Chapter 34
Jenna
By the time we reach the site, I can’t feel my hands. I never turned the heat on, and honestly, maybe it’s better that way, preparing me for death. Because in all of this…
I might very well end up just like Mark.
I push the thought away, and glance in the rearview. Bradford cuts the lights as he pulls up behind me, and I step out of Mark’s truck, leaving it running.
He parks his truck at the shoulder, then rolls the window down and calls out to me. “As soon as we get him out, get in the truck, and stay there.”
I nod, and then watch as Turner and Bradford pull Mark’s body from the back of the truck. I wrap my arms around myself, and then inch toward the big diesel dually. Everything about what I’m watching is disturbing.
But I don’t feel all that fucked up by it.
These guys were trying to help my brother. That thought registers, as I climb in the truck, the warmth of the heater penetrating my coat and sending a shiver down my spine. I peer through the windshield as the men heave him into the driver’s seat where I just was.
I can’t hear the men talking, but I see Cal pointing, where the embankment takes a steep dive, dropping off into the river below. What a fucking cruel way to go.
My heart skips a beat as together, they position the car. I mean, I knew they were going to kill him, but part of me hadn’t really registered it was going to be this brutal.
How will they even ensure he dies?
My arms tighten around my body to the point it feels like I might squeeze my organs hard enough they fail. Turner tips his head back and laughs, his dog trotting along beside him. This means nothing to him. I can see it in his expression.
And Calvin? His jaw is set, directing and commanding, like the whole thing is just another fucking day at work. And somehow, I find that… hot.
“I’m so fucked up,” I mutter under my breath, the heat finally sinking into my bones. I watch as Turner slams the passenger door, Bradford reaches in, and does something with Mark and the car.
And with an elegance and mechanics I don’t understand, the truck careens forward, picking up excessive speed and then heads right over the ravine. I squeeze my eyes shut, expecting to hear something…
But it’s quiet.
The men peer over the edge, and then look at each other. Bradford nods, and a flicker of satisfaction floods Turner’s expression. They head for the truck, and I lean back in the middle of the backseat.
Cal meet my eyes through the windshield, eyes flat, and in that instant I realize I am watching a man who could erase anyone and still sleep at night.
And I like it.
The hound hops into the seat beside me, as Turner and Calvin slide back into the truck. They’re both quiet, as Calvin carefully pulls onto the road again. I glance out toward where the truck went.
“It went in the river?” My voice comes out like a squeak.
“Yeah,” Turner answers. “Straight shot, right through the ice. Done deal.”
“I’ll have Maren report him in a couple of days.”
Turner hesitates, his head turning to Cal. “They’ll know.”
“Nah,” his eyes are dead tired. “He was disposable, and wasn’t the greatest, given that he was hooking up with one of the persons of interest’s ex-wife. That’s messy. They won’t want to fuck with that.”
“Valid,” Turner leans back against the truck seat. “Shit has been wild lately.”
“It’s not always like this,” Cal glances up at the rearview and meets my eyes. “It’s all almost over.”
I swallow hard. “What now?”
“Now, we go find your fucking brother.” He reaches into the console and grabs a pack of cigarettes. He lights it, and then cracks the window.
“You smoke?” I don’t hide my surprise.
He shrugs. “We all have bad habits sometimes. You’re not the only one who came from a shitty upbringing. It’s not my first time to fake an accident, Jen. I had a worthless father, too.”
I watch him draw, exhale, and squint at the red dot in the dark, as I mull it all over. Part of me wants to argue about the fact we killed someone just doing their job, but after the last twenty-four hours… I’m not arguing with any of these psychos.
And I don’t get a chance either, as Cal’s phone erupts in a jarring ring, coming through the Bluetooth speaker in the cab. I can’t see the number on the screen, but I don’t miss the look that the two men up front exchange.
Cal answers, holding up a finger to all of us. “Hello?”
“Bradford,” my brother’s voice comes over the line, my heart shattering all over again. “I… I need help.”
“Where are you?” His voice stays eerily calm. “We’ll come to you.”
“I’m just at the bunkhouse. I… I made a fucking wreck of things earlier today.” His voice has this strange quiver in it. “And I’m in trouble.”
