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Naomi and that car had saved his ass.
“This could have been a bloodbath,” Madeline groused to him.“Do you know what a pain in my ass that would have been?”
“I am aware.”Lights illuminated the perimeter.Bright lights from the cars that the local cops had driven.Extra lights that had been brought in and positioned for cleanup and evidence collection.“That’s why they’re all still breathing.”Though he had been so very tempted to end that whole breathing routine with Brock.Some people are better off dead.
“Youshota man in the hand!”Her words were still hushed but definitely tense.
The gunshot wound was hardly a big deal.“He was reaching for a knife.Told you that already.”Eb had told her that at least twice.Maybe three times.“These assholes rolled out here, they brought gasoline canisters, and they threatened to burn us alive.What else was I supposed to do?I had to fight back.”
“You mean you had to protect her.”A wave toward the porch.Toward Naomi.
Damn straight, I did.
“Because she was the target.”
“She was the target,” he agreed, voice rough and low.“Either because Brock believed she’d killed Ivan and he wanted his justice for his dead leader or because…maybe because Naomi was right back there—maybe Brock saw an opportunity for upward mobility.He took out his own boss and wanted to blame Ivan’s death on Naomi.To shut her up—permanently—he came here.He thought with all the numbers on his side, we’d be easy prey.”A roll of Eb’s shoulders.“He was wrong.”
“Of course, he was.You’re never easy prey.You’re probably the most dangerous bastard I’ve ever met.You fight dirty as hell, and you don’t stop until your goal is achieved.Or at least, you don’t usually stop.”
Tow trucks had arrived.Three of them.A giant flatbed.Oh, those beat-up bikes really weren’t going to be good for more than scrap.
“You still think Naomi killed Hudson?”Madeline’s voice had dropped even lower.“Is your goal still to prove her guilt?Or, for the first time in your life, are you giving up on your agenda?”
“Naomi says that she didn’t do it.”He watched the tow trucks get into position.“I believe her.”
“Seriously?”
“I believe her,” he said again.
“Well…damn.Okay.”She moved to stand directly in front of him.“If she’s not our killer, then who is?”
“Maybe Brock can shed light on that for us.”
Silence.Then… “While you had the bastard bleeding on the ground, did he say something that you want to share with me?”
He put a hand to his heart.“Madeline, are you suggesting I was torturing the man in order to get intel?I’m shocked.That’s hardly the CIA way.”His voice was deliberately bland.
The agent who’d been trying to get her attention for the last few moments shouted again.Madeline ignored him.
“He really wants to discuss something with you,” Eb pointed out.
“Morris is a green recruit who wants me holding his hand every moment.Forget him.Did you learn something you want to share with me?”
He hadn’t been able to interrogate Brock because after that creep’s crack about ending Naomi, Eb’s temper had gotten the better of him.“I knocked him out.Naomi and Hunter insisted we call the authorities—that’d beyou—so, no, he didn’t share more with me.But if you’ll give me a few moments alone with Brock in a room, I can get him to tell me every secret he’s ever had in his life.”
Soft laughter poured from her.“I don’t think so.In case it somehow slipped your mind, you’re not CIA any longer, remember?I’ll be handling the interrogation from here on, but thanks.”She patted his shoulder.“And I’ll assume you’ll keep staying close to the grieving widow?”
“She saved my ass.She could have walked away.Uh, driven away and never looked back.”
Her inscrutable gaze studied him.“One good deed doesn’t redeem a person.That’s not how it works.”
“Naomi said she didn’t kill him.I believe her.”
The nearest tow truck hoist groaned and shrieked as it began to lift one of the wrecked motorcycles.
“Of all the people in this world,” Madeline mused, “you know there is just no redemption for some individuals.Sometimes we can try, but we can’t ever wipe away our sins.They’re permanent.Like scars or tattoos we will always wear.”
The bike slipped off the hoist.Crashed to the ground.