Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
A bed creaked as one of the Foxes got up. Wymack jerked his free hand in an emphatic order to stay put and said, "Don't."
"One at a time," Browning reminded them.
Andrew pressed two fingers to the underside of Nathaniel's chin to turn his head. Nathaniel let himself be guided and said nothing while Andrew looked his fill. When Andrew dropped his hand and clenched it in Nathaniel's hoodie, Nathaniel risked looking back at him. There was violence in Andrew's eyes, but at least he hadn't shoved Nathaniel away yet. That had to count for something.
"I'm sorry," Nathaniel said.
Andrew's fist went back, but he didn't take the swing. Nathaniel knew it wasn't because that was the hand cuffed to Wymack; Andrew's arm actually shook with the effort it took to not knock Nathaniel's head off his neck. Nathaniel said nothing to tip the balance either way. At length Andrew uncurled his fingers and let his hand hang limp from the cuff.
"Say it again and I will kill you," he said.
"This is the last time I'm going to say it to you," Kurt said, coming up beside Wymack with a dark look on his face. "If you can't stow that attitude and behave—"
Nathaniel shot a warning look at him and cut in with, "You'll what, asshole?"
"The same goes for you, Nathaniel," Browning said. "That's your second strike. A third misstep and this," he twirled his finger to indicate the Foxes, "is over. Remember you are only here because we are allowing it."
Andrew shifted as if to get up and Nathaniel knew he was going to shut Browning up for good. Nathaniel knew better than to touch Andrew yet but he got as close as he could and framed Andrew's face between his bandaged hands. Andrew could have easily pushed him aside, but after a short pause he got settled again. Nathaniel flicked him a quick look, grateful for that compliance, before leveling another icy stare at Browning.
"Don't lie to a liar," Nathaniel said. "We both know I'm here because you have nothing without me. A pile of dead bodies can't close cases or play the money trail with you. I told you what those answers would cost you and you agreed to pay it. So take this handcuff off of Andrew, get your man out of our way, and stop using up my twenty minutes with your useless posturing."
The silence that followed was brittle. Browning was weighing his options, or at least acting like he was. Nathaniel knew this could only end one way. If the FBI had let the Hatfords into the country uncontested they had to be desperate for some resolution. No one could prove—yet—that Nathan had killed Mary Hatford, but the Hatfords' hatred for Nathan wasn't a secret and they'd reacted to his parole by booking tickets across the Atlantic. It didn't take the FBI's brightest to know their visit wouldn't be friendly.
Finally Browning gestured. Kurt's face was a thundercloud as he dug keys out of his pocket. Wymack turned to make it easier for him. Andrew didn't watch as the cuff came off, but he flexed his fingers a few times to test his freedom and dropped his hand to his thigh. Browning took Kurt with him to wait just inside the door. They radiated displeasure and distrust and the look Browning sent his watch was pointed, but Nathaniel didn't care. Satisfied they were out of the way at last, he turned his full attention on Andrew again.
"So the attitude problem wasn't an act, at least," Andrew said.
"I was going to tell you," Nathaniel said.
"Stop lying to me."
"I'm not lying. I would have told you last night, but they were in our locker room."
"They who?" Browning asked.
Nathaniel switched to German without missing a beat. He was pretty sure he earned a dirty look from Browning for that trick, but he wouldn't take his eyes off Andrew to look. "Those weren't security guards that came for us. They were there for me, and they would have hurt all of you to get me out of there. I thought by keeping my mouth shut I could keep you safe." Nathaniel still had his hands up by Andrew's face, so he lightly tapped a thumb against the bruise at Andrew's eye. "I didn't know they'd staged a riot."
"What did I tell you about playing the martyr card?" Andrew asked.
"You said no one wanted it," Nathaniel said. "You didn't tell me to stop."
"It was implied."
"I'm stupid, remember? I need things spelled out."
"Shut up."
"Am I at ninety-four yet?"
"You are at one hundred," Andrew said. "What happened to your face?"
Nathaniel swallowed hard against a rush of nausea. "A dashboard lighter."
He winced at the awful sound Nicky made. The groan of a quickly-shifting mattress almost swallowed up Aaron's ragged curse. Nathaniel looked back without thinking, needing to see who was on the move, and saw Aaron had rolled off the bed to go stand with Nicky. Turning meant the others got a look at his burned cheek. Kevin recoiled so hard he slammed into the wall behind him. He clapped a protective hand over his own tattoo and Nathaniel knew he was imagining Riko's reaction to this atrocity.
This time it was Dan stopping Matt from getting up, her knuckles white against his dark shirt and her head turned away. Matt started to fight free but settled for a hoarse, "Jesus, Neil. The fuck did they do to you?"
Abby had kept her distance long enough, it seemed. She came around the bed, wide-eyed and frantic, but only made it to the corner before Andrew realized her intentions. He caught hold of Nathaniel to turn his face forward again and shot Abby a look so vicious she stopped in her tracks.
"Get away from us," Andrew said.
"Andrew," Abby said, quiet and careful. "He's hurt. Let me see him."
"If you make me repeat myself you will not live to regret it."
Nathaniel had never heard that murderous tone from him. It made his hair stand on end but somehow eased some of the lava in his chest. It was Nathaniel's fault Andrew's self-control was in shreds, but it was also for his sake. Andrew's bottomless rage would never hurt Nathaniel, and that made all the difference in the world. Nathaniel gave Andrew's hair a cautious tug. Andrew resisted the first two attempts but finally let Nathaniel drag his attention back where it needed to be.