No Turning Back (31 page)

"Blane, you're such a bleeding heart," Kade shot back. "Remember, this is the same chick that cold-cocked you less than an hour ago."

"I'm really sorry about that," I whispered in Blane's ear. And I was. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but of course hindsight is twenty-twenty. I was very lucky indeed that I hadn't hurt him too badly. His arms tightened around me and he pressed a light kiss to my lips.

"It did take me by surprise," he said, smiling a little, "and hurt like a sonofabitch." My smile back was tremulous. I curved a hand behind his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. Our lips met and clung together and I parted mine with a sigh. His tongue met mine and then we were kissing with a frenzied passion, the adrenaline turning to fire in my veins as I clutched him to me. I felt the hard length of him pressing beneath me and I moaned, wanting to straddle his hips and bury him inside me.

"Not in my back seat, please," Kade interrupted dryly. "I just had it cleaned."

I could feel myself blushing bright red as I pulled back from Blane, who didn't even bother glancing at Kade. He was studying my face as if bidden to memorize it, lightly tracing my brow, eyes, cheek and lips.

"So, what were you doing there tonight, if I may ask?" Kade said belligerently. I figured I owed Blane an explanation so I directed my answer at him.

"I was trying to find out who killed Sheila."

"By becoming a prostitute?" Kade asked incredulously, and I turned toward him, irritated.

"I wasn't a prostitute," I said angrily, sitting forward so I could grasp the front seat. "I wasn't going to have sex with anyone." Kade laughed at me.

"Your innocence is charming," he said, "and also incredibly stupid. You were almost killed tonight and nearly got Blane killed as well." His unvarnished criticism stung because it was a little too close to the truth.

"Well, I could ask you the same question," I threw back at him, ignoring his comment. "Why were you two there? I know Mr. Gage had Sheila killed because of her involvement with Mark. Were you the one he sent to murder her?" Kade's cold eyes met mine in the rearview mirror and I inwardly flinched, the thought crossing my mind that perhaps I shouldn't have antagonized him.

"Kat," Blane said, pulling me back against his chest, "Kade didn't kill her." I turned to him, frustrated with his denial.

"I know he's a gun for hire and he works for the Santini brothers. Mr. Gage is obviously in cahoots with them. It only makes sense that Kade is the one who killed her."

"It may make sense to you, but he didn't kill her," Blane repeated. "I'm sure they sent Jimmy to take care of Sheila." I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest.

"How do you know?" I persisted. "Kade's a liar. You can't trust what he says." My eyes narrowed at Kade, still silent in the front seat. "You see? He doesn't even deny it."

"I know he didn't kill Sheila," Blane said quietly, "because he's my brother."

Time seemed to stop for a moment as those words reverberated inside my head. I stared at Blane in disbelief. Kade was his brother? It didn't seem possible. Kade was a bad guy, Hank had said so. He'd threatened me numerous times. Blane couldn't possibly be related to someone like that.

A memory rose in my mind of Blane telling me about going diving with his brother and nearly losing him. His frantic search and vow to never lose track of him again. He'd said that same brother lived here, in Indy.

Another memory flashed and I cringed inwardly. Kade kissing me. Me kissing him back. My eyes jerked to meet Kade's again in the mirror and his flashed a warning at me, as if we were both thinking the same thing.

I hurriedly scooted off Blane's lap into the seat and he didn't stop me. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him, my voice low and accusing. His jaw tightened, but it was Kade who answered.

"You didn't give us much of a chance, did you?" he said dryly. "Dramatically running off in the middle of the night. And firing a gun at us."

"I ran off, as you put it, because I heard you two talking," I sneered at Kade, my earlier fear now manifesting itself in anger which I directed at him. "You both wanted that code and neither of you seemed to care how you got it. God knows what you planned to do to me, Kade, whereas you," I directed my anger at Blane now. "Apparently your idea was to fuck me for it."

Kade let out a low whistle. "And the kitty has claws," he chided. His condescension made me want to climb over the seat and scratch his eyes out. The intensity of my anger shocked me. I didn't view myself as a violent person, but if Kade had been in the back seat with me, I don't know if I could have stopped myself from trying to inflict as much physical damage as possible on him.

