“Agreed.” The two men shook hands. “Pleasure doing business with you as always.”
As Smith walked away, Lucas moved toward Jeremiah and I. His gaze flickered to me as he pulled around behind us. Whatever he thought about my proximity to Jeremiah, Lucas kept it to himself as he unlocked Jeremiah’s shackled wrists. “Sorry about the cuffs, I had to be sure you wouldn’t do anything stupid.”
Jeremiah rubbed his wrists. “I still don’t understand how you can do this kind of thing.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
There was no smile on the gunrunner’s face. As far as I could tell, he was being truthful to his brother, but not giving away much else. I was just stunned they were speaking to one another at all. “Didn’t you two hate each other a few hours ago?” I asked hesitantly.
The chorus of “Yes” left me even more confused. The two men exchanged a glance. “We spoke last night,” Jeremiah said in a careful voice. “Came to a few understandings.”
I peered between the two men, expecting more of an explanation but not getting it. Standing in front of both men side by side, the family resemblance was pretty stunning. Despite the different physiques, both men had the same coloring and facial features, minus the scar across Lucas’ nose and cheek. I’d seen scars as bad or worse on Jeremiah’s body, a testament to the life he led in the Army Rangers.
Finally, Lucas spoke. “Come on, let’s get to the hotel. Business always makes me hungry.”
“Hotel?” I asked, trailing along beside Jeremiah. “We’re not going home?”
“Not yet,” Jeremiah murmured as Lucas led us to a large SUV. “I’ll explain later but...” He blew out a breath. “For now, we’re safer here with my brother than in New York.”
He didn’t sound any more pleased by the situation than I was. Unfortunately, there was little comfort to be had from that realization.
The short ride to the hotel was quiet, tension between the siblings thick in the air. The two men sat on opposite ends of the vehicle with me alone in the center. The awkwardness made me somewhat happy that I had grown up an only child, and I was relieved when we pulled up to the hotel with little fuss.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but there was a distinctive island feel to our home for the night. Tiki torches lined the driveway and entrance, the small flames flickering bright in the dying light. A five-star resort this was not; it seemed more like a local hangout than a tourist dive. Our rooms were already reserved, with the clerk merely handing Lucas the keys as he came to the desk. I was relieved to find I had my own room, not realizing until the tension eased that this situation was something I’d been unconsciously dreading.
Of course, my room was sandwiched in the middle of the three. I sighed. Hamilton men.
“So can someone fill me in on what’s going on?”
Ours was a late dinner, but the hotel restaurant showed no signs of slowing down. Music flowed from the bar area inside, and some of the guests there occasionally spilled outside where we sat, but for the moment we were still alone. Dark trees blocked any view outside the grounds but there was a distinct lack of traffic. In quieter moments, I could still hear the ocean nearby.
“Somebody is doing their damndest to ruin or kill us.” Lucas didn’t sound too threatened by the fact, but then again even a gun to the head didn’t faze him. “First it was the hitman sent after Jeremiah, now a saboteur with a bomb I’m certain he didn’t understand on my ship.”
“I thought Anya hired the assassin,” I said, but both Jeremiah and Lucas shook their heads.
“Whatever she may have been,” Lucas replied, “she wasn’t evil enough to come up with this on her own. Someone coached her into that decision.”
“I’ve got my men looking into it.” Jeremiah didn’t look hungry, as most of the food on his plate remained untouched. He seemed to be deep in thought, and occasionally sent glances my way, which I ignored. “I could tell you as soon as they discovered anything if you’d give me back my communication equipment.”
“Like I told you last night, no matter the network you’re working with it’s closer to the bottom of the information ladder.” Lucas leaned back in the booth, steepling his fingers. “I can get you straight to the top.”
“I don’t like your methods.”
Jeremiah’s low answer only made Lucas’ smirk widen. “But they work far better than anything you’ve access to.”
Both of Jeremiah’s hands clenched into fists atop the table. “I spent years fighting against people like you in the Army...”
“Then you quit that life to take over mine.” Lucas’ lips kept their upward tilt but lost what humor was left. “I was pushed out of the only existence I knew by my own brother. He took over the gilded throne and let me fall to the wolves.”
“You didn’t fall,” Jeremiah said, voice as cold as ice, “you jumped. You kept jumping, and now you’re trying to drag me down with you. Our father...”
“Your father gave you everything and left me nothing,” Lucas hissed.
“I didn’t want this!”
“But you took it anyway, didn’t you?”
“Hey,” I snapped, aware that the two men looked poised at any point to leap over the tables at the other’s throat. Peering around the room, we didn’t seem to be attracting any attention in the empty outside area, but if the conversation continued that would change. “Can we stay on subject here?” I asked in a low voice.
Both men turned angry gazes on me, and for a moment I thought they were going to band together against me. As if on cue, a conga line appeared from the bar, breaking up the tension at the table. They sat back down, still glaring at one another, and I breathed a little sigh of relief. “Now what?”
Lucas glanced at me, then back to Jeremiah. “Do you have your passports with you?”
I shook my head, and after a moment’s hesitation so did Jeremiah. Lucas nodded. “It should be easy enough to get replacements, provided you,” and he pointed at Jeremiah, “aren’t already an outlaw.” At my confused look, Lucas grinned. “The media is trumpeting the news that our golden boy here has skipped the country, although nobody seems to know why yet. Authorities don’t sound pleased but so far there hasn’t been any arrest warrants posted.” He glanced at Jeremiah. “I have it about right, don’t I?”