Only it isn’t mine.
Perry.
Crippling realization overpowers me in an instant. I collapse at the waist, propping myself up with a steel grip on my knees.
How did this happen?
Fucking Redleg in the perimeter. Our last line of defense. In the chaos of the evening, I never paused to ask who they sent.
Fuck my life.
And fuck you, Morgan Freeman. I can’t hear you, but I know you’re loving this.
“Hands up,” a deep male voice orders in my direction.
I’m a statue, unable to react. Run, comply, or speak. I can’t do any of that shit.
While I suck wind, my vision remains fastened on the bed of leaves and pine needles at my feet.
I hold there until I catch a red streak of light in front of me on the ground. It slithers closer until it locks on me.
Fucking hell.One of them has a rifle pointed at me. Wouldn’t that be perfect. Killed by my twin brother.
“Hands up,” he repeats, this time with menace as if daring me to refuse.
I raise my upper body in one reluctant motion, arms shooting over my head before theyshootme.Following the red laser light from the rifle, I home in on a large mass sulking closer. Not even the female he’s dragging with him does anything to cause his aim to falter. The red light never strays from the dead center of my chest.
Behind him, my de facto siblings barrel toward an unavoidable family reunion.
Unlike my twin, I didn’t serve in the military. Thus, I don’t have enough curse words in my vernacular to convey my thoughts about this shit storm.
My voice quavers like a little bitch when I finally announce, “I’m FBI.” Clearing my throat, I try again. “Special Agent Hayes. FBI.”
Showing an ounce of trust, the big guy lowers the gun, stopping it a few inches away from my feet. “Tomer, can you confirm if they have a Hayes on scene?”
At least somebody’s comms are working.Perhaps because we’re far from the compound.
Perry answers, “Yeah, I’m right here, T. Why?” There’s a brief pause, then he says, “No, I can’t call you right now. My hands are busy.”
When the giant is close enough to see my face, his expression broadcasts his astonishment. “Holy shit.” He drops his rifle, letting the strap catch it, and flicks up his night vision goggles.
Despite his eyes being vastly wider than usual, I recognize him from photos I’ve found through the years. No doubt this is Perry’s best friend. “You must be Leo Mason.”
A man of many words, he replies, “Holy shit.”
Bracing myself for what may come, I look around him to my brother.
Trudging along, he’s primarily focused on Kenzie. “Oh. You’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?”
Unsurprisingly, she isn’t going down without a fight.
Since she’s tiny by comparison, he keeps her clear of his body with one straightened arm.The position is so painfully familiar, it could be her and me from our younger years. The only difference is that her hands are restrained, so she isn’t swinging into the air in front of his waist like she did with me. One whiffed haymaker after another. Not tonight, though.
I’m half-tempted to go cut her zip ties so I can see how it looks from this vantage.
An unexpected laugh chuffs out of me. It couldn’t be more inappropriate, but fucking hell. Of all the ways he could have perp walked her, this is what he chose. He couldn’t be more my twin if he tried.
And he’s clueless about it.
