Chapter 3
Watching Tess escort her younger brother to the parking lot, Brian tried to keep his gaze off her ass.
It was difficult to do because it was almost made for his big hands to cup and squeeze.
Damn it! Why did he suddenly feel attracted to her?
He’d known her for a few years, but only on a professional level.
Now, out of nowhere, he was interested in getting to know her on a personal one.
It appeared she was doing her best to raise Andy. The kid might be going through the usual teenage crap like getting into trouble at school—Brian found that out during the interview—but it was evident he loved and respected his sister.
“Wow, is that Tess? I never knew she had such a hot body under those loose scrubs.”
Pivoting, Brian glared at his partner, who’d come from behind and stopped next to him. “Knock it off.”
Pulling his gaze from Tess, Rafe laughed when he noticed Brian’s annoyed expression. “Hmm. When did you start getting a hard-on for her? Not that I want to look down to confirm it or anything.”
He growled, then headed back toward the bureau’s bullpen. Fortunately, Rafe didn’t keep razzing him. If he had, all Brian would need to do was bring up Dr. Suki Ralston, the FBI psychologist, and that would’ve shut the dark-haired man up.
“So, the kid’s not involved with the Crew?” Rafe asked, following Brian into the bureau.
“No, thank God. Tess has got her hands full raising him, but after talking with him, I’m convinced he’s got nothing to do with them. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
After asking Andy a bunch of questions for over half an hour, Brian hadn’t gotten any intel he hadn’t been aware of already.
The Devil’s Crew was your typical street gang—territorial drug dealers, car thieves, burglars, and robbers.
Some members were serving short sentences in the local county jail for misdemeanors, while others were doing hard time in prison.
But like he’d told Tess, plenty of gang members were still out there, being menaces to society.
Andy said he knew who they were through other students in his high school but avoided them whenever possible because they were bad news.
Andy was a computer geek, not a hardened criminal in the making.
As Brian sat at his desk to work on a few reports and cases, his cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he smiled and then answered the call. “Hey, Moriah. How’s my favorite sister-in-law?”
Her laughter rang out. “I’m your only sister-in-law, Bri. At least until Grace and Sean get married in September.”
“True. So, what’s up?”
“KC and I are bringing Megan down to the beach house for the weekend for Uncle Dan’s birthday. I wanted to know if you needed anything from the NEX? I already spoke to Sean and got his order.”
Living just off the naval base in Little Creek, Virginia, Moriah taught elementary school while KC worked as a SEAL instructor.
With access to the NEX—a tax-free department store on base offering everything from household goods to clothing at discounted prices—she’d gotten into the habit of asking family if they needed anything whenever they made a trip.
When they visited Whisper, they stayed at Uncle Dan’s beach house, since he’d moved into the apartment above his hardware store a few years earlier.
“Um, I’m sure I need a few things. Can I text you a list later after I get home?”
“Of course. Oh, and by the way, we picked up the portrait. It came out amazing! Dan is going to love it.” The Malone brothers had been wracking their brains trying to think of a birthday present for the amazing man who’d adopted his brother’s children as his own after their parents’ deaths.
If it hadn’t been for Dan, the siblings would have ended up in foster care.
They’d almost run out of ideas for a special gift when Moriah suggested a painted family portrait.
The last time she and KC had brought Megan for a visit, she’d taken a photo of Dan, KC, Sean, Brian, Megan, and Dan’s dog, Jinx, posing on the beach.
She then gave it to an artist friend on the Navy base to recreate the image on a canvas.
When Brian had asked why Moriah, Grace, and Bonnie Whitman, Dan’s girlfriend and Grace’s aunt, hadn’t joined in the picture, Bonnie responded that they’d be added after Brian found the woman he would marry one day.
His response had been, “Well, that’s never going to happen, so get in the damn photo.”
The women had all scoffed and rolled their eyes. No matter what Brian said, he hadn’t been able to convince them he was a bachelor for life. When Sean, KC, and Dan told him to shut the hell up and let them take the picture, he finally surrendered.
