“Her name is Shea,” Swanny finally said. “I know nothing about her other than she talked to Nathan while we were held captive. According to Nathan, she took his pain for him. She even endured a torture session, shielding it and taking it for him. Don’t ask me how. I don’t know. It all sounds like bullshit, right? But Nathan took more torture than any of us. They worked harder on him. And when they finally decided they couldn’t break him, they used him to try to break me. Only Nathan got us out of there. I was injured. I was bleeding internally. I couldn’t breathe and I knew I was going to get us both killed. I asked him to leave me. He put his hands on me, and I swear to God, he did something to heal me.”
The looks on his brothers’ faces ranged from incredulity, to doubt, to “What is this dude smoking?” Sam shook his head in warning again. Hell yeah, it sounded crazy. He couldn’t even wrap his head around it. But the important thing was that Nathan believed it. Swanny believed it. And now Nathan had gone off after his imaginary woman?
“He thinks she’s in trouble. He’s had episodes…Weird shit. Like maybe she was trying to talk to him again. I think it’s what happened today, what pushed him over the edge. I don’t know, but I’d bet everything I own that he’s gone to Crescent City because he thinks that’s where Shea is.”
“Oh Jesus,” Joe muttered. “This can’t be good.”
“What will you do, Sam?” Marlene asked.
He glanced at his mom and dad, saw the worry in their eyes, the helplessness that they couldn’t seem to get through to Nathan.
He dragged in a breath because his first instinct was to take all the manpower KGI had behind it, haul ass to Crescent City and take care of business. As much as he wanted to do it, and knew it was what his brothers wanted to, he knew it wasn’t what they should do. And it was killing him.
“What did Nathan say to you exactly, Van?” Sam asked. “Earlier when you talked to him about KGI.”
“He said he had every intention of joining but that there was something he had to do—on his own—before he could commit. I tried to offer help. I tried to pry it out of him. He wasn’t giving details.”
Christ, but this was complicated. He wouldn’t send Garrett. Garrett would want to go, would insist on going. But he should stay behind with Sarah. The two had already sacrificed much in deference to Nathan. Sam wasn’t going to drag Garrett away now, especially when he had no idea what they were in for.
He glanced up at Rachel. Rachel, who seemed to know exactly what Sam grappled with. Her gaze was determined. Direct. It told him to send Ethan. It demanded that he send Ethan.
She would want the best for Nathan. She’d been very protective of him since he’d come back, and maybe it was good for Rachel to have someone to protect, since she still needed so much shielding herself.
“I think Ethan and Van should go,” Sam finally said. It pissed him off to stand down from this one, but how could he convince Garrett to stay if he wasn’t willing to do it himself?
“Wait just a goddamn minute,” Joe exploded. “I’m not staying here. Fuck that.”
“Joe!” Marlene reprimanded. Her scowl was fierce as she stared her younger son down.
“Sorry, Ma,” he mumbled. “But it is bullshit and Sam knows it. I don’t need his permission to go after my brother.”
For once, Garrett was the voice of reason.
“I think Sam’s right,” Garrett said. “I think Ethan and Van should go and the rest of us should stay here. They’ll call us in if it turns out to be something they need us for. Joe, right now Nathan doesn’t need you on his back. I get what you’re trying to do. I get that you’re frustrated. I know you and Nathan are closer than the rest of us are. But that added pressure isn’t going to help Nathan. It’s just going to push him further away and isolate him all the more. Let Ethan and Van check it out and report back. Then we’ll make a decision as to whether anything further should be done.”
“He’s not crazy!” Rusty burst out. “If he says he talked to this woman, I believe him. He wouldn’t make up something like that.”
Marlene pulled her into her arms. “No one thinks he’s crazy, baby. We’re all worried about him. That’s all. And we want to help. Ethan and Donovan will handle it right.”
Swanny looked up at Sam, determination gleaming in the shadowed depths. “I know I’m not part of your team, but I want to go. I need to do this for him. He refused to leave me. I’m not going to leave him.”
Sam glanced at Donovan, and Donovan nodded.
“Okay, you’re in, Swanny. Right now, you’re the only one Nathan’s talking to, so maybe you can figure out what the hell is going on.”
CHAPTER 15
IT was pitch black when Nathan landed. The sky was overcast. No stars. No moon. There was a murkiness to the air that left him uneasy and stirred his panic.
He was impatient with the time it took to square away paperwork and make sure the jet was adequately hangared. His cell phone was buzzing his leg off. Missed calls, current calls, texts and voice mails from his family.
He ignored them all but knew he had to tell them something. He picked up his phone as he jogged toward the parking lot, where the rental was supposed to be waiting. He didn’t want to get involved in a conversation because there was no way it could end well.
So he sent a text to Joe.
I’m okay. Don’t worry. Keep family off my back. I need to do this. Be in touch soon.