Page 12 of Brick (Chosen Few #5)

“S he’s riding with me,” Brick called to Ellie. He kept his hand on Natalie’s back as he led her to his rental SUV.

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the motel.” Ellie moved quickly toward her vehicle.

Sirens screeched. Brick opened the passenger door and hung on to Natalie as she slid into the seat. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes hollow. He hurried to the driver’s side, then peeled down the road. He watched Ellie accelerate into traffic in his rear-view mirror, but he didn’t slow.

Keetan had called the cops, and since he knew Natalie was with Ellie, he’d probably given the police the make and model of Ellie’s car. Which was exactly why he’d made sure Natalie rode with him.

“He wasn’t there.” Natalie’s words came out weak, strained. She covered her face with her hands. “What did he do with my baby?”

Brick clenched the steering wheel. Fury clouded the edges of his vision. He hadn’t even met his boy, but walking into that empty room and hearing Natalie scream for their son was like living out a horror movie.

Sharp fear pierced his chest. He wanted to stay in that house and make Keetan talk, but he also couldn’t get Natalie or himself arrested.

What kind of sick sonofabitch would hide a child from his mother? Or worse—

No. He couldn’t acknowledge the brain-numbing possibility that Bray was no longer on this earth. That his son was gone before he’d had the chance to meet him.

Natalie’s soft cries twisted everything inside him. “We have to think logically here,” he said. “You know Keetan’s doing this to upset you. Where would he take Bray? Does Keetan have a relative he’s close with? Friends who know Bray? Is there a place where Bray would be content?”

She sniffled. “Keetan’s mother sometimes watches him. She’s less crazy than Keetan, and she loves Bray. I can say that at least.”

“Punch her address into the GPS, please.”

She nodded and did as he requested. The AI voice immediately mapped out their route.

The fact that the sick bastard allowed his mother a relationship with Bray was another blow. At least the woman loved the child. For that he was grateful. But damn it hurt because Brick’s widowed mother would give anything for a grandchild, and all this time—

He stomped out the thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to get caught up in what should have been. Now was the time to find their missing kid.

He drove on autopilot, grateful for the turn-by-turn directions. After they stopped at Keetan’s mom’s place, they’d return to the motel to pick up Natalie’s things, but it wouldn’t be safe to stay there. They’d have to keep moving until Zain and Taschen got there.

“Twelve minutes until we arrive. For the sake of not wasting time later, I want you to tell me what dirt Keetan has on you.” He flicked his gaze her way just as she dipped her chin.

Looking back at the road, he practically had to bite his tongue so as not to press her. If he wanted to earn her trust, he had to be worthy of it. Which meant borrowing patience he didn’t own.

“I met Keetan when I was nineteen and he was twenty-six. You wouldn’t know this about me, but I was in foster homes until I was eighteen. The first thing I did once I graduated high school was rent a house with a couple of people.” Her voice grew distant, as though she were traveling back in time.

He pictured her out on her own at such a young age. Vulnerable. He turned and pulled onto the interstate. He glanced at her again. Her gaze was rooted to her hands in her lap.

“How did you meet him?”

She sighed. “My roommates were Anne and Shelby. Keetan was Shelby’s brother. He came around a lot.”

Where the hell was Shelby now? He didn’t ask, not wanting to throw her off track.

“Shelby liked to party.” Her tone held fondness. “She was fun. Always the life of any gathering. Anne was the opposite. She was diligent with her studies, never missed class. Shelby’s parties got out of control too often, so Anne moved out and, well, Keetan moved in.”

A lead ball formed in his gut. That fucking prick. Natalie had been young, hurting. A man seven years older had probably made her feel safe.

She inhaled a long, shuddering breath. “I’m sure you can figure out the rest. Keetan and I became a couple.”

“That much I figured. What I don’t understand is how he was able to put out an APB for you.”

In his peripheral vision, he could see her nod slowly. “One of Shelby’s other vices, besides alcohol, was trying out different drugs.”

He cursed. “What happened to her?”

“Her death was ruled an overdose, but... that’s not what happened.” Despair ravaged her gentle voice, and she covered her face with her hands. “I’ve never told anyone this before,” she whispered.

Fuck. Making her tell him this was bad enough. Doing so without even looking her in the eye would only make him a bigger asshole than he already was. “Hang on.”

