Conspiracy Game (21 page)

B
riony
stared out the window into the pouring rain. The small villa where Jebediah had taken them belonged to an old friend of her parents, a fellow circus performer now retired. They traveled most of the night to get there and arrived tired, hungry, and irritable. Being in the close confines of the car had been hell for Briony. Her brothers were angry and scared and worried. Tyrel was in pain and trying to hide it. No one said a single word about Tony’s death—but it was on all of their minds. She threw up so many times Seth even began to curse, frustrated by all the stops they had to make.

“Briony?” Tyrel stood in the doorway. “Are you up to talking or do you need to be alone for a while?”

She turned away from the rain to look at her brother, love for him overwhelming her for a moment. He always inquired, and that meant a lot to her. “What are you doing up? I thought you’d be sound asleep by now.” Deliberately she curled up on the sofa to indicate she didn’t mind company.

“I was asleep, but my arms were hurting so I got up to try to find some aspirin. I brought you some just in case.” He held up the tablets and a glass of water.

“Thanks, Tyrel, I appreciate how thoughtful you always are. I’m not really sure if I should take aspirin. I didn’t ask Sparks how to take care of the baby.” She flashed a rueful smile. “It never occurred to me I’d ever be having a baby, so I never bothered to research what to do if I got pregnant. I wouldn’t want to take anything that might be harmful.”

Tyrel dropped into the chair opposite her. “I still can’t believe you’re having a baby. I had no idea you were seeing anyone.”

“I wasn’t—not exactly. I can’t be around anyone long enough to get intimate with them as a rule.”

“Are you saying Tony isn’t the father?”

She ducked her head, looking down at her hands. “I told Sparks he was. I wanted to see his reaction. He was acting so strange and I didn’t want to name the real father, so I used Tony’s name.” She looked up at her brother, horror in her gaze. “I swear, I had no idea they would kill him.”

“Briony.” Tyrel laid his hand over hers in an effort to comfort her. “Of course you didn’t.”

With anyone else, Briony would have drawn away, but Tyrel was always genuine. She could easily read his thoughts filled with love and concern. She let his hand stay over hers even those it was uncomfortable.

“Whatever these men do, it isn’t your fault. No one could have known they were going to harm Tony. We just have to figure out what they want.”

Briony frowned. “At first I thought they wanted the baby, but then the big man—Luther—seemed upset that Tony was the father. He even said I was promised to him—that he had volunteered to be a sperm donor.” She rubbed her temples. “I have a strange feeling that I’m supposed to give birth to a superchild.”

Instead of laughing at her, Tyrel nodded his head. “That makes sense if you think about it, Bri. You can run faster than anyone I know and you’re far stronger than even Jebediah.”

Briony took a deep breath and moistened her lips. “I think I was an experiment—genetically engineered. I don’t think I was Whitney’s daughter at all, Tyrel.”

Tyrel sat back in the chair, regarding her with his serious gaze. Before Sparks had tried to kidnap her, any one of her other brothers would have laughed and accused her of watching too much sci-fi, but Tyrel always took everything she said seriously. “It never made sense to Mom that Whitney insisted on providing his doctor for you. It bothered her, especially as you got older. We traveled so much, and it was inconvenient to wait for Sparks to fly in to see you when we had a doctor traveling with us.”

“I detested going to Sparks.” Briony shivered and looked at her gauze-wrapped arm. “I think this was an accident. I honestly think Luther would have killed you, but I don’t believe they want me dead at all. I think I’m the baby carrier.”

“Are you going to tell me who the father is?”

Briony sighed. “Jebediah will kill me.” Even as she said it, she knew her oldest brother was close. She caught his scent and looked up. He lounged in the doorway, beefy arms folded across his chest.

He shrugged lightly. “More likely I’ll pound the guy into the ground. Who?”

“Jack Norton.” Even saying his name still hurt. She bowed her head, waiting for the firestorm to erupt around her.

There was a stunned silence. Jebediah looked as if someone had punched him. “He touched you? That son of a bitch put his hands on you? After we risked our lives for him?”

“Jebediah,” Tyrel cautioned. “It’s been a long day. She’s gone through enough.”

