Page 21 of Fatal Intent

Grant winced. “Not professional enough, apparently,” he muttered.

“You didn’t.”

“Maybe.”

She rolled her eyes.

Elias dragged a hand down his face. “Dude, you’re an embarrassment to black ops agents everywhere.”

“Let’s see how professional you are when your woman jogs into danger.”

His gaze flicked to Iona. “I hope I’d keep my wits about me.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that. I’ll be the first one to laugh at your predicament when it’s your integrity being called into question.”

Riley and Andre returned, their expressions grimmer than ever.

“What is it?” How much more bad news could he take in one day? Based on their expressions, something was very wrong.

Rayne threaded her fingers through his and squeezed Grant’s hand in silent support.

The gesture touched a place in his heart that had been cold and dark for years. He gathered the light and warmth and shoved them into that space.

“We have a problem,” Riley said.

“Let’s hear it.” Seth folded his arms across his chest.

“Dante Rivers was found dead in a motel room in Hartman. One gunshot wound to the chest.” She looked at Grant. “You and Rayne are now persons of interest in a second homicide.”

CHAPTER SIX

GREAT. ANOTHER ROUNDwith the detectives in the interrogation room. Unless she missed her guess, the detectives would insist on interviewing them separately, then compare their answers.

Rayne shoved her hands through her hair. She knew what would happen. The detective would bring up her role in the death of her father. Would she never be able to leave that part of her life behind? If she could do it all over again, she would tell her teenage self to grab a pan instead of a knife and whack her father over the head to knock him out, then ask to be removed from her family home.

But that wasn’t possible. You couldn’t go back for a do-over. Rayne turned away from the group and sat on a bench to one side of the training room. She leaned her head against the wall, eyes closed, and fought back tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. Her past, all of it, would come out soon.

Would her friends and teammates turn against her? While Grant hadn’t, that didn’t mean everyone else would follow his example. If this information drove a wedge between herself and her teammates, Rayne would have to find another team with which to work. That was the last thing she wanted. Artemis was the best part of her life. To lose them would devastate her even more than losing her mother and extended family because of her father’s death.

Someone sat beside her. Without opening her eyes, Rayne knew Grant had followed her. “What are we going to do?”

“Whatever we must.” Grant clasped her hand in his and raised their hands to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. “Everything will work out.”

She turned her head toward him. “How can you say that? This feels like a trap is closing in on us.”

“We didn’t kill Selena or Dante. The cops won’t find proof we’re guilty because it doesn’t exist.”

“You know better than to believe that.”

“Not this time. Not with Fortress behind us.”

“You have more faith in the system than I do.”

“You’ll see.” He squeezed her fingers.

She hoped she was pleasantly surprised. “What do we do now?”

Grant smiled. “We make them come to us.”