Shades of Grey(41)

Several whistles and exclamations echoed through the room as everyone crowded around the table.

“Holy shit,” Dolphin said. “Whoever killed these dudes harbored some serious animosity. This isn’t a simple execution. This is personal.”

Cole stared down, frozen, as he took in the cuts on the men’s bodies. One vertically down the midline of their chest. Two more above the ribs. Two on the insides of their thighs. And each one had his throat slashed. In one instance, the head looked to only be barely attached to the rest of his body.

Ice crept through his veins until he felt incapable of moving or reacting. Fear clutched his insides.

“Sweet Jesus,” he finally whispered.

His hands shook as he picked up one of the pictures. Then he looked first at Donovan and then at Steele. Both had the same recognition in their eyes.

Cole let the picture fall from his fingers to the table. “P.J. went after them.”

“We believe so, yes,” Donovan said grimly.

Cole picked up the picture again, held it up and pointed to the knife wounds. “Believe? This is pretty conclusive evidence. These wounds are identical to the ones that bastard put on P.J. You were there. The only people who saw them were us and the assholes responsible for it happening to her. We’re supposed to believe it’s a coincidence P.J. quits her team, disappears and then guys who have ties to Brumley start showing up dead?”

“It’s why we want to get to Brumley before she does,” Steele said.

“Hell yes we have to get to him before she does,” Cole bit out. “I don’t want her near that bastard ever again.”

Dear God. The idea of P.J. going vigilante filled him with gut-wrenching fear he hadn’t felt since he was a brand-new navy recruit back in the day.

She could be dead even now. What if she’d attempted to get to Brumley and the bastard had her right now? Nelson had wanted her as a plaything and would have kept her if Brumley had allowed it. If they ever got their hands on her again, there was no telling what they’d do to her.

“She started with the two men who were there but didn’t participate in the attack on her,” Donovan said in a quiet voice. “There were only four men there when she was raped. Two are dead, which leaves Nelson and Brumley. I think we can assume she has plans to go after both of them. Our intel says that Brumley and Nelson both will be present for this deal to go down. If you want my opinion, I think Brumley knows P.J. is after him and he’s scared because she managed to get to his men without anyone discovering her. But he’s also a greedy bastard, and if he thinks he can surface to make a deal, he’ll do it. He’ll just beef up security.”

“Or he could be fucking with her,” Dolphin said grimly. “He’s the type whose ego wouldn’t allow him to hide from a woman. I’m with Cole. I don’t want that bastard anywhere near her, or rather her anywhere near him.”

The others nodded their agreement.

Cole didn’t want to even think of P.J. falling into Brumley’s hands again. He couldn’t go there or he’d lose his damn mind. He glanced up at the others, resolve etched in every word. “Nothing we can’t handle, right?”

Steele lifted an eyebrow. “That mean you in or you still plan to fuck around solo.”

“Oh, I’m in,” Cole said. “I want to take out both those bastards before P.J. has a chance to get to them. I don’t want her to go through what she did all over again.”

Dolphin, Baker and Renshaw closed in around Steele and Cole. They exchanged fierce looks, their intentions made without ever uttering a word.

“I’m in too,” Donovan said.

Steele frowned. “This is my mission, Van. You’re not taking over. This involves my team. My teammates.”

Sam started to open his mouth, but Donovan shot him a stare that had him backing down. Garrett frowned but didn’t intervene. The rest of the members of KGI looked on with abject interest.

“You’ve got the lead, Steele,” Donovan said calmly. “But I’m along for the ride. I was there. I may not be a member of your team, but I was there with P.J. I heard every goddamn thing you did. I’m the one who let her get away at the party. I have as much a stake in this as you and your team do. P.J. is KGI. You’re all KGI. I’d feel the same if it was any other person.”

Garrett couldn’t contain his silence any longer. “I think we should send at least two teams.”

“Who are you going to send?” Cole demanded. “No way a new team can handle this.” He sent an apologetic look in Nathan and Joe’s direction. “No offense to your team, but this is too important to fuck up.”