Chapter Ten
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Cassidy’s heart pounded as they turned onto her street. The familiar sight of her house didn’t bring the usual comfort. Not today. Not after everything.
There were no vehicles in the driveway. No signs of movement.
Kincade slowed the SUV, eyes scanning every shadow. “Watch for a trap,” he said quietly.
She nodded, already reaching for her weapon. The gun felt heavier today, more personal. Maybe because of how close they’d come to not making it out of the drive-in. Maybe because the last time she’d seen her brother, Marlene had been pointing a gun at him.
They stepped out, weapons drawn. She led the way to the front door, every step calculated and slow. Her stomach coiled tighter with each footfall.
The porch creaked under their weight.
She eased the door open and didn’t hear the familiar whine of the security system. Someone had disengaged it.
The lights were off. The blinds and curtains were drawn tight, just the way she’d left them. The living room and entry were shrouded in near-total darkness, save for the faintest sliver of gray light bleeding in around the edges of the curtains.
Her breath caught.
She braced for movement. For a shadow lunging from behind a door or a shot cracking through the dark. Instead, a figure stepped out from the hallway. Steady. Familiar.
Travis.
Cassidy froze. For a second, she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Travis stood in the narrow hallway, backlit by faint slivers of light cutting through the drawn blinds.
He looked tired. Pale. His face was thinner than she remembered, and there was a jagged cut on his cheek, another on his forearm.
He wore jeans and a dark T-shirt she recognized.
Clothes he kept in the old dresser drawer in the guest room. Clothes he hadn’t touched in months.
But he was alive.
The wave of relief that slammed into her nearly buckled her knees.
“Travis,” she breathed, and then she was moving.
She rushed across the room and into his arms before he could say a word. He caught her, holding her tight, burying his face in her shoulder. Her throat ached from trying to keep the tears down. She didn’t want to cry, not yet, not until she knew everything.
Behind her, she heard the quiet click of the front door locking. Kincade. Always watching the angles. Always closing the gaps.
Good.
She didn’t want anyone else walking in. Not now. Not with her brother finally here, still breathing, still standing. Still part of this fight. She held him tighter for another heartbeat, then pulled back just enough to look at him.
He winced.
Her brow furrowed. “How bad are you hurt?”
Travis gave her a tired half-smile. “Not bad. Just sore ribs. Took a hard fall off one of the bluffs trying to get clear.”
Cassidy swallowed hard. She thought of the blood at the quarry. It hadn’t just been a graze. He’d been bleeding. Alone. Hunted.
She pulled back more, scanning him quickly. He looked clean. His hair was damp, and the scent of soap clung to him. Mint and cedar. So he’d showered. Maybe tried to wash away more than just dirt.
But she still wanted to see for herself how bad the injuries were since he looked unsteady.
“How did you get here?” she asked.
“On foot, ducking behind any cover I could use.”
“On foot,” she repeated. Which meant miles and miles of walking while he’d been hurt.
“I waited in your garden shed until I was sure none of your neighbors were out and about, and then I came in through the back door,” he added.
Good. Because her neighbors might be friendly, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have reported Travis had they seen him.
Without another word, she gently took his arm and guided him toward the couch. He didn’t argue. Just sank into the cushions with a quiet grunt, one hand bracing his side.
From the kitchen, Kincade reappeared with a tall glass of ice water. He handed it over, then raised a brow. “Want something stronger?” he asked Travis.
Travis took the water, muttered a thanks but then shook his head. “I’m good. Helped myself to something to eat and a shot of Jack when I got here.”
Cassidy sat beside him, still watching him closely. Travis set the water down and looked at them both, his expression suddenly hardening into something sharper. Steadier.
“I didn’t kill Daniel Harlan,” he said.
“I know you didn’t,” Cassidy assured him.
Travis’s eyes flicked to hers, searching for doubt. He must not have seen any, because his shoulders eased a little. But not much.
“You have any idea who did kill him?” she asked.
He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then shook his head and sat back. “No. Not yet. But I went to Daniel Harlan’s place that night he was killed. I was going to demand answers.”
Cassidy’s pulse kicked up.
“I got there just as someone was fleeing the scene,” Travis continued. “It was dark, and I didn’t see a face. But I caught a flash of something in the porch light.” He looked at both of them, eyes sharp. “It was a badge.”