“With who?” Bradford smashes the gas, tearing toward the farm.
“I don’t fucking know. But they’re coming for me.”
“Stay put. We’ll be there in five.”
Cade hangs up the phone, and Turner lets out a breath.
“He’s going to make this easy.”
My brow furrows, but the panic is already rising in my chest as the words come out. “What do you mean? How is he going to make what easy?”
“Well, because—”
“This is Jenna Kellan,” Cal cuts him off. “Cade’s older sister. She’s been looking for him since he went AWOL last year.”
Turner’s eyes go wide. “I thought you were the professor?”
“Nope,” Cal grunts. “But she pulled it off nicely. I think she’ll finish as Dr. Williams though, won’t you? You can’t let the college down.” Something in his tone seems like almost a challenge.
I glare at him, mostly because my mind is trying to conjure up what the fuck is about to happen to my brother. The truck bounces into the farm entrance, and as I peer behind me, the wrought iron gate closes us in.
As soon as it comes to a stop in front of the larger cabin, which I realize is the bunkhouse, I throw the door open and hop out, sprinting toward the warm glow coming from the window.
“Jenna!” Cal shouts after me.
But I’m faster, up the steps and through the door before they can stop me. I burst into the warmth of the bunkhouse, my eyes landing on my wide-eyed brother.
He spins around, dressed in the black jacket I found on the hook when I first got here. “What the fuck, Jenna?” His eyes are back to their normal color, his expression not dead like it was earlier. “Why are you still here?” His eyes drop to the bruises on my neck, and he winces.
“What the hell are they about to do to you?” I exasperate, just as the door behind me bangs open.
“Move out of the way, Jenna,” Bradford snaps, and I turn to see a rifle pointed at my brother’s chest. Behind him, Turner has his own, and Gunner lets out a howl that rattles the freaking walls.
“Oh my god…” My eyes jump back to my brother, who doesn’t even remotely look surprised.
“When you act like a deranged animal,” he sighs, “You get treated like one.”
“You’re not a deranged animal, you just… You need to accept you need help…” My voice trails off, as my heart starts to pound so hard, I feel lightheaded.
“You want this,” Cal’s voice booms through the room. “Don’t you?”
Cade meets my gaze, years of pain etched in the lines of his twenty-five-year-old face. “It’s for the best, Jen. It really is.”
“No, it’s not,” I argue, grief clenching down on windpipe. “It’s not. You’re not too far gone. We can… You can… You can let him help you.”
“I don’t want his help,” Cade’s voice is monotone. “I got mixed up with some guys here, behind Bradford’s back. I killed two Marines, just because they were doing something I’ve never been able to do without thinking of…him.” Cade’s voice breaks. “I don’t wanna be here anymore.”
Turner’s rifle drops. “Fuck, man. Fuck.”
“Please don’t do this to him.” My mouth moves, pleading with Bradford. “He doesn’t… He doesn’t deserve this. He just needs open up.”
Bradford doesn’t take his eye off Cade. “I have orders.”
“Please,” a sob racks my chest. “Please.”
“He tried to hurt you,” Cal grits out, the tension in his trigger finger visible. “I don’t like that.”
Cade’s expression shifts. “How do you know my sister? And who gave orders?”
“She’s been wasting her life searching for you,” Cal answers him, rifle still pointed. “But she’s mine now. Indebted on lies and the death of the NCIS agent coming for me because of you.”
“You don’t get to own my sister,” Cade takes a step forward, his entire demeanor darkening. “She’s not fucking property.”
“I want him,” I blurt out, my face growing hot as I admit the truth. “I want him, Cade.” I pause, and then turn to Bradford, “But if you put a bullet in my brother, you will be fucking my dead body. I’ll never let you have me.”
Tension grows in the room, as Cade reaches out, and places a hand on my shoulder. I flinch at the touch, still remembering what happened earlier.
Cade’s voice softens. “You don’t have to protect me, Jen.”
I peer up at him. “I never did. And I should’ve.”
“It was never your job.” He kisses the top of my head, and then pushes me off to the side. “Follow orders, Bradford. Be a fucking man.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, just as a shot tears through the bunkhouse.