Nathan cut his eyes to the hallway and then back at Shane. With a shrug, he shook his head. “We’re brothers. Part of the experiment was to see how we related, how we trained, what motivated us.” A warning light entered his eyes. “We weren’t the only team. There were several.” He shook his head at the hallway.
Too bad. Let her learn the truth. “That explains the eye color.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened, but he continued. “Yes. Same father. Some ultra-soldier, from what Jory was able to hack. Take a genius female and her womb, some serious genetic engineering, and they created us.”
“Different females?”
Nathan shrugged. “Yes. Hopefully all human DNA—but who knows. If documents exist about that, we haven’t been able to find them.”
“Josie thinks I have a hang-up about kind women.”
“Yeah.” Nathan took another deep swallow. “The women we knew were either stone-cold scientists or really rough soldiers. Mainly.” His gaze slid to his boots.
The hair on the back of Shane’s neck prickled. “Mainly?”
“Yeah, ah”—Nathan cleared his throat—“let’s just say they sent other women to us while we were in our teens.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “There isn’t much we don’t understand about sexual manipulation.”
Jesus. Shane dug a palm into his eye. “The barracks I remember. We lived in that place?”
“Yes. Different groups were assigned divisions, all created with similar DNA. Brothers.”
“No girls?”
“Hell, no.” Nathan exhaled. “Until Audrey.”
The name filtered unease through Shane’s brain. “Audrey. Your Audrey.” Pain there, too.
“Yes. She was the head doctor’s daughter. They wanted me to train her in self-defense.”
“Why?” A picture of deceptively innocent blue eyes and long black hair slammed behind Shane’s eyes.
Nathan growled. “I don’t know. If you ask me, it was another experiment. But I fell for it. I wanted a normal life so badly.”
“You were betrayed.” Certainty settled a heavy weight around Shane’s heart. “I remember. She, ah, didn’t turn out to be on our side?” Nathan damaged—nearly destroyed.
“Yeah. They worked me over and good—killing several of our friends in the process People around us end up dead.” Nathan spoke to the dark hallway. “That’s when we decided to leave.”
An explosion filled Shane’s memories. He set detonations, killing on purpose. The fires had burned high and hot… the screams echoed and then died out. “We blew the place up.”
“Yes. We had to get free of those people so we could seek revenge. We blew everything and scattered. Almost five years ago.” Nathan glanced at his disposable cell phone. “We knew they’d need about five years to regroup and come after us.”
“Regroup?”
“I’m sure we’re just the first wave of experiments. So we wanted time to get away, get positioned, and then take them down.” Nate’s eyes hardened to slate. “Of course, we thought we’d be further ahead than we are right now—considering we have three months to live.”
Shane stilled. “Excuse me?”
Nate’s slow smirk lacked humor. “You didn’t think geniuses smart enough to genetically engineer us would fail to have safeguards in place, did you?”
Shane’s gaze dropped to his hands. A familiar but unremembered fear washed down his entire back. “I guess not. What’s the safeguard?”
“Kill chip in your spine.” Nathan scratched his neck. “Needs to be reprogrammed every five years, or smush.”
“Smush?”
“Yep. The thing blows and you die.” Nathan picked at a string on his jeans. “If we try to remove it…”
“Smush.” Shane eyed the too-quiet doorway. He should’ve sent her back to bed. “What’s the plan?”
“Jory was looking for the code or how to remove it, and so is Matt. We’ll find it. For right now, we need to concentrate on the current problem.”
“Matt said he’s a U.S. marshal,” Shane said.
“Yes. And I’m the head of Sins Security, which is a corporation owned by the four of us. I mean three of us.” Nathan frowned. “We supply support, protection, and such when necessary. We’ve been shoring up resources for when we strike—which has to be soon.”
“What group was I with in the marines?”
“A specialty unit in the United States dealing with bioterrorism.”
Bioterrorism? “What did that have to do with our childhood?”
