Chapter Two
“Holy shit. This is going to take months of work to crack.” Elise shook her head at the information running over the computer screen.
“We don’t have months.” Her superior officer sat in shadows, which was fine because his disguise was nothing to look at. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and glasses, though she guessed he didn’t look like this at all. She only knew him as Hart.
“I’ll do my best, work long hours. But I don’t think I can get through all of this information in the time you need it.”
“We’ll get you help. But you have to understand how sensitive this information is. The message you intercepted was far beyond what we ever expected. This,” he waved a hand at the screen, “is top priority.”
She stared at the series of letters and numbers that seemed like simple notes to friends or even grocery lists but, carried to the wrong person, would be deadly to the US population. A thrill went through her—this was what she lived for, and she’d never had a project so big or important before.
Hart stood and she did too, keeping her post by the computer, eager to dig in. “I’ll find you that help you need.”
“Thank you, sir.” She waited till the door closed behind him before dropping back into her seat. “Jesus,” she breathed as she stared at the information. First thing she had to do was—
The door opened again, and she heard the familiar sound of Bo’s boots. She barely glanced up as he hovered over her, a hand planted on the desk.
“You did amazing, Elise. This intel is invaluable.”
“I know.” She gave a small shake of her head. “And getting it was so easy too. It makes me wonder if they wanted us to find it.”
“Like it’s a decoy to throw us off?”
She nodded. But a string of words on the screen caught her eye, and her mind removed certain letters, rearranged, and came out with something else that had another meaning.
She reached for her keyboard and tapped out what she’d just cracked.
Bo released a low whistle. “Damn. I’ll never stop being amazed by how your mind works. If only…”
She looked up into his eyes. “Yeah, we’re better this way.”
“Yeah.”
Feeling an odd tension in her lower belly, she returned her attention to the screen. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, Bo.”
“They’re sending someone to help you.” The tight tone of his voice roused her from the words on the screen. She studied the crease between his brows.
“Do you know who they’re sending?”
“I can guess.”
She arched a brow in a care-to-fill-me-in way.
A muscle leaped in the crease of his angular jaw. “Knight.”
She blinked. “As in Knight Ops?”
“Yeah. One of the brothers is the one who hacked the Pentagon as a teen. Got recruited straight to working for the government and then got ‘bored,’ as it’s told, and joined the Marines like his brothers.”
“That kid is a Knight?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t look like he was stomaching it very well, and she wondered if his own cocky pride was threatened by men like the Knights who were gaining notoriety faster than any special ops team in the world.
Bo ran a hand over his face, creating a rasping noise. He still hadn’t shaved and now that she looked closer, it appeared he hadn’t gotten any sleep. Either he’d been occupied with one of his special lady friends or he’d been up all night waiting for news from her.
She pushed out a sigh. Their relationship was more complicated than she admitted to, but the bottom line was that love wasn’t involved—at least not in the familiar sense of the word. She loved Bo like a best friend, if not a brother, though she could still admire how handsome he was. And how he was always there for her in all ways proved the depth of his feelings.
She’d do anything for him as well, and he knew it.
Resting a hand on his bulging forearm, she said, “You don’t need to worry about me working with another guy. I can hold my own against the cockiest of men.”
He laughed, even if it sounded far too gritty. He couldn’t be… jealous, could he? No, of course not. He was just being protective of her, like a big brother over his younger sister.
“It’s not you I’m worried about, Elise. I know you can grab a man by the balls, twist and pull faster than someone could lay hands on you. It’s just…” He trailed off, looking into her eyes. “Forget it. I know you’ve got this.” He stood and made for the door.
Typical man skirting the issues and running for his life.
No matter—she had work to do anyway. She turned back to the screen. Over her shoulder, she said, “Close the door behind you, Bo. I’ll call you later.”
He grunted but she ignored him, too engrossed in the challenge on the screen before her. She cracked her fingers and hovered the tips over the keyboard as her brain flooded with codes.
* * * * *
“Is that steak I smell burning on the grill?” Sean asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Oh damn!” His younger sister, Tyler, dashed for the back door and the deck where the grill was located.
“Tyler! You were supposed to keep watch on the steaks!” their mother called after her.
Sean crossed the kitchen and dropped a kiss to his maman’s cheek. “Sorry I’m late.”
