Total Surrender (24 page)

J
ORY QUIETLY SHUT
the bedroom door and shook out his freshly showered hair. Piper slept peacefully in the bed, and he figured she could use more rest.

Wandering through the house, he let the sense of home finally relax him. He’d loved this place when they’d had it built. Now, with Piper ensconced in his bed, it really did feel like home.

For now—while he still breathed. Holding information back from his brothers didn’t set well, and as soon as he figured out their chips¸ he’d need to come clean. He reached the hidden panel near the fireplace and shoved it open to punch in the key code. His fake birthday. Even though he’d been gone two years, they hadn’t changed it.

They’d trusted he wouldn’t break and betray them.

His head lifted at the thought. His heart hitched and hard. Yeah. He’d never betray them.

A door slid open, and he quickly strode down a stairway to the hidden control room.

Finding all three of his brothers waiting wasn’t much of a surprise. They’d showered and grabbed faded jeans and shirts. Just like his. But the hospital bed over to the side and fully stocked medicine cabinet caught him up short.

Matt nodded from one of many leather chairs. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah.” The familiarity of his older brother taking stock felt fucking great. “You?”

“Getting there. We’re ready to take out chips. The second you have the algorithm figured out.”

Time to get to work, then. Those codes changed every thirty seconds, and he had to figure out how to manipulate the numbers. Jory grabbed the damaged computer tower and carried it over to the wide table holding a myriad of computers, hoping to hell the hard drive was all right. “Let’s see how badly the PROTECT soldier broke this puppy.” Then he told them about Dr. Madison being taken.

Shane cleared his throat. “Did she ever confirm she’d shot you?”

“She didn’t shoot me.” Jory reached under the table, plugged the tower into a large monitor, and then opened a drawer to fetch a power cord. His mind focused absolutely on the matter at hand and shoved all other distractions away, even while carrying on the conversation. “Piper’s mom shot me.” If he could just get the tower to take power, he’d be thrilled.

Matt coughed. “Excuse me?”

Okay. All plugged in. Jory pressed the power button on the tower and held his breath.

“Jory?” Nate asked, his Southern drawl breaking wide open. “Rachel shot you?”

“Yes.” They had more important things to think about.

Dead silence pounded around the room. The hair on the back of Jory’s neck rose, and he glanced up, truly perplexed. “What?”

Matt stared at him with no expression, while Nate frowned in his
about to be pissed
look.

Shane glanced at the two other brothers and then back to Jory before snorting. “Is Rachel psychic?”

“No.” The monitor came on, and the tower hummed. Good. A sound, any sound, was good. Then he tried to focus again. Why was Shane trying to break the tension? Shit. Why was there tension?

Silence reigned for precious seconds. Then the tension dissipated in the room. Oh. He’d already moved on from the shooting and perhaps should’ve given his brothers a chance to process the information. Computers. So much easier than people.

“Why would Rachel be psychic?” he asked.

“Maybe she shot you to keep you from defiling her daughter in the future?” Shane chuckled. “One bad experience in bed, and a woman might never try again. Are you any good in bed?”

Jory sighed, his lips twitching with the need to smile. “You’re an ass.”

“Does that mean no?” Nate asked, amusement curving his mouth and the anger fleeing his eyes. “We could find you a
how to
book.”

Jory rolled his eyes. “I liked you better cranky.” Love had certainly given Nate a sense of humor. Shane had always been a smart-ass, so nothing new there. But damn, it was good being with his brothers again.

“Jory?” Matt asked, all business. “Care to explain?”

The hum increased in pitch, and he patted the tower with a bit of strength. “The entire situation with Piper was a setup, and the commander blackmailed Rachel into shooting me. The PROTECT people had me, apparently.” He leaned down to listen better, his mind working calculations of the computer program.

The tower connected with the display, and a blue glow slowly emerged. Then widened. Finally, a cursor came up.

Shane cleared his throat. “So Rachel meant to kill you?”

“Not exactly. Apparently she’s a good shot, and she did what she could not to kill me.” Jory rolled a chair closer and dropped into it, his fingers already flying across the keyboard. The program came up.

Matt shook his head. “Wait a minute. If the PROTECT people had you, and boy, are we going to explore that issue later after we figure out the chips, then how did the commander get to you?”