“Some of the top scientists in our government created us in the first place. You were hunting them.”
“I left when Jory died.” A statement. He’d left more than the marines, and he knew it.
“Yeah. We think he got too close to the commander.”
The name sent a rock of pure hatred blasting under Shane’s skin. “I remember him. He needs to die.”
“Yes, he does,” Matt said, stalking into the room.
Shane scratched his head. “What’s up with my super hearing? And sight?”
Matt shrugged. “Along with the abnormal strength and reflexes, we all have special gifts. Might be hereditary and experimental, or just flukes from all of that. We all have hyper senses, but yours are the best.”
“What’s your gift?” Shane asked.
Nearing the sofa, Matt pivoted, his gaze on the dark hallway. “Your woman is eavesdropping,” he mouthed.
“I know.” Shane stretched to his feet. “Gifts?”
“I sense movement right before it happens. Might be slightly psychic, empathic, or just notice the shift of air. They’ve never been able to explain it.” Matt eyed the hallway.
“Must be handy in a fight.” Shane jerked his head at Nathan.
“I read people. Facial expressions, movement, everything. I’m a human lie detector.” Nathan grinned, all rogue. “Very handy with the women.”
Matt lowered his tone. “Josie shouldn’t know all of this.”
Shane nodded. “I’ll discuss the matter with her, and then you and I can go over Jory’s death. Maybe figure out where I’ve been the last two years.”
“Sounds good. And we need to get out of town as soon as we solve her problem.” Nathan grabbed his cell phone again. “My contacts are supposed to check in with any new information.”
Shane nodded, stretching his neck as he strode toward the hallway. A scurrying sounded before a door clicked. Ah, angel. Nice try.
* * *
Josie’s heart beat a rapid pattering in her chest. She kept her gaze on the dark entrance to the room. The door opened. Faint light from down the hallway filtered inside, silhouetting Shane’s strong form in the doorway.
She caught her breath in her throat. Still. Stay very still.
“Did you hear everything you needed to hear?” he rumbled, crossing inside and shutting the door. A rustling sounded and his jeans hit the floor before he tugged open the sheets and slid inside.
The scents of warm cedar and male filled her nostrils. Heat encompassed her.
He yanked her butt into his groin, curving an arm around her waist. “Well, did you?”
She shrugged, her mind spinning. “Your childhood sucked.”
A barked-out laugh stirred her hair. “Yeah, sounds like it.” He sighed. “Though the scientific explanation rings true. I mean, some of my senses aren’t normal.”
“Not even close.” She wiggled to get more comfortable, her chest aching. “Do you think Nathan is right? Are you going to die in three months?” The words hurt to say.
“I think Nate is right that there’s a kill chip in my spine, but no, I’m not going to die. We’re going to figure it out.” Calm reason filled his tone—too much calm.
That was a promise he couldn’t make. He seemed so invincible—how could he die? Tears welled in her eyes, and she shoved them back. Crying wouldn’t help a damn thing. “How is genetic manipulation possible? I mean, I can understand taking a soldier’s sperm and making babies, but how do
you explain the enhanced hearing? Sight? Strength?”
“I don’t know.” He ran the rough pads of his fingers along her bare arm. Goose bumps rose. “We can clone cows. Eliminate genetic diseases in crops. I guess the thought isn’t too far-fetched to think we can manipulate genes that deal with strength and senses.”
“Especially if funded by the government. Think of the money involved.”
“Yeah. Money.” His body tightened around her. “You know, it was one thing to be certain about my ability to kill. That I had training. But to discover I was created in a test tube to be a killer, well now…” His tone went hard and flat, but pain echoed.
Sadness filtered through her. The need to comfort him, to heal him, made her heart actually ache. He must’ve been such a scared little boy to turn into such a hard man. “You don’t know that. Sure, you’re trained. But you’re freaky smart, too. Maybe you were created to do something great. Cure a disease. Fix the economy.” She turned in his arms to face him. Only the deep glow of his amazing eyes filled her sight. “What you do with your skills… well, that’s up to you. Not them.”
