white flat sandals on her feet. The change in footwear made sense, considering her wound.
Bruises marred her upper arm; he knew others marked her side. His jaw tightened before he reached Vinny’s desk and took the chair the other man waved him to.
“Sleep well?” The edge of snide anger in Cord’s tone had Zack lifting a brow mockingly.
“Very well,” he assured the other man. “You?”
Cord gave an irritated grunt, his brooding gaze flickering with ire.
Vinny spoke to his niece, his voice gentle as he looked across the room to Grace’s back. “Grace, could you join us, sweetheart?”
“I can hear just fine from here, Uncle Vinny,” she assured him, and though her tone was well modulated and lacking any anger, Zack swore he could still feel heat in it.
“I’m sure you can, but I’d prefer you come over here and sit with us. Let’s at least try to be civil about this until we find out what’s going on exactly.”
Tossing a file in the seat beside his own, Zack leaned forward and placed all but one folder on Vinny’s desk without addressing the fact that Grace had yet to take her seat. “This is the information I’ve put together since returning yesterday morning, along with a copy of the file I stole from Alex Brigham’s desk,” he announced. “I think you should go through it before we begin talking.”
Grace took her seat silently as Vinny passed a file to each of his sons before flipping through the one he kept for himself, a frown darkening his brow as he scanned each page. Beside him, he could hear Grace breathing quickly, and he caught the look of horror as it came over her face.
“You couldn’t tell me this yesterday?” Vinny finally snapped, glaring across his desk at Zack.
“I didn’t have all the information yesterday. All I had was the few pages at the front of the file that I took while at the estate. The rest I put together from favors owed and various contacts I’ve made within the Brigham Agency,” he assured Grace’s uncle. “They’re going to come for her, Vinny, as will Luce’s partner. You might be able to protect her from Kin traitors, but you can’t protect her from the agency, and you know it.”
He didn’t have to look at his own file. The orders Alex Brigham had been putting together to have Grace brought in for questioning were bad enough. The report on Luce’s interrogation—her accusations that Grace had been helping her and still held vital information missing for over twenty years regarding a deep-level traitor within the Kin—was the same as a death sentence for Grace. A sentence Zack refused to accept.
“This isn’t true!” Horror and a realization of the depth of her mother’s betrayal filled Grace’s strangled whisper. “Uncle Vinny, it isn’t true.”
Tears filled her voice, and the sound of them tightened Zack’s chest. She knew as well as the rest of them did what was coming if they didn’t find a way to prove her innocence or reveal the information Luce had sworn she possessed.
“Dammit, Grace, I know that,” Vinny swore, his expression darkening with fury as Zack sat back in his chair and waited.
“This is bullshit,” Cord muttered, suddenly tossing the file he held and its contents across the floor, the pages fluttering for a moment before settling silently. “They can’t do this. I’ll be damned if we’ll let them do this.”
“If we defy them, it will destroy everything the Maddox family has built over the generations and it will throw the protection of not just this area in danger, but it will affect the other families in the network as well,” Zack pointed out. “The Maddox Clan is the strongest, but even that strength won’t be enough to save her, Cord. You know that.”
The Brigham Agency wasn’t bound by normal laws, just as the Kin weren’t. There were checks, balances, and there were traitors. Far more, it appeared, than they had ever imagined.
“I’ll leave…” Grace whispered.
“And go
Bruises marred her upper arm; he knew others marked her side. His jaw tightened before he reached Vinny’s desk and took the chair the other man waved him to.
“Sleep well?” The edge of snide anger in Cord’s tone had Zack lifting a brow mockingly.
“Very well,” he assured the other man. “You?”
Cord gave an irritated grunt, his brooding gaze flickering with ire.
Vinny spoke to his niece, his voice gentle as he looked across the room to Grace’s back. “Grace, could you join us, sweetheart?”
“I can hear just fine from here, Uncle Vinny,” she assured him, and though her tone was well modulated and lacking any anger, Zack swore he could still feel heat in it.
“I’m sure you can, but I’d prefer you come over here and sit with us. Let’s at least try to be civil about this until we find out what’s going on exactly.”
Tossing a file in the seat beside his own, Zack leaned forward and placed all but one folder on Vinny’s desk without addressing the fact that Grace had yet to take her seat. “This is the information I’ve put together since returning yesterday morning, along with a copy of the file I stole from Alex Brigham’s desk,” he announced. “I think you should go through it before we begin talking.”
Grace took her seat silently as Vinny passed a file to each of his sons before flipping through the one he kept for himself, a frown darkening his brow as he scanned each page. Beside him, he could hear Grace breathing quickly, and he caught the look of horror as it came over her face.
“You couldn’t tell me this yesterday?” Vinny finally snapped, glaring across his desk at Zack.
“I didn’t have all the information yesterday. All I had was the few pages at the front of the file that I took while at the estate. The rest I put together from favors owed and various contacts I’ve made within the Brigham Agency,” he assured Grace’s uncle. “They’re going to come for her, Vinny, as will Luce’s partner. You might be able to protect her from Kin traitors, but you can’t protect her from the agency, and you know it.”
He didn’t have to look at his own file. The orders Alex Brigham had been putting together to have Grace brought in for questioning were bad enough. The report on Luce’s interrogation—her accusations that Grace had been helping her and still held vital information missing for over twenty years regarding a deep-level traitor within the Kin—was the same as a death sentence for Grace. A sentence Zack refused to accept.
“This isn’t true!” Horror and a realization of the depth of her mother’s betrayal filled Grace’s strangled whisper. “Uncle Vinny, it isn’t true.”
Tears filled her voice, and the sound of them tightened Zack’s chest. She knew as well as the rest of them did what was coming if they didn’t find a way to prove her innocence or reveal the information Luce had sworn she possessed.
“Dammit, Grace, I know that,” Vinny swore, his expression darkening with fury as Zack sat back in his chair and waited.
“This is bullshit,” Cord muttered, suddenly tossing the file he held and its contents across the floor, the pages fluttering for a moment before settling silently. “They can’t do this. I’ll be damned if we’ll let them do this.”
“If we defy them, it will destroy everything the Maddox family has built over the generations and it will throw the protection of not just this area in danger, but it will affect the other families in the network as well,” Zack pointed out. “The Maddox Clan is the strongest, but even that strength won’t be enough to save her, Cord. You know that.”
The Brigham Agency wasn’t bound by normal laws, just as the Kin weren’t. There were checks, balances, and there were traitors. Far more, it appeared, than they had ever imagined.
“I’ll leave…” Grace whispered.
“And go
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