Page 25 of When He Fights (Protector & Defender #3)

The nurse vanished.

Gray huffed out a breath. Stalked closer to Ana and Kane.

“Logan is very focused on revenge,” Emerson told them.

“Tell me something I haven’t figured out already,” Kane muttered. He wanted to sweep Ana out of there. Take her far, far away from any and every threat. “We can’t go back to Ana’s house now. The front windows are broken to hell and back. She’s not safe at that location.”

“You’re going to the Royal Suite.” Gray rattled off the name of the swankiest hotel-slash-casino in the area.

One not in Gulfport, but down the way a bit in Biloxi, Mississippi.

“Top-notch security. The only suite on the whole floor. You have to use a special keycard just to access that level. I’ve already booked the place.

You’ll be spending the rest of the night there. ”

Not like there was a lot of night left.

“Logan kept talking about ‘eye for an eye’ justice in our sessions.” Emerson’s voice was mild.

“He told me that he always took back what had been taken from him. It was the rule he’d lived by his whole life.

” She backed up a step. Another. Click. Slide.

“The gun at the police station was aimed at you, Grayson.” Emerson motioned toward him.

“Gray,” he muttered. “Just call me Gray.”

“You shouldn’t have been at the station. It was so late. You wouldn’t have been there, if you hadn’t been trying to cut me out of the investigation.”

That sounded like Gray.

But he denied the charge, saying, “I was trying to get Turner to reveal Logan’s location. The guy is in the city. We all know that. I want the perp located and locked up.”

“Yes, absolutely.” Emerson nodded. “I believe Logan is here. One hundred percent. There is no way he would not come in and get up close with Ana. I actually believe he was the shooter. He told me that he began his career with drive-bys. He liked the feel of the gun in his hand. The blast echoing in his ears. Liked seeing people fall in front of him like toy soldiers.”

Everyone focused on Emerson.

“The sonofabitch got awful chatty with you,” Gray allowed. An odd note had entered his voice. One that Kane couldn’t fully define.

“He liked bragging to me.” Her hands remained loose at her sides.

“He wanted revenge. But it wasn’t just Ana who had wronged him.

In our sessions, he routinely mentioned two other individuals.

Rage always entered his voice whenever Logan spoke of them.

” She swallowed. “FBI Agent Grayson Stone. The agent who Logan said turned Anastasia against him. The man who forced her to wear a wire and collect evidence and testify against the man she loved.”

“I didn’t love him,” Ana denied. “You can’t love a lie.”

Gray’s gaze whipped toward her.

“And Anastasia’s protector,” Emerson continued without missing a beat.

As if she wasn’t at all surprised that Ana had never loved her ex.

“Logan didn’t know your full name, Kane.

It is Kane, isn’t it? Kane Harte. When we shook hands, you didn’t identify yourself, but I’ve done enough digging into Grayson—uh, Gray’s life that I know who his best friend is.

I even know that your nickname is ‘Heartless’ Kane Harte. ”

Kane stiffened.

She slanted a glance at Gray. “You would pull in your best friend on Ana’s case.

It stood to reason you’d do that because you wanted someone you could trust completely.

Especially with the recent spate of leaks at the Bureau.

” She pointed toward Kane. Then Gray. “You two served in the military together, didn’t you? Semper Fi .”

“Holy fuck,” Gray breathed. He seemed both impressed and horrified. “You’ve profiled me.”

“It’s what I do.” Modest.

“I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered.” Gray tapped his chin. “Gonna go with flattered. Just because I’m way too tired to be offended.”

“ Get to the point,” Kane urged. They were all freaking tired.

But Ana frowned up at him. “Semper Fi? Isn’t that the motto for Marine Corps?”

He inclined his head.

“You were a Marine.” A considering pause from her. “That fits.”

“Once a Marine, always a Marine.” Emerson had turned brisk.

“Always faithful. That is the translation for Semper Fi , um, Semper Fidelis, isn’t it?

Always faithful. And Kane, you have been a very faithful friend to Grayson—Gray.