“
Jack Norton?
” Jebediah repeated, obviously dazed. He sank into another chair and put his head in his hands. “Briony, you have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I got pregnant, Jebediah,” Briony said, allowing exasperation to creep into her voice. “I’m not a teenager. I grew up a long time ago, and being pregnant isn’t the end of the world. If you don’t want me around, just say so.”

Jebediah’s head jerked up, shock showing on his face. “I’m not upset that you’re having a baby. Shocked maybe. Traumatized that my baby sister actually had sex, but nieces or nephews are fine with me. But Jack Norton… ” He broke off abruptly.

Briony sighed. “Does it really matter who the father is, Jeb? He isn’t ever going to be in the picture. He’s in the States, far away, we’re in Italy. What does it matter?”

“Oh, honey,” Jebediah assured her, “it matters. Jack Norton always matters. He’s totally unpredictable and he lives by an entirely different set of rules than the rest of us. Do you remember when I first saw him in your room and I was yelling at you for going out into the jungle by yourself?”

“Of course.”

“Do you remember the threat he made?”

“He said he was going to rip out your heart if you kept talking to me like that,” Briony said.

“That’s right. It wasn’t a threat, Bri. Jack would have done it.” He leaned forward. “I’m serious, honey. Jack Norton is a straight-up killer. He has a code and all that, but when push comes to shove, Jack’s going to be the one standing. There’s something different about him.”

Pain twisted her heart. “He’s like me.”

“He’s
nothing
like you,” Jebediah objected. “Where did you ever get an idea like that?”

“I thought you liked him.”

“You don’t
like
Jack Norton. You respect him. You might fear him—but you don’t like him. Jack’s someone you want on your side in a tight spot, but you’re never going to invite him home for dinner.”

“That’s strange, Jeb, because for the first time in my life, I
was
comfortable. I didn’t hurt at all when I was with him, not a single headache. I relaxed. I laughed. I enjoyed being with him.”

Jebediah exchanged a long look with Tyrel. Her tone had wavered, alerting both brothers that she was close to tears. “I’ve never known Jack to talk much and I sure have never seen him laugh. You must have brought out the best in him, Briony. Did I ever tell you that he saved my life once?”

“He did?” It didn’t make sense to her the way Jebediah felt about Jack, yet now, when she needed it the most, her brother had given her a gift and she was grateful. “You never mentioned it—and neither did he.”

“Jack would never say a word. We were running a rescue, going after two Rangers caught in enemy territory. The Rangers were supposed to hump it out to the extraction point but ended up right in the middle of a hornet’s nest.”

“Where were you?” Tyrel asked.

Jebediah shot him a quelling look. “Somewhere we weren’t supposed to be and would never admit to being, so it was imperative to get them out of there without anyone getting caught. We came in on the north side, wanting to be able to cover them. Jack lay up in some trees and waited, and I moved into position on the ground. We just needed to provide them with enough time to get into the ravine, where the team members had set up an ambush. The Rangers would go in, drawing the enemy after them, and the canyon was going to be blown all to hell. That would give us time to get back to our ride.”

“Something went wrong?” Tyrel prodded when Jebediah fell silent.

Jebediah smiled, but the amusement didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You could say that. A guy came out of the ground, practically in my face. I swear his knife was the size of Texas. I didn’t even hear the shot, my heart was pounding so loud, but I saw the hole right in the middle of his forehead. Jack took him out before he could finish his first slash with the knife. Later, I thanked him for saving my butt and he just shrugged. Never said a word to anyone about it. He probably saved a lot of us that day.”

“He said I was a liability.”

Tyrel’s head jerked up. “He doesn’t deserve you, Briony.”

“It still hurts.”

“Of course it does, honey,” Jebediah said. “But it’s for the best. Life with Jack would be difficult at best. He’s not a man easy to be around. I don’t know why he was so good with you, but that isn’t the norm. He’d go days without speaking a single word. His brother, Ken, joked around some, but not Jack. He never seemed to sleep. Some of the guys liked to play pranks, but the smart ones knew better than to try to creep into Jack’s area. More than one found themselves on the floor with a knife to the throat, and he wasn’t gentle about it. You ever look into his eyes and you could see death there.” Jebediah spread his hands out. “You wouldn’t want to raise your child with him, honey. You want a place where there’s laughter and joy. We’ll help you. You know we love you and want you with us.”

