“L-lie…”
Her stare flew to him. “It’s not a lie. Jinx does want to help his brother.”
“No, I-I meant…your family, your mom…she didn’t turn her back on you.” The machines around him beeped faster. “That’s one of th-the things I learned…”
Ali crept closer to the bed. “What are you talking about?”
“She…didn’t send that note…”
***
Imari stood beside an armed guard in front of Landon’s hospital room. “Well, well…” Her gaze drifted between War and Jinx. “If it’s not my old bosses…”
“And if it’s not the woman who had more secrets than I could count,” War returned. But there was no humor in his voice or in his expression. “You said we could question him.”
Imari nodded. “You’re getting permission to go in only because when the people over his head realized what he’d done, they went ballistic. I tried to warn them, but they didn’t listen. Now, they have no choice but to hear me.” Her chin lifted. “He’s on lots of pain meds, so he may not be conscious for long. Get what you can from him.”
“Oh, I’ll get plenty,” Jinx assured her.
He’d already learned that Imari wasn’t actually an FBI agent. From what War had learned—and passed on to Jinx—Imari was a fairly new recruit for the same government group that had once employed their team. But Imari and Cyrus had some sort of friendship, a connection that hadn’t been fully revealed yet, and she’d suspected her boss was dirty. She’d been working covertly with Cyrus to bring down Landon.
Imari led the way into the room. Sure enough, Landon was cuffed to the railing of the bed. He was awake, his eyes slits, and when he saw Jinx…
“You.”
Jinx inclined his head. “Me.”
“Sonofabitch! Get out!”
No, he’d rather get closer. Jinx stalked toward the bed. He looked down at Landon’s stomach. “Gut shots are bitches,” he said flatly. “They’ve got you all stitched up, and word on the street is that you’re riding high on lots of pain pills…” He lifted his hand. “But I bet if I just press down real hard, you can still feel plenty of pain.” He let his hand begin to lower.
“Don’t!” A sharp cry from Landon.
Because the guy was a freaking wimp. He’d never had to handle pain. Never had to do anything but appear at the landing zone. “Why the hell did you go after my Ali?”
“I-I had to get Cyrus!” Heaving breaths. Beeping machines. “He…he found out what I was doing.”
“And what were you doing?” War wanted to know.
Landon’s squinty gaze jerked around the room. Landed on Imari. “You sold me…out.”
“You sold yourself out. Literally—to the highest bidder. That guy who died in Paris—you made the hit on him. Cyrus told me he learned it was you who fired the shots. That you’d been paid two hundred grand to do the job. You had the man’s location. The whole mission was a ruse. I bet when we start digging, we’ll find plenty of other missions like that one.”
War’s face twisted with disgust. “Why the stalking job on Ali?”
But Jinx had already figured that out. “Because if she was threatened, Landon thought she’d turn to Cyrus. She’d get him out of the shadows, then Landon could kill him.” Because Cyrus had been the one with the initial suspicions against Landon.
“She…didn’t go to h-him.” Landon’s voice was slurring. “Had to threaten her more…she turned to you.”
It had taken her too long to come to Jinx. She wanted to protect me.
“Had to…try and take you out of the p-picture…without y-you…” But the slurring words stopped.
“Without me, you thought that maybe she’d contact Cyrus for help. Only your attempts on me failed, so you got creative.” Jinx knew where this part was going. “That’s why you left all that fake-ass evidence in Louis’s hotel. You thought we’d see the picture of Cyrus and the case against him would be sealed. I’d be in a killing fury—hell, maybe I’d even kill Cyrus for you. Either way, he’d be gone soon enough. A big problem eliminated for you.”
“He came down here…for her.” Ragged breaths. “Got…l-lucky…that picture…Louis took it…he told me…Cyrus…”
“Cyrus figured out Ali was in danger, and he came to help her because she was his best friend. He didn’t hate her. He never hated her.” Jinx didn’t let emotion enter his voice. “That setup in the hotel—the money, the pictures—that was where you screwed up. I mean, you gave me the damn hotel room key. You gave it to me because you were the one who set up the evidence in there. I suspected it when I was searching the room. I didn’t have proof to back up my suspicions, but I also didn’t have proof that Cyrus was a killer. If anything, just the opposite…”
Imari’s stare jumped to him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I did what Landon wanted. I learned Ali’s secrets. I learned about Cyrus. Everything she told me made me doubt what Landon had said. In the end, I had two choices…I could believe the story Ali had told me—a story about a best friend who’d been desperate for help—or I could believe Landon.” His gaze raked the cuffed man. “I went with Ali. It was an easy choice, especially considering that I never really fucking liked you.”
Landon tried to lunge out of the hospital bed.
Jinx drove his fist into Landon’s jaw. Knocked Landon right out.
“Dammit, Jinx!” Imari hit the call button for the nurse. “We can’t question him when he’s out cold!”
True…but hitting him had sure felt damn good.
Chapter Twenty
Jinx stormed out of Landon’s hospital room and nearly rammed right into Ali. A crying Ali. Tears were on her cheeks.
He staggered to a stop right in front of her, and Jinx could have sworn that his heart had just been cut out. Her tears just kept falling as she stared at him. Her eyes were gleaming pools. Her lips were trembling. And he’d never, ever felt worse in his entire life.
All he wanted to do was haul her into his arms. Hold her tight. Stop her pain. But he was the asshole who’d caused her pain. “I’m so sorry.” His voice was ragged. “Hurting you was the last thing that I ever intended to do, I swear it.”
More tears.
He was pretty sure his heart was on the floor. “Baby…sweets…I only told Landon I was going along with the deal. I didn’t mean it. I am a fucking lying bastard, you know that—but I am a bastard who is loyal to you. If it means you are protected, I will lie, steal, cheat, or kill in an instant.” He’d do it, over and over again. “I was buying time. Time for Ramsey to get his damn ass out of trouble and time for me to find out what intel Landon might have. You know I’ve never trusted that jerk. Couldn’t wait to stop working with him.”
More tears. She wasn’t speaking. She was destroying him, one tear at a time.
So he kept talking, desperately. “I suspected him. When we were at Louis’s hotel room, everything seemed too pat. Like Louis just happened to leave all the cash there. I mean, he didn’t even put it in the hotel safe. He was going to leave it there for the cleaning staff to find? And the photos? He might as well have circled Cyrus’s face with a big, red pen.” That was exactly what had been done to Jinx’s image. “It was too obvious.”