Brian was happy his brothers and uncle had fallen in love with their women, but he’d never met someone who made him think about settling down and having kids someday.
He liked living alone and didn’t want some woman moving in, redecorating, and messing with his routines.
And don’t even get him started on the idea of kids.
Yeah, he loved Megan, but he’d been scared as hell to hold her when she was an infant, terrified he would drop her.
Although he would admit to being in awe watching KC with his daughter during the first few times they visited Whisper after the little girl was born.
The big, bad Navy SEAL had changed her dirty diapers, fed her, and carried her around like he’d been doing it all his life.
He hadn’t even blinked when she’d puked formula all over his new shirt.
It took everything in Brian not to barf up his own dinner after seeing that.
He’d grown much more comfortable around Megan since her first birthday rolled around two months earlier, but he couldn’t wait until she was a little older and not so fragile.
After finishing his chat with Moriah, Brian tossed the cell phone on his desk. He was about to dive into his paperwork when his landline rang. The caller ID read “Coastal District’s Assistant Director,” and Brian picked up the handset. “Malone.”
“Grab Montoya and head out to Highway 344 and Herrington Road. Fatal three-car accident—at least two dead and one critical. A trunkful of narcotics was found in one of the vehicles—the driver is in custody with minor injuries. Troopers secured the scene. SBI was requested for the stash.”
“Shit.”
Sitting at the desk across from him, Rafe set down the report he’d been reviewing and narrowed his eyes at Brian, waiting to hear what had prompted the curse.
“My words exactly,” AD Johanssen replied. “I’ll let them know you’re on your way.”
Setting the handset back on its cradle, Brian stood. “Let’s go, partner. The day just went to hell.”
“Go study for your finals. I’ll clean up.
” Tess stood and picked up the paper plates they’d used for their pizza dinner.
So much for making a home-cooked meal. By the time they left the SBI district office, she’d been in no mood to go food shopping and told Andy to call in an order to their favorite pizzeria on the way home.
It didn’t take long to restore order to the kitchen in the three-bedroom home they grew up in.
Without their folks, the place was big for them, but neither sibling could bring themselves to agree to sell it and move somewhere else.
Between Tess’s salary and dividends from their investments, they were able to cover the mortgage and bills.
Tess hoped someday one of them would raise a family in the home, but the way her nonexistent love life was going, her sixteen-year-old brother would probably be married with kids before she was.
The last time she went out with a guy had been months ago—a blind date a friend had set her up on that was boring as hell.
Why Nikki had thought Tess would be compatible with a guy who couldn’t stay off his phone for more than five minutes was beyond comprehension.
Then the jerk had gotten offended when she declined a second date.
Tess wasn’t even sure they could classify that night as a first date.
Even the waitress at the restaurant had rolled her eyes and shaken her head when she noticed the guy was more interested in updating his social media accounts than talking to Tess.
When he went to the restrooms, taking his phone with him, the waitress asked if Tess needed help getting out of the date.
She’d been willing to spill something in his lap—accidentally.
Tess laughed but told the woman she’d be fine.
As soon as the bill came, Tess paid her half, then dryly thanked her date for a good time, but said she didn’t think they had anything in common to see each other again.
He couldn’t understand why and went on an obnoxious rant about her to Nikki the next day.
Tess’s friend had already gotten the scoop by that point, apologized to her, and agreed never to set her up on any more blind dates.
After pouring herself a half glass of the Merlot she favored on occasion, then grabbing her e-reader from the kitchen counter, Tess sat on the couch in the family room and turned on the news.
The anchorwoman was in the middle of a report about a fatal accident on Highway 344, which also resulted in a large drug bust. Tess stared as the picture switched to a live video at the scene.
She winced at the sight of the crumpled sedan in the background, partially covered by a large blue tarp and surrounded by emergency personnel.
Three people had been killed—two women were pronounced dead at the scene, while a third victim, a woman in her twenties, died at the hospital.
Their names hadn’t been released yet, pending proper identification and notification to the next of kin.