Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Today

Emerson Charles took three deep breaths as she traced the letters on the Blue Halo Security sign with her eyes.

This was it. Her last-ditch effort to catch Levi and get him the help he so desperately needed. Nothing else had worked. Not catching him herself. Not hiring a normal private investigative firm. Ha, she could still remember the investigators’ call last night. The call she’d known was coming because the investigators had been quiet for a month. Sorry, we keep locating him then losing him, but we’re still going to charge you squillions of dollars for our services.

Okay, they didn’t say those exact words, but close enough.

She clenched her jaw, her gaze lowering to her seat belt as she unbuckled.

What good was it to locate him and lose him? That didn’t help Levi. That didn’t help anyone.

The problem was, he was too fast for the average person to catch.

With a sigh, she climbed out of the car. The guys who ran Blue Halo also weren’t normal. Not only were all eight men former Special Forces, they’d suffered through Project Arma. The non-government-sanctioned project that had drugged unsuspecting soldiers. Made them faster. Stronger. Able to do things men shouldn’t be able to do.

They were what she needed. They would catch her stepbrother.

With steady determination, she walked to the door and pushed inside to find a set of stairs. Her hands felt clammy as she jogged up. Then, with a single breath of courage, she walked inside Blue Halo.

A woman with long brown hair that fell around her shoulders sat behind a desk. Her intelligent green gaze flashed up and she smiled. The woman wasn’t just pretty. She was beautiful.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily. “Welcome to Blue Halo Security. My name’s Cassie. How can I help you today?”

Nerves fluttered in her belly. Nerves because she knew this was her last shot. If the men of Blue Halo couldn’t capture her brother, no one could.

You’ve got this, Em.

With the last whispered words of encouragement, she stepped up to the desk. “Hi, Cassie. I’m Emerson Charles. I have a nine a.m. meeting.”

“Yes! Our first appointment this morning. Bear with me for a moment. It’s my first day.” Cassie looked at the computer, her smile slipping and a tiny crease marring her smooth brow. “You were scheduled with Logan, but there was a last-minute change and now your appointment is with—”

“Me.”

A deep, familiar voice sounded from the hallway. A voice she’d heard for the first time just last night at the bar. It made awareness skitter down her body and tiny goose bumps rise over her skin.

She turned her head and looked up at the tall man. Not just tall. Huge. Well over six feet, maybe even closer to six and a half. But he wasn’t just huge in height. His shoulders were wide, and he wore a white T-shirt that stretched across a thick chest and hard biceps.

And then there was his face. She swallowed at the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen. They were contrasted by his dark brown hair.

She hadn’t been planning on going out last night. She’d been sitting in her Airbnb, feeling sad and sorry for herself. It had been a split-second decision. All the men from Blue Halo had been there. But it was this man who’d approached her.

He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Tyler Morgan. It’s nice to see you again, Miss Charles.”

She reached out her hand and placed it in his much larger one. Heat spiraled up her arm, tingling across her shoulders. It was the same heat she’d felt last night when he touched her. It made her cheeks flush and her stomach knot.

“Emerson, please. And it’s nice to see you again, Mr. Morgan.”

“Tyler.”

His name carved its way inside her, making her pulse beat to a new rhythm. “Tyler.”

His eyes flashed to the woman behind the desk. “Thanks, Cass.” Then his attention returned to her. “Follow me.”

She smiled at Cassie, not missing how the woman watched them closely, a look of something indefinable in her expression…interest maybe?

They headed down a hall with doors on both sides. Tyler stopped halfway down and held out his hand, ushering her into an office. “Come in.”

As she passed him, a wave of sandalwood scented the air. He even had to smell good? God.

She dropped into the chair opposite his desk, a soft thud sounding through the room as the door closed behind her. Then Tyler folded his large body into the chair behind the desk. He smiled, flashing a hint of a dimple on his cheek.

“So, before we begin, I’d love to find out more about you.”

She swallowed. She was sure the man had run a background check already. Wasn’t that something all security companies did? So he’d know a bit about what had happened with her father when she was younger. About her stepmother adopting her, and the fact that she had a stepbrother. But very little of Levi’s last five years was available. In fact, she was pretty sure people had gone to great lengths to make sure his activity was off the record.

“I live in Vermont and work as an artist. Mostly commissioned paintings. And I’m divorced, no kids.”

She still kept in contact with her ex-husband. Just like everything else about their marriage, the split had been perfectly amicable. No fiery arguments. Nothing thrown across the room or broken when she’d asked for a divorce.

Tyler nodded. “You’ve come quite a distance to see us.”

She had. But then, she would have traveled to the other side of the world if necessary, to help her stepbrother. “I hear your team is the best, and I need the best.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about Project Arma.”

The second the words were out, she regretted them. His smile slipped, dimple disappearing, and those bright blue eyes darkened a fraction. “Thank you. Fortunately, that’s just about behind us.”

Her brows twitched. Just about? Meaning it wasn’t quite behind them? Did he know there were people who’d received the DNA-altering drugs still out there?

She tried for a small smile. “Hopefully everyone who worked for the project was either arrested or rehabilitated.”

