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“I have him. ”
Zeke turned, staring in shock as Gene stumbled through the smoky haze.
He and Rowdy supported Cranston’s half- conscious form. Gene’s blond hair was singed, soot covered his face. A gash along his forehead seeped blood and Rowdy didn’t look much better.
“Let’s get the hell out of here. ” Zeke took Rowdy’s weight as he swayed and nearly went to his knees. “Son of a bitch, their wives will kill me. ”
“No shit,” Gene snarled furiously, his blue eyes enraged. “If I don’t end up killing every friggin’ damned one of you myself. Motherfuckers. This is what I get for trusting a slimy damned Homeland Security agent and my best fucking friend. ”
Confusion and rage clouded Zeke’s mind. With his hands full of Rowdy’s nearly unconscious form, he couldn’t slug Gene. He followed him instead, finally having to duck and sling Rowdy’s weight over his shoulder to rush him from the bar as another explosion shook it.
Too damned much liquor. It was going off like mini-bombs as the fire began to race through the entire building.
“Thank God. Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch. ” Dawg raced toward them, his green eyes demented in his haggard face. “Is he alive?”
Dawg jerked Rowdy from Zeke as Gene collapsed on the grass, far enough away from the bar for safety, and let Timothy Cranston’s weight slide to the ground.
“What the hell happened here?” Zeke jerked Dawg around, glaring down at him as sirens began to fill the air.
“We fucked up, that’s what the hell happened,” Dawg screamed. “You were watching the wrong man. Fucking Cranston, I’m killing the son of a bitch this time. He had us watch Gene when Gene was working with him all along. He wasn’t the man we were searching for. ”
Dawg was out of control. Thick, heavy veins pulsed in his neck as his green eyes glowed with a rage that warned Zeke that the other man wouldn’t think before killing.
“What the hell are you talking about? You were watching the wrong man?”
“Because I’m not your goddamned killer, you fucking moron. ” Gene stumbled to his feet, swaying before righting himself. “And Cranston knew it. The dirty bastard, I’ve been working with him since the day those two state police offers were killed. Yeah, the fucking pictures you found?” he sneered in Zeke’s face. “I didn’t kill those men, Zeke. ”
“You were there!”
“I was there, and my whole fucking family was at risk if I made the first fucking wrong move!” Gene screamed. “My family, Zeke. My wife. My kids. I contacted someone I knew in DHS after the bodies were taken away. The morbid motherfucker had me watching you. ”
Shock resounded through Zeke with a tidal wave force as he stared back at Gene.
Cranston was a manipulating bastard, there was no doubt of that. From the moment he had hit town with the supposed excuse of having been suspended, Zeke had known he was playing games. Hell, Zeke had been helping him play those games, and he’d never suspected he was being hung out to dry like every other agent that ever worked for Cranston was hung out.
“He had me watching you,” Zeke rasped.
“And the killer got away. ” Dawg pushed between the two men. “Your killer is Jonesy, Zeke. He slipped out of the bar after taking a baseball bat to Natches and Walker. He’s gone. ”
Zeke stared back at him, fighting to process the information bombarding him now.
He turned to Gene, the suspicions tearing through him now were destructive. Cranston had known all along. Like Zeke, he had no proof of his suspicions, unlike Zeke, he hadn’t been chasing shadows. Cranston had had them all chasing shadows as he focused on Jonesy.
“Did you know it was Jonesy?” Zeke rasped back at Gene.
Gene shook his head furiously. “Jonesy wasn’t part of the League, Zeke. ”
“Are you sure?” Zeke grabbed him by his shirt collar and jerked him closer. “Think, Gene. Did he know about the house? My house?”
Did Jonesy know about the secret tunnel into the basement, or the entrance to it?
Gene’s eyes widened. “God. You hid her at the house. God, no, Zeke. ”
“Did he know about the house?” Zeke shook him roughly. “Did he know about the tunnel into the basement?”
It was the only way to get to her without setting off the alarms that would have instantly rang Zeke’s phone. It was the only way anyone could get to Rogue.
“Zeke, it was his idea,” Gene rasped. “Dad told me about it. Jonesy helped plan the construction of that tunnel years before your father ever built the house. ”
