He’d never rest again until he did. Will knew that all too well.
He clapped his friend on the back briefly, then walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Make sure you say good-bye to Maddie before you go. You don’t want that hanging over you—or hauntingher.”
