Whispers in the Dark - Maya Banks [114]
Garrett reached for the crumpled pack on the kitchen counter and tossed it along with a lighter in Resnick’s direction. Resnick tore half the packing off as he dug out a cigarette. Using his good arm, he shoved the end of the cigarette into his mouth and then raised his hand to light it.
A moment later, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled a long plume of smoke.
“So Shea can communicate with you?” Resnick asked Nathan. There was intense interest in his usually inscrutable gaze. “Can you talk to her or does she have to open the channel?”
His curiosity only served to piss Nathan off more. And Resnick knew it.
“Fuck you,” Nathan said in a deadly voice. “She isn’t some goddamn lab rat for you to poke and prod on.”
Something dark flickered in Resnick’s eyes, giving him a haunted look. “Shea was never in any danger from me. Not me.”
“Really?” Nathan asked coolly. “You could have fooled me.”
“Why weren’t you straight with us?” Donovan demanded. “You clammed up the minute I asked about Shea. And you knew, goddamn it. You knew about her and you used the info I gave you to move in and snatch her. That’s bullshit and you know it. Is this how it’s going to work from now on? We can’t trust anything that comes from you?”
“It’s a goddamn different situation!” Resnick seethed. “This is personal. I was protecting her, okay? I knew you guys had no idea what you were dealing with. How could you? I was doing what was best for Shea. There are people after her who don’t give a damn who lives or dies as long as they get what they want, and they want her and Grace. Suddenly she surfaces on your radar? What the hell? You have no idea what we’re dealing with here.”
“And you damn sure didn’t do anything to change that fact,” Sam growled.
“What people and why are you so involved?” Garrett barked at Resnick. “What’s your stake in this? It’s not like you to get personal about anything. You’d hang your own mother out to dry if it furthered your purpose.”
Resnick’s lip curled back into a snarl and he glared Garrett down. “You don’t know anything about me, so back the fuck off. Just because we work together or I throw you a job here and there doesn’t mean you know shit about me or what matters to me.”
“So explain it to us,” Donovan said impatiently. “We’re wasting time here, Resnick. Spill it or I’ll goddamn shoot you in the other arm, and you know I’m just pissed off enough to do it. What you did was bullshit and you know it.”
“Fuck him,” Nathan spit out. “Let’s go. I don’t have time for this shit.” Then he turned to Resnick and got into his face until they were nose to nose. “Don’t you ever come near Shea again. You don’t even say her name. You forget she ever existed.”
“Fuck you,” Resnick snarled back. “There’s a goddamn possibility that she’s my sister. I’m not leaving her safety to chance and definitely not to KGI. You guys are good. I get that. I wouldn’t have you do work for me if I didn’t think you were the best. But you don’t know what you’re dealing with here, and I didn’t have time to debrief you. I had to move and move fast because Shea and Grace were running out of time. As it is, Grace has dropped off the map. But I could save Shea and I did what I had to do.”
“She’s your what?” Nathan demanded. What the fuck? This just got more twisted by the minute. “Wait a goddamn minute. Shea told me how she was born. Or rather how she was created. You’re full of shit, Resnick.”
Resnick’s eyes grew shadowed and suddenly he looked so much older than he was. “I’m not full of shit. I was born in that same goddamn lab. Shea and Grace could both be my sisters. And even if they aren’t my blood, I feel a kinship to them that can’t be removed just because of genetics. I have to make this right for them once and for all. I don’t give a damn what it takes.”
CHAPTER 36
EVERYONE stared at Resnick like he’d just admitted to being a terrorist. Maybe that wasn’t far off the mark. Nathan glanced sideways at his brothers to gauge their reactions. They didn’t have time for this shit. Evidently Resnick agreed.
“Look, we don’t