Chapter 11
“You can take a seat on the side, ma’am.” The detective was polite.
She gave him a hard glance and said, “I’d rather sit with Flynn.”
“He’s just answering questions. You can wait until he comes back out again.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man on the other side of the desk. “I know you’re just doing your job,” she said.
“Good,” he barked. “Then let us do it. If there’s no reason to keep him, then we won’t.”
She glared at him again until a soft laugh came from behind her. She turned to see Logan. “There you are. You’re getting him out of here, right?”
“With you on his defense team?” Logan asked with a chuckle. “I doubt they’ll charge him with anything. Because if they did, they’d have to face you. And believe me, that’s not what any of them want.”
The detective behind the desk muttered, “You got that right.”
Logan led her to one of the long benches against the wall. “Let’s just sit here and relax.”
“How can I possibly do that when they took him in for questioning?”
“Did they say what it was about?” he asked.
“No, but what else could it be other than Jonas’s murder?” She let her breath out in a heavy sigh, running her hands through her hair. “The guy makes me nuts. You know that, right?”
Logan laughed. “He has that effect on a lot of people.”
She smiled. “But he’s a good guy.”
“Glad you noticed.”
It was the emphasis on the word noticed in his voice that had her glaring at him in suspicion. “What do you mean by that?”
His grin widened. “Flynn likes you too.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Was it that obvious?”
He laughed out loud. “Your defense of him says a lot.”
“You’ve got to remember I defend the underdogs,” she told him.
“That’s true. But Flynn really doesn’t need anybody to stand up for him.”
“I’m afraid he does now. I don’t know what the hell that friend of his is up to, but he won’t be happy until Flynn suffers for some reason.”
“Well, he’s not a friend any longer,” Logan said. “I’m not sure they ever really were. But they were in the same unit. And when things go bad, they tend to go really bad. Nobody in the military has a weak character, they don’t breed them that way. When they find strengths, they hone and sharpen them. So when two military types get on opposite sides of the same bar, it can get ugly.”
“He has to really hate Flynn in order to want him to suffer like this.”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he isn’t planning to kill him.”
“Oh, my God,” she cried. “Really?”
Logan grabbed her hands, already twisted into knots, her nails digging into her soft flesh. “I shouldn’t have said that. Just take it easy. We really don’t know anything yet.”
“No, you’re wrong there. We know somebody’s setting him up. And with that much hate inside, there’s really no way to know when they’ll stop. If they’re gonna stop. I think you’re right. The endgame is to take Flynn out.”
“Even if it is, Flynn is not anybody’s easy endgame.”
“And he’s not alone, right?” She stared at Logan as if willing him to give her the answer she needed.
Logan nodded his head. “He has all of Levi’s company, me, and my father. And that’s considerable. If we have to, we can pull Bullard’s team into this.”
“Who’s Bullard?”
Logan shook his head. “I forgot you don’t know who he is. Another guy running a company like Levi’s, but they’re over in Africa.”
“Sounds as if I’d like him if he’d step up and help Flynn out. I don’t think Flynn’s had so many people stand by him lately.”
“No, he hasn’t. He doesn’t have any family. But I’ve been his best friend for as long as I can remember.”
She nodded. “He’s got a chip on his shoulder. That I-don’t-need-anybody-in-my-life-because-I’m-doing-just-fine chip.”
At that Logan laughed out loud. “I see you do know him, and obviously very well.”
His tone held a bit of suggestiveness. She flushed. “Not that way.”
“But soon,” he teased.
She flushed an even brighter red and glared at him. “Not likely. The last thing I need to do is spend my evenings sitting inside the police station, waiting for him to come out.”
“Especially when you can be doing something so much more fun.” And he chuckled again.
He obviously knew Flynn very well too. Maybe too well, from the looks he was giving her. “How long have you known him?” she asked abruptly.
“Decades,” he said cheerfully. “We had a few years apart where we didn’t have anything to do with each other but hooked up again in the military. That was awesome.”
She shook her head. “So you know all about his history with women then.”
“Of course I do. Doesn’t mean I know the details or about all of them. But I know about you.”
She nodded. “Figures.”
“Why?”
“Because I have no intention of being yet another little notch on Flynn’s bedpost.”
“Now that is not something Flynn ever did. He had some short-term romances, but when he’s with a girl, he’s in 100 percent. That didn’t mean it always worked out obviously, as he’s never been married. But his relationships always lasted six months or longer.”
She turned to look at him. “For real?”