Cassidy exchanged a glance with Kincade, who gave a short nod and leaned against the wall near the window. Keeping watch out front, she realized.
Travis drew in a breath and reached for the water again.
“I need to go back to the beginning and tell you about the file I found,” he said.
“The original Alisha case report. It mentioned a witness that was never named or called to testify. It was buried. Someone didn’t want it found.
But it’s real, and it changes everything.
I’ve got it hidden. No need to reveal it now, not until it’s safe. ”
Kincade stepped forward. “Because whoever set you up is still out there.”
“Yeah.” Travis took a long drink, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “They’re gunning for all three of us now. So if I make one wrong move, if I pull that file and flash it around, we’re done.”
Cassidy’s stomach churned. The weight of what he was carrying settled on her chest like stone.
“I was on the way to meet you,” Travis said, looking at Kincade. “Headed to the safe house, thinking it was still secure. Then a county patrol car pulled me over.”
Cassidy’s throat went dry. “Marlene.”
Travis nodded. “Yeah. She stepped out. Alone. No backup, no radio chatter. And then she pulled a gun. She didn’t say much,” he added.
“She just got in my SUV and and said if I didn’t cooperate, someone would die.
That’s all I needed to hear. I thought you were in danger, Cass. That Marlene was talking about you.”
Cassidy stared at him, her mind spinning. Whoever was behind this had twisted his love for his sister and used it as a weapon against him.
Travis leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I played along with her,” he said. “I wanted to see how far she was willing to go, what she knew, what she was going to do. I could’ve taken her down if I’d wanted to.”
Cassidy believed that. Travis wasn’t just a good operative at Maverick Ops. He was trained, methodical. And right then, he looked like a man who’d had to bury every instinct to act until it counted.
“I drove to the safe house,” Travis went on. “When we pulled up, Kincade came out onto the porch.”
Cassidy looked over at Kincade, whose expression tightened.
“Marlene told me to get out, so I did,” Travis said. “Didn’t get two steps before the shots started.”
“That tracks,” Cassidy murmured. “That’s what Marlene said, too.”
Travis nodded. “I dove behind a tree, kept my head down. Didn’t know where the shots were coming from exactly. Just knew someone wanted me dead.”
He paused, took another sip of water.
“I didn’t stick around to figure out who was shooting,” Travis said. “I bolted into the woods, circled wide, trying to get a better angle. I was making my way back toward the safe house to check on Kincade when the place went up in flames.”
Cassidy’s breath hitched. She could see all of that playing out and knew how close she’d come to losing both her brother and Kincade in what was essentially an ambush.
“Then the shooter spotted me,” Travis continued.
“Clipped my arm. I didn’t stop. I kept moving, deeper into the trees until I hit the bluffs.
Lost my footing and went down hard. Dropped about fifteen feet.
” He winced, his hand pressing lightly to his ribs.
“It took me a while to get back up to the top of the bluff.”
Kincade hadn’t moved, but Cassidy could see it in his eyes. Something clicking into place.
“I remember now,” Kincade let them know. “I went back into the house. The shots were still coming. I ducked behind the wall… then someone was behind me. I didn’t even hear them until it was too late.”
He touched the side of his head where the cut had bled. His jaw clenched.
“There were two of them,” Kincade added. “One to draw our fire and attention by firing those shots. The other to take me out.”
Cassidy’s stomach turned. “Planned. Coordinated.”
Travis nodded, his expression tight with anger and frustration. “Like someone wanted it to look like I vanished and you got caught in the crossfire.”
Kincade slid glances at both of them. “Except maybe they didn’t count on me surviving. Or if it did, then maybe the deal was for me not to be able to help you.”
Cassidy leaned back against the couch, the full weight of it settling in her chest. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to erase them.
But they’d missed.
That wouldn’t mean they wouldn’t try again.
“The location of the safe house was obviously compromised,” she said.
Travis made a sound of agreement. “Yeah. I figured that much. Maybe Marlene did it. Maybe she set the whole thing up. But why?”
“She told us her mother was kidnapped,” Cassidy explained. “Said someone texted her from a burner phone and ordered her to take you to the safe house or her mom would die.”
Travis blinked. “What?”