LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Five

      These were some reinforcements.

      Juliette actually had to work to keep her jaw from dropping as Andre opened the door and ushered in two men who couldn’t look more different than him. He introduced them as his brothers.

      “We’re not blood related,” Cole Walker, Andre’s older brother, said.

      Clearly, he’d misunderstood her gaping. Thank goodness. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but two men equally as attractive as Andre hadn’t been it.

      Cole had about two inches on Andre, and with his pale skin, light blue eyes and reddish-blond hair, they were total opposites. Throw in Marcos Costa, the youngest brother, with his jet black hair and piercing bluish hazel eyes, and no one would ever pick any of them as brothers. And yet they acted more like family than anyone who shared blood with her.

      And, as she’d learned in the past two minutes, they all worked in law enforcement. Andre, in the FBI; Cole, a police detective just like her ex-husband; and Marcos, a DEA agent.

      Women probably saw them together at family outings and wanted to suggest a Hot Men of Law Enforcement calendar. Still, as attractive as his brothers were, it was just Andre who made her pulse jump whenever she stared at him.

      Which made no sense, because they barely knew each other. Besides, she should have learned her lesson when it came to instant attraction.

      “—not quite what we were expecting,” Marcos said, humor in his voice, and Juliette realized that not only had she not been paying attention, but he’d been talking to her.

      “Uh, sorry,” she mumbled.

      “Juliette had a long day,” Andre said, earning inscrutable glances from his brothers.

      Clearly, they both wondered why he was risking his career to help her. But the family loyalty ran deep, and they walked into Andre’s living room without a word, plopping onto the chairs on either side of the couch.

      “What weren’t you expecting?” Juliette asked, trying to catch up.

      “You,” Marcos responded with a dimpled grin as he flung his arms over the back of the chair and got comfortable.

      “Knock it off,” Andre said.

      Although Juliette wasn’t quite sure what he meant, she could tell Marcos was trying not to laugh. Cole was giving him a brotherly warning look, but underneath it, he seemed amused, too.

      She had the distinct feeling that she was either the butt of a joke she didn’t understand, or Andre’s brothers thought something more scandalous was happening between her and Andre than a simple felony. Abducting a federal agent at gunpoint was surely a felony, she thought, then tried not to dwell on it.

      Andre sat on the couch, and since it was the only seating left, Juliette joined him there, sticking close to the opposite side. No need to tempt herself even further by getting within touching distance of Andre. But nerves still shot through her at his nearness.

      She scooted even closer to the far side, shifting so the armrest would hide her weapon. She’d kept her arm strategically placed over the bulging pocket of her cardigan since Andre’s brothers had arrived, but she was pretty sure neither of them had been fooled.

      “So, what’s the plan?” Cole asked. “Get us up to speed here.”

      When Andre explained the last few hours—glossing over her armed abduction—Cole seemed considerably less amused.

      She fidgeted, not liking the idea of Cole and Marcos thinking poorly of her. Their opinions shouldn’t matter, but it was obvious how close they were to Andre, and already his opinion of her had become very important.

      The three men were silent for a long minute, until Marcos burst out, “What a bastard.”

      It took her a minute to realize he was talking about her ex-husband. A tentative smile bloomed.

      “We start there,” Cole said, nodding at Marcos as though he was agreeing with his brother’s assessment.

      Juliette’s shoulders slumped and she hadn’t realized until that moment how tense she’d felt through Andre’s explanation. Although he’d painted it as though her word was all he needed, she’d had no idea what reaction to expect from Cole and Marcos.

      Even her own parents hadn’t just blindly believed her when she’d tried to ask them for advice. They’d insisted she must have misunderstood what was happening. Then, they’d gone back to their own lives in England and hadn’t bothered to check back in with her. She wondered what they thought now, if they’d heard about her in the news during the three years since she’d disappeared, and tried to push down the guilt.

      “Start where exactly?” Juliette asked. “I wish I did, but I don’t have any proof of the payoff.”

      “Well, technically, you do. Your eyewitness testimony,” Cole said. “But that’s not actually what I meant. I think we should investigate this attempt on your life. These cons took a payment for it, right?”

      Andre nodded.

      “So, there’s a trail. We just need to find it.”

      “How?” Marcos asked. “We don’t exactly have the legal authority to go for a warrant. This isn’t our case. But I’m sure the Bureau will be doing that. What about Scott? Can he help?”

      “I want to give him plausible deniability here,” Andre replied. “He doesn’t know Juliette came home with me. Right now, the FBI is searching for her. I don’t want him to need to lie for me. Besides, HRT won’t be handling the criminal investigation. That’ll get handed off to the Washington Field Office.”

      “So, ask the WFO agents,” Marcos suggested. “They’ll share, won’t they?”

      “If they can find the money trail,” Cole said. “But if these criminals don’t even know who paid them, I’m betting it’s pretty hidden. I know someone who can help.”

      “Shaye?” Marcos guessed, that same smile flickering on the corners of his lips that had been there when he’d spotted her in Andre’s entryway.

      “Yes, Shaye,” Cole replied.

      “You sure this isn’t an excuse to see her again?” Marcos teased.

      “Whether it is or not,” Andre jumped in, “Cole is right.” He looked at Juliette. “Shaye Mallory is some kind of computer forensics genius who used to work for Cole’s department. If anyone can find a trail, it’s her. Ask her,” he told Cole. “But make sure she’s careful. I don’t want to spread it around why we’re digging.”

      “Not a problem,” he said, sitting a little straighter.

      Even Juliette could tell he had a crush on this woman. The only question was why Shaye hadn’t jumped at the chance to go out with him. She glanced between the brothers. The same was true of all three of them. What if Andre had a girlfriend? Maybe she’d misread his intent to ask her out when he’d saved her life in the woods this morning.

      Wow, had it really been less than twenty-four hours since she’d been on her way to work, thinking everything was going to be normal today? Exhaustion hit so hard she couldn’t stop herself from sinking into the cushions.

      “I think that’s our cue,” Cole said.

      “You take the big hardship and talk to Shaye,” Marcos teased Cole, “and I’ll start digging into the Manning murder, see if I can get any traction there.”

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