It occurred to me then that Blane hadn't saved me from Jimmy because of any feelings he might have for me, but because they still needed me for something. The code. It appeared that was my last bargaining chip. And it didn't help that Blane didn't deny what I'd said to him.

"Do you have the code?" Blane asked. I felt a stab of pain that I'd been right. Ruthlessly, I shoved it aside. He wanted to be all business? No problem.

"Not on me, no," I lied in a snide tone, and I felt a childish glee when I saw that my response had irritated him, his jaw clenching again.

"You know," I said breezily, "you should see someone about that whole jaw clenching thing. That can't be good for your teeth." A bark of laughter erupted from the front seat and I narrowed my eyes at Kade's back.

"I need that code," Blane said evenly, ignoring my comment entirely.

"Why?" I shot back. I wanted the truth, and by God, I was going to get it.

I was startled by the abrupt stop of the car and I glanced out the window to see where we were. They'd taken me to Blane's house. The door next to me flew open and Kade was standing there.

"Let's go," he said. The thought went through my mind that if I went inside, I might not come back out again.

"Take me home," I demanded, not budging from the car. He bent down so his face was on level with mine.

"I thought you wanted answers," he mocked me, and my palm itched to wipe the sneer from his face. "They're inside. Not to mention," he leaned closer, "you're not in much of a position to argue." The threat was implied and I exited the car with as much dignity as I could muster.

"After you, princess," Kade said with exaggerated courtesy. "Or should I call you Lorelei?" I ignored him, raising my chin in the air and preceded him up the sidewalk. Blane fell into step with Kade behind me and I struggled not to feel self-conscious with both their eyes on me.

"At least this one is more entertaining than the others," Kade said just loudly enough for me to overhear. "It's like Hooker Barbie masquerading as Nancy Drew." My cheeks burned with anger, but I pretended I hadn't heard.

"Enough," Blane said roughly, and Kade shut up.

They took me inside to the den where they'd been conversing last night. I sat uneasily in one of the leather chairs. I watched as Kade sat in my chair's twin, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. Blane shed his tuxedo jacket and untied his bow tie before he sat on the edge of the desk, crossing his arms in front of him.

My eyes caught on the red stain and rip in his shirt sleeve. "You're hurt," I said with alarm and Blane glanced down at his arm.

"Just a scratch," he dismissed before turning his unflinching gaze on me. "Now what do you want to know?" he asked. I licked my lips nervously, studiously ignoring Kade.

"Who do you really work for?" I thought that was the pertinent information, at least as it regarded my continued good health.

"No one," he answered. "You could say this situation happened by accident." I regarded him with suspicion.

"How could it be by accident?"

"Kade and I don't usually work together," he said with a sigh. My glance moved unwillingly to Kade who was watching me. His lips curved in an insincere smile. I quickly looked back at Blane. "Kade used to be FBI."

"Used to be?" Kade as law enforcement was difficult to wrap my head around.

"They had a lot of rules that got in the way," Kade said dismissively.

"Those are called laws, Kade," Blane said stiffly.

"Whatever they are," Kade continued unperturbed, "I decided I would enjoy myself more as a...freelancer."

"Vigilante, you mean," Blane clarified.

"You say tomato..." Kade sighed in mock frustration.

"People hire him to find lawbreakers and be judge and jury."

"And executioner," Kade added lightly, eyeing me. "You'd be surprised how good business is." I doubted it.

"Last year," Blane continued, ignoring Kade, "I realized something was amiss with the firm and its relationship with TecSol. I needed someone on the inside with the Santini family so asked Kade to move back to town and help me."

"And I'm not even charging him," Kade threw in.

"And why do you need the code?" I asked.

"Because of this." Blane walked behind the desk and hit a few keys on the computer sitting there. A light flickered behind me and I turned. A map had been projected onto the wall. I got up and walked over to examine it more closely.