This time, Tyler frowned. “Rehabilitated?”

He watched her so closely, she wanted to squirm. Or maybe she did. “Well, yeah. I followed the news reports. It sounds like the man who ran things didn’t give anyone involved much of a choice. The subjects, the scientists… I’d guess even some of the guards were coerced.”

The smile returned to his face, but this one had a dangerous edge to it. “Those guards and scientists had a choice, Emerson. And after making that choice, they needed to face the consequences. I have yet to meet a person involved in the actual running of Project Arma who didn’t need to die.”

It took everything inside her not to flinch at his words. At the way he said die, like it was a vow. Like he’d promised himself long ago no one working for the project would live.

She worked hard to control her breathing and pulse, two things she knew he could monitor with his advanced hearing.

He cleared his throat, the smile on his face relaxing. “Let’s talk about why you’re here. What can I do for you today?”

The words she’d planned to say died in her throat. If she told Tyler the whole truth, would Levi become one of those people who needed to die? But if she didn’t say anything, who was going to find him? Who was going to bring him in and save him?

Panic and desolation swirled inside her like a tornado. She needed Tyler’s help. Levi needed his help.

Her mouth opened and closed twice before she got words out. “I need your help catching and subduing my stepbrother.”

Her heart pounded. This was a risk. A big one. She knew she couldn’t lie to any of these men…but maybe she could fudge the truth for now.

Tyler leaned forward. “Is he missing?”

God, that was a loaded question. “Have you done a background check on me?”

“We’ve done some research.”

“What did you find?” She was genuinely interested in knowing.

“Your father raised you on his own in Vermont before marrying your stepmother when you were nine.” His eyes hardened, and she knew what was coming next. “There was an incident. Your father hurt your stepbrother, and the neighbor shot him to save Levi.”

She breathed through the pain that memory brought. So much had been left out of that police report. Yet she remembered every second of that fateful day. The day Levi had saved her. The day Levi had almost died for her.

“Then your stepmother raised you,” Tyler finished softly.

She nodded. “That’s correct. Levi’s my brother, even though we’re not blood related. He joined the military after graduating from high school, then went into the Special Forces.” This is where she had to be careful with what she said. “On his final mission…he made a mistake.”

Her heart ached for Levi. She was sure Tyler’s research had extended to her family and he knew this, but she explained anyway.

“Instead of shooting the enemy, he shot two team members and killed them. It was an accident, and because of that, he wasn’t charged.” Friendly fire incidents were rarely punished. Apparently, it was unfortunate but common. “But he still left the military because he just couldn’t stay.”

Most thought he’d gotten off lightly. But she knew the truth. That was the beginning of the end for Levi. He’d shot his brothers. And those deaths plagued him. Tormented him. Destroyed him.

Tyler tilted his head. “That would have been really difficult for him.”

She nodded and forced the next words out. Words that would shock him. “Two years after that incident, while he was still suffering from PTSD, a man named James Hylar took him.”

It wasn’t a lie. Hylar had taken him. He’d taken advantage of a man in pain. Promised him something he could never deliver—to give Levi purpose again.

Tyler’s reaction was immediate. He straightened, steel entering his eyes. “Your brother was a prisoner at Project Arma?”

Sweat beaded her forehead. She knew these men could detect a lie, so she was careful to avoid saying anything that would give away the truth. “He was in there for two years, and during that time, he was given the DNA-altering drugs.” She fiddled with a thread on her jeans. “I don’t know the details of what happened the day the compound was raided, but Levi disappeared soon after. And I need you to help me help him.”

Everything she said was true. Yet, nothing gave away the full truth.

“Why isn’t he already home with you?”

That was a good question. Her brother should’ve known he could stay with her. That she would do anything and everything to help him.

“He did stay with me for about a month after the project was shut down. But I’ve only seen him a couple of times since then, and each time I’m more convinced he’s suffering from mental illness. He talks about people still being after him. About people watching him.” It was heartbreaking. “I think he’s suffering from psychosis. Delusions. He needs psychological help.”

And she needed to get him help before it got worse. Before he did something, hurt someone, he shouldn’t.

“He sounds dangerous.” Concern swept over Tyler’s face. It made her skin tingle.

“He is. His mental state has been deteriorating since he was discharged from the military, and after Project Arma, it seemed even more rapid. He could be a danger to himself and others. That’s why I’m here. To force my brother to stop running and seek treatment, which can only be done with help from men of equal speed and strength.”

There. She’d said it. And God, she felt lighter having the words out. She was one step closer to saving him.

“Are you safe?”

Something hot swept through her limbs and settled in her belly. “Yes.” Levi had never hurt her. He’d always been her protector. And she still believed that was true. In fact, maybe even more so now that Pixie had passed away. “But that doesn’t change the fact he needs therapy of some kind.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Tyler asked.

“His mother, my stepmother, died a few months ago. I’ve felt him close to me ever since. I even catch glimpses of him at times. I think he was watching over Pixie a lot, and now he’s switched his protection to me. I’m the only family he has left.”

“So you think he might be here, in Cradle Mountain?”

“Yes.” She was counting on it.