Besides, she would take a beating any day—it had happened a couple times in the field when she’d messed up, not been careful enough—rather than endure the cutting words that came out of her father’s mouth. Somehow, with a single, carefully placed sneer, the Colonel could reduce her to that eight-year-old who innocently asked him why he didn’t love her. He’d told her in military-precise terms why she wasn’t worthy of his love. The Colonel favored his sons over her, but he was really a monster to everyone—he’d branded Daniel and Noah each with a special kind of abuse. She could still see the emotional scars plastered across Daniel’s face, even though he’d never admit to it. When both Noah and Daniel were sent overseas, she breathed a sigh of relief just to have them out of the Colonel’s zone of influence. Noah saw their father for what he truly was, but somehow, Daniel never did.
Piper must have been subconsciously rubbing the bruises on her wrists because Jace was scowling in spite of her assurances that she was fine.
“What did they do to you?” he asked. There was an audible growl in his voice.
She growled right back. “I told you, I’m fine.”
Even Daniel looked concerned now, throwing a glance over the seat at her and scanning her body for signs of injury or something, instead of watching the road.
“Eyes forward,” she said, but without too much harshness. “I am not going to die on a side street in Washington just because you forgot how to drive.” Her sass didn’t seem to deter their concerned looks. She sighed. “Look, they just cuffed me a little more roughly than necessary. It’s nothing. Trust me, I’ve seen a lot worse in the field.”
That seemed to reassure Daniel, but Jace’s expression just darkened further. What was his deal? Why was he even here? She wasn’t sure she bought this whole rescuing all the shifters thing. Was anyone really that heroic?
“I don’t understand why the Colonel let you go.” Daniel’s voice had returned to his normal mode of disapproval.
“Would you rather he turned me over to the FBI?” she asked, her ire rising again. “Thanks, bro.”
“I’m just saying, it just doesn’t make sense.” He scowled at her again.
Jace twisted around to face her, his eyes alight with curiosity. “How far did you get?” He still had that rough, just-tumbled-out-of-bed look, and her wolf responded to that direct gaze more than she would have liked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to recover from the sudden flush of lust. For God’s sake, she didn’t even understand why he was here. Or why a single, piercing look from him was enough to set her nether parts on fire.
Jace gave her a small smile. “I’m assuming you earned the cuffing. What did you find out before you were caught?”
She huffed a short laugh. Was he flirting with her? “Actually, I didn’t get far. Couldn’t even access the central database. They must have known I had a false ID from the jump and just waited to see what I was up to before nabbing me.”
Jace nodded. “Makes sense. Which begs the question of why they let you go. It’s not like falsifying classified access ID isn’t a crime, you know.”
Piper shrugged one shoulder, and Jace looked like he was holding back a smirk.
Daniel had no humor on his face whatsoever. “Once again, you get off scot-free,” he grumbled. “And I’m going to pay for this, one way or another.”
Piper sighed. Her father probably would punish Daniel for letting her lift his credentials, even though it wasn’t his fault. It would never cross the Colonel’s mind to consider who might actually be at fault in a situation—he’d only care about how he could use it to his advantage.
“If I were you,” Piper said. “I’d work on getting deployed again. Safer in Afghanistan.”
Daniel snorted his agreement—they both knew the score on that much, at least, even if Daniel was more than willing to heap the blame on her all the time, for everything. But they both knew from personal experience that dodging bullets for your country was preferable to an extended stay stateside in the sphere of influence of their father.
It was Jace’s turn to seem baffled.
Piper turned to him. “I’m sure my father has his own reasons for letting me go, but it’s also possible one of my superiors stepped in. I need to check in with the office as soon as possible.” She didn’t mention she had no intention of telling them anything they didn’t already know. This could be entirely her father playing some game where she didn’t even know the players on the board, much less the game map or the rules. Part of why she was good at her job was having grown up in a house full of secrets and lies.