“Holy fuck,” Gray breathed.He seemed both impressed and horrified.“You’ve profiled me.”
“It’s what I do.”Modest.
“I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered.”Gray tapped his chin.“Gonna go with flattered.Just because I’m way too tired to be offended.”
“Get to the point,”Kane urged.They were all freaking tired.
But Ana frowned up at him.“Semper Fi?Isn’t that the motto for Marine Corps?”
He inclined his head.
“You were a Marine.”A considering pause from her.“That fits.”
“Once a Marine, always a Marine.”Emerson had turned brisk.“Always faithful.Thatisthe translation for Semper Fi,um, Semper Fidelis, isn’t it?Always faithful.And Kane, you have been a very faithful friend to Grayson—Gray.Someone who he trusts above all others.Someone who he knew would come rushing back to help when he needed assistance with an old case.”
Ana wasn’t an old case.She’s everything.“I think you were supposed to be getting to the point, Dr.Marlowe.”
“That would be really great,” Ana agreed.“If you could just speed things along and stop being dramatically suspenseful.”
“Sorry.”A grimace.“Logan was angry at Grayson.He blamed Grayson for Ana’s betrayal.”
“Gray,” Gray muttered.“Told you to call meGray.”
“I didn’t betray the man,” Ana fired back at Emerson.“He was akiller.I saw what Logan did.You want to know why I wake up at two a.m.every single night and can’t go back to sleep?Why I go downstairs and play that harp every night at that time?I’ve done that routine since I bought the harp.Before that, I would just go downstairs and stare out at the darkness.Now I play music.It soothes me.It helps me to deal with the memory of waking up, going down to the basement, and discovering that Logan had just shoved a knife deep into a man’s throat.”
Kane wanted to haul her into his arms.Hug her.“We are done here.Gray, you say that room is ready?”
“Oh, yeah.It’s ready and waiting for you.”
Good.Ana needed sleep.She had to be dead on her feet.Dead.No, no, Ana wasn’t dead.He guided her toward the door.
Emerson stepped into their path.“Logan didn’t know your identity, Kane.All he knew was that you were the man who put a gun to his head.A man who wanted to pull the trigger.A man whowouldhave pulled the trigger, if Ana hadn’t stopped you.”
Gray cursed.“Fuck, but he sure got chatty with you, didn’t he, Emerson?”
She ignored Gray’s words and told Kane, “You were a mystery to Logan.He only knew your first name.Kane.No last name.No identifying background information.Hard to find a ghost when all you have is a first name.But, when Logan got out and Gray thought Ana was in danger, Gray called you in.You came running.”Her gaze darted to Gray, then back to Kane.“You both came running, and now he has all three of you together.He has you all in his sights.”
And Kane realized why there had been three attacks that night.
He realized why Turner hadn’t been ordered to kill Ana sooner.Gray had been wrong when he thought it was because Logan was possessive, that the man saw Ana as his.Gray had been wrong when he thought that Logan wanted to personally handle the attack—or at least, he’d been partially wrong.
The truth was…
If Emerson was right…
Dammit.
“He waited until we were all here and as soon as Turner told him that I’d made an appearance in town, Logan moved to attack,” Kane said.It would have been easy enough for Logan to give Turner a description of Kane.Kane knew that he tended to stand out in a crowd, and as soon as Turner confirmed to Logan that Kane was in the area, sticking close to Ana…
You moved in to eliminate me, didn’t you, you bastard?
“That’s what I believe.”Emerson’s face showed no emotion.“I believe that Logan set a trap.He waited because he had three targets that he needed to pull together.And the attacks tonight were him executing his plans for revenge.First, he launched the attack on Ana.He sent in Turner to get close and kill her.Then, the bullets flew toward Grayson.And, finally, he came after you, Kane.I believeyouwere the intended target at the drive-by that occurred at Ana’s house.After all, Ana just said thatyouwere the one in front of the window.If the lights were on inside, I bet your outline was quite visible from the street.”
Kane was sure he had been visible because the lights had been on and the curtains had even been partially open.Amateur mistake.He’d still been dazed from fucking Ana and not thinking clearly.Or I was still just thinking with my dick.He should have been more aware.
“If Turner had been watching her closely—and my gut says he had been very, very watchful—then he would have known exactly when Ana awakened each night.He would have seen the lights turn on downstairs.Maybe even caught the sound of the harp drifting in the air.He would have fed that information to Logan, and Logan would’ve had a timeline to use.Two a.m.He just had to wait for his target to move into position.Then, bam.He attacked.”
“Fuck,” Gray rasped.
