Chapter 15 #2
“Yeah, you might want to hang onto that sentiment.” Coulter ran a hand over his jaw. Just tell him. “Okay, here it goes.” He looked his brother square in the eyes. “I’m not really a traveling marketing consultant.”
His brother’s dark brows dipped in the center. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve been lying to you and Pops for a while now about what it is I really do for a living. The truth is, I’m a covert field agent for a specialized unit within the CIA.”
There. He’d done it. His brother knew the truth, and there was no going back.
Coulter watched his brother closely, waiting for the wrath he knew was about to come. But like Alex, Garrett’s first reaction was to throw his head back and laugh.
“The CIA?” The other man barked out an echoing chuckle. “Damn, brother. You really had me going for a second. I thought you were going to tell me you were dying or something.”
“Not today, anyway.” Colt gave his head a quick shake. Shifting his lower body to the side, he reached for the ID that was in his back pocket. “But I am with the CIA.”
He tossed the leather holder Garrett’s way. His brother caught it mid-air with one hand. Flipping it open, the man who’d been his best friend since the day he was born studied its contents with an operative’s eye.
All signs of humor vanished as the realization of the truth began to sink in. Coulter held his breath and waited.
Three . . . two . . . one . . .
“What the hell?” Garrett’s gaze flew to his. There was unmistakable confusion and hurt. “This looks pretty damn real, Colt.”
“Because it is.” He swallowed hard. “It’s why I’m hardly ever home.”
His brother looked back down at the ID in his hands, his expression growing harder with each second that passed. “You’re serious?” He looked back up. “No bullshit?”
Coulter held his brother’s gaze steady. “No bullshit.”
Garrett dropped the leather holder and sat back in his chair. Running a hand over his strong jaw, he spent a stretch saying nothing. All he did was stare.
Oh, yeah. He’s pissed.
“This whole time . . .” A muscle twitched at the side of his brother’s jaw. “All those stories about the places you’ve been and the things you’ve seen—”
“To be fair, some of those were true.”
“Cut the shit, Colt. This is me, remember? I’m the guy who’s had your back since the day you were born.”
“I know.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say something before now?”
“Same reason you kept the truth about Tac-Ops from me,” he shot back. “I was protecting you.”
“That was different.”
“Bullshit.” Coulter sat up straight. “You let me and Pops think you sold high-risk travel insurance to the rich and stupid, when really you’d been purposely putting your life in danger on the regular.”
“Yeah, to save innocent lives.”
“And what the hell do you think I’ve been doing?” His voice rose to an echoing tone.
Yelling back, his brother countered with, “Clearly, I don’t know what you’ve been doing other than lying through your damn teeth!”
The room grew silent, save for their slightly heaving breaths. Both men took a minute to calm down and reset.
“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, but—”
“Gee, you think?”
“—if you’ll take a beat and look at this from an operator’s viewpoint, you’ll see I’m right.”
Garrett’s lips parted, the infuriated man no doubt ready to shoot back with another sharp retort. But in a surprising turn of events, he clamped his mouth shut and stared back with more hurt than anger.
“You could have trusted me to keep your secret.”
“Pretty sure I said something similar when I found out about yours.”
“Why tell me now?”
“A couple reasons.” He’d get to the news about Alex in a second. But first, “I’m getting out. There’s an op already in the works, but after that, I’m done.”
“Why?”
“It’s not one thing, really.” Coulter gave one of his shoulders a half-shrug. “Mostly because it’s time.”
Garrett’s assessing gaze watched him closely. “How long have you been in?”
“Since college.”
His brother sat back with a sigh. “Damn. That’s a long time.”
“You callin’ me old?” He risked a small smirk.
Relief flooded him when the other man huffed out a breathy chuckle with a shake of his head.
“You gonna tell Pops?”
“Yeah.” Coulter nodded and then, “There’s more.”
His brother’s brows arched high. “More?”
“Owens and Shadow know, too. They have since you were put on the team.”
“Hold up.” Garrett’s anger returned. “They’ve known about you this whole time, but I couldn’t? What the actual f—”
“Dude, chill.” He raised a palm between them. “Owens only knows because my unit worked a joint op with him when he was still MI-6. It was right before he left them to start up Tac-Ops.”
“And Shadow?”
“She assisted on that same op. All off book, of course.”
“Oh, of course.” Garrett’s obvious sarcasm was thick. “Anything else you’d like to share? Like maybe a secret family or deep ties with the mob?”
Coulter couldn’t help but laugh. “No secret family. And I’m definitely not in the mob. Although, there was this one case a few years back.” He paused. “I mean, I could tell you about it, but then—”
“You’d have to kill me?”
