Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(58)

“Swanny, it’s really you.”

The poor guy looked terrified by the tiny woman standing in front of him. He acted like he didn’t know whether to shit or go blind.

Then she threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. Swanny’s dismay turned to bafflement and finally wonder. Shea pulled away and then put her hand to the scars on Swanny’s face. Shame crowded into his eyes but she was having none of that. She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed his scarred cheek.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I worried so much about you and Nathan over the last several months.”

He stared at her with an open mouth. He closed it and reopened it multiple times but nothing seemed to come out. Then his entire expression softened and he reached tentatively to touch her hair, almost as if he wasn’t quite sure he wasn’t having a hallucination.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. “I’ll never forget what you did for Nathan and for me.”

She squeezed him again and gave him another kiss on the cheek. Then she seemed to realize that Donovan and Ethan were staring at her. She flushed and all but ran back to Nathan. He caught her hand, squeezed and pulled her into his side.

“Shea, I want you to meet my brothers, Ethan and Donovan. Guys, this is Shea.”

He wasn’t entirely certain how his brothers were going to handle a potentially awkward situation. To his surprise, Donovan stepped forward and took Shea’s hand from Nathan and held it in his own.

“I owe you a great debt,” Donovan said gravely. “You returned my brother to his family. For that you have my thanks.”

She flushed with pleasure and gifted Donovan with a beautiful smile.

“I’m Ethan,” Ethan said as he pushed forward. “I’m happy to meet you, Shea.”

She included Ethan in her smile, but she clung shyly to Nathan’s side.

“Not to cut short the pleasantries, but maybe you better fill us in on what’s going on,” Donovan said. “The abbreviated version if you don’t mind. We need to get the hell on the road. We can talk more at length on the plane.”

Shea frowned and looked like she’d argue, but Nathan squeezed her hand, silently asking her to hear them out. Her mouth relaxed, and he eased her to the bed so she could sit.

He sat next to her while Swanny slid down the wall by the window to sit on the floor. Ethan leaned against the door and Donovan slouched in the rickety chair by the desk.

Nathan glanced down at Shea. I have to tell them everything. You know that.

She didn’t react to his form of communication but nodded her acceptance.

Carefully he explained Shea’s abilities. There was a lot of doubt reflected in Ethan’s and Donovan’s faces. Not Swanny’s, though. Swanny just nodded and his expression remained impassive.

When he got to the part where Shea left him after his brothers rescued him in Afghanistan, he urged Shea to take over and relate her part.

In a halting voice, she recounted the time she spent on the run. She was candid about Grace, their parents’ murder, and was equally blunt about her treatment at her captors’ hands.

The other men’s expressions turned black, and Donovan scowled so hard that Shea looked warily at him.

“I’d like to get my hands on those ass**les,” Donovan muttered.

It didn’t surprise Nathan that Van had such a fierce reaction to Shea’s story. He was a born sucker for women and children, and he got violent when either were abused.

“Tell us about Grace,” Ethan said. “Where is she now?”

Shea’s mouth turned down into a sad frown. “I don’t know. She went to our parents’ house. The last time I talked to her, I saw enough to know she was there. It’s why Nathan and I went there today.”

Donovan turned his sharp stare to Nathan. “You did what?”

Again Nathan recounted the events for his brothers. “I uploaded video surveillance footage to your email. I was hoping you’d be able to take a look. If Grace was there, we should be able to see what happened. I also got shots of the guys who were there today before they blew a hole in the wall. Van, they looked military. They weren’t amateurs, that’s for damn sure.”

Ethan’s expression blackened. “You should have damn well waited for us before going into an unknown situation like that. You pull a stunt like that again and I’ll kick your ass.”

“It was my fault,” Shea quietly interjected. “I had to go. I didn’t know if Grace was still there. Or if she was hurt or if she’d been captured. I had to know. I had to see what I could find out. Nathan wanted to call you in but I worried it would take too much time and that we’d be too late if we waited.”

Donovan stared hard at Shea, his eyes going soft. “It would seem to me that you’ve spent a hell of a lot of time looking out for everyone but yourself.”

Shea shook her head in denial.

“You’ve got us to do that now,” Donovan continued. “We’re not going to let these ass**les—whoever they are—so much as get near you again.”

Ethan nodded his agreement.

“What do you want to do, Van?” Nathan asked. “I don’t think we should bring this kind of trouble home.”

“We could take her to one of the safe houses,” Ethan suggested. “There’s the cabin Sam took Sophie to in Virginia.”