Page 22 of Keeping Collette

As she sat, she didn’t miss the shared look between Deal, Jag, and Hound. There was a story there, and she had no idea what it was, but she hoped that Fox was still capable of doing his job.

“Thanks for being here, Fox.” Deal sat next to her and picked up a remote. His closeness was reassuring. “As you know, Collette and I visited the location where Courtney was last seen. I wore a camera and Cass has processed the footage I captured.” He pressed the button, and the familiar sight of the store filled the television screen.

There was a sense of surrealness about it, watching it back knowing that she’d been there when it had occurred.

“No fucking way,” Hound muttered when Mal’s picture filled the screen.

“What? Do you know him?” Collette asked before anyone could.

“I’m familiar with him,” he responded, and she looked at Deal and found him studying his friend with interest.

“How familiar?” Deal questioned, pausing the feed.

“Doesn’t matter.” Hound pointed to the screen. “Keep going.”

Frustration flowed through her. If Hound had information that would help them, why wasn’t he telling them?

As much as she wanted to pepper him for information, Deal gave her hand a squeeze as if to say, not now.

The feed started again, and they sat in silence watching it unfold.

“Fucking hell.” Hound pushed the chair back, and stood, his hands in tight fists at his sides. Once again Deal paused the footage, and it froze on the face of Jim, the guy who’d come in looking for a fight with Mal.

Collette had been extremely glad she hadn’t decided to go to the store by herself. There was no way she would’ve gotten out of there in one piece—of that she was certain.

As it was, she had no idea how she’d been able to keep her cool and continue on as if unaffected by the exchange between Mal and Jim.

“Out with it, Hound.” This came from Fox, his voice deep, and brooked no argument. Deal had mentioned he was their team leader, and Collette could see why. Even she wanted to answer him, and the question hadn’t been directed to her.

“They’re family.”

“What?” Deal leaned forward.

Hound sat back down with a sigh. “Mal is my cousin, and Jim is my brother.”

The room fell silent at Hound’s revelation. She looked at the man opposite her, and then to the one whose face was frozen on the screen. With the new information, she could see the similarities between them. Their eyes were the same color; a deep blue. Both had short hair cuts. Their noses were the same shape, although Hound’s lips were a bit fuller than Jim’s.

While they shared physical similarities, that was where it ended. Having seen the men in person, both had a hardness around them, but Jim’s was more dangerous. Considering Hound had been a Navy SEAL, she would’ve thought his edge would be more lethal. Perhaps it was, but he kept it hidden. She’d seen Jim in action, and how they got out of there unscathed still surprised her.

When it came to Mal, the guy was just creepy. It was hard to believe they were all related, but when it came to families, it took all sorts to make them up.

“That’s why they were both familiar to me,” Deal muttered.

Hound didn’t say anything. What could he, though? He’d said they were family, but Collette got the impression they didn’t see much of each other.

“Did you know that we’d be meeting your family when we went there?” Deal asked, a hint of anger in his tone. “You saw the address. Hell, you even saw a picture of the place.”

“Do you really think I’d let you go in there blind?” Hound refuted. “Of course I fucking didn’t know they’d be there. I haven’t seen them in fourteen years. Since the day I walked off my high school graduation stage and onto a bus, which took me to the nearest enlistment office. I walked away from them all with nothing but the clothes on my back and my diploma in my hand.”

Deal drummed his fingers on his leg, something Collette had noticed he did a bit. As if he was aware of what he was doing, he clenched his fingers into a fist to still the movement.

Something else she noted away to unpack later on. Her mind was still hung up on the fact that Hound was related to the two men.

“How do you want to handle this now?” Deal directed his question to Hound.

“I don’t fucking know. The last thing I expected when we watched this video was to see my brother and cousin. Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me both of them are involved in drugs.”

“What about the missing people?” Collette asked. “Do you think they know about it and are turning a blind eye? Or could they be involved? Mal indicated that he’d seen Courtney.”