Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(86)

“What the f**k, Resnick?” Sam thundered when he turned back to the other man. “Nathan wants your ass on his wall and I’m tempted to let him have at you. I’d be very careful what you do and say over the next little while because he wants to kill you. I want to let him.”

“Where’s Shea?” Nathan demanded. “Tell me where she is, and if you’ve hurt her in any way, so help me God, you’re a dead man.”

“She’s not here,” Phillips said from behind them.

Nathan whirled around, his gaze finding the younger man. “Where the hell is she then? It was you who tossed her over your shoulder and made that dumb-ass jump into the helicopter. You could have killed her!”

“If my orders were to kill her, she’d be dead,” Phillips said evenly. “My orders were to deliver her safely. I did that. There was never a question of her safety.”

“Fucking Marines always think they’re such bad-asses,” Ethan muttered.

Garrett raised his eyebrows at his younger brother but let the insult pass.

“Where is she?” Nathan bit out again. “I don’t give a shit what your orders were. I only care about where she is now.”

To Nathan’s surprise, Phillip’s cheeks colored and he fidgeted. Suddenly he didn’t look like the supercomposed, always-follow-orders badass. He looked…embarrassed.

“She escaped.”

Seven mouths fell open. Joe stepped forward and stared at Phillips. Then he smirked. “She kicked your ass, didn’t she?”

“Fuck you,” Phillips muttered.

“Look, she freaked out when she came around,” Resnick interjected. “I thought we had more time. She came to, Phillips was supposed to see to her, and she escaped.”

Sam quirked up his eyebrow as sudden understanding flashed across his face. “Is she what happened to your arm?”

Resnick nodded, his expression still tight with pain. “She shot me when I tried to prevent her escape. Hell, she jumped out of a second-story window. I was worried she was hurt. She basically told me to f**k off and then shot me before she ran like a damn jackrabbit.”

“Fierce!” Garrett crowed. “I knew I loved that girl. You deserved everything you got, Resnick.”

“Did you send someone after her?” Nathan asked in a deadly quiet voice.

Resnick shook his head. “Look, it just happened. I was just sending the men out to find her.”

Nathan moved in close and stroked the barrel of his rifle down the column of Resnick’s neck until Resnick broke into a sweat. “Your next move is to back the f**k off. Then you’re going to tell us what the f**k you were doing in Shea’s parents’ house. You’re also going to tell us why you’re so goddamn interested in Shea and Grace Peterson. And then you’re going to forget you ever knew anything about either of them.”

Resnick shook his head, his eyes determined. “I can’t do that.”

“Why the f**k not?” Nathan snarled.

Resnick’s head dropped and he let out a weary sigh. “Look, Donovan, can you patch me up here? This arm’s hurting like a son of a bitch and I need to be able to use it. I’ll tell you everything I know while you work.”

Nathan shook his head. “Hell no. You don’t get shit from us until you tell us what the f**k is going on. I don’t give a f**k if your arm rots off. Shea is out there scared to death and unable to communicate with me. I’m not leaving her a minute longer than necessary. I’m going after her and you’re going to arm me with everything I need to know about what I’m walking into.”

“Christ. At least give me a goddamn cigarette.”

Garrett reached for the crumpled pack on the kitchen counter and tossed it along with a lighter in Resnick’s direction. Resnick tore half the packing off as he dug out a cigarette. Using his good arm, he shoved the end of the cigarette into his mouth and then raised his hand to light it.

A moment later, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled a long plume of smoke.

“So Shea can communicate with you?” Resnick asked Nathan. There was intense interest in his usually inscrutable gaze. “Can you talk to her or does she have to open the channel?”

His curiosity only served to piss Nathan off more. And Resnick knew it.

“Fuck you,” Nathan said in a deadly voice. “She isn’t some goddamn lab rat for you to poke and prod on.”

Something dark flickered in Resnick’s eyes, giving him a haunted look. “Shea was never in any danger from me. Not me.”

“Really?” Nathan asked coolly. “You could have fooled me.”

“Why weren’t you straight with us?” Donovan demanded. “You clammed up the minute I asked about Shea. And you knew, goddamn it. You knew about her and you used the info I gave you to move in and snatch her. That’s bullshit and you know it. Is this how it’s going to work from now on? We can’t trust anything that comes from you?”

“It’s a goddamn different situation!” Resnick seethed. “This is personal. I was protecting her, okay? I knew you guys had no idea what you were dealing with. How could you? I was doing what was best for Shea. There are people after her who don’t give a damn who lives or dies as long as they get what they want, and they want her and Grace. Suddenly she surfaces on your radar? What the hell? You have no idea what we’re dealing with here.”