She compressed her lips and gave him the eye, letting him know he wasn’t getting anything past the woman who’d raised him. Not that he expected to. “Your brothers said you might be bringing someone to dinner.”
“They’re wrong. It’s just me.” He’d spent time with—okay, slept with—two other women since Ali, but they were mediocre at best. Not one rocked his world, but then again, he wasn’t looking for permanent, was he?
His other sister, Tyler’s twin Lexi, came to squeeze Sean around the shoulders. He hadn’t seen her in too many days and couldn’t help but notice the gleam in her eyes. He let out a groan and held Lexi away from him.
“Please tell me you don’t have a new boyfriend.”
She gave him a small, angelic smile she only whipped out when she needed to quiet her brothers’ growls, but fact was that Lexi had terrible taste in men. Her last boyfriend had attempted to clean out her bank account, and since Lexi had suffered from a lack of oxygen during her birth and, consequently, a lack of talent for numbers, she hadn’t realized until too late.
But Sean had personally overseen the mission to hunt down the boyfriend and teach him a lesson, with the help of Chaz, Dylan and Roades.
Colonel Jackson’s words echoed in his head… You’re damn good at strategy, Knight.
“Sean, leave your sister alone and go rescue those steaks,” Maman said.
Shooting Lexi a pointed look that said he wasn’t done with this, he went onto the deck. It wrapped the cabin on two sides and the waters of the Louisiana swamps glittered in the sunlight. He dragged in a deep breath of the familiar scents of Spanish moss and bracken—and charring beef.
“Let me in there.” He shouldered his way to the grill, and Tyler passed him the tongs.
“You’re welcome to it, bro. Have fun.”
At the end of the dock, his three brothers were kicked back with beers. Dahlia sat on Ben’s knee, sipping a wine cooler. And their pére was gazing out over the bayou while talking with his brothers.
Sean got the steaks off the grill and checked them. None of the Knights liked their meat mooing at them and preferred them cooked medium, but these were blackened on the outside and definitely done more than they liked.
His ears pricked up on the conversation at the other end of the deck.
“Jackson Hole. Your maman has always wanted to go there,” their father said.
“Does she know?” Dahlia asked, a smile on her pretty face.
Their father shook his head, his own smile in place. “Gonna surprise her after supper. Think she’ll take to a getaway for our anniversary?”
Ben snorted. “If I know Maman, she won’t want to leave her hellion daughters to their own devices, but they’re old enough to do for themselves.”
“I heard that.” Tyler strode over to clap Ben on the ear, sending Dahlia into giggles. “Lexi and I can manage ourselves, thank you very much. We aren’t kids anymore.”
Looking at his tall, curvy sister wearing cutoffs that would rock the worlds of too many men, Sean would agree.
He waved the tongs at his family. “I agree—the girls will be fine. Whatever goes down with their love lives, I’m out of it. Unless some kind of heist is involved, and then I’ve got enough zip-ties and toolbox space to handle the problem.”
His brothers all stared at him and Tyler shook her head. “Should we be hearing this, Sean? I thought your jobs are confidential.”
He threw her a wink and carried the platter to the table. He barely set it down when a phone buzzed—a sound that was foreign out here without cell towers or electric.
Sean’s gaze locked on Ben. Dahlia leaped off his lap as if that buzz had been a gigantic wasp stinging her in the backside. Ben withdrew the satellite phone from his back pocket, his stare locked on his fiancée as he answered.
“Knight.” He listened for a second and then jammed his fingers through his too-long, not remotely military regulation hair. “Fuck. Now?”
Chaz, Dylan and Roades stood, at the ready. Sean’s stomach growled at the scent of steaks, which he’d probably be missing out on if the look on Ben’s face was anything to go by.
“Fine. We’re leaving now.” Ben tossed a look at each of the Knight Ops team.
“Oh no. You’ll miss Pere’s announcement to Maman,” Tyler said faintly.
Ben pocketed the phone. “We gotta roll,” he said to the team before reaching for Dahlia. He cradled her face in his hands and said something to her softly that made Sean turn away.
Sean was first to embrace his father and Tyler. Then he strode back inside the cabin to kiss his mother and Lexi. The worst thing about these missions was the leave-taking and seeing the looks on all of his loved ones’ faces made him question whether he ever wanted a wife and family of his own. His safe return was never guaranteed.