He nodded. “SEALs get a bad reputation. Hell, all military men get a bad name for being more into the wild and crazy one-night stands and weekends,” he said. “And I doubt any of us can say that we haven’t done something that makes us look back and cringe. But Flynn was much more circumspect. He wasn’t into one-night stands—he was into relationships. I give him credit. I thought he was gonna make it with a couple of them. But it’s tough being married to a SEAL.”
“It’s tough being married to any military man,” she said. “There is always danger around you. Not knowing if you’ll ever come back from the latest mission.”
“True enough. And you gotta realize Flynn’s doing the same kind of work. Maybe not quite as dangerous. Hell, maybe it’s more so. I’m fairly new with Levi myself. But it’s the kind of work we used to do. And some of it’s hazardous.”
“Aren’t you the one who looks after the rich and famous?”
Logan gave her a flat stare. “No. I might’ve done a job or two like that, but that’s definitely not where my aptitude lies.”
“You sure? You look like the one who prefers to have some of those gorgeous women throw themselves all over you.”
Logan chuckled. “Those gorgeous women throw themselves all over me whether I’m looking after them or not.”
“Maybe you lost your heart to one of those fancy ladies you were guarding.”
She couldn’t help teasing him, but she knew that chances were none of it was even true. Until she saw a flush rise up his neck. It was her turn to give him a flat stare and say, “Come on, Logan. Give me the details. Who was she?”
He glared at her. “No one.”
She snickered. “Wait until I tell Flynn about this.”
He narrowed his gaze, shoved his face a little closer to hers and said in a mock-threatening voice, “You won’t say a word to him.”
She shoved her face right back into his until her nose was almost touching his. “Yeah, you wanna bet?”
*
Flynn watched the two spit at each other. He couldn’t stop grinning. His friends were great. He stood in front of them for a long moment, waiting for them to notice him. When they didn’t, he cleared his throat.
Both turned to look up at Flynn, his arms crossed over his chest, a big smirk on his face. “How nice you two are getting to know each other.”
“I’m sure she has a crush on you,” Logan said with a big smirk. “I told her that she should find somebody else because you’re a busy man with the ladies these days.”
Flynn’s eyebrows shot up.
“That’s okay. You don’t understand why’s he’s being mean and lying. Logan is missing his sweetheart,” Anna said, her voice supersweet. “That’s what happens when you’re dumped by someone prettier than you.” She turned to glare at Logan.
Flynn broke into raucous laughter. “Oh, my God. Seeing you two like this is perfect.” He grabbed an arm on each of them, pulled them to their feet and said, “Shall we leave now?”
Anna turned and stopped. “Can you leave? Oh, that’s wonderful.” She threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. “I was so worried about you.”
“I told you there was no need. It’s all fine.”
She stepped back a bit and glared at him. “In my world, there’s no all fine. But I sure as hell would like to get out of here.” She turned to look at Logan, saying in a half-grudging voice, “You’re welcome to come back to my place for a drink—coffee or something—if you want.”
Logan’s grin flashed. “Only as long as you don’t bring up any more of our girlfriend or boyfriend issues.”
She thrust her chin forward. “As long as you don’t either.”
Flynn snagged each of them by the arm once again and directed them toward the front door. “Damn it, that must’ve been some conversation while you were waiting for me.” They walked outside. “I’m sorry I missed it.”
“I could’ve missed it easily.” Anna rolled her eyes. But she was just so damn happy Flynn was allowed to go and there appeared to be no repercussions from the police visit. “What did they actually want?”
They were headed across the parking lot where their vehicles waited. She walked to her car and waited for him to answer.
“Someone sent them a letter stating I killed Jonas.”
Her jaw dropped.
Logan exploded with, “Are you serious?”
Flynn nodded. “But apparently the autopsy confirmed Jonas was killed while I was flying home. He was shot by a small caliber handgun. The slices on his arm were inflicted with my knife and more for show than anything else. More forensic evidence to nail my coffin closed. But I wasn’t here so the plan didn’t work. The same thing for the rifle. Jonas was shot with it postmortem. But it wasn’t the murder weapon. They are looking for a handgun for that. And of course, they found a partial print of mine on the rifle.” He glanced at Logan and said, “Thank God I went on that trip with you and Harrison.”
“Jesus.” Logan stared off in the distance, then shook his head. “Somebody has it in for you.”
“Not somebody, it’s Brendan. I’m pretty damn sure.”
“So sure you’ll exclude everybody else in that equation?” Anna asked. “Making assumptions is not the best idea.”
“No, it’s not, but nobody else in my world really hates me like that. And I told the police that this time.”