Someone who he trusts above all others. Someone who he knew would come rushing back to help when he needed assistance with an old case. ”

Ana wasn’t an old case. She’s everything. “I think you were supposed to be getting to the point, Dr. Marlowe.”

“That would be really great,” Ana agreed. “If you could just speed things along and stop being dramatically suspenseful.”

“Sorry.” A grimace. “Logan was angry at Grayson. He blamed Grayson for Ana’s betrayal.”

“Gray,” Gray muttered. “Told you to call me Gray. ”

“I didn’t betray the man,” Ana fired back at Emerson.

“He was a killer. I saw what Logan did. You want to know why I wake up at two a.m. every single night and can’t go back to sleep?

Why I go downstairs and play that harp every night at that time?

I’ve done that routine since I bought the harp.

Before that, I would just go downstairs and stare out at the darkness.

Now I play music. It soothes me. It helps me to deal with the memory of waking up, going down to the basement, and discovering that Logan had just shoved a knife deep into a man’s throat. ”

Kane wanted to haul her into his arms. Hug her. “We are done here. Gray, you say that room is ready?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s ready and waiting for you.”

Good. Ana needed sleep. She had to be dead on her feet. Dead. No, no, Ana wasn’t dead. He guided her toward the door.

Emerson stepped into their path. “Logan didn’t know your identity, Kane. All he knew was that you were the man who put a gun to his head. A man who wanted to pull the trigger. A man who would have pulled the trigger, if Ana hadn’t stopped you.”

Gray cursed. “Fuck, but he sure got chatty with you, didn’t he, Emerson?”

She ignored Gray’s words and told Kane, “You were a mystery to Logan. He only knew your first name. Kane . No last name. No identifying background information. Hard to find a ghost when all you have is a first name. But, when Logan got out and Gray thought Ana was in danger, Gray called you in. You came running.” Her gaze darted to Gray, then back to Kane.

“You both came running, and now he has all three of you together. He has you all in his sights.”

And Kane realized why there had been three attacks that night.

He realized why Turner hadn’t been ordered to kill Ana sooner. Gray had been wrong when he thought it was because Logan was possessive, that the man saw Ana as his. Gray had been wrong when he thought that Logan wanted to personally handle the attack—or at least, he’d been partially wrong.

The truth was…

If Emerson was right…

Dammit.

“He waited until we were all here and as soon as Turner told him that I’d made an appearance in town, Logan moved to attack,” Kane said.

It would have been easy enough for Logan to give Turner a description of Kane.

Kane knew that he tended to stand out in a crowd, and as soon as Turner confirmed to Logan that Kane was in the area, sticking close to Ana…

You moved in to eliminate me, didn’t you, you bastard?

“That’s what I believe.” Emerson’s face showed no emotion.

“I believe that Logan set a trap. He waited because he had three targets that he needed to pull together. And the attacks tonight were him executing his plans for revenge. First, he launched the attack on Ana. He sent in Turner to get close and kill her. Then, the bullets flew toward Grayson. And, finally, he came after you, Kane. I believe you were the intended target at the drive-by that occurred at Ana’s house.

After all, Ana just said that you were the one in front of the window.

If the lights were on inside, I bet your outline was quite visible from the street. ”

Kane was sure he had been visible because the lights had been on and the curtains had even been partially open. Amateur mistake. He’d still been dazed from fucking Ana and not thinking clearly. Or I was still just thinking with my dick. He should have been more aware.

“If Turner had been watching her closely—and my gut says he had been very, very watchful—then he would have known exactly when Ana awakened each night. He would have seen the lights turn on downstairs. Maybe even caught the sound of the harp drifting in the air. He would have fed that information to Logan, and Logan would’ve had a timeline to use.

Two a.m. He just had to wait for his target to move into position. Then, bam. He attacked.”

“Fuck,” Gray rasped.

Every muscle in Kane’s body had locked down as killing fury pulsed through him. He exhaled slowly and then told Gray, “Buddy, I think she’s just as good at mind games as you are.” A pause. “Maybe even better.”

“Fuck,” Gray said once more.

Yeah, they were fucked.

No, we aren’t. Because I’m going to kill Logan Catalano long before he ever touches Ana again.