WICKED INTENTIONS { Completed}

Chapter 19

"What do you think?" Nathan asked.

"She's not a killer." The conviction in Danny's voice was explicit.

"She doesn't look like one," Zeke corrected. He leant forward and tapped his cue-stick against the blue ball. The ball rolled forward over the green fabric hitting a red ball and sending it straight into one of the six pockets lining the table. His brothers both groaned in disappointment.

"Disgusting," Danny complained even though he wasn't actually a part of the game. He was seated on a barstool with his back against the counter, a ginger ale in his hand as he watched the game. He turned his attention to Nathan. "Kira's not the type to hurt anyone."

"You just met her," Nathan said even though he agreed with Danny. The time away from Shakira had given him the space he needed to solicit his brothers' advice. Danny was understandably upset that he hadn't been briefed about what was going on in Nathan's life before now but the kid couldn't hold a grudge if it came with superglue. He'd jumped right into sharing his opinions.

"Maybe it wasn't deliberate," Zeke suggested. "An accident?"

"No," Danny refuted the argument with a firm shake of his head. "She'd have to be really dumb to kill the guy and then let herself get caught sleeping beside the body."

"What he said," Nathan agreed as he took his position by the pool-table though it made him feel even more stupid. It had taken his younger brother less than five minutes to figure out a fact that had taken him weeks. Of course Danny had the advantage since he was the most extroverted of them and seemed to have a better understanding of human nature but that was still no excuse.

There was silence as Zeke and Danny waited for Nathan to shoot. When he did, the ball was completely off the mark which drew amused guffaws from his brothers.

"My dog could beat you at this," Zeke ribbed. Sobering up and pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose, he asked, "Randall found Eve in Jamaica?"

"Yup." Nathan sighed. "She's living it up on the beach."

"Well at least now you know that Shakira's not a con-woman," Zeke said as once more he leant against the table and aimed. "All you gotta prove now is..." His breath hitched as he thrust his stick sending another ball straight into the pocket. "...that she's not a murderer."

Nathan nodded in agreement. Finding out what was going on with Shakira was not just about proving her innocence it was also about keeping her safe. Just the thought of anything happening to her was enough to give him nightmares. "I've got Randall trying to figure out what the FBI have on her, and what Alim and the thumb drive have to do with anything."

Danny shook his head as his gaze shifted between the other two men in the room. "I don't understand why the two of you like this sneaky investigation plans bullshit,"

"It's called strategy," Zeke said.

"No, it's called invasion of privacy," Danny corrected as he tilted the brown bottle against his lips. After taking a huge gulp he turned to Nathan. "If you want to know what's going on with her and the FBI why not just ask her?"

"So she can say what? I didn't kill my ex-boyfriend. The FBI are just confused about me," Zeke mimicked, giving the worst impression of a woman that Nathan had ever seen. It drew a reluctant chuckle from both Nathan and Danny. Zeke added, "You obviously don't know women."

"I know them better than you two." Danny pointed his finger at them. "When she discovers this...your ass is toast."

"When?" Nathan's head snapped towards Danny. "Don't you mean if?"