Page 108 of Fatal Intent
“His death wasn’t our fault,” Andre said.
“Donovan doesn’t agree with you.” Grant looked at his teammates. “Is anyone else on your list skilled enough to pull off these murders?”
Heads shook around the room.
Riley looked from one man to another. “What about the men who have gone off the grid?”
“They can pull this off just like all of us.” Andre wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her against his side. “The soldiers aren’t as accurate with a rifle as Donovan, but they’re good enough to do this.”
“Wait a minute,” Iona said. “Didn’t we talk about the possibility of two shooters? If that guess is correct, who’s the second shooter?”
“You didn’t know about Donovan.” Rayne looked at Grant. “Is it possible there’s another sibling Hal didn’t talk about?”
His hand fisted. Had he missed another suspect? “I didn’t see one listed during my research.”
“Hal’s father passed away when he was in middle school,” Seth said. He rubbed his jaw. “I remember Hal talking about his mother marrying someone else when he started high school.”
“So it’s possible there is another sibling, a stepsister or brother.”
Grant’s gut knotted. “If so, someone buried that information deep because I didn’t see it.”
Iona studied him a moment. “There are a lot of moving pieces in this investigation, and members of Echo have been worried about whether their families are in danger.”
He shook his head. “That’s still not an excuse for missing an obvious suspect.”
“If he wasn’t buried under misdirection or an outright lie,” Iona insisted. “Not only were you and the rest of your teammates worried about your families, but you also had personal concerns for Rayne’s safety. Cut yourself some slack, Grant. We don’t get it right every time.”
But he didn’t make those kinds of mistakes. At least, not until now. Grant glanced at Andre, who scowled at him and inclined his head slightly toward Rayne.
He looked down at her and froze. Her gaze was locked on her clasped hands; her expression was one of misery. With all his griping and self-blame, he’d hurt Rayne. No doubt she thought he regretted officially beginning their relationship.
She couldn’t be more wrong. He would never regret having her in his life. He had to fix this. Now. Grant stood and held out his hand to Rayne.
Her eyebrows rose, but she put her hand in his and allowed him to tug her to her feet.
“We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Grant said into the silence that fell on the room. He led Rayne out the French doors onto the balcony, guiding the love of his life to the right corner where they were safe from curious gazes inside the suite and outside the hotel.
He faced Rayne. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? You did nothing wrong.”
But she said those words with no emotion. Yeah, he’d royally screwed up and had to make this right. “I could have expressed myself better while talking to the others. Baby, I never meantto imply you were to blame for me missing a second shooting suspect. That wasn’t on you. It’s totally on me.”
“But I am a distraction. Even Brent warned you about that possibility.”
He shook his head. “It’s my responsibility to stay focused.” He cupped her face between his palms. “I take full responsibility for missing any details I should have picked up on the first pass.”
Grant tugged her gently into his arms and simply held her against his chest for a few minutes. When her body finally melted against him, he eased back far enough to look down into her beloved face. “Am I forgiven?” he murmured.
“Of course.”
He cupped her chin with his palm and took his time kissing her. Yeah, their teammates were waiting. They could wait another two minutes. Well, maybe three.
When he broke the lip lock and raised his head, over three minutes had passed. He’d take whatever grief Seth and the others dished out. Making amends was more important. “Ready to go back inside?”
She nodded and followed him into the suite.
Grant reached back for her hand, then said to their teammates, “Sorry for the delay. What did we miss?”
