The Darkest Hour (KGI #1)(97)

Ethan stared dully at Garrett, waiting for the hammer to fall.

“She loves you. There’s no doubt in my mind she loves you. She’s always loved you. What happened last night . . . it pulled the rug out from under her. But she loves you. Hold on to that, okay? Things will be okay. You have to believe that.”

Ethan let out a long breath. “Thanks, Garrett. After the accusations I made...”

Garrett moved closer and gripped Ethan’s shoulder. “It’s forgotten.”

Ethan grabbed his older brother in a bear hug and held on for all he was worth. Garrett squeezed back and then pounded him painfully on the back.

“Okay, girls, enough,” Sam said in a quiet voice. “Mom and Dad are outside like two mother hens. They’ll want to peek in on Rachel, and Garrett and I need to talk to you, Ethan.”

Ethan glanced up sharply at Sam. “Talk about what?”

“Let me call Mom in to watch over Rachel. I don’t want her left alone.”

Ethan didn’t like the concern in Sam’s voice. It went beyond worry over Rachel’s condition. He nodded and waited tensely as Sam ducked out of the room.

Seconds later he returned, and then Marlene stuck her head in the door and shot her sons a worried look. Then her gaze rested on Rachel, and tears filled her eyes.

“My baby,” she whispered.

Frank came in behind her and placed both hands comfortingly on her shoulders.

Marlene put a fist to her mouth. “I just had to see her. I won’t stay, but I had to see that she was okay.”

Sam touched her arm. “She will be, Ma. She will be. Garrett and I need to talk to Ethan. Can you and Dad stay with her for a minute?”

“Of course,” Frank said gruffly. “You boys go do what you need to do. Marlene and I will call you if she wakes up.”

As Ethan headed to the door with his brothers, his mom walked over and hugged him close. “We’ll stay as long as you need us, son. If you need anything, you let me know, okay?”

Ethan kissed her on the cheek. “I will, Ma. Don’t worry.”

Ethan followed Sam and Garrett into the hall and noticed a uniformed officer standing guard by the door. He glanced up at Sam for explanation, but Sam just motioned him farther down the hall.

Midway down they stopped in front of a set of windows and Sam and Garrett flanked him, almost protectively. How like his older brothers to hover. It was like he was twelve again.

“Rachel was right. Someone tried to run her off the bridge,” Sam said bluntly.

Ethan nodded. It wasn’t something he hadn’t already figured out. “What makes you say so, though? Other than the obvious?”

“Right after you and Rachel left the house, Rio checked in.” Sam’s eyes flickered for a moment before he plunged ahead. “I sent him back into Colombia to do some recon. Garrett and I were going to meet him and go in after the sons of bitches who held Rachel prisoner. My plan was to make them talk no matter what I had to do.”

Anger tightened Ethan’s jaw. “Why am I only just hearing about this?”

“It’s obvious,” Garrett snapped. “Rachel needed you here, not down getting revenge.”

Ethan controlled his temper—just barely. Now wasn’t the place to tell Garrett what he thought about his assertion that he shouldn’t be the one to exact vengeance for his wife.

“Rio tagged the new location of their camp, did some recon, cut out to scout a place for Steele to come in and then Garrett and me, but when he got back, the village had been wasted. Same day Rachel is forced off the bridge.”

“Fuck,” Ethan whispered. He closed his eyes and gripped the back of his neck, massaging the aching muscles. “What the hell happened over there, Sam? She had to have seen something she shouldn’t have. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“But why the hell did they keep her alive?” Garrett asked.

It was a question they’d asked repeatedly, and they were no closer to getting the answers they needed. Out of a team of eight volunteers, Rachel was the only survivor. Everyone else had perished on the plane coming back to the States. And someone had gone to great lengths to make Ethan believe his wife had been included.

“We need to dig deeper into the relief effort. There has to be something we’ve missed. It was a small organization, and the majority of their team died in the airplane crash. They ceased operations after that. Everything we’ve looked into has checked out. Nothing suspicious.”

Garrett nodded his agreement and looked toward Sam for his input.

“Until we find out what the hell is going on, this family is in lockdown,” Sam said grimly. “No one is safe. I’m going to call in Rio and his team as well as Steele.”

The brothers looked at one another as they realized at the same moment . . .

“Donovan. Goddamn it,” Sam said. “Son of a bitch. I missed check-in.”

“You had a good reason,” Garrett said. “Donovan can handle himself. He has the best. We can’t pull him out now. He’ll be home in a day, and we can pull in P.J., Baker and Renshaw to help out here.”

Ethan swallowed as the reality set in. War had been declared. First on his family, and now they were fighting back.

“We’ll do what we have to in order to keep this family safe,” Sam said in a low voice. “I know you want in, Ethan, but Rachel needs you, and your first priority has to be her and patching things up between you. We’ll keep you in the loop, I swear it.”