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“Did you think he’d set you and Joe free?”
Carmen’s eyes teared up again as she stared at Jordan. No one spoke for a moment while the struggle between reality and make-believe played out on the woman’s face. Finally, she drew a deep breath and lowered the gun. “Why? Why would he kill my Joe?” Two identical lines of tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Brody is evil. He killed Joe in cold blood, and he’ll kill us too if we don’t get out of here.” Jordan went to her and put her arms around Carmen’s shoulders. “I’m sorry,” Jordan said, amazed she could feel regret for Halstead’s death. “We have to go now before Brody comes back.” She reached for Carmen’s gun.
“How touching!”
Both women spun toward the voice. Brody stepped from the shadows a short distance away and sauntered toward them. “Carmen, you disappoint me.”
“You shot Joe.” Carmen’s voice was surprisingly steady as she pointed her weapon at Brody.
He shrugged. “It was an accident.”
“She was there, Brody,” Jordan hissed. “She saw you murder him.”
He ignored her, looking straight at Carmen. “Some people just need killing. What? Do you think they’ll give you a medal for helping Jordan? Won’t happen. You’ll go to jail, and her testimony will put you there. Is that what you want?”
“Don’t talk to me about Joe,” cried Carmen.
Brody laughed and sidled toward her. “Halstead ordered the hit; he wanted it to look like an accident. That’s what I intend to do, and I need your help. Halstead would expect that, so forget this bullshit and give me the gun.”
Carmen’s expression morphed from terrified to calm determination in a heartbeat. The quick transformation forewarned Jordan even before the woman braced for the recoil. Jordan moved sideways, away from Brody and the woman with a score to settle. Resisting the urge to cover her ears, she held her breath and waited for the blast. Time slowed as she noted every nuance of Carmen’s body language. The woman stood taller, her chin jutting forward. Clear eyes followed Brody’s movements. She squeezed the trigger, but the only sound was a sharpclickon an empty chamber. Puzzlement furrowed Carmen’s brow, and she dropped her arm.
Brody covered the remaining steps between them and jerked the gun from her fingers. Then he turned toward Jordan with a mocking smile that didn’t reach his cold eyes. One hand tightly fisted, he stomped toward her. “I blame you for this, darlin’. I’ll have to punish you. Too bad I’m not done with you yet.”
Abruptly, he swung around. Jordan caught a flash of steel from the corner of her eye as he hurled a knife toward Carmen.
“No!” Jordan only had time to scream. The blade hit Carmen with a sickening thud. Shock and disbelief widened her eyes, and she opened her mouth in a soundless cry. Blood streamed from the wound in her throat and leaked from her mouth as she clawed at the knife. She stumbled backward and fell, her body jerking as she struggled to live.
The bile rose in Jordan’s throat, and she swallowed hard. Picking up the first weapon she could find, a broken juniper branch, she aimed for Brody’s head and swung with all her might.
Brody grabbed the branch, wrenching it from her grasp. He backhanded her across the face, snapping her head around. Pain exploded, rattling her teeth. Blackness encroached on the edges of her consciousness. She slammed to the ground, face first. Ears ringing, she crawled to her hands and knees, but standing required more fortitude than she could muster. Brody kicked her in the belly. She dropped to the ground again and curled into a ball as pain consumed her like liquid fire.
He knelt beside her. She shrank from his touch as he brushed the hair from her face and pinched her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. Don’t ever try that again.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jake’s deep growl alertedthem to the body, the knife protruding grotesquely from the jugular notch of Carmen’s throat. A gruesome death, drowning in one’s own blood.Justice served.Brody continued to surprise Travis, and after hundreds of ops in the asshole of the world, nothing much shocked him anymore. But just knowing the madman responsible for Carmen’s murder still had Jordan tore at Travis’s insides.
“Not good.” Coop closed the dead woman’s eyes. “Brody’s gone rogue.”
The man planned to kill Jordan—Travis had no doubts about that. It was only a matter of time before she outlived her usefulness. Anger heated his blood at the thought of the torture he would put her through first. Brody made no secret of his perverted sexual preferences and contempt for women.
Jake barked and trotted in circles, nose to the ground, obviously anxious to get back on the trail. Afraid the dog would get too far ahead and find Brody before they could get in position, Travis removed his belt and wrapped it around Jake’s collar, forming a makeshift leash. He was their ace in the hole. Travis picked up on the dog’s soft whining when his wounded shoulder bore his weight. Still, the animal tugged on the leather strap in his hand, unwilling to give up the hunt. Jordan must have made quite an impression on the dog. Travis grimaced. She’d had that effect on him as well.
