“Well then, there you go.”
“Do you think Niall was the one passing information to Murray’s organization?”
“I have no idea, Koen. That’s what we have to figure out. We need to comb through every facet of his life from back then.”
“You realize if he is behind everything and he catches wind that you remember, your life could be in danger.”
Lanie brought up a good point. It was actually part of the reason I asked Nelson to bring his little side project with him. Niall wasn’t an idiot. He knew Sloane was my greatest weakness. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to use her to getto me. As much as I wanted to be with her twenty-four seven, that wasn’t realistic. I needed a way to know where Sloane and the twins were at all times. Everyone knew cell phones and jewelry were the best places to hide a tracker. No one would suspect Nelson’s flesh-colored patches were capable of the same. They were my plan B.
“Something has been bothering me. Technically, more than one thing.”
“What’s up?”
Over the years, I’d learned to let Noah talk through his concerns. The guy’s brain didn’t work like everyone else’s, which was why he was invaluable to the team. He saw stuff the rest of us easily dismissed.
“The surgeon, for one. I think Niall or someone else paid him off to alter the report to say the bullet was from a previous gunshot wound.”
“Why not just take the bullet out of the equation completely? Wouldn’t it have been a better option to get rid of the fact Duncan had been shot at all?”
“Everyone in the operating room saw him pull a bullet from Duncan’s chest, Keaton. It’s cheaper to pay one man to change his report, than to pay a dozen people to forget what they saw.”
“True. But why hide it at all?”
“Because when I woke up with no memory from after the crash, Niall figured he was in the clear. If I knew I’d been shot, I wouldn’t have stopped searching until I found the shooter.”
“Exactly.” Noah grinned.
“What else?” I asked him.
“Why would Niall risk potentially exposing himself by trying to get you to rejoin the investigation?”
“It was a trap,” Lanie concluded.
“Son of a bitch, he was tying up loose strings.”
“You caught him off guard when you showed up at his hotel room, Duncan. He wasn’t prepared.” Noah glanced around at his fellow agents. “I have an idea.”
I lowered myself onto the sofa next to Sloane, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She was tense, with good reason. Whatever Noah had in mind would undoubtedly highlight the target that was already on my back.
“What is it?”
“We go on the offensive.” He looked straight at me. “Call Niall, tell him you want to meet with him alone. Bait him. Say you remember something about the accident. We’ll control the location of the meet.”
“No. No way.” Sloane shook her head, wincing at the sudden motion. “It’s too dangerous. What if something happens to you? I can’t lose you again.”
“Sunshine, nothing’s gonna happen to me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Listen to me.” I cupped her cheeks. “Waverly and I hand-picked the people in this room for our team because we wanted to build something special. And we did. I’d take a bullet for any one of them, and they’d do the same for me. We’re family in every sense of the word, except our bond is thicker than blood. They’ll make sure I come back to you.”
“Swear it to me, Duncan.”
“I promise, Sloane.”
Turning back to my team, I gave a nod. “Noah’s right. It’s time to be the aggressor. Let’s go on the hunt.”
My daughter was gonna be a hell of an interrogator one day. She’d been popping off questions nonstop since Waverly dropped them off two hours ago. I was ready to confess to crimes I hadn’t committed just so I could have a moment to think.