“Rachel was wearing a camera. Funny thing is, once he saw it was me, he sent in troops to recover my body. Probably saved my life.” Jory leaned back, cracked his knuckles, and started typing again. “I get Rachel having to shoot me—we all do. The commander is a master at blackmail, and the woman did what she had to do. We’re all good now.”

Matt growled. “Are you sure?”

“Yep.” Code flashed across the screen.

Matt sighed. “I had such high plans for revenge and destruction.”

“Me, too,” Shane said sadly. “We can’t destroy Rachel.”

“No. I kinda like her,” Nate lamented. “Plus, haven’t you two wanted to shoot Jory at one time or the other?”

Jory chuckled and kept typing. “I don’t think she enjoyed it much, but I’m sure she’ll give you details.” The program followed his instructions. “Fuckin’ Eureka.” Yes. He typed faster, his brain calculating more rapidly than his fingers ever could.

Matt was instantly behind him, hand on shoulder. “So much for revenge. Let’s work on life. You got it?”

“Hell, yeah.” Warmth, true and full, bloomed in Jory’s chest. “The bullet failed to do any damage when the tower was shot.” His memory clicked into place, and he automatically started typing in the program adjustments he’d watched Piper create. “Give me about an hour, and I’ll have the codes by employing the alterations Piper wrote into the main program. We wouldn’t be close if she hadn’t had that access and an amazing brain. Who’s taking out the chips?”

“Laney. She was a doctor.” Matt’s voice wavered just enough for Jory to notice. “I can’t believe we’re this close.”

Without missing a key, Jory nodded. “I’ll get you safe, Mattie. I swear to God you’ll live through this. All of you.”

The hand clenched. “We’ll all make it,” Matt said.

Jory kept his body relaxed as he added another line of code. “I might not, and I want you guys to know that it’s okay. I’m prepared.” There wasn’t time for him to go into details or spend precious moments being angry with fate or holding on to regrets. “Thank you for being my brothers.”

Silence ticked through the room for about two seconds.

Matt spun him around—hard.

“Hey—” Jory’s fingers slipped from the keyboard, while his mind remained busy. So when Matt hauled him from the chair and put him against the wall, he didn’t protest.

“What do you mean,
you’re prepared
?” Matt levered in close, emotion riding his low voice.

Jory glanced to the side for Shane’s help, but Shane had stood, his face harder than Matt’s. Nate stood next to Shane, his chin down, tension all but falling off him. And they’d been having such a fun moment with his being shot and all.

“Jory?” Shane asked.

Jory exhaled. He hadn’t wanted to go into this until his brothers’ chips were removed, but apparently there would be no typing until they had this fucking discussion. “A bullet nicked my chip, sending it off-line. There’s no way to reach it.”

Matt stepped back. “Bullshit.” His voice remained calm, but emotion seethed under the surface.

Jory had always seen beneath the surface—any surface. From day one, he’d seen the cost to Matt of being the oldest and of taking responsibility for the brothers. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” He grabbed Matt’s powerful shoulders. “I’m all right. The commander had scientists try for months to reach the chip, and nobody came close. The thing is off-line, and it’s going to stay that way.”

Nate stepped up next to Matt. “So there’s a possibility the chip has been rendered useless?”

“There’s a possibility.” Jory released his oldest brother. “Although it’s doubtful.”

Shane shook his head. “There has to be a way to reach it. To get it out.” His hands clenched into fists.

“Sure. We can have Laney try to take it out without the codes and hope it’s defunct.” But Jory doubted it could be that easy. “Although she may detonate the chip at that point, and I’m not sure how much of a blast will occur.” Just enough to sever his spine, hopefully.

“You. Are. Not. Going. To. Die.” Matt spoke slowly and through clenched teeth. “So figure it out, genius.”

“I need Piper,” Jory said.

Matt nodded. “Later.”

Jory couldn’t help the small grin, even with tension destroying the oxygen around them. “Not for that. I need her on the computer next to me. Woman’s a freakin’ wonder.”

“Oh.” Matt nodded. “What about the rest of us?”

Jory shook his head. “Two of us are all I need to find the right codes.”

“Okay.” Matt stepped away and pulled Jory’s chair out from under the desk. “Get to work. I want to check on the boys and then will get Piper. Shane, you get on the third computer and ferret out everything you can about the PROTECT group and where they took Dr. Madison. We need to find that bitch before she tells them everything.”

