Chapter Thirteen

───── ? ────

Kit smiled when she woke up and felt the warm body next to her. Jace. Naked. A nice way to start the morning.

Especially after an afternoon and night of great sex.

Even sleeping, he was that Viking warrior with his blond hair tousled round a face that could get her heart, and the rest of her, revving. That incredible sensation stayed with her, making her smile even more, making her want to kiss him. Until she remembered what was going to happen today.

She was to testify against Marvin.

That caused her to silently groan, except she didn't fully keep it quiet, and the slight sound caused Jace's eyes to pop open. There was alarm in those blue eyes. A split-second of it, before his attention settled on her.

He smiled.

Then, he kissed her.

Yeah, this was definitely the way to start the morning, but he kept the kiss way too short and eased back to look at her.

"Was the groan for you giving your testimony or for…something else?" Jace asked.

"Definitely the testimony," she assured him, and she went back in for another kiss.

Since she was the initiator on this one, she didn't make it short. And she would have pushed for another round of sex if he hadn't done some groaning of his own when he looked at his watch.

"Seven forty-five," he muttered. "Angel will be here soon to go over the plan for the trip to the courthouse."

Kit did recall hearing Jace and Angel on the phone the night before, and Angel had indeed said he'd be over around eight since they'd have to leave no later than eight-thirty for the courthouse.

She matched Jace's groan. So, no morning sex, but she did get a nice consolation prize of seeing a seriously toned butt naked Jace get out of bed.

"I would invite you into the shower with me, but that'll slow us down," he drawled, giving her a cocky grin. And a Full Monty view before he popped into the shower.

Definitely no slowing down for him. He was in and out before she even managed to get out of bed. He came back into the room, still naked but toweling off, and he headed for his walk-in closet and took out some black cargo pants and a dark green tee. It practically screamed special ops, but since he wouldn't be on the witness stand, there was no need for him to dress up.

Kit, on the other hand, went to the guestroom across the hall, and after grabbing a quick shower there, she took out the skirt, top, and jacket that Nash had included with the items he'd brought over in her suitcase. She got dressed, and by the time she slapped on some makeup and combed her hair, she could already smell the coffee brewing.

And Roy's voice.

"Angel has arrived," Roy announced.

Since she wanted just a second alone with Jace, Kit hurried into the kitchen. She tried not to let her nerves show, but Jace would know she was worried about her testimony. And she was. But that worry didn't stop her from slipping her arm around his waist, pulling him to her and kissing him.

When she eased back, he was smiling.

Good. He wasn't in that regret mode. Not yet anyway. However, she had to brace herself for the possibility of that. Here, she'd breezed back into his life, and he probably hadn't processed why she'd seemingly breezed in and out of it in the first place. He was likely guarding his heart.

Something she should be doing.

But it was a hopeless cause. She'd always had very little resistance for Jace, and now that Ramsey couldn't touch Angel, Presley, and him, there was no way to tamp down her feelings.

However, she did have to tamp down the lust, temporarily anyway, because on the monitor, she saw Angel approaching the front door.

"Roy, pause security and let Angel in," Jace instructed.

The locks on the door clicked, and Roy invited him in. Angel stepped inside, glanced at both of them. Grunted. And headed for the coffeepot.

"Have you two ever been able to keep your hands off each other?" Angel grumbled and then used a mug to wave that off. "Don't bother with the answer because it's clearly a no."

Kit glanced at Jace to see if there were any telltale signs of them recently having had sex. There were no hickeys, and their clothes were on straight. Still, they must have been giving off some vibe that Angel had picked up on.

Angel poured some coffee, drank long and deep, and then leaned back against the counter to face them. "I went by the sheriff's office this morning and learned a few things."

She latched right onto that. "Please tell me the cops found out who hired Rattler?"

Angel shook his head. "No such luck. Everybody's still digging into that, but so far nothing. But while I was there, I did find out that Brandon is apparently planning on coming to Marvin's trial."

"What?" Kit muttered, and she quickly checked her phone to see if she'd missed a text or call from Brandon, letting her know this information. She hadn't.

"Brandon contacted Sheriff Manning late last night and asked what kind of security there'd be at the courthouse," Angel went on. "I'm guessing Brandon was asking for both your sake and his," he added to Kit.

"Well, Brandon should be concerned about his safety because he could still be a target." A thought that spiked her worry even more than it already was. "Just because Rattler is dead that didn't mean Marvin, Trevor or my father didn't hire someone else."

Angel made a sound of agreement. "Apparently, Brandon plans on bringing a friend who's in the police academy as sort of unofficial backup. And FYI, his mom and dad are pissed about his plan because both of them called the sheriff to see if he could somehow prohibit Brandon from attending. Sheriff Manning declined their request."

He didn't actually smirk about that last part, but it was a close enough reaction. Deanna and Trevor probably hadn't played nice when they'd spoken to Sheriff Manning.

Kit wished the sheriff had prohibited her nephew from coming. That might keep Brandon tucked away safely at home. But she understood his need to be there. If Marvin did indeed go through with a last-minute plea deal, then Trevor and Ramsey could be arrested.

"How does Sheriff Manning feel about the security setup at the courthouse?" Jace asked.

Angel lifted his shoulder. "It's his town, and while he's not doing the rah-rah safest place ever spiel, he could be glossing over some concerns. For instance, no metal detector, and the courthouse has eleven entrances and exits. Yeah," he tacked onto that when Kit's eyes widened. "All but the front and one of the back doors stay double locked twenty-four/seven, but that doesn't mean someone can't get in."

