Page 35 of Silent Comrade
“Which sister?”
“Kiera. Can we sit?” He lifted a heavy armand motioned.
Her mouth drooped. “Is she okay?”
“Now she is.”
“What?” She tilted her head. “Fine. I’doffer something to drink, but I’m still too mad at you to havemanners.” Her chin jutted as she flopped into a corner of the loveseat. “Spill.”
He hid a laugh. Barely. He settled as faraway as possible for his own safety. Which was to say, way tooclose. Was he safe from her anger or safe from his driving need toencircle her in his arms and not let go?
She glared at him until he started tosweat.
Safe from the need to haul her into anembrace, then.
Clearing his throat, he began. “You know howBrady had worked for the Fallen Comrades charity?”
“Yes.”
Red shouldn’t be the guy to deliver thisnews. Britt’s sister had protected her from the truth.
“Brady died.”
“I know.”
“Yes, but you don’t know the whole story. Hedied as a result of his work with Fallen Comrades.”
His fingers itched with the need to smooththat furrow forming between her brows. Her intake of breath camefrom a distance. “I don’t understand.”
“There is evidence that the CFO of FallenComrades, Beau Lequire, killed Brady.”
That electric-blue gaze locked onto him.“What? Why hasn’t someone gone to the police with this? We shouldget the FBI or law enforcement on the case.” Her hands fluttered asshe whipped her head around. “I need to call Dad. My sisters.”
He held up a palm, like such a gesture couldhold back the tsunami that was Britt. “Let me finish the story.Then we’ll discuss next steps.” He continued. “Kiera took Brady’sdeath badly, as you probably know.”
“We all did.”
“Of course. But she had an additional stakein it. After the funeral, one of Brady’s former teammates met withher. The teammate had … resources she didn’t have. He and Kieracooked up a plan to infiltrate Fallen Comrades and discover thetruth.”
“You’re kidding me. She never mentionedanything about a mission.”
“She and the teammate spent almost a yearundercover, infiltrating the Fallen Comrades charity. They foundway more than they had expected.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I don’tunderstand. She emailed me a few weeks ago, enjoying her new job inAsheville.”
“She’s been here in Atlanta.”
Her pretty mouth dropped open. “No.”
A brief nod. “Kiera got proof of Lequire’scrime. He had had Brady killed because Brady knew too much abouthow Lequire cheated vets out of their charity money.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She rubbed her upper arm with the oppositehand and whispered, “That’s why Brady’s dead, isn’t it?”
“It’s also why our teammate is dead, tryingto protect the information he and Kiera stole from FallenComrades.”