It was a US map and it looked like all the states had been broken down into counties. About eighty-five percent of them were black, including Indianapolis and the surrounding areas.

"What's this?" I asked, turning to face Blane.

"It's all the elections that will be encrypted using that code in two days." I froze in shock, stunned at what I was seeing.

"But...that's not possible," I stammered. "It's only supposed to be used in Indy."

"That's what you think, princess," Kade said, standing up and striding toward me. I was beginning to detest that nickname. "What you don't know is that TecSol is just one front company. There are dozens more, all using the same software to encrypt the returns. All going live on Tuesday."

"The Santini brothers-" I began, only to be cut off by Kade.

"They're little fish," he dismissed. "This is much bigger. The problem is we haven't found the ones who are really behind this yet. The code would help us track this to them." His confidence and patronizing attitude toward me pricked my anger again.

"How will that help you? What do you know about computers, codes and encryption?" Kade just smiled infuriatingly at me as Blane sighed.

"Quite a bit, actually," Blane answered. "Kade's job in the FBI was in the cyber crime division." Kade was staring intently at me, still grinning crookedly at me as if daring me to question his competence further. He arched an eyebrow. My mouth closed with a snap as I tore my eyes from his, walking around him toward Blane.

"Will you give us the code?" Blane asked quietly. I looked at him, wanting to trust him more than I'd wanted anything in a long time, but a part of me couldn't let go of my suspicions. Suspicions of him, of us, of what he'd told me.

"Do I have a choice?" I answered.

"You always have a choice."

"Though you may not like the consequences," Kade chimed in from behind me. I spun around.

"Is that a threat?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. His answering smile only infuriated me more.

"It's a fact," he said.

I didn't see a way out of this. I didn't think Blane would actually harm me. But Kade might. The very fact that they were brothers would impede anything Blane might try to do to help me - blood is thicker than water, or so my dad had always said. And I was definitely the water in this scenario.

"Fine," I spat. My capitulation could not be termed gracious. I turned toward a nearby chair and put my right foot on the seat, high-heel and all. As I pulled up my skirt, I realized both men were watching me avidly. Inwardly, I smiled in satisfaction. It appeared men the world over had the same weaknesses. Running my hands up my nylon-encased leg, I inched the skirt up until the top of my thigh-high stocking showed, ignoring the stillness in both Kade and Blane. Reaching inside the top of the stocking, I pulled out the tiny thumb drive CJ had given me. "A precaution," she'd said, and I could only be grateful for her foresight.

"Sorry your hands were too busy elsewhere to search me properly, Blane?" I asked innocently, brows raised. His eyes jerked to mine and the look in them said I was playing with fire. Show's over, I thought grimly, removing my foot and dropping my skirt. I tossed the drive onto Blane's desk with a clatter and he quickly scooped it up.

"How are you going to trace it?" I asked and Kade answered.

"We need to get into their infrastructure, but I'm working on that." I raised an eyebrow at Blane, silently asking him to elaborate. I didn't bother responding directly to Kade.

"He hasn't been able to hack into their network yet," Blane answered my unspoken question.

"Yet being the key word," Kade said arrogantly.

"Your time is running out," I said. "Wouldn't it be better if you had someone on the inside?"

"That would make things a lot easier, yes," Blane said, "but our last lead died with your friend Mark."

"Maybe I could help you," I offered. Kade laughed out loud and my cheeks flushed.

"What are you going to do, princess?" he asked snidely, stepping closer to me. "Fuck the information out of Santini?"

The crack of my hand against his jaw sounded loud in the room, and for a moment, no one moved. Kade's furious eyes locked on mine and neither of us spoke, the tension in the room so thick I could barely breathe.

"Kade," Blane barked, "take a walk." Kade didn't move. I stood my ground, but was shaking inside. Finally, after an endless moment, he turned and stalked out of the room. My knees nearly buckled in relief and I grasped the back of the chair next to me to steady myself.

"I apologize for him," Blane said quietly. He'd come around the desk and now stood next to me. "You didn't deserve that." My eyes stung but I blinked back the tears. Why should I care what vile things Kade said about me?