Edge of Midnight Read Free Page A

in on one side, Miles on the other, squishing him into immobility. Seth put the vehicle in gear.
    “You free to take on some work?” he asked. “You don’t look busy.”
    Sean stifled a groan. He sometimes did freelance bodyguarding for SafeGuard, Inc., the security company that Seth and Davy had recently founded. Usually they called him when they had explosives to deal with.
    Today, the idea bored him into a state approaching rigor mortis.
    “What, a bodyguarding gig nobody else wants? I’m not in the mood to ego-fluff some executive asshole, or carry shopping bags for some fat cat’s trophy wife. Take me off your list. Permanently.”
    “It’s not a bodyguarding gig,” Connor said. “And it’s not for SafeGuard. It’s for me. I’m working on a weird case. Real flesh-creeper. The Cave called me in to consult. Thought you might be interested.”
    And Connor’s consulting gigs for various law enforcement agencies were always fascinating, in a gruesome sort of way.
    He caved almost instantly. “What’s so creepy about it?”
    “We’ve got a predator who likes math and science geeks.”
    “Huh.” Sean blinked. “Wow. Weird.”
    “Yeah. Six cases in four months. College age, males and females both. They turn up dead, ostensibly an OD outside dance clubs, but nobody remembers seeing them inside. All gifted in math, computers, engineering. All with the same unexplained cerebral damage. None of them have family. Someone’s picking them out real carefully.”
    Sean considered it. “Evidence of sexual violence?”
    “In the girls there’s evidence of recent sexual activity, but this prick’s careful not to leave any DNA. He doesn’t like to fuck the boys, evidently. I’ve already got Miles on it. I could use your help, too.”
    Sean had his private misgivings about “the Cave,” the covert FBI task force that his brother used to belong to. Mostly because they’d practically gotten Connor slaughtered, on more than one occasion.
    “What makes you think I could help?” he growled.
    “Don’t be an asshole,” Con said. “You’re useful, when you’re not bouncing off the walls. And you could, ah, use a distraction.”
    “Ah,” Sean said slowly. “So this is, like, a mercy fuck.”
    “Shut up,” Connor snapped. “You’re bugging me.”
    “It’s mutual,” Sean said. “Don’t project your own twisted coping mechanisms onto me, Con. The Superman cape drags on the ground when I wear it. I’ll find my own distractions. A hot three-way with a couple cute babes is more my speed. Shallow butterfly that I am.”
    “I’ve known you since you were born,” Connor said wearily. “Don’t even try.” He passed a brutally scarred hand over his face, a souvenir of one of those near-death experiences. Sean got an unwelcome flash of just how bad his brother felt. He blocked it. Didn’t want to know.
    He shook himself. “I appreciate the thought, but I’m not hurting for money. I’ve got my own projects to keep me busy. Consulting for law enforcement agencies feels too much like real work to me.”
    “It is real work, you lazy slob,” Connor lectured him. “You come into focus when you’ve got real work. That’s what you should be doing, not this frivolous bullshit…what’s your latest craze again? Consulting for goddamn fight films? Give me a fucking break.”
    Sean had gotten very sick of this deep-rooted disagreement long ago. “It’s lucrative frivolous bullshit,” he growled. “I’m busy, I’m off the streets, I’m not in trouble with the law, and I’m not hitting you guys up for money. What the fuck more do you want from me?”
    “Not from you. For you.” Davy swiveled his head, fixed his brother with a laser beam gaze. “This isn’t about money. It’s about you concentrating on something other than your own miserable self.”
    Sean flung his head back against the seat and sealed the light out with his hand. Here was the blood price he had to pay for a ride