He smiled at her. “Just my luck.”
“Why did that one matter so much?” The subject of the email inquiry had claimed to be Special Forces and a combat veteran. There was talk about sacrificing everything for his men and saving lives. The usual. Nothing exceptional that would have tipped her off or led her back to Tyler.
He shrugged. “We both borrowed the same life story.”
The admission, so subtle and delivered without any emotion, left her breathless. He acted as if his deception didn’t matter. She didn’t know if that was the sickness talking or something evil. “You’re saying...what are you saying?”
“The man you were to investigate told a story much like my own because we both knew a man named Roger Culp. We all grew up in the same small town.”
The truth hit her then. “But only one of you actually went to war.”
“He was a local hero.” Tyler leaned back against the sink and glanced at one of the small monitors attached under the counter. “There was no reason I couldn’t enjoy some of those accolades. Outside the town, of course.”
The justifications sounded so familiar. She heard them every day from the men they listed on the site. That her own boss, the man who had started the project, was one of them hit her like a sharp kick to the stomach.
He nodded toward the monitor. “We have company.”
She followed his gaze, hoping to see Shane ready to storm in, but Tyler didn’t show any fear. From this distance she saw a fuzzy figure outlined in black and white hanging around the front door. A man, but not her man.
As if she’d willed him to do it, he lifted his head. Jeff. The man she’d grown to be more and more uncertain of as the attacks kicked up in intensity. He showed up without warning and his anger festered just under the surface. Now she knew why. He was Tyler’s contact. Likely his way onto the loop, where he could watch and contain the information passed around.
“Your partner is here.” In that moment, she hated them both.
Tyler’s eyebrow lifted. “Not mine.”
Not what she’d expected him to say at all. With his narcissism she’d waited for some sort of self-congratulations. She got something very different. “What do you mean?”
“Your failure to keep up makes me second-guess my faith in you.” Tyler tucked his gun behind his back. “I’ll invite him in.”
He walked away, out of her line of vision. She tried to turn in the chair, but the rope dug into her and burned her skin. Moving her head from side to side, she tried to pick up some clue. She didn’t hear any conversation, just footsteps.
Then Jeff appeared in front of her. His eyes were glazed over with fear and Tyler had a gun pointed at his head. The hold Tyler had on Jeff’s arm didn’t make any sense. If they were working together...she didn’t get it.
“Jeff stopped by to say hello.” Tyler smiled as he said the horrible words.
Jeff’s gaze traveled around the room, over her. “You tied her to a chair.”
“What did you think he would do?” After all the killing and all the attacks, this ending could not be a surprise. It wasn’t to her. She’d seen it coming and tried to avoid it, but failed.
“I thought you were working.” He let out a startled gasp as Tyler threw him in a chair. “I wanted to talk.”
Tyler used his free hand to wrap a rope around Jeff’s chest. The movements proved awkward and ineffective, and he finally let the bindings drop to the floor unused. “You won’t be alive that long anyway.”
“What is going on?” Jeff sounded confused and lost, and both emotions were mirrored in his eyes.
For whatever reason—the fear, the panic—she believed him. “I found out Tyler lied. That he’s one of you.”
Jeff spun around and stared at the man looming over him. “You weren’t in the military.”
A crazed look of desperation lit Tyler’s face. “Stop talking.”
All she needed was a free hand, but she couldn’t get one loose, so she kept the men talking, saying anything to avoid a bullet to her heart. “You didn’t know?”
“I would have used it against him.” Jeff shook his head. “I can’t believe this. After all this time—”
“I said stop.” Tyler shifted until he stood at the head of the table between them. He slipped a knife out of the block and pointed at one of them, and then the other. “Let me explain what’s going to happen. Jeff, you are going to kill Makena in a horrible revenge-filled frenzy.”
The color drained from Jeff’s face as he tried to slide his chair away from Tyler. “I would never—”