Page 94 of Storm Warning

“It must be John’s men,” Hawk said. “They’re supposed to be here to protect Remi. They saw you, so took a shot. That was a wrong move, but I understand. You tried to kill John, so they’re out for revenge.”

Blood leaked between Cole’s fingers, and Hawk added his hand. He couldn’t watch his brother bleed out. “I’ll fix this. I’ll get us help and keep them from shooting you. But you’re going to have to come in. I don’t know how you escaped.”

Hawk started to move, but Cole gripped him. “I don’t know what that conspirator John told you, but I didn’t shoot him. I didn’t try to kill him.” Cole spat the words at him.

“I saw him with my own eyes.”

“You saw him. Already shot? The first time you sawmeat John’s, that was the first moment I stepped into that house. You didn’t see me shoot him, did you?”

“No, but...”

“He told you that, didn’t he? Like he told you I was an assassin.”

Was Cole just trying to get in his head and twist things all around in a weird psychological game? “Well, yes, but...”

“And you’re part of this. Working for him, so who’s the traitor here?” Cole asked.

“I’m not working for John! He was helping me keep Remi safe. He sent me to the lodge, knowing I’d find you. I’vebeen looking for you.” Hawk had already gotten a very bad feeling about it.

Cole pulled Hawk close and ground the words through clenched teeth. “You’re telling me, brother to brother, that you’re not after the device.”

“No. I didn’t even know about it.” And Hawk’s reply meant he’d confessed to knowing something. In fact, he shouldn’t have said that much, but he wasn’t going to lie to his brother. They were already in too deep for it to matter. Either of them could die today. They might not make it out of this.

“Guess what?” Cole asked. “John is trying to get it so he can sell to the highest bidder. He was all set to sell to Andre Aslam when you tangled with him.”

“What? How do you know this? You can’t believe that. Iwon’tbelieve it.”

“Then you’re naive.”

“I’ve known him for years. He saved my life.”

“And he’s counting on that loyalty. He’s using it to turn you against me, and by the way, you’ve known me longer. When this is all over, he’ll blame whatever happens on me. Don’t you see?”

No. Hawk didn’t see. Or maybe he didn’t want to see. But this was Cole. How could he have been so willing to believe the worst?

“Remi said you were there on the helicopter that crashed. Tell me what happened to bring you to this point.” Hawk needed to hear this story. He was torn between believing his brother and his longtime mentor and friend.

Cole winced in pain and drew in a few quick breaths. “Someone took out my team. I made it my mission to find out who was behind it, and in the process, I discovered your buddy was working with an arms trafficker but double-crossed him. They wanted to sell what Sergei developed tothe highest bidder, which just happened to be a very bad dude who ran a very bad terrorist group.”

“Aslam.”

“Yes. My team got caught in the crossfire. And then their most valuable asset—Sergei Petrov—was dead. It’s all been a race to wait.”

“A race to wait. What do you mean?” Then Hawk thought he understood.

“For Remi Grant to remember. She was inadvertently drawn into keeping Sergei safe. My intel connections suggested that both Whitman and Marshall believed Sergei must have told her something. But I suspected it to begin with. I saw him push her out of the helicopter. We were over water, and he had to suspect what was coming next. He was self-sacrificial in that way. But she couldn’t survive on her own, or at least I thought. Our bird had been sabotaged from the inside out. I jumped to save Remi, and I thought the rest would follow. They would have. I know they were going to, but a rocket launcher took it out.”

Cole closed his eyes.

“Bro. You still with me? You okay?” Hawk had to get him out of this position. He fired his weapon, keeping the men after them at bay, but he could only hold them for so long.

“I didn’t find her. I was rescued and later learned that she had been too, but she was off-limits. Untouchable. But I got close, and I saw John Marshall there.”

“Are you sure you’re right about him?” Hawk hated himself for asking the question.

“I’m positive. I’ve been working with a cyber operations specialist—a hacker in the Army, basically—who lost someone on that mission gone wrong. She’s been helping me. She intercepted communications between John Marshall and Charles Whitman, and we’ve sent thisto the appropriate authorities. It’s only a matter of time before John is arrested. I’m relieved that you’re not working with him.”

“I can’t believe you thought I was,” Hawk said.

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