Maman ran onto the deck, tendrils of her graying dark hair loose from her ponytail. “Now? You boys didn’t get to eat!”
“I’m sorry, Maman.” Ben kissed her cheek.
Chaz picked up a steak between two fingers and took a bite. Chewing, he came forward to pull Tyler’s hair. “It’s burnt but you can practice while our parents are away.”
“What? Away! What are you talking about, Chaz Knight?” Maman whirled to look at her husband, who was wearing a Kiss the Cook apron, even though he wasn’t cooking, as far as Sean could see.
Their father cleared his throat. “Guess it has to be a rushed announcement. I know you’ve always wanted to go to Jackson Hole, cher, and we’ll be going next week for our anniversary.”
“Oh my!” She flew into his arms, and Sean was grateful for the happy moment to carry with the four of them as they left the family for God-knew-what destination.
Within minutes, they’d used the pirogue to cross the bayou and were back on dry land. They didn’t have the Knight Ops SUV so the only option was Dylan’s compact car.
“How the fuck do you fit in this thing?” Sean asked as he smacked his head when ducking under the doorframe to get in the back seat.
Dylan grinned. “I have enough leg room.” His seat was pushed the whole way back, leaving Sean’s knees pinned to his chest.
The ride from the cabin seemed to drag on. Ben could only tell them they had a security breach and major crisis, but that he didn’t know much else. And that Colonel Jackson hadn’t even been the one to call—it had been an Air Force general.
“Tell me we’re not picking up a flyboy on top of our squid,” Chaz said, referring to Rocko, their only team member who wasn’t a Knight and also happened to be Navy.
“I don’t know,” Ben said, staring out the windshield, lost in his own thoughts. Sean exchanged a look with his brothers. He couldn’t help but feel his big brother’s soul was back on that dock with the woman he loved.
* * * * *
“This is Air Force shit. Why is this our problem?” Sean’s question hung in the air of the conference room, where they were seated waiting to hear all the details of the shit-storm that was about to hit them.
Ben shot him a look. “Because we’re closer. Barksdale Air Force base is practically in our back yard.”
Chaz smacked the top of the table with a palm. “Damn!”
Everyone directed their attention to his random outburst.
“I had a date tomorrow.”
“You mean booty call.” Dylan smirked.
“It’s not a booty call if I bring takeout, dickhead.”
“Oh, forgive me. Then it’s dinner and a fuck. Does that constitute a date in your mind?” Dylan arched a brow.
Chaz gave him a flat stare. Each of the Knights were damn good at giving intimidating looks, but Chaz could make a man’s balls shrivel almost more than Ben could. “We’re keeping it on the down-low.”
“Does that mean she’s married?”
“I don’t cheat, you asshole. We just can’t let anything get out. Because of her position.”
“Missionary,” Rocko and Roades said at the same time, and then bumped knuckles.
Sean grinned but his mind was working over the puzzle. Chaz was tossing breadcrumbs, and nobody was picking them up.
“It’s the DEA agent, isn’t it? The one that we handed those pirates over to.” One of their first missions had been to stop a huge drug shipment, along with a known terrorist about to step onto US soil. Chaz had eyed the curvy DEA agent who came to interfere, but Sean hadn’t thought of her again.
From the narrowing of Chaz’s eyes, Sean had hit the bulls-eye.
“Are you kidding me?” Ben scrubbed a hand over his face. “When do you guys get all this time to fuck? We’ve had all of five hours of leave since Knight Ops formed, I swear.”
Sean leveled his gaze at him. “And still you manage to get a round or three in every day with Dahlia.”
Ben began to respond but was cut off by Colonel Jackson entering, along with an Air Force general behind him. The Knight Ops team stood at attention, and Jackson waved a hand for them to be seated once more.
The man sat and spoke in his usual straightforward manner. “I take it you men have heard.”
Ben nodded. “Warheads being transported from California to Barksdale. Three missing.”
Jesus, three? Sean had assumed there was only one, but their stakes had just been raised.
“That’s right. An extreme oversight that has some heads rolling as we speak.” The general nodded at Ben. “I’m General Gear. Good to see you, men. And thank you for coming.”
