Cutting Edge by Allison Brennan Page B

and dried her thin body, then cleaned the bathtub. While it filled with cold water, she dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt, and her favorite sweater, one she’d knitted from yarn she’d made herself.
    When the tub was full, she turned off the faucet and brought Donnie to the room. “No more cages for you, Donnie,” she told him. He waddled around the bathroom and Maggie left him to explore.
    She made tea from plants she’d picked and dried and blended herself, and sat at her laptop. It was eight in the morning, time to take credit for a job well done.
     
     
    To say his brother Sean looked unhappy with his assignment was an understatement, but he reluctantly agreed that Duke’s plan could work.
    “Isn’t there anyone else?” Sean asked. “I hated college.”
    Duke pulled into a parking slot outside the administration building at Rose College. “And you were so awful at it,” Duke said sarcastically. Sean had an exceptionally high I.Q., started college a year early, and had graduated with two bachelor’s degrees and two minors. He became bored easily, which had been a problem from the time he was little, resulting in his being labeled difficult.
    “Duke—”
    “A few days. Week maybe.” He turned off the ignition.
    “Investigations like this take
years.”
    “It’s already been nearly two years. They just need a little inside information to give them direction. The feds have rules and regulations they have to follow. We don’t.”
    “That’s not what you said when I wanted to get the goods on that embezzler last year.”
    “You wanted to break into his office and hack his computer. I’ll stretch the rules, Sean, but I’m not sending you to prison.”
    “I’m good.”
    Duke shot him a glance. It was true, he probably would have gotten away with it, but Sean was already playing close to the edge and it was Duke’s responsibility to keep him on the legal side of the gray line.
    “Arrogance will be your downfall, little brother.”
    Sean grumbled. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, I get the plan — get close to the people in Cole’s group and find out if any of them are talking about arson or murder or Butcher-Payne. Or, anyone who seems to be acting weird, guilty, or unusually nonchalant about arson.”
    “You’re here to observe, not act — understand?”
    “I got it.” He made a move to get out of the car, and Duke grabbed his arm.
    “This is serious, Sean. You have good instincts with the brains to match, but you’re reckless.”
    Sean brushed off his hand with a frown. “I’m not a kid who needs to be bailed out of trouble, Duke. I know what I’m doing. I thought you trusted me.”
    “I do.”
    “You say you do.”
    “Sean—”
    “Look, I’m not going to do something stupid. You agreed that I’d be a partner by the time I was twenty-five, and I only have eighteen months to go. Or was that just talk to keep me in line?”
    “You know it wasn’t—”
    “Then let me do this my way. I know what you need. If any of Cole’s people are involved, I’ll find out who and give you the information.”
    Duke had to let go. It was hard. He didn’t know if it would be any harder if Sean was his son instead of his brother. But Duke, fifteen years older, had always been protective of Sean. And after their parents died, Duke had raised him while their older brother Kane continued to fight other people’s wars. Duke hadn’t always done a great job — he pushed Sean hard and was often critical — but he was proud of his younger brother.
    Duke said, “I already called the admissions director, he’s expecting you.”
    Sean raised an eyebrow. “Someone you know?”
    “An old friend.”
    “Why am I not surprised you know just the right person to get me inside?”
    “He might suspect I have another reason wanting you here, but I told him there was a glitch with your diploma from MIT and you need a social science requirement you’d missed as an undergrad. It happens that Professor Cole’s class