"That's why I'll be in the courthouse with you," Jace insisted, looking at her. "And Angel will be outside to make sure there's no signs of trouble."

She nodded and shifted her attention back to Angel. Judging from his expression, he had something else to tell her. Kit just waited him out.

"Are you sure Brandon's rift with his father is…solid?" Angel finally asked.

Of all the things she'd been expecting him to say, that wasn't one of them. A chill went through her, and she shook her head. "Why are you asking?"

Angel opened his mouth, closed it and seemed to rethink what he had been about to say. "Never mind."

Kit moved closer, looking him straight in the eyes. "Tell me why you asked that," she insisted.

He glanced at Jace, but he only motioned for Angel to go ahead with it.

"All right," Angel finally said. "There are some things about the kidnapping that are bothering me. For one, Brandon wasn't restrained or cuffed in the van. Rattler's a strong guy for his age, but Brandon could have tried to overpower him."

She considered that and admitted that was true. "Maybe Brandon was too scared to try to escape."

Angel gave a quick nod. "Yeah, that was probably it." And there was enough doubt in his tone to make her curse under her breath.

Kit cursed again that she had only skimmed through the statement Brandon had given the police. It had twisted her up to think of Brandon in that van with a kidnapper and a sack of rattlesnakes so she'd breezed right through the account. She needed to take a closer look at it. And at him.

For now, she made a request. "Give me a rundown of what Brandon told the police in his statement."

Angel drank more coffee before he launched right in. "Brandon said he left the hospital and walked to the far side of the parking to wait for his Uber. Before it arrived though, a van pulled up, the side door opened, and a man wearing a ski mask got out and hit him with a stun gun. Before he hit the ground, the guy threw him into the back of the van and drove off."

Kit could see and hear all of that playing out. This would have happened shortly after the shooting so, yes, he could have still been in shock. That wouldn't explain, however, why Brandon had just bolted away from the van when the man had come at him. Then again, maybe Rattler was very good at using a stun gun.

"Brandon said the kidnapper then sped off," Angel went on, "but about ten minutes later, he stopped. Brandon thinks it was a parking lot since he could see overhead lights. The kidnapper leaned over and gave Brandon a shot. We're still waiting on a tox screen—the county is a little slow getting that sort of thing—but the initial signs were that it was some kind of sedative."

"So, that could explain why Brandon wasn't restrained," she muttered. But that didn't ring true.

If Rattler had come prepared with a stun gun and a syringe to inject a sedative, then why hadn't he brought along plastic handcuffs or even some duct tape or rope? He could have put them on Brandon when he was unconscious.

"I also have some concerns about the location of the drop-off," Angel continued, and when he paused, Jace took up where Angel had left off.

"Why do the drop off here?" Jace asked. "Why personally involve Kit at all? The kidnapper had to suspect she was being guarded and that I work for Maverick Ops. It would have been smarter and safer for the kidnapper to do all of this through a video call and drop Brandon off in some place far from here. That would give the kidnapper time to get away."

Kit had to nod. "And why would the kidnapper alert Ramsey and Trevor as to the drop-off location? He could have handled that with a video call as well."

Though she'd just spelled that out, it took a couple of moments for that to all sink in. And it didn't sink in well. Kit hated to even voice the possibility, but she knew it was what they were all thinking.

"You believe Brandon could have been working with Rattler?" she murmured. "That he could have faked his own kidnapping."

She refrained from asking why and instead when back to Angel's earlier question. Are you sure Brandon's rift with his father is…solid ? Five minutes ago, her answer would have been a resounding yes.

But now there was doubt.

Damn it. There was doubt.

Kit was fighting back the worst-case scenarios. Or trying and failing to fight them. Brandon's injury from the shooting could have been self-inflicted. Or perhaps even accidental. And as for the snakes? Maybe he had figured he would take his chances with them.

"Did the cops ask Brandon why he wasn't restrained?" Kit pressed.

"They did," Angel verified. "And he said the kidnapper threatened to kill his mother if he didn't cooperate."

Well, that might have caused Brandon to throttle back on any attempts to overpower Rattler. The rift was with his father, not his mother, and he would likely want to try to protect her.

"Did Rattler have antivenom in his van?" Jace asked. "Because someone who handles snakes would probably have that on hand."

"True," Angel muttered. "But I didn't see anything about that in the report."

Jace took out his phone. "I'll text the CSIs to have them check for that. If Brandon knew there was antivenom nearby, he might have been willing to take the risk of being bitten by a rattlesnake."

That was true as well, and Kit was still mulling that around while Jace sent the text. Only seconds after he hit send, his phone rang.

"It's Ruby," he said, and he took the call on the monitor.

Ruby's image came on the screen, and one look at the woman's face, and Kit knew something was wrong.

"What happened?" Jace asked, obviously picking up on Ruby's expression.

Ruby pinned her attention to Kit. "I have some difficult news," she said. "Your father's assistant arrived at his office this morning, and she saw blood seeping out from under the door. Lots of blood."

Kit felt the shock of that slam through her. "Blood," she repeated.

"Yes," Ruby verified. "She said she went into the room and saw his body slumped over his desk." She paused, gathered her breath. "The cops are there now, but, Kit, it looks as if your father was beaten to death."

───── ? ────