His lips curved higher. “Something like that.”
Garrett held his stare a beat longer before he finally grinned.
“Okay, so my brother’s a spy, and my boss and tech analyst have known since .
. .” The man’s expression dipped into a pondering frown.
“Hold up. You said you knew Owens before I was put on the team.” A short pause and then, “Did you get me this job?”
“Your experience and record did that,” Coulter answered honestly.
“I merely gave the guy your name. And before you get all huffy, I want you to really consider the kind of man Rafe Owens is. Then ask yourself if he’d offer someone a spot on a team like Tac-Ops—doing the kinds of things you guys do—if he wasn’t one-hundred percent confident in that person’s ability to do the job. ”
Several long, tense seconds passed between them before his brother finally spoke up again.
“I really hate it when you’re right,” Garrett grumbled low, with more annoyance than anger filling his gaze.
And just like that, Coulter knew he and his brother were going to be okay.
“There’s one more thing.”
“Seriously? ’Cause I’ve had about all the surprises I can take for one day.”
“This one’s good. At least, I think you’ll think it’s good. I definitely think it is. Actually, I know—”
“For the love of God, will you just spit it out already?”
“I’m in love with Alex Webb, and I’m fairly certain she feels the same way about me.”
If a pin had dropped, the sound would have been deafening in the midst of the sudden silence.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s a long story, and it’s been kind of a whirlwind thing that’s been going on for a couple weeks, but yeah.
Alex and I are . . . together.” Coulter rushed to add, “But I haven’t actually said the words to her yet, so if you could maybe keep that part to yourself for now, I’d really appreciate it. ”
Garrett stared back at him dumbfounded. “Alex Webb?”
“Yes.”
“Avery’s sister.”
“Yes.”
“My sister-in-law.”
“Still yes.”
His brother blinked as his eyes grew wide. “How . . .” Garrett started. “When did the two of you . . .” Garrett gave a quick shake of his head. “I thought Alex hated you.”
“I mean, hate’s a fairly strong word, don’t you think?”
“Dude, if you don’t start—”
“I’m kidding; I’m kidding.” Coulter couldn’t help but smirk. “Not about Alex, though. She and I are the real deal. And before you ask, she already knows about the job.”
“You told your girlfriend before you told me?”
“Okay, for one, Alex and I have known each other for as long as you’ve known your wife, so it’s not like she’s some random woman I picked up at the bar. And two . . . she sort of stumbled into the middle of my latest op, so I didn’t really have much choice.”
For the next several minutes, Coulter went on to explain everything that went down in California. With Garrett’s top-secret clearance, he was able to speak freely without fear of prosecution for leaking classified information.
His brother’s job also allowed him to understand and accept how a secret government team like Coulter’s could operate on U.S. soil. And how the public was better off never knowing of its existence.
By the time they were done, Garrett knew everything about the case against Gordan Crawford. What the CIA had on him, what they suspected, and even the set-up Shadow was putting together behind the scenes.
“That’s quite a story.”
Coulter nodded. “One that’s coming to an end very soon.”
“I hope you’re right.” His brother scowled. “Guys like that . . . They don’t deserve to be free.”
As far as I’m concerned, they don’t deserve to freaking breathe.
“That’s it, though. Right? There’s nothing else you want to get off your chest?”
“Avery knows about me and Alex,” he offered. “But only since yesterday, and the only reason she didn’t tell you was because I made her promise to let me be the one to tell you.”
“I’m surprised she agreed.”
“She gave me twenty-four hours.” Coulter glanced down at his watch. “I had a few to spare, but I figured sooner was better than later.”
With a sigh, his brother pushed himself out of his chair. “This is all . . . a lot. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna take me a minute to process.”
“I get it.” He stood, as well. “Trust me, I really do. I’m just glad it’s finally all out in the open.”
“Not yet.” Garrett grinned. “Not until you’ve told the rest of the team.”
A low curse escaped from under his breath. “How do you think they’ll take it?”
“Oh, they’re gonna give you shit. For like . . . a while.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I figured.”
They both began to chuckle.
“Come on.” Garrett put a hand to Coulter’s shoulder. “I’ll help you break the news.”
“Now?”
His brother shrugged. “There’s no time like the present.”
They started to make their way to the door when someone knocked on the other side.
“Come in,” Garrett gave whoever it was permission to enter.
The door opened and Ashley, Tac-Ops’ office manager, appeared.
“Oh, good.” The young woman smiled. “You’re still here.”
“Been here all morning,” Garrett frowned.