"Someone else was here," Grady growled. "Weren't they?"
Dagus jerked away. "Who the hell are you?" Reaching for his brother's tense form, Drake wrapped his arms around the man's waist to reassure him. "Easy, Dagus.
This is Detective Grady Stryker."
"Shit, Drake. Why didn't you tell me you were running back out so you could bring a date home?" his brother murmured, twisting in his arms to face him.
Drake shook his head, knowing the faint breeze it caused would alert Dagus to his movement. "It's not like that.
Grady is a … a friend," he finished after a second.
Dagus caught his slip. He cocked his head for a second before turning and looking right at Gordon. "Who are you?" Gordon's brows shot up, but the man answered smoothly,
"My name is Doctor Gordon Digby. We were on a date when your brother called Grady."
A frown marred Dagus's dark face for a second, but then his focus switched from Gordon to where Grady had stood directly next to them. "You're a couple?" Grady chuckled softly from halfway inside the living room. "Yes. Gordon is what you'd call my partner." The big man watched his brother swing around. He could almost 27
hear Dagus's silent, surprised exclamation. "Yeah. I'm over here. Don't worry. I haven't met anyone yet who can hear me move when I don't want them to."
"What's going on?" Dagus whispered.
Drake wrapped an arm around his brother's waist as much to support Dagus as needing the contact himself. "I had a problem on the way home from the Fitzgerald building today," he admitted. "A man hijacked my car."
"Your car!"
"Yeah. He had just escaped from people torturing him and needed help. He asked me to find Detective Stryker, which I did, but not before I made a stop at home to access the internet." Drake explained. "I dropped the man's gun in my garage before calling the detective and then I took Lyle to the hospital."
"What happened?" Dagus asked.
Grady stepped close. "You said there was someone in your house," he interrupted. "How did you know?" Dagus glared. "I'm blind, not deaf. I heard him!" he roared indignantly.
"Easy, brother. He didn't mean offense," he crooned.
Drake turned his head and glared at the surprised detective.
Letting out a sigh, he said, "Look. Evidently, someone in the area is doing something illegal. He's already attacked one detective, who happened to be Grady's partner on the force, and now he's after us. I brought Lyle here, so they stopped by to get the gun." He grasped Dagus's shoulders to get the man's attention. "Unless you've been in the garage?" he questioned. "You haven't been in the garage, have you?" Dagus shook his head, his grip tightening on Drake. "No.
I haven't been out there since last week."
"Okay," Drake replied, his tone asking his brother to relax. Last week Dagus had gone on a date with an attorney.
One he'd met through his book dealings. The man had 28
wanted more than Dagus had wanted to give on a first date.
"I'm sorry to have caused such trouble at our place." Dagus frowned, reading his guilt through the tone of his words. "What the hell is going on?" he murmured. "Why would someone break into our condo?" Letting out a sigh, Drake deflated. "I got into my car after walking out of a meeting and realized Detective Sullivan had crawled into my back seat," he admitted.
"The detective who was abused crawled into your car?" Dagus asked.
"Yeah," Drake admitted. "He had a gun. He asked me to drive away and find Detective Stryker. Before I did that, I brought him here. Someone must have followed me," Drake admitted. "
"Wait," Grady said, drawing their attention. "Why would the guy come into your condo? If he found the gun in the garage, what would draw him inside your place?" Frowning, Drake took several slow deep breaths, trying to remain calm and think. "Do you know which rooms they searched?" he asked his brother.
Dagus remained silent for a moment, but Drake watched his brother's brows scrunch. He knew his brother was thinking back over the sounds he'd heard. He saw the detective open his mouth, but Drake cut him off with a motion of his hand.
Finally, Dagus whispered, "The office. He spent at least ten minutes quietly ruffling through your school papers."
"Ah," Drake murmured. His gaze lifted and shifted between the two near strangers pacing his home, one of them sniffing strangely. "I keep my college paperwork in the office, but if someone didn't know that, they may think it had to do with my scientific research for the Crystal Lake Corporation."
He watched Grady's jaw clench for several seconds and 29
exchange a look with Doctor Digby. "Pack a bag. You're both coming with us. It's not safe here anymore."
"What? Why?" Drake squeaked.
"Because they know that you helped Detective Sullivan escape. That means you're on their radar," Grady explained.
Drake frowned. "Who's radar? What are you talking about?"
"Look," Grady said, softly. "I've been searching for information on this company for the last month. Two weeks ago, they kidnapped my partner. They run illegal drugs and are housed right here in Colin City. You helped Lyle escape.
You confirmed the name of the corporation involved. You're now an enemy."
As he looked between them, realization dawned.
Somehow, he'd allowed himself to be hired by drug dealers.
Just another example of how burying his nose under a microscope made him naïve to the ways of the world. "I … I didn't know," he whispered. He wrapped his arms back around Dagus and pulled his brother close. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey. Easy now," Gordon soothed. "It's not your fault.
You didn't know." He wrapped his hands around Drake's shoulders and kneaded them gently. "Let's get you and your brother to safety. We'll all get some sleep, and then tomorrow, we'll go from there. Okay?" He felt his breathing stutter, and a sudden desire to call Ailean filled him. Shoot! Where did that come from? As if the doctor wanted anything to do with his problems!
After taking a deep breath to relax his scattered senses, Drake nodded. "Yeah. Let me pack a couple bags." Another thought occurred to him. "What about my classes tomorrow?"
Grady shook his head. "Sorry, Drake. Give me a couple days to figure out if you're really at risk, then we'll talk about you going back to teaching."
30
Drake wanted to scream. With one stupid mistake, giving in to his desire to do research again, he'd turned his and his brother's lives upside down. He hadn't needed the money, and he hadn't really had the time either, but he'd so wanted the chance to prove that his theories were viable to the scientific community. Why couldn't I just leave well enough alone?
Fighting back tears, he gently led Dagus back to the table and settled him into a chair. "Stay here. I'll be back in a moment."
He hurried into his bedroom, catching snippets of Grady's conversation to someone named Declan as he passed through the living room. Ten minutes later, he'd called in to work, claiming an illness his queasy stomach actually justified, and now bundled Dagus into his coat and settled him into the front seat of his car. He eased his vehicle out of the driveway, making certain he shut the garage, and then followed Grady and Gordon's truck out of the complex and then out of Colin City.
"Where are we going?" Dagus asked quietly.
Drake reached over and gripped his brother's hand. "I'm not certain, but don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you," he promised.
Forty minutes later, he followed Grady down a long, winding, gravel driveway and parked in front of a large lodge. Two stories high with stone trim around the base and windows, Drake couldn't believe that something this gorgeous was hidden this deep in the forest. The passenger door squeaked, alerting Drake that Dagus was on the move.
"Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted, rushing to his brother's side.
"Here comes Detective Stryker. I'm sure he'll let us know." Wrapping his arm around Dagus's waist, he watched Grady wave, motioning him to stay put for the time being as 31
he headed toward the door. Gordon stopped close to them.
"Relax," the doctor told him. "Declan told us he was at the hospital and Lark was on his way home from work. We just need to be certain one of them arrived home."