Brodie glared at his brother. “We answered their questions.” Shayne had been the one to ask those questions, again and again. Shayne, the guy who was supposed to be his friend. The only cop who’d never given up the hunt for the people who’d killed Brodie’s parents. Now he’s treating us all like suspects?

“I’m sure we’ll be given the all clear to go soon.” Grant was probably trying to sound reassuring.

Brodie wasn’t in the mood to be reassured. “Brushard’s out there. You know he’ll just come after her again. He’ll keep coming until he gets her.” Tension coiled within him. “And I’m tired of waiting for the guy to strike. I’m going after him. He’ll see what it’s like to be in the sights of a killer.”

Grant shook his head. “You aren’t a killer, Brodie.”

“You shouldn’t be so sure about that.” Grant always saw just what he wanted to see... Sometimes, Brodie didn’t think Grant realized who he had become.

“There are some lines that we can never cross, no matter how badly we may want to.” Grant rose to his feet. Faced Brodie. “Your emotions can make you too dangerous— especially the emotions you feel for that woman.”

“Jennifer,” Brodie snapped. “Her name is—”

“How do you even know what her real name is? My contacts at the CIA turned up nothing on her.”

“Because she had deep cover. She did. Nate did and—”

“Before he was shot, that Nate guy tried to kill Sullivan and Shayne. Not exactly the work of an upstanding government agent.” Grant crossed his arms over his chest as he studied Brodie. “Are you certain you’re making the right choice with her? Because, man, I’m not so sure you’re thinking with a cool head on this one.” A pause. “I’m not so sure you’re using your head at all.”

His brother was going to throw that bull at him? Grant sure wasn’t in a position to judge. The guy had gone near crazy when the woman he loved—Scarlett Stone—had been threatened a few months back...and Scarlett had possessed plenty of secrets, too. “Grant—” Brodie began angrily.

The interrogation room door opened. A weary-looking Shayne stood on the threshold. “You two can go.”

“About damn time,” Brodie snapped.

Shayne’s lips thinned. “A man died on my watch today. Because I agreed to help you.” Shayne’s expression was unyielding. “From here on out, I’m going by the book. And if the McGuires can’t follow the law, you’ll find yourselves under arrest.”

Shayne was threatening them?

“Where’s Jennifer?” Brodie asked as he strode toward Shayne. “I want her to—”

“She’s not clear to leave.”

“What?” He couldn’t have just heard right.

“I’m holding her as a material witness.”

No way. No—

“Don’t worry, I’ll put her in a safe house. She’ll have around-the-clock guards.”

“It’s not her!” Brodie was less than a foot away from his friend. “It’s Brushard. He’s the one we need to take down!”

Shayne nodded. “And the Austin PD will take him down. The right way—I told you that before. We’ll handle the case in a way that doesn’t involve a shoot-out in the middle of the damn street.” He gave Brodie a curt nod. “Now, you two are free to leave, but Ms. Wesley will be staying with me.”

No way. “I want to see her.”

Shayne hesitated. “That’s not a good idea right now. She’s in processing—”

“She didn’t do anything wrong!”

“How do you know?” Shayne erupted. “I can’t find a single detail about her from my government contacts. Nothing about her and nothing about the guy down in my morgue. I’m not going to let that woman slip through my fingers.” His breath huffed out. “I became a target tonight. Nate Wesley tried to kill me. He was choking me when my car slammed into that pole. He was going to kill me.”

“Shayne...”

“Cut your ties with Jennifer Wesley. She’s not your problem any longer. She’s mine.”

The hell she was.

Shayne pointed at Brodie. At Grant. “I know you two think you’re above the law, but you’re not, and my friendship...it only extends so far. We’ve reached that line. Try to go over my head, try to interfere in my investigation, and I will lock you both up for obstruction.”

The threat hung in the air for a moment; then Shayne turned and marched away. He didn’t look back.

“What is happening here?” Brodie demanded.

Grant was staring after Shayne’s retreating form.

“He can’t just keep her...” Brodie needed to see Jennifer. He had to talk to her.

“Yes,” Grant said softly, “he can.”

We’ll see about that.

* * *

WHEN THE DOOR to the interrogation room flew open, Jennifer’s head snapped up. Her breath heaved from her as she stared—

At Brodie?

Jennifer jumped to her feet even as he hurried toward her.

“Sullivan!” she said instantly. “Is he—”

“He’s fine. It’s takes one hell of a lot more than that to take out my kid brother.” He pulled her into his arms, held her tight. And it seemed as if Jennifer could finally draw in a deep breath.

His arms were so warm and strong around her, and Jennifer hadn’t even realized how cold she’d been, not until that moment. “I understand,” she told him. She needed to say those words. She looked up but didn’t let him go. “I know why you’re pulling away from me, and that’s—”

He kissed her. Brodie’s mouth crushed down on her. There was nothing soft or gentle about that kiss. It was hard, consuming, burning with desire.

And maybe someone was watching them through that two-way mirror. Maybe it was a whole roomful of cops.

She didn’t care. Her mouth opened beneath his, and Jennifer kissed him back as passionately as she could.

These may be my last moments with him. Part of her was very, very afraid that Brodie was just there to tell her goodbye.

Her lips parted even more. Her body was smashed into his, so tightly, so perfectly, and the fear was gone. With Brodie, need and desire were always so close to her surface. When he touched her, she let go of her control. She let go of her doubts.

She held on to him.

His tongue slid against hers. He growled low in his throat, and the kiss grew even more demanding. He was tasting her, taking her, and the kiss felt more like a claiming than anything else.

It didn’t feel like goodbye.

More like a promise of passion to come.

His head slowly lifted, but his arms were still around her. She could feel his desire pressing into her.

“Brodie?” Jennifer shook her head, truly not understanding now. “You were watching the interrogation. You thought—”

“The hell I was.” His words were an angry snarl. “Shayne had me and Grant in interrogation, too. Asking his questions again and again until I wanted to forget the fact that he was a friend and drive my fist into him.”

Confused now, Jennifer shook her head again. “But...he said you were watching my interrogation. That you were angry with me because of what happened to Sullivan.” She had a flash of Sullivan, pinned in that backseat. There had been blood all over his face—streaming down from what she knew had been a broken nose. She’d been so desperate to pull him out of that wreckage and to make sure that he was all right.

You have to be all right. Brodie needs you. You have to be all right. Only when Sullivan was finally clear of the car had Jennifer realized she’d been whispering those words again and again.

It was just that she knew how important Brodie’s family was to him. A big part of her envied him that family connection. To be so tied to others, to know that they would always be there for you... She’d never had that.

She probably never would.

“He lied,” Brodie said flatly. “Nate is the one that caused that wreck, and Brushard... I don’t know how he knew to lie in wait at that exact spot, but he was ready for us. Almost like someone had tipped off the jerk.”

She tried to remember more information about Stephen. “He had a network that he used. Blackmail was his specialty. He’d find people’s weak points, and he’d use them. He’d get others to do his dirty work for him—that was why it was so hard to tie him to the crimes.” Until she’d gotten lucky that night.