“I feel very lucky to have you all. Thanks, Jeb. It was very sweet of you to tell me about Jack. It’s something for the baby, you know. I don’t know much about him.”

“I know a little,” Jebediah admitted. “I’ll tell the baby Jack stories.”

“The rain is so loud,” Tyrel complained. He rubbed his head, his bandages very white in the dimly lit room. “I’m tired tonight.”

The rain was loud—too loud. A small alarm bell went off in Briony’s head. Somewhere, a window or door in the house was open, allowing the force of the storm to penetrate into the villa. Her gaze jumped to her two brothers. Both had gone very still, awareness hitting them at the same time.

Wake up! Seth! Ruben! Danger!
She sent the warning with as hard a push as possible, hoping she penetrated their sleep.

Jebediah touched Tyrel, gesturing him toward the back of the villa, where Seth and Ruben were sleeping in the guest rooms. He signaled Briony, and she rose in silence and followed him into the hall. As she passed the small room where she was supposed to sleep, she caught up her backpack and shrugged into it, wincing as the strap scraped over her bandages.

Jebediah pushed her in front of him, pointing with three fingers toward the left hall leading to the courtyard. Briony crept to the wide, lace-covered doors and willed them not to creak as she pushed them open. At once the rain poured in, driven by the ferocious wind. At his tap on her shoulder, she turned to look at her brother.

Jebediah leaned close, put his mouth to her ear. “Get to the car.”

She knew he was going back for her brothers. Tyrel was going to wake them, but they should have been right behind them. Tyrel would have got them moving immediately, yet there was no sign of any of them. She hesitated, but Jebediah pushed her toward the night—the shadows. At his urging, Briony slipped into the courtyard among the overgrown shrubs and the windbent trees.

She took on the colors of the night, the stripes of shadow, black and green and a multitude of shades of gray. She moved with the wind, matching the flow of energy as leaves and twigs swirled around her in the midst of the storm. The mosaic tiles were slippery, so she abandoned the path and took to the grass and shrubbery, trying to avoid the branches as they swayed, reaching out with thorny brambles to catch her clothing. She was only steps away from the small hidden spot where Jebediah had secreted the car when the wind shifted subtly.

She caught a familiar scent and halted, looking around, trying to find her enemy. He was close. She could smell him, knew him by the mixture of sweat and cologne he’d worn in Sparks’s office. He wasn’t masking it, and she glanced up just as Luther leapt from the roof. He was blindingly fast, giving her little time to react. The best she could do was take one step to the side and strike him as hard as she could, hoping to knock his legs out from under him so he’d fall.

Luther caught her hair in his fist as he went down, dragging her backward with him so that she landed heavily on top of him. “I’m running out of patience with you,” he snarled. “Behave before I do something we’ll both regret.”

She slammed her elbows into his ribs, followed with the back of her head to his face. He jerked his head out of the way just in time, but she was already rolling back from him, scrambling to come to her feet. “Stay away from me.”

He feinted to his left and jumped to his feet, landing in a crouching position, his fist streaking out too fast to block. She tried to slip the punch, whipping her head to the side, but he hit her hard enough to send stars dancing momentarily in front of her eyes. Briony staggered back, slipped on the tiles, feet going out from under her, and went down.

Luther was on her in seconds, pinning her down, hand over her mouth. “Damn it, you gave me no choice. Stop fighting me. I was careful not to hurt you, but you keep this up and it’s going to happen.”

Briony went still. He was incredibly strong, and the more she struggled, the tighter he held her. She tried to curl into a ball; an attempt to protect the baby.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Luther said. “And I certainly don’t want to upset you by killing your brothers, but you’re giving me no choice. You
have
to come back to the lab with me.” He brushed the hair out of her face and probed her swelling jaw with the pads of his fingers. “You shouldn’t have pushed me so far.”

Briony winced and jerked away from him. Her mind raced with ideas to get away. She had only seconds. He would be somewhat vulnerable when he shifted to his feet. It might be her only chance. She turned her head away from him, and colors danced for just a moment, yellow and red heat sensors, just a brief blur alerting her to the presence of her brothers. Briony quickly looked up at Luther, hooking her fingers in his shirt. “I’ll stop fighting you if you tell me the truth. Are they going to harm the baby?”