“I think one of the things about it is that we don’t often recognize who it is that hates us. The world is full of lies and liars.”
“True enough. But most of those liars aren’t willing to go through with murder to make a point.”
“Aren’t the police looking for Brendan? Why aren’t they asking him where he was on the weekend Jonas was killed?”
“They are looking for him. And as soon as they track him down, they will ask him just that,” Flynn said. “But it appears Brendan is hiding out, and nobody knows where he is right now, including his brother.”
“That sucks. We need to find him ourselves.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Flynn said. “We need to track his credit cards. He has to be paying his way somehow. However, if he was living at his brother’s house or Jonas’s, that’s a different story. So when was his ATM last hit for cash? Does he have a credit card? When was it last used?”
“I believe Ice is getting those answers.”
“When we go home, I’ll see if I can get more.” He glanced at the two of them and asked, “Are you coming to Anna’s place?”
Logan nodded. “I’ll follow you.”
Anna unlocked and opened the car, standing on the pavement, waiting. She turned back to Flynn and asked, “You want to drive, or are you okay if I do?”
“I wouldn’t mind driving,” he said amiably. “But if it’s an issue for you, go ahead.”
“I’m tired,” she admitted. “If you want to, that would be fine with me.” She walked around the car, handed the keys to him and got into the passenger side of her small car.
He walked around, got into the driver’s side and turned on the engine. When they were both buckled in, he drove the car out onto the road. Behind them, Logan followed in one of the big company trucks.
“How many trucks does Levi actually have at the compound?”
“Half a dozen by now, I think. Also a Suburban or two and a couple cars.”
“I gather business is good.”
Flynn laughed. “It is, but one never really knows how good.”
“Can’t blame him for that,” Anna said. “He probably doesn’t even know. With so many jobs coming and going, you’re really only gonna have facts and figures after a few months. As long as the cash is flowing inward, and you’re covering everything, then you’re doing fine. To know if there’s anything left at the end of the day, well, that’ll take a couple quarters to get an idea.”
“What was that about Logan having a ladylove who dumped him?”
She shrugged. “He was razzing me about how you and I interact, so I returned it about him being dumped. Got quite a rise out of him too. I think something must have happened between him and a woman he was looking after in California.”
“I’ll have to ask about that,” Flynn said. “Logan doesn’t get involved easily.”
“Yeah, I got that impression. He said the same thing about you. And that when you do, it’s generally for a long-term relationship.”
“I try hard. If one is worth starting, I’ll give it my all and see how we do.” He glanced at her. “How about you? You go into relationships in a lighthearted manner?”
“No.” She stared out into the darkness on the other side of the windshield. “But then I haven’t had the number of relationships you have.”
“It doesn’t matter how many we have.” His voice deepened. “When you’re in a relationship, you give it your all. There are no guarantees in life, or the future. There certainly aren’t any in happiness. All we can do is our best.”
She turned to look at him and smiled. “How very true.”
He made a couple right-hand turns, then headed out onto the highway. This was one way to get back to her place, probably the fastest. The turnoff was just a mile down the road. Just as they approached it, he put on the signal and slowed down.
Anna glanced behind to see if Logan was there. A big truck was following them, but it wasn’t Logan’s. “Uhm …”
“I see it.” Flynn’s voice turned grim and hard. “Hold on.”
The truck came whipping right up against the back bumper of her car. Flynn hit the gas, and instead of taking the right turn to get off the highway, he darted between two cars in the second lane, and they moved over to the turning lane on the far side as well. She twisted to look at the truck. It was cutting across too. “Oh, my God, it’s following us.”
“I think he was running us off the road.”
Flynn took a hard corner too fast in front of oncoming traffic, then jumped through the lanes to take the turn on the far side. She gave a small cry.
“Sorry, but I had to get out of there.” He whipped onto the first right and took a series of turns, shaking off the tail. Finally, he pulled into a small residential block and parked. The two of them sat there, staring at each other for a long moment. Then both at the same time turned to look behind them. There was no sign of the truck.
“Did I just imagine that?”
He shook his head. “I sure as hell didn’t.”
“What about Logan?”
Flynn pulled out his phone and called Logan. There was no answer. “Damn it. Best case scenario, Logan followed the truck and is right now tracking it down. Worst, Logan missed the whole thing.”
No, that would be that the truck took out Logan first. But he hadn’t heard or seen anything happening behind him, so he presumed Logan’s luck was still holding. That guy seemed to walk through a fire and come out smiling and smelling fresh as roses on the other side. Flynn had never known anybody else like Logan.
Into the eerie silence she whispered, “What do we do?”