Sean felt that familiar tingle of excitement burning at the base of his spine. The sensation urged him not to just move toward the danger but to run at it with a deadly stealth and precision that never failed him. He shifted in his seat, eager to get up and move.
He listened to more of the story of how the warheads had been misplaced. Then General Gear added, “If we find these warheads were mistakenly loaded onto another bomber headed for Barksdale instead of in the wind like we believe, someone’s ass is on the line. But we’re going to operate as if that isn’t the case and there are, in fact, three live ones on the ground.”
“What do we need to do?” Ben asked.
Under his breath, Sean couldn’t help but say, “Damn fly boys keep making a fucking mess to clean up.”
Ben slanted him a look.
“You just want your own team,” Chaz said.
Damn. Bringing up the DEA agent had backfired on Sean.
Everyone straightened, and Ben riveted Sean in his gaze. “What’s this?”
Sean avoided Colonel Jackson’s eyes. “I’m all in Knight Ops. But someday, I’d like to be something besides second in command.”
“This is something to discuss in your leisure time, boys, and you don’t have that right now. We need you to move as swiftly as possible,” Jackson said.
“You need us to get you out of the jam before Americans learn the truth.” Ben’s words rang through the conference room as he spoke what was on everyone else’s minds. “I can’t believe that for the second time in a decade, the Air Force has lost a warhead.”
General Gear eyed Ben with a deadly blank stare. He wasn’t about to be spoken to that way, especially by a punk Marine turned OFFSUS.
A heartbeat passed and then Ben pushed out a sigh, composing himself once more. “Let me state these facts and correct me if I’m wrong. Before transport, the military was supposed to disarm eight warheads, but three slipped by inspection.” He let this statement hang in the air, accusing the men involved not of incompetence but of possible treason. “Then en route to Barksdale, they were hijacked and are believed to be floating around the South somewhere.”
“And we have about five minutes to find them before some redneck comes up with a scheme to take over the country,” Sean said.
Colonel Jackson’s gaze shot to him and then back to the general. “That sums it up, Knight. Question is, how are you boys going to find them?”
The group around the table sat dead still in various poses of contemplation. Dylan had his fingers to his temples and Chaz had rocked back in his chair to look at the ceiling. Roades only had his head cocked, staring without pause at the general as if the man had personally set out to ruin their fun at the cabin. And Rocko was his usual relaxed self, his ankle hitched over his knee and one arm stretched to the back of the empty seat next to him.
Ben looked like a warhead himself, all bottled up and about to blow. Sean couldn’t blame him—leaving his girl for this kind of fuck-up that could have—should have—been avoided would piss anybody off.
“You say there’s a buzz about it?” Sean asked.
The seven-star Air Force General nodded. “Some messages we believe to be related have recently been intercepted and we’ve got our best code cracker on the job. But she needs help.”
Jackson turned his head to pierce Dylan in his gaze. “That’s where you come in, Dylan.”
He straightened. “I’ll start now.”
“I’ll take you there in a minute. One more thing.”
They all tensed. In this business, the other shoe always dropped. And it was never good.
“That Russian spy you had in your clutches a few days ago. He never made it to DC.”
Sean reeled back in his seat. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding me.” He took back his comment about a redneck and replaced it with some Russian terrorist.
Jackson shook his head. “Something happened between the transport van and jet. Believe me, there are some military police in a world of shit right now for this little oversight. But I’ll just put it out there that the Russian might have been in the South waiting for these warheads to show up.”
“And now he’s loose and so are the warheads,” Ben concluded in an isn’t-that-fabulous voice.
Jackson nodded. “Dylan, come with me. The rest of you have some planning to do. Use the room as long as you’d like.”
The general stood and left with Jackson and Dylan on his tail. Sean glanced at his team. “Can you believe that shit? Letting that Russian go after the trouble we went through to capture him?”
“You’re just pissed about wasting all those zip-ties on the man,” Chaz quipped. His banter fell flat as the situation too heavy.
Ben got up and paced to the wall of tall windows overlooking the parking lot and beyond that, the coast.
Sean’s mind worked over their course of action. What they really needed was a solid lead on locating the warheads or the spy. Without those, they were more or less wandering the South looking for a fox in a hole. And there were too many holes to look into and far too little time.
Pushing back his chair, Sean stood. Everyone stared at him. “I’m going with Dylan and see if I can at least get enough intel to find a starting point.”
