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Tanner wasn’t sure his brother was aware of the reality of his own feelings. “You do know that’s got more to do with Marilyn than it does Ellis, right?”

Noah’s eyes, so much like Tanner’s own, pinned him with a glare. “I know you’re not trying to say what Ellis did was okay.”

“Not at all. What I’m saying is that killing rage you feel isn’t just because of his actions. It’s because of him doing it to her.” Tanner held a hand out to stop Noah’s argument before it could go any further. “I’m not saying the bastard doesn’t deserve to rot in jail. I’m just saying that rage you’re talking about is because of her, not because of him.”

Tanner returned his eyes to the road. Noah didn’t say anything further as he processed it all. It may take Noah a while to recognize the truth, but he didn’t lie to himself.

“I’ve been working with Marilyn,” Noah finally said softly, still looking out the window. “Self-defense stuff, even before we knew Ellis’s release was a possibility. She’s so damn little. Doesn’t seem to have any sort of warrior instinct. She’s not like Bree, who survived on her own for so long. Marilyn is the type of woman who is meant to be cared for. She’s not someone who should have to fight tooth and nail just to exist.”

“Marilyn is stronger than you think. She has to be to have survived what she’s survived.”

Noah rubbed the top of his black hair—still cut military short even though he’d been out of the army for nearly five years now. “Oh, believe me, I know she’s strong. I have never mistaken her quietness for weakness.”

“You’re doing the right thing, teaching her what you can. Whatever she doesn’t have as natural intuition can be made up for with other skills. She may not have the attack instinct...”

“But she can be taught other ways to make up for that.”

They were silent for long minutes.

“I want to fight her battles for her,” Noah said. “But I know that in the long run I’m doing a disservice to her by feeling that way. The best thing I can do for her is teach her how to fight the monsters herself.”

Tanner waited for him to say more, but evidently, he was done talking about it. It was the most he’d heard his brother talk about anything personal in the five years he’d been home.

Noah might be teaching Marilyn some things, but it seemed she was teaching him some things, as well.

It wasn’t long before they were pulling up at the downtown Denver town house where Jared was staying. Neither of them said what both of them were thinking: that something was definitely not right when Ellis currently resided in a million-dollar home while his wife and children lived in a shelter designed for people without a home at all.

Tanner had researched this property earlier today. “Town house is owned by a guy named Marius Nixon. He’s the same one who put the money up for Jared’s bail. Of all this little posse, Nixon is the cleanest. I’ve got confirmation that he’s not even in the country right now.”

Noah nodded, staring at the building. The window shades were open, allowing them to see inside to parts of the living room and dining room.

“The rest of Ellis’s clan includes investment banker George Pearson, Paul Wyn, owner of a chain of restaurants, and of course his lawyer, Oscar Stobbart. None of them have ever been arrested or in any trouble with the law besides Ellis.”

Noah grimaced. “Completely clean. Convenient.”

“Almost squeakily so.”

“Any of the rest of them married?”

“This is where it gets more interesting,” Tanner said. “Both Pearson and Wyn had wives who died within the last five years.”

“Isn’t that an interesting coincidence?” Noah said. “No other wives around to ask if Jared’s friends had been abusive also.”

Tanner nodded. “Unfortunately, according to the coroner’s reports, in both cases there was nothing suspicious about the deaths. One was a car accident. One was a skiing accident.”

“If you had said cancer, I might have agreed it wasn’t suspicious,” Noah grunted. “But we both know a death that didn’t get labeled as suspicious by the coroner’s office could still be murder. But on paper they look like tragic characters who lost their loved ones and have never broken the law. Nice.”

It was a tricky situation. Pearson and Wyn were both upstanding businessmen. They’d never done anything wrong in the eyes of the law. Accusing them of anything when their only questionable action was their association with Ellis—and he hadn’t even been found guilty yet—would be career suicide for Tanner.

Tanner pulled out his laptop and ran the program Bree had created. “According to the ankle monitor, Jared is definitely inside the town house.”

Noah pulled some binoculars out of his bag and trained them toward the building.

“Affirmative,” he said after a few minutes. “I’ve spotted him inside. Pearson and Wyn are with him. Looks like they’re having some sort of business meeting. Papers spread out all over the table. Maybe building plans or maps or something.”

“I don’t think any of them are in business with each other, but I haven’t searched definitively. It’s possible. None of them have business ties with Jared that we’ve found.”

Noah put the binoculars back up to his eyes. “Well, whatever’s happening here, Jared’s definitely in charge. Now I wish I hadn’t brought you.”