He exhaled. “Right now I want to find out who killed my brother. In fact, I’d like to remember my brother.” Shane’s large hand spread out between her shoulder blades, and he caressed down to press her lower back into him. His erection jumped against her clit. “After making sure you’re safe.”
He kissed her temple. So much emotion rose in her, she curled her fingers over his shoulders. His heated mouth wandered down the side of her face to take her mouth.
Safety was an illusion she didn’t want—and one she didn’t believe in. This, this she wanted. He was what she believed in. With a sigh, Josie sank into the kiss.
* * *
Several hours later, Nathan cast Matt a look. “Think he’s coming back?”
“Would you?” Matt flipped open a file folder, irritation swirling through his thoughts.
“Probably not.” Nathan punched in keys on the laptop. “He’s lost, Matt. He doesn’t understand he needs to let her go.”
“It’s more likely she isn’t letting him go this time,” Matt returned. For which, well, he couldn’t blame her. As he perused her file again, he understood her need for family. While death had hung over his childhood, at least he’d shared his days with his brothers. Family. They fought with each other. Shit, they fought for each other. Little Josie had been all alone.
“Perhaps. If she discovers the full truth, she may kick him to the curb.” Nathan grabbed a bag of chips half smashed underneath yet another monitor.
“Yep.” Matt leaned back in the sofa. He was so fucking tired. But sleep had become a luxury. “Have you been able to hack into her files at work yet? We need to find out who bugged her house.”
“You think the situation has to do with the commander?”
“No. I think this has something to do with her job. Not us. But she’s family, and we need to figure out who’s gunning for her.”
Nathan started, swinging a startled gaze at his older brother. “Wow. She got to you.”
Yeah. The little blue-eyed minx had wormed right into the small circle of people he gave a crap about. Matt fought a growl. “She’s Shane’s wife. Like it or not, we put her in danger two years ago, and it’s even worse now. Shane might have alerted the commander when he tried to Google his past.”
“Yeah. Every instinct I have says they’re coming for us now.” Nathan rubbed his neck. “The commander is close. I can feel his presence.” He cleared his throat. “Do you think Shane found out who killed Jory?”
Matt exhaled, forcing the heavy weight of guilt out of his body. For now. “I hope so.” The need to draw blood roared like a tempest between his ears. “I shouldn’t have let Jory go.”
“You didn’t have a choice. Jory was good at his job and did what needed to be done. If he had a lead, nothing could’ve stopped him in pursuing it.” Nathan glanced at his phone with a frown. “Not even you, Mattie.”
The thick taste of the foreign beer failed to wash away the bile in Matt’s throat. “I failed him.”
“No. It was my job was to keep track of the three of you in the field—I failed him.” Nathan reached for a plain manila file holding a list of Josie’s current clients.
The blame game was useless, and they didn’t have time for it. Matt threw his file down on the coffee table. No need to read any more—he knew Josie’s life by heart, had since Shane married the woman. “Shane took the news of his imminent death well.”
“What choice did he have?” Nate sighed. “We’ll find the doctor. I promise.”
“It had better be soon.” Matt shook his head. How the woman had managed to hide from him for so long was a mystery.
A monitor beeped. Nathan punched in keys. “My results are in. I hacked the ME’s office for the autopsy results on the three men found down by the river. No evidence left on the bodies.”
“How did they die?” Matt asked.
“They all had lacerations from a good fight but died from broken bones in the neck.” Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Military style. The cops found a metal bat by the bodies, but the river washed away any and all DNA.”
Jesus. Matt huffed out a breath. Three guys had gotten to Shane with a bat. “How did they get so close?”
“My best guess is that our brother was distracted.” Nate’s face remained impassive, as usual. No emotion for so damn long. At least, none Matt could see. God help them all when he finally exploded. “I’ve traced Shane’s movements and hacked into the files of some of his old contacts. I’ve confirmed his theory that he bugged Josie’s house.”