Ben turned from the window. “You’d better move it. They’re crossing the parking lot right now.”
Sean took off in a jog, navigating the corridors and pushing past the guards to get outside. He called out, and Jackson and Dylan stopped before getting into a black car. Sean caught up. “I’m going along to carry back any information that will help in the planning.”
Jackson gave a sharp nod and opened the back door to climb in. Dylan and Sean exchanged a look and then Dylan climbed into the spacious back seat and Sean took shotgun with the driver. In minutes, he became aware that they didn’t have the code analyst set up in an obvious part of the city. New Orleans had many richly cultural areas, and they were headed into voodoo and black magic territory. Typical undercover operation.
When they arrived at an old storefront, Sean suppressed a snort. Yup, he’d guessed it. The place looked to have been vacant since Hurricane Katrina.
The driver stopped along the curb and they all got out. Without waiting, Sean went inside the building and stopped, looking at the dust fallen on glass display cabinets and a circa-1990s cash register.
Someone came out of the back room, and Sean straightened, hand flying to his sidearm, the heel of his hand on the grip as he stared down the man who stood slightly taller than him.
Dressed in cargo pants and a T-shirt, the man could be military or just some wannabe. They eyed each other, and the guy took a step closer. Sean’s fingers flexed on his weapon.
The man snorted. “Shoulda figured you’d be a dumbass, Knight. I’m not going to attack you. At ease.”
Sean didn’t budge, searching the guy’s clothing for sign of rank, but there was no indication this guy could order him around. “Who the hell are you?”
“Jeeezus,” the guy drawled as Jackson and Dylan entered behind Sean. “What did you bring me to work with, Colonel?”
“Hawk, meet the Knights, Sean and Dylan. Your charge will be working with Dylan here.”
His charge?
“Hawk, as in Bo Hawkeye?” Sean asked.
The guy raised a thick brow at him. Sean’s first impression was extreme dislike. He’d met some cocky motherfuckers in his day, but Hawk seemed to be outranking all of them in asshole factor.
They stood staring at each other like a couple of alley cats fighting over a food scrap, which was dumb because there was nothing to measure their dicks over.
Sean forced his hand away from his side and straightened his body into a non-combative stance. Whether or not he succeeded was anybody’s guess.
“I’m with Dylan. I need to carry intel back to my team.”
Hawk’s nostrils flared slightly, but he didn’t look away. Whatever the hell the guy’s problem was, it couldn’t be with him. Sean had never been in the same room with Hawk before, and he didn’t give a fuck if he did offend him—he had a job to do.
When Sean stepped up to the guy, his chest inches away from Hawk’s, he felt a ripple run across his skin that was pure adrenaline. After a long second, Hawk stepped aside, allowing him to pass into the room where Dylan had gone.
As he entered the cramped back room, his gaze flitted over cardboard boxes and work surfaces to one small desk in the corner where Dylan was seated. Next to him was a woman, her face partially hidden by the huge high-tech monitor she sat behind.
The analyst was female?
He stepped farther into the room, and the woman tipped her head up to peer over the monitor at him. Sean’s chest constricted as his stare clashed with the warmest, biggest brown eyes he’d ever seen.
An odd spark struck his solar plexus and zipped through his entire body. Like being struck by a lightning bolt. What the hell was that?
He twitched his fingers into fists.
Dylan was completely engrossed in what was on the screen, oblivious to the moment that passed between Sean and this… this goddess? Code cracker. Special operative.
And Hawk was in charge of her? Jackson had said that, hadn’t he?
The low voices of Jackson and Hawk in the other room rose and fell. For all Sean knew, they were comparing recipes, and he sure as hell hoped so. It would give him more time to get closer to the beauty seated next to his brother.
His very lucky brother, who was about to be overthrown.
He moved forward, circling a table that might have been a place to fold clothing items or roll out dough when this business was in operation. He had no idea what this shop had once been, but for the moment it was HQ.
The woman came more into view, the sight of her delivering another hit to the chest as he took in her sleek dark hair, the ends just below her collarbones. She appeared to be as fit as a Marine, with sharp shoulders and trim arms in a simple navy top. She wore no jewelry and no dog tags. But why would she if she was working for OFFSUS or some other government operation?