He took the next exit and maneuvered into the parking lot of a gas station.

Undoing his seatbelt, he turned to face her.

She lowered her hands. The sunlight touched her golden strands and highlighted the mist coating her eyes.

Her brilliant blues shone vibrantly, both from the sunlight and her tears.

“It’s just so hard to dredge up that night.”

He placed his hand on the console between them, palm up. Without hesitation, she set her skin on his. He folded his fingers around her hand. “Tell me whenever you’re ready.”

She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Keetan and I hid our relationship for several months. He didn’t want Shelby to know.” She shrugged. “One night we were—” She cleared her throat. “We were alone... in my bed.”

He shouldn’t have felt jealousy, but Christ, it rushed through his veins. Maybe it wasn’t jealousy, but whatever emotion it was, it made him furious. That sleezy sonofabitch had sunk his teeth into her.

“We didn’t hear Shelby get home. She came into my room and saw me in bed with her brother.

” She shook her head and shifted her gaze to the windshield.

The firmness of her mouth revealed all the anger that lay trapped within her.

“Shelby was high. Keetan and I had recently learned she was using heroin. We were trying to get her help.”

He smoothed his thumb over her knuckles, silently urging her to continue.

“She saw us and flipped. Started yelling and throwing things, then she stormed out of the room. I got my clothes on faster than Keetan and ran out to the living room. Shelby came at me swinging. I shoved her away.” Her voice shook as much as her shoulders.

“She stumbled and hit the side of her head on the coffee table. I didn’t mean for her to fall,” she said, suppressing a sob. “But I think because she was high, she was already off-balance.” Her eyes scoured his face as if searching for signs of blame.

She wouldn’t find one.

“It happened so fast,” she continued, almost frantically.

“Keetan came in and saw Shelby on the floor. He started freaking out. She didn’t have a pulse.

There was s-so much blood.” Her breath came out in rapid gasps, and her face crumbled with anguish.

“I didn’t know what to do. Keetan said I’d killed her.

Even though it was an accident, he said I’d go to prison. ”

Brick clenched his jaw. That fucking bastard.

“He went to her room and got her stash.

.. then injected her with heroin. Between what she already had in her system and what he gave her, it was enough for an overdose.

We called the police. When they got there, we told them she was sitting on the couch with us and she got up to go to the bathroom, tripped, and hit her head.

“Keetan was already an officer at the time. A suspected murder would have ruined him, and I’m sure he thought it’d look bad that he was sleeping with me.”

Brick fought to control his emotions. She’d been so young, and already in a tough position. He couldn’t blame her for trusting Keetan and going along with his story. The fact that he’d pinned his sister’s death on her was just fucking wrong, though.

“Well, first of all, he made the call to cover up the death. That in itself is a crime—”

“He threatened to tell the police it was my idea.”

A muscle near his ear twitched. “Still. He’d be under scrutiny. So unless he has some kind of evidence pointing toward you, it’s your word against his.”

Her face fell. She pulled her hand from his and balled it into a fist. “That’s just it. He has proof I confessed to her murder. When I said he was crazy, I meant it.”

What the fuck.

***

“How’s that possible?” Brick’s sharp question made her shrink.

Oh, how dumb she’d been. She’d tried to locate the audio file but hadn’t succeeded.

Keetan kept his devices locked at all times.

She hadn’t even known about the recording until Fargo.

For the seven years she’d been with him before she attempted to leave the first time, he’d threatened to go to the cops.

But wasn’t until she left the state that he told her about the file.

One desperate night filled with too many beers, she’d cried to him about Shelby. Said that she’d been responsible. That she never should have pushed his sister, even though she’d lunged at her.

The bastard had held her. Comforted her. But he’d chosen his words carefully. When she’d finally left him she’d remembered how short his responses had been during her breakdown. How he hadn’t recounted any details. How he’d kissed her before she could mention the drugs.

She’d basically signed over a confession.

“I had a weak moment,” she said softly. “We talked about the evening of Shelby’s death, and I said it was my fault, that I’d pushed her. I didn’t know he’d started recording our conversation. He was careful to cut things off before we spoke about the drugs.”

Brick murmured a curse. “Well unless you knew you were being recorded, it won’t hold up in court.”