“And me?” Nate asked, his gaze remaining on Jory.

Matt nodded toward the stairway. “Go check on Audrey and the baby before coming back down. Your mind has to be in this, Nate.”

“It is.” Nate crossed solid arms.

“Then go check on her for me.” Matt turned toward the stairwell. “This is my first nephew or niece, and all of this morning sickness is scary.”

Nate visibly relaxed. “Oh. Well, okay. I’ll take her some ginger ale.”

Shane rolled his eyes at Jory.

Jory smiled. “Just in case, I have to tell you guys—”

“No.” Matt strode toward the stairs. “There’s no thank-yous, no platitudes, no good-byes. No more fucking good-byes. I am so done with that shit and with all of us sacrificing our lives. We’re fucking done, and we’ll all fucking live. The first guy who tells me good-bye ever again, even if he’s just going to the fucking grocery store, gets a fist planted in his fucking face.” He disappeared once upstairs.

Jory retook his seat and glanced at Shane. “That went well.”

Shane shook his head. “There’s no Dean brothers without you, Jory.” His gaze turned stark. Dark and unlike Shane. “So whatever we have to do… we do it.
Never alone
.” They’d lived and nearly died by the mantra from childhood. They didn’t have a father, definitely no mother. But no matter what, they’d always have each other.

Emotion clogged Jory’s throat, and he turned back to the computer screen. “Never alone.”

Piper finished toweling off her wet hair and stepped into the bedroom, stifling a scream at seeing a man sitting on the bed.

“Sorry,” Matt Dean said, not looking sorry at all.

Thank goodness she’d dressed in her jeans and one of Jory’s shirts after her shower. Jory’s big brother was made of solid muscle with a hard-ass face. Handsome but deadly.

He was the kind of guy who’d put you in the ground and whistle while doing so—if he felt like whistling.

“Can I help you?” she asked as evenly as she could.

“Yes. Can you save Jory?” Matt asked, all badass soldier and, she could admit it, Dean brother sexy. He sat quietly, but his hands clenched into fists on his thighs.

She took a deep breath. “I don’t know, but I’d like to keep trying.” Turning, she tossed the towel behind her onto the bathroom counter. “There are different frequencies still to find. But the risk is that the chip is dead, and what if I reactivate it?”

Matt rubbed his chin and stood to pace around the room. “The frequencies of the chips are too low for even us to discern, so first we need to find out if the chip is dead.”

“Yes.” This would all be so much easier to deal with if the chip had gone inactive.

“Okay.” Matt stopped moving and towered. He probably didn’t mean to tower, but with the serious expression and his size, he just did. “Your focus, no matter what Jory says, is to work on his chip.”

Piper frowned, even while her heart gave a happy hop. It was nice to have an ally in saving Jory’s life. “Jory wants to save you three and then concentrate on his chip.”

Matt nodded, and granite had nothing on his jaw. Hell. Granite was Jell-O compared to this man’s jaw. “Jory can keep working on the codes, because his brain is there now, and I can’t pull him away from the puzzle if I wanted. He’s motivated, and I understand that since I’d die for him, too, but you’re motivated to save him, not me.”

Actually, she’d like to save them all.

Matt cleared his throat, hard gaze softening. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels like a kid unsure of himself. “Since your mother is the one who shot him and nicked his chip…”

Piper put her hands on her hips as her face heated. “There’s no need to try guilt in motivating me.”

Matt peered down a very long way. He blinked and seemed to hold his breath. “What does motivate you?”

She paused. He was damn serious. “Why?”

“Because I’ll do whatever it takes. Money? Long life? Tour of the world? You ask for it, and I’ll do it—if you save my brother.” His voice cracked, and steel-filled determination glittered in his eyes along with a heartbreaking fear. Just like that, Matt seemed human. Frightened and determined.

Piper touched his arm, offering comfort. “I want to save Jory because he’s Jory. But the second he realizes I’m working on his chip and not yours, he’ll get pissed.”

Matt moved a shoulder the size of a boulder. “Jory doesn’t get pissed—he gets even.”

Why did that sound worse? Even more, why did Matt sound so proud of that fact, even while in sorrow? “I’m not sure how to respond to that.”