My jaw tight, I paged through the information and the outdated photos. Abernathy looked exactly like the asshole I remembered. “Where’s he been the past year?”
“He was supposed to be on parole for twelve months, no travel outside the county, but his PO hasn’t heard from him for the last five months, and shit fell through the cracks. A warrant’s been issued, but Abernathy hasn’t surfaced. My best guess is he got a hold of a fake passport and made his way to Europe.”
“He didn’t have a passport in his name?”
“He did before he went to jail, but it expired, and it wouldn’t have done him any good. His name is on a TSA watch list.” Luna pointed at one of the pages I was about to flip through. “But here’s the best part. Look who his cellmate was.”
I skimmed the document. Fucking Christ. “An explosives technician?”
“Not just any explosives technician. One serving life for blowing up his neighbor after the man allegedly screwed his wife. I’m still working on getting the details of what kind of bombs this pendejo built so we can compare them to the ones your brother found and see if the components or signatures match. Then we’ll at least have confirmation we’re heading in the right direction.”
I closed the file and handed it back to Luna. I didn’t need conformation. I knew Abernathy was behind this. “AES should’ve found all of this information.”
Luna’s gaze hardened as he took the file. “We don’t know that they didn’t. The bigger question is where the hell is the bomber hiding and why can’t we find him?”
I watched a car pull in and park in a handicap spot before an older couple got out and headed toward the elevators. “We’re missing something.” Maybe Abernathy wasn’t hiding.
“No shit,” Luna quipped in frustration. “Mainly why the hell Abernathy didn’t target Amherst instead of Sanaa if he’s the bomber. That would’ve made more sense. Amherst fired him, and he has less security. It’s a no-brainer.”
Abernathy wasn’t being rational. He wanted to destroy the catalyst of his destruction. Which is why I should’ve fucking figured this out days ago. Vance didn’t bring Sanaa here randomly. He brought her here because I was here.
Because technically, I was the catalyst.
The memory of that night ten years ago came back like it was yesterday.
“Ronan, wait!” Naked, grabbing her dress, Sanaa reached for me.
My piece-of-shit brother standing shirtless with a fucking shocked expression, his hand still on her bare hip, stared at me.
I wanted to kill him. My fist in his face, my hands on his throat, I wanted to beat him until his fucking chest caved in and he couldn’t breathe like I couldn’t fucking breathe.
This was what I’d warned her about.
The one goddamn thing I’d told her to never fucking do to me.
My brother.
My own goddamn brother.
I didn’t realize I was backing up until her fingers gripped my arm.
I didn’t even think. I threw her hand off in a block, and before I knew what I was doing, I was gripping her throat, and fucking squeezing.
Her eyes popped, and noise gurgled from her lips, but it wasn’t an apology.
There was no apology for this. She fucking betrayed me.
Vance’s expression morphed from shock to anger and he threw a warning out. “Stop.”
I didn’t listen. I squeezed harder.
My Songbird.
Naked with my goddamn twin brother.
“RONAN.” Vance lunged.
My rage was quicker. Throwing my brother off before his arm got around my neck, shoving Sanaa onto the bed, I didn’t fucking think. Her head smacked against the wall and a fucking war cry echoed through the bedroom I’d been staying in at Vance’s house as he jumped me. I slammed him back into the wall. Then I was lifting him and about to throw his fucking backstabbing drunk ass onto the hard floor when she cried out.
“Don’t hurt him!”
I only hesitated long enough to look into her eyes.
Then I threw my brother down as hard as I could.
“Oh my God, Ronan!” She dropped to the floor next to him.
I walked the fuck out.
Pushing through the crowd of assholes in the living room I never wanted to see, I’d made it out the front door, down the porch steps and around the house when some dick stumbled into me.
“Whoa, dude.” Smiling, he held his hands up. “Where’s the fire?”
An asshole standing next to him laughed.
My hands fisting, I pushed past him.
“Hey, wait,” the first dick called. “You know where Sanaa is? Is she inside?”
My nostrils flared, and I spun. “Who are you?”
He grinned. “Her new manager.” Fishing in his pocket, he pulled out a card. “Kyle Abernathy, Trinity Media Group.” He held the card up.
Fucking manager?
“Okay, then.” Shoving the untouched card back in his pocket, the prick clapped the shoulder of the asshole standing next to him. “This is my assistant, James.”
My rage compounded. “Manager.”
“Yeah, man.” The dick spread his hands wide to mimic a marquee. “Sanaa’s gonna be fucking huge. That voice, that rack.” Whistling, he shook his head. “I’m going to take her to the top.” Reeking of alcohol, his pupils dilated, he leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “Right after I break her in, if you know what I mean.” He winked.
The asshole assistant laughed. Then he stupidly poured lighter fluid on my rage. “The execs at Trinity will nut themselves when we pass her around.” He fist-bumped the manager. “They’ll endorse anything for that hot little piece of ass once they have a taste of her.”
She signed the contract.
She signed the goddamn contract with these pieces of shit.
For a split second, I fucking stared. Then I was moving.
Grabbing the manager’s shirt in both hands, I threw him against the side of the house and held him there. “What did you say?”
“Whoa, whoa, dude.” He held his hands up. “What’s your problem?”
“What did you say?” I yelled, incensed.
“Relax, bro.” The assistant grabbed my arm. “Like he said, he’s her manager.”
I threw the assistant’s hand off as Sanaa came running around the side of the house.
“Ronan, stop!” Her hair a mess, her eyes wild, she looked between me and the piece-of-shit manager.
Glaring at the manager, I threw an accusation at her. “You signed a fucking contract with this asshole who just said he’s going to rape you?” After I told her not to. After I told her they would use her. After I told her to wait until I got back from my first fucking deployment before signing anything.
She recoiled as the asshole protested. “Whoa, dude, I never said that. Sanaa, come on, babe, don’t believe this guy.”
Glaring at her, I yelled. “Answer me.”
Tears falling down her face, she flinched. “You weren’t supposed to find out this way, Ronan.”
“Babe, stop, let me handle this guy.” The manager held a hand up to her, then looked at me. “Listen, buddy, I don’t know who the fuck you are, but—”