Or so they’d all believed.
But when Brodie and his girlfriend had come under attack, they’d all learned the truth about Shayne. The police detective had accidentally killed an unarmed teen years ago, and he’d been covering up the crime ever since. He’d been blackmailed into breaking the law.
And maybe even blackmailed into covering up the identity of the men who’d killed her parents?
That was sure what some of her brothers suspected.
“You never know who you can trust,” Davis murmured, his head cocked as he studied Mark. “And who you can’t.”
There was something in his voice that put Ava on edge.
“We’re calling the cops,” Davis said. “And I’ll want to talk with your men.”
Ava shivered a moment, thinking about how close that unknown man had been to her.
Mark pulled out his phone. Spoke quietly.
Davis closed in on her. “Don’t trust him.”
“Right, I saw the message on the wall. I got it—”
“This message is coming from me.” His gaze slanted quickly toward Mark, then back to her. “I don’t know what you think is happening between you two, but there are things going on you don’t know about.”
Her back teeth clenched at that. She didn’t know about those things only because her brothers liked their secrets. “He’s your friend, too.”
“I don’t know what he is, not right now.”
The whole situation was insane. “He saved me that night.” She’d never forget her first sight of him. Terror had filled her, and then—Mark had been there.
Davis exhaled on a rough sigh. “Right before Shayne Townsend died I asked him who killed our parents.”
Her heart stopped before pounding again in a double-time rhythm. “What did he say?”
Mark was off the phone. And he’d—he’d closed in on them. “Yeah,” Mark said, voice roughening, “what did he say, and why didn’t you tell us before now?”
A muscle flexed along the line of Davis’s jaw. “I didn’t tell you because I know how Ava feels about her friend Mark.”
She hated the stress he’d just put on that word. “You’re friends, too—”
“Montgomery.”
“What?” Ava exclaimed. “I don’t understand—”
“The last word he said was...Montgomery.” Davis turned his attention on a still-as-stone Mark. “So I have to wonder...why did Shayne use his last breath to name your family? Unless...the Montgomerys are responsible for the murder of our parents.”
She hadn’t thought the situation around her could get any worse. But it just had—so very much worse. Because as she stared at Mark, Ava could have sworn that she saw guilt creep across his face.
“Ava, let me explain,” Mark said as he followed her out to her car.
The cops had come out to the ranch. Uniforms who’d questioned them all and who’d collected pretty much zero evidence. Mark wasn’t exactly holding his breath when it came to those guys breaking the case wide open. They were still nosing around the place, but Ava was fleeing.
At his words, Ava didn’t slow down. Instead, she seemed to speed up as she hurried toward her vehicle. He reached out to stop her.
Davis caught his arm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Most folks in Austin were afraid of the McGuire brothers. Their reputation preceded them just about everywhere they went. Grant, the eldest brother, was a former army ranger. Davis and his twin, Brodie, were both former SEALs. Mackenzie “Mac” McGuire had been part of Delta Force, and Sullivan, the youngest of the brothers, was an ex-marine. Yeah, most folks hesitated before trying to tangle with those guys.
Mark wasn’t most folks. And he’d never taken any crap from the McGuires. “The game has changed,” he said, his low voice carrying only to Davis’s ears. “I’m not just going to sit back anymore. I thought she was safe. Happy. But she’s not. She still wakes up screaming at night. And now some new jerk is out there terrorizing her.” He shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. She’s not going to spend her days and nights afraid. I won’t let that happen to her.” He’d do everything within his power to protect her.
He heard Ava’s car door opening. He forced his back teeth to unclench as he said, “Why didn’t you come to me about this Shayne Townsend mess weeks ago? I wasn’t involved in the murder of your parents! I had plenty of people here at the ranch who saw me right before Ava came galloping up!” The idea that he was involved was ridiculous. He was—
“I know you have an alibi. I already checked that.”
Davis had been investigating him?
“It was your father who didn’t have an alibi. No one could account for him an hour before the crime or an hour after.”
Mark felt shock rip through him. “He was my...stepfather.” Like that distinction mattered. Technically, Gregory Montgomery had adopted him. Of course, most folks didn’t know that Mark had hated the bastard with every bit of his soul.
“He committed suicide two months after my parents died,” Davis said.
Mark glanced over at Ava. She was in her car, appearing for all intents and purposes as if she was about to drive away and leave him.
“Sometimes guilt can drive a man to take his own life.”
Davis seriously thinks that Gregory murdered the McGuires!
And...and Mark couldn’t say that he hadn’t. Because he knew just how twisted Gregory could be.
Ava cranked up her car.
Mark jerked away from Davis. “Ava, wait!” He lunged toward the car. Her window was rolled down, and his fingers pushed through the opening and locked onto the steering wheel. “Wait,” he said again, his voice softer.
She didn’t look at him.
“I didn’t hurt them, Ava.”
She nodded. Blinked several times. Oh, no, was she crying? He couldn’t stand it when Ava cried.
“I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Again, she gave the faintest of nods.
Davis was a few feet away, watching them far too closely.
“Where are you going?” Mark asked her. “You said you were starting a new job in Austin soon. You can’t just stay in some motel.” Not with that creep out there watching her. “Stay here. You’ll be safe.”
Her head turned then, and she finally stared into his eyes. He didn’t see any rage there. No accusation. Just the same trust that he always saw when she looked at him. “I don’t want to bring any danger to you. He was in your house. Whoever this guy is...I don’t want him hurting you.”
And I’d be destroyed if he hurt you, Ava. Can’t you see that?
“I’m going back to the ranch with Davis.”
“You hate staying there.” He knew Ava hadn’t stepped foot inside the main house, not since that night.
She shrugged. “There’s a guest cottage I can use.”
“You can stay here.” She’d been asking to stay