Mine to Keep (Mine #2)(45)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Instead, I thought that I killed him.” Trace flattened his hands on the desk. “But if he’s dead, then how’d my dog tags wind up in Chicago? How’d Parker get them? They should’ve been frozen in Siberia, with Tucker.”

“And with Anna Jean,” Drake said, his voice tight.

Trace frowned at him. There had been a different note in Drake’s voice then. Pain.

Anger?

Well, the guy was entitled to his anger at Anna Jean. She’d tried to kill him. She’d screwed them all.

“You’re the best shot I’ve ever seen,” Noah said, as he braced his legs apart and studied Trace. “From what you told me all these years, it was a point blank shot.”

Trace inclined his head.

“So how would you miss?” Noah demanded. “You hit his heart. You know he was dead.”

“Someone found the body,” Drake said as he straightened. “The snow melted. Someone was digging—the damn bodies were found, and with them, the dog tags.”

Trace’s lips curved in a mirthless smile. “You think I didn’t consider that? If that were the case, I figure that I would’ve gotten a blackmail threat. Not this…the kills are personal.” They all had to see that.

“Personal,” Noah agreed. “For you. Sharpe came to you, tried to warn you, and he died.”

“Parker Jacobs wasn’t interested in warning me about anything. He was more interested in destroying me,” Trace said.

“So that’s why he was used.” Noah was speaking faster now. “Sara was used, too. Both of them were pawns in the game.”

Drake’s hands clenched on the leather arm-rests of his chair. “So this is all just a game?”

“To someone, yeah, it is,” Noah agreed. “We just have to figure out who that someone is, because I’d bet my life that it isn’t Tucker. He’s dead and gone.”

“What do we know about Tucker’s family?” Drake asked as a furrow appeared between his brows. “Maybe one of them found out what happened. Maybe one of them—”

“Tucker was an only child. His mother died before he enlisted, and his father is still living down in Texas.”

“Then he could—”

“Quint Hawk is disabled, living on a fixed income, and the man sure doesn’t have the physical strength needed to commit these crimes.” Trace’s breath whispered out. “And as soon as this mess started, I had an agent head down there and verify that Quint was still at his old ranch.”

Trace hadn’t seen Quint in person, not since the day of Tucker’s funeral service. He and Quint had been the only two there that day, standing in the rain, mourning the life that was gone.

A life I took.

“Then what about Anna Jean?” Noah said, giving a quick jerk of his head.

Because Trace was watching Drake so closely, he saw the other man flinch at Noah’s question. Taking his time, Trace slid around the edge of his desk and closed in on Drake. Considering now, Trace said, “When we came back, we all dealt with the past differently. Noah there…he slept with every woman he could find, and he made sure that he never saw the same woman twice. I figured he was trying to make sure he never fell into the same trap that Tucker did. He didn’t want to latch on to one woman and become—”

“Weak,” Noah said. But his voice was hesitant.

“You…you Drake, at first, you seemed solid. You were the one who nearly died. You and Ben. Ben wasn’t the same, though, we all could see that. The demons chased and chased him, but you…” Trace exhaled. “You seemed stronger.”

“Strong enough that you sent me to New York to keep an eye on the woman you loved.” Drake pushed from his chair. “And then I walked away.”

“Why?” Drake was holding back on him. He knew it.

Trace had kept tabs on the man over the years. Drake had returned to his home in the south, right along a strip of Mississippi Beach. He’d opened three casinos down there. He’d started two more in Vegas. Drake seemed to spend his days and nights surrounded by power players.

But Trace knew just how deceptive appearances could be.

“You shouldn’t have trusted me,” Drake said. “If you knew…you’d never have sent me after her.” Drake spun and marched toward the door. “If Tucker really is back from the dead, he’ll kill me long before he takes his knife to you.”

“Uh, what the hell are you talking about?” Noah snapped.

Drake paused at the door. He glanced back with a sardonic smile on his lips. “After all, I’m the one who f**ked Tucker’s girl. I screwed Anna Jean, and the blind fool never even realized it. None of you did.” He yanked open the door and stormed out.

Well, well…

“Huh.” Now Noah sounded musing. Trace glanced at him. Noah shrugged. “I guess that explains why Anna Jean tried so hard to kill him. She didn’t want to take any chances on Tucker finding out that she’d been screwing around with his friend.” Noah exhaled heavily. “Talk about twisted shit.”

Yes, it was.

Noah crossed to Trace and slapped him on the shoulder. “But, look at it this way, if the guy wasn’t just BS’ing right then, you have some extra time. Because, hell, yeah, Tucker would go after the man who screwed Anna Jean. He’d destroy the guy.”

“Drake didn’t exactly look scared to me.”

“Well, that’s because I’m pretty sure the guy is insane. He doesn’t have the sense to be scared.”

No, Trace didn’t think that was the case at all. “He’s got a death wish.”

Surprise flashed on Noah’s face.

“He wants to be punished. He’s wanted that for years.” But the problem was that if you wished for death too long…

Death would come for you.

Noah’s lips thinned. “You know, you never did answer my question about Anna Jean’s family. They could be looking for some payback, too, you know.”

“Anna Jean’s parents are dead. She had one half-sister, Piper. A school teacher in Atlanta.” He’d checked on her after he’d come back from Russia. Made sure that Piper’s college was covered. Then he’d stayed the hell out of her life. “She doesn’t seem to have her sister’s killer instinct.”

“Yeah, well, if you ask me, that’s a good thing.” Noah shoved his hands into his pockets. “But it sure seems to me that someone out there has got that instinct, and that person is closing in.”