Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(85)

There were other changes, too, but Travis had some idea of just what might have led to those changes.

Sometimes, the people in your life changed it—and for the better. That was the way it should be.

But too often, those people changed it for the worse.

Keelie had spent some time with people who’d changed her life for the worst.

Whatever good changes she’d brought on had been because she’d made them happen on her own.

A harsh noise left Zach, and Travis looked up.

Zach’s eyes pinned him in place. “She’ll kick your ass for digging this up. What the f*ck, Travis? She doesn’t need you digging around in her past. I trust her—”

“So do I.” Travis cut that thought off right there. “This isn’t about whether or not anybody trusts her, man. Whoever is trying to track her down, it’s not about a happy reunion. You really want her to think she’s got to deal with it on her own?”

“Deal with what?”

The brothers turned as one to look to the doorway.

Maybe it was left over from childhood.

Maybe it was the fact that Zane still seemed to loom over them.

Or maybe it was the grim look on his face, the dark, haunted expression in his eyes.

But Travis kind of found himself wishing he’d just slid out of there. From the corner of his eye, he saw Zach’s mouth tighten, realized Zach didn’t feel much different.

Travis cleared the cache and shut down the window on the computer before he rose.

“Just talking a few things over with Zach,” he said, keeping his voice level. “Was hoping to track you down and have dinner or something, Z.”

Zane’s quiet eyes studied him and then shifted to Zach.

A few taut moments of silence passed and then he came inside. The door shut behind him and the tension in the air ratcheted up. Zane was still facing away from them as he lifted his hands, shoved his hair back. “Keelie had me drop her off at her car. She needed to go home. Wants to be alone. Me? I felt like grabbing a beer—or five. Thought I’d grab one of you idiots and drag you along. But now I feel like knocking one of you down and pounding on you until you stop lying.”

“For the record, I haven’t said anything, much less lied.” Zach held up his hands as Zane turned around. “I want to get that straight right here.”

“Fine.” Zane practically chewed the words off. “So how about you just tell me whatever Travis is not telling me.”

Travis held still as Zach turned the information over to Zane. He kept his hands tucked into his pockets, debating on whether or not to share the information he hadn’t printed out, the information he’d just wiped off the computer.

Information that Zach just wasn’t savvy enough to be able to pull back up, even if his piece-of-shit equipment would cooperate.

In the end, that was Keelie’s business. He’d already crossed lines, but everything he’d found was anything anybody halfway decent with a computer could dig up, if they knew how. The fact that it had taken a private investigator this long to find anything was just a sign of how incompetent the investigator was.

Keelie did need people at her back if somebody was digging around for her, the way he saw it. She had people who cared about her.

But caring about her was one thing. Sharing her entire history was another.

“What is this?” Zane asked, his voice neutral. He didn’t look at them as he flipped through the information he held, skimming over each sheet before moving to the next.

“Somebody called earlier.” Zach crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the desk and crossing his ankles, legs stretched out in front of him. “Turns out he’s a private investigator. Seems like he’s digging around, looking for information on Keelie.”

Zane’s gaze swung up, lasered in on the two brothers standing by the desk. “Please tell me you didn’t tell him anything,” he said, his voice deceptively soft.

That didn’t fool Travis.

Judging by the way Zach tensed, he wasn’t fooled either. But he kept his voice easy as he replied, “Nah. Of course not. I’m not in the habit of telling strangers jack about my friends. But the fact that he was digging around about her had me concerned. I pulled out her application—one of the contacts she listed has the same area code.”

“Yeah.” Zane’s voice dripped with scorn. “I can see the cause for concern here.”

“Lay off,” Zach snapped. “I was worried she had somebody looking to cause her trouble. She’s never been an open book and you can tell she’s got secrets. If she has trouble looking for her, I’d rather know about it upfront so we can be there to back her up.”

Some of the tension drained out of Zane. “That’s the only reason you’re looking.”

“Hell, I’m curious—you know that—but if I wasn’t worried she’d have people showing up to cause her shit, I’d leave it alone.” Zach jerked up a shoulder and glanced at Travis.

He was going to let it go. Travis already knew. Unless he spoke up, Zach would let their older brother think he was the one responsible, the one who’d unearthed the information Zane now held in his hands. Like Zach could.

Skimming a hand back through his hair, Travis shrugged. “I’m the one who dug it up, Z. The private investigator didn’t even use her name—called her Katherine Vissing. But the description was spot on, except her hair and that doesn’t mean shit. She’s had different hair just about every single time I’ve seen her and I don’t see her that often.”