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My actions say I’ve got his back, but I don’t. I don’t even have myself. I’m lost at sea, and my island is somewhere else at a club and has no clue our family is hurting.
* * *
A knock at the door has us glancing up as two uniformed officers walk in. They swagger in, all arrogance and asshole, with hands on their hips and scowls on their faces.
I don’t bother standing for them. I already don’t like them.
“Officers.” Jon stands almost silently, since Iz is still out.
“Son,” the first one replies patronizingly. He couldn’t be more than a decade older than us, topping out at forty at the most, but his spare tire and receding hairline aren’t doing him any favors. He’s nearly as tall as us, top heavy, and with old acne scars marring his ruddy face. “I’m Officer Brennan, this is Officer Evans. We’re in charge of…” He looks at his notepad, as though he can’t remember her name. As though she’s not important to him. “Ms. Isabelle Hart’s case. Who are you?”
“I’m Jon Hart.” He steps forward and meets them halfway across the small room. “Iz is my baby sister. And these guys are my business partners and friends; Bobby, Aiden, and James Kincaid, and Jack Reilly. We’re all family.”
Brennan’s eyes stop on me with a glare.Why do I get the feeling I’m always in trouble around here?“Nice to meetcha, boys. Evans and I have already been by your gym. We’ve collected witness statements, since that’s where Ms. Hart was attacked and subsequently found. We spoke to the gentleman who found her.” Again, he checks his notes. “Nice guy, I suppose.” My eyes narrow at his‘I suppose’bullshit. “We’d like to speak to all of you, and to her, when she wakes. At the moment, we’re treating this case as suspicious. We have questions for you as a group, but I’d like to take each of you separately, first.”
Aiden steps up until his shoulder brushes with mine. “Are we suspects, Officer?”
“Well, I’m not sure, Mr. Kincaid. Did you attack Ms. Hart? Should you be a suspect?”
“Of course I didn’t attack her.” Anyone who doesn’t know Aiden would only hear the calm voice. The non-threatening body language. The rational and easy answer. But everyone else in the room whose name doesn’t start with Officer or Asshole knows his jaw is clenching, his teeth grinding, his fists pumping to do some damage. “Every one of us were inside the gym, training or teaching at the time Izzy was carried inside.”
“So, you all have alibis. It’s always so tidy when that happens…” He writes notes in his book. “Do you have a security feed for inside and outside the gym, boy?”
“No. But we have a gym full of men who can verify our whereabouts. What’s more, we have a gym full of men who know we’re family. She’s my sister as much as she’s Jon’s. No man in this room hurt her.”
Brennan looks up and sucks his lip arrogantly. “Does Ms. Hart have a boyfriend? An ex-boyfriend?” He pauses and looks at each of us. “One of you, perhaps?”
I jump forward and intercept both Jon and Jimmy from beating the snot out of this asshole. “We did not hurt her!” I push my brothers back. “Not a single one of us in this room would ever hurt her, and if you’re not gonna investigate this properly, then we’ll go over your head and have someone competent do it.”
“Oh, yeah?” He swaggers forward with a lifted brow. “You threatening me, boy? Because that sounds like guilt if I ever heard it.”
“No, sir…” I grind between my teeth. “Not threatening. But it’s important to us that this is done properly. How would you feel if that was your sister in the bed?”
He shrugs easily. “My sister’s married and has a buncha kids, now. She’s fine.” What the fuck is this guy’s deal?And how many times did his daddy tell him women were only good to make babies and a home?
“Bobby?” Izzy’s croaky voice floats in the air. “Bobby?”
As a group, we spin as Jon snatches up her hand. “Sissy, are you okay?” He slams his hand onto the emergency call button, and our group crowds around her so the cops are pushed back and forgotten.
She shakes her head at her brother and locks eyes with me. “No. Bobby.”
I walk forward until she can see my face without turning her eyes. “I’m here, honey. Who did this to you?”
Tears slither over her cheek and down to the side of her neck. “Kit.”
I almost spew everywhere. That’s not right. She’s confused. She’s wrong. “Kit did this? Honey, that doesn’t make sense.”
She shakes her head and clears her throat. “No. Kit. Go find Kit. They took her.”
“Who?” For the first time in my life, I want to pick this girl up and shake her until she gives me a straight answer. “Who took her? What are you talking about?”
“Someone hit me.” She attempts to reach back and touch her head, but Jimmy grabs her hand and threads his fingers between hers. “Someone hit me, then they took her. She was scared. She called me from the car, because she was scared…”
“Who the fuck took her?” Jack leans in close. “Who took her, Iz?”
“I don’t know,” she cries. “I didn’t see. It was dark and I… I didn’t see.”
My skin is too tight. My skull, too small. Rage and sickness war in my stomach as I spin on my heel and dash from the room. I’m going to kill a motherfucker. Just as soon as I find her, as soon as she’s safe, I’ll kill someone.
“Wait for me!” Jack shouts.