His lungs were burning, and he realized he wasn’t breathing. He sucked in a breath and came to stand next to the desk. The beauty looked up at him, eyes wary but carrying a hint of amusement.
Her skin, café au lait with a dash of cream, had a richness he burned to see under the glow of candlelight. Or moonlight in the bayou. The vision of naked limbs and those plump dark pink lips of hers had his cock stirring.
Jesus, voodoo and black magic indeed. What the hell was this woman doing to him?
“I’m Knight.” He stopped as that glimmer in her eyes brightened. She was laughing at him inside. And he was acting like a fool, as if he’d never met a woman in his life, let alone taken many to his bed. “Sean Knight.”
“Nice to meet you.” She didn’t offer her name or her hand, and he didn’t know which bothered him more. He needed her name—but he wanted to touch her skin, to make that contact that always bound humans together.
Had she shaken Dylan’s hand? He slid his gaze to his brother, who was so engrossed he didn’t even look up. His geek side was showing, but he let that flag fly with pride.
She tilted her head to the side, revealing two tiny silver studs in her earlobe. The daintiest, most feminine accessories Sean had ever seen. His fingertip tingled to reach out and stroke his finger across her lobe, but he couldn’t touch her—not because he was a stranger but because he’d surely break such a creature.
“And your name is?” he prompted.
Dylan lifted his eyes from the screen and stared at Sean. Damn, was it that obvious that he was acting oddly?
“This is Special Operative Elise Dupré. She’s been working for twenty hours straight on this message, and she’s so close to having part of it stripped down.” Dylan’s voice rang with admiration.
No. That couldn’t happen. Dylan was not working with this woman.
Elise.
Also, Sean didn’t want to hear the words stripped down associated with Elise or coming from Dylan’s mouth ever again.
He grabbed a metal folding chair and flipped it open, settling it next to the woman. Beside her, he looked like a mountain. She was smaller than he’d guessed, and he dwarfed her. A protective instinct rose up, unbidden.
It’s my duty to protect anything more vulnerable than I am. I’m here to protect and serve.
God, could he serve her. Seating her on his face, her honey-brown thighs clasping his ears as he—
“This.” Elise pointed to the screen, and Dylan followed her finger. Sean had no idea what they were seeing in the simple words. But he wasn’t leaving his brother alone with Elise. The team could fill him in on the operation later, because he was staying right here.
Dylan reached for the keyboard. “May I?”
Dammit, had they just exchanged a smile? No. Absolutely not.
Elise pushed the keyboard in his direction and Dylan tapped out some letters that at first glance, appeared to be scrambling the existing words. But he hit another key and a few letters were suddenly in bold type and spelling out something completely different.
“Kentucky? Fucking Kentucky,” Sean growled.
Elise looked at him, eyes wide.
Feeling like a barbarian, he offered her a smile that felt utterly foreign on his face. Judging by the look on Dylan’s, it appeared as weird as it felt.
“We’ve spent a lot of time in Kentucky recently,” Sean said by way of explanation.
“Ah.” The sound she uttered was so feminine, so fucking close to the sound she’d make in Sean’s bed, that his jeans grew tight in the crotch.
“Do you believe the warheads are somewhere in Kentucky?”
She gave a light shake of her head that sent her hair brushing across those delicious collarbones. If Sean got fully hard while seated on this folding chair, his fly was going to burst.
Dylan and Elise began talking fast, skipping over parts that Sean didn’t understand, leaving him to fill in the blanks as if they were speaking a foreign language and he was only comprehending every third word.
Elise raised her hands and started fluttering her fingers in the air, seeming to outline things nobody could see but he assumed her brilliant mind made perfect sense of.
Dammit, this woman was intriguing, alluring, smart and giving off the appeal of a voodoo priestess oozing sex and magic. Looking at her, he wouldn’t doubt she had someone just like that in her family tree.
And Dylan was going to work with her? No.
“Dylan, can I speak with you alone?” His words came out harsh, stopping their chatter dead.
They both stared at him. Dylan gave a single nod and then looked to Elise. She went back to the screen as Sean stood and walked out of the room. He had to make something clear, and he was damn well pulling rank.
It would take a crash-course in codes and data, but Sean was a quick study with languages, and this couldn’t be much different, right? He was more than ready. He just had to get his brother out of the way.
Dylan was stepping aside so Sean could take his place.