“Why?” No way would Shane bug his wife’s house just because she was dating some construction worker. He’d be more likely to break down the front door and beat the guy to a pulp.
“My guess is that he discovered the other bugs and figured the commander was watching Josie. Knowing Shane, he wanted to trace the bugs back to the bastard.” Nate crunched a chip. “So, what’s our plan here?”
“First we figure out who’s after Josie while Shane gets his memory back. Quickly, considering we’re sitting ducks here. Then I assume he’ll try to send Josie to the compound with you while we deal with Jory’s killer.”
Nate visibly jumped. “He’s not keeping her, Mattie. He can’t.”
“I know. He’ll figure that out soon enough.” Matt kept his face expressionless. He steeled his shoulders. “You’re flying home to Montana tomorrow.”
Nathan tossed his file down. “I’m not leaving.”
Exactly what Matt expected. He hardened his face into true big brother mode. “Yes, you are. We don’t know how long it’ll take for Shane to get his memory back, and I sure as hell don’t need help with whoever’s after Josie. Go home and do your job.”
Shane loped barefoot into the room, yanking a T-shirt over his head, wearing ripped jeans. And a relaxed jaw. Bastard.
He glanced at Matt. “I need to fill in the blanks. Now.”
Matt nodded. “Let’s get down to business.”
Chapter 21
Early morning, Josie pinned her wet hair up, smoothing lip gloss on her face. Shane had retrieved clothes and toiletries from her house. Thank goodness. Though the isolation was beginning to bother her. She needed to get back to work. Now that might be a battle.
The thick socks masked her steps as she meandered down the hallway toward the smell of coffee.
At the living room, she stopped short.
Matt and Shane lounged on the couch reading files while Nathan stood near the door, a ball cap on his face and thick sunglasses over his eyes.
Josie’s heart began to pound. “Nice glasses.”
Nathan shrugged. “Yeah. Helps with the security cameras everywhere. Standard when I travel.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
Shane glanced up, a frown settling between his eyes. “Angel?”
Memories shot through her head in rapid succession. She took a step back, her wid
e-eyed gaze on Nathan. “It’s you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “What’s me?”
She breathed out. Hard. “In the coffee shop. Ball cap. Eyeglasses.” Her gaze slashed to Shane and then back again. “It’s you.” She knew he looked familiar. Rage and fear boiled into a lump in the pit of her stomach.
Shane unfolded to his feet, his gaze moving from Josie to Nathan and back again. “Honey, a lot of people have aviator glasses.”
Pure raw fury ripped through her so fast her breath heated. “Don’t lie to me. He was as big as you. Built like you.” She turned on Nathan. “It was you. The asshole in the coffee shop.”
Pain splashed ice over the fury. She rounded on Shane. “You didn’t save me. You set me up.” Two years ago. The scene where Shane had been her hero. When everything started. They’d planned the confrontation. No wonder the bully had left so easily without argument. The bully was Nathan.
He cut his eyes to Shane.
Josie leapt for the black gun on the table, flipping off the safety and backing away. She kept all three men in her sight. “The safety’s off this time, Matt.” Her voice trembled low with fury. Her hands shook.
He remained relaxed from his perch on the sofa. “You know, this is the second time you’ve held a gun on me this week, little sister.” He cleared his throat. “If one of these two tried that, I’d break their hands.”
“You’d try,” Shane and Nathan said in unison, gazes locked on her.
Matt tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Put the gun down, Josie. Let’s talk.”
The keys to her Toyota sat on the coffee table. “Throw me my keys, Matt.”
Shane stepped between the table and Josie. “Not going to happen. Now put down the gun before you really piss me off.”
She widened her stance, swinging her aim to the center of his chest. “So, genetically enhanced boy. Can you stop a bullet?”
“No.” Anger began to burn slate through his eyes. “Now, Josie.”
“It’s true, isn’t it? You set me up.”