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Mason stoodin Avery’s cozy houseboat, a thundercloud of tension roiling overhead despite the tranquil view of black water and glittering shoreline outside.
Paul was pounding away at him, arguing against Mason’s decree that tomorrow was his last day undercover at the warehouse. “I can handle this longer if I need to,” Paul insisted. “If there’s more evidence I can get I want to stay.”
Mason folded his arms across his chest. “Too dangerous. You’re done after tomorrow.”
“I’m not five,” Paul shot back.
Mason shifted uncomfortably, not wanting Avery to witness this family discord. He kept his voice low. “It’s my job to watch your six. Don’t fight me on this.”
But as usual, the guy refused to back down. “I can make my own choices.”
“Not on my watch, you can’t.” Frustration mounting, Mason glanced at Avery. He hated airing their dirty laundry in front of her.
Paul followed his gaze and muttered, “I knew I shouldn’t have called you for help.”
Mason scrubbed a hand over his face, working to control his temper. Keeping Paul safe had to be the priority, popular or not. If that drove the wedge between them deeper, so be it.
Before the strained silence could drag on, Avery’s phone chimed with an alert. She scanned it quickly.
“A body was just discovered in Tacoma. Adult male, matches the description of our mystery passenger.” She raised her eyes to Mason’s. “This could be it.”
Instantly Mason was all business, argument with Paul forgotten. “Location?”
“The industrial district, not far from that self-storage facility,” Avery replied. “They already have an ID. Vic’s name was Rohit Sharma.”
Paul paled. “There’s a guy by that name who works in the Rain Bay office. Same first name at least. Nobody really uses their last name there. The management doesn’t like it. But how many Rohits can there be here, right?”
Mason’s gut twisted.Exactly.
Avery pulled up a photo of the body and showed them.
Paul’s jaw tightened. He gave the image a quick glance before looking away. “That’s definitely him. He works …worked… in the back office. I don’t know what he did there, but that’s the guy.”
Mason put a steadying hand on his brother’s shoulder, exchanging an ominous look with Avery. “Sloppy work.”
“No kidding.” Avery looked puzzled. “We’re surrounded by water. Not hard to make a body disappear.”
“Unless they wanted to send a message,” Mason said darkly.
The implication made his blood run cold. Rain Bay clearly had no qualms killing potential leaks. And they wanted their partners and employees to know it.
Mason met Avery’s steely eyes. Come morning, they’d find a way to get a look at that cargo. Then he’d persuade Paul to disappear.
First, though, he was getting Paul and Avery to a safer location. His intuition was knocking. Hard. Whoever was behind this operation had money and resources. No way they wouldn’t be aware of Avery’s initial investigation. It was possible they were the ones who got the mission cancelled.
Highly likely, actually. If he were a betting man, he’d put money on that.
He pulled up a mental map of his many safe houses on the West Coast, and winced. Amazingly, he had none within even a couple hours’ drive of Seattle. Unlike Tai and Bridger, he’d never spent much time in the Pacific Northwest. He preferred desert, or high mountains. Lakes and creeks and dirt roads that stretched for miles.
So, yeah, he’d have to create a safehouse on the fly.
Or borrow one.
He grunted out loud, drawing Avery’s attention.
She stared him down. “You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”