Free Ultimate Cowboy by Rita Herron Page B

couldbreach that armor Will had erected to protect himself.
    “Let me make some calls.”
    She started to step out of the room, and Brody caught her arm. “Thanks, Julie. I...appreciate everything you’re doing.”
    Her beautiful eyes glittered with emotions. “You don’t have to thank me, Brody. I want Will home with you where he belongs, and I want the man who took him to rot in prison for therest of his life.”
    Brody nodded, the years falling away as a hint of the old Julie returned. But the pain and guilt in her voice reminded him of the chasm between them. That losing Will had torn them apart.
    Would finding him bring them back together again?
    Julie stepped from the room, and he glanced through the window at the troubled, angry boy in the interrogation room, and thoughtsof a reunion with Julie fled.
    All that mattered was reaching his brother and finding out who’d kidnapped him and turned him into a criminal.
    Then he’d make the bastard pay.
    After that, he had to help Will heal from the trauma he’d suffered over the years.
    Of course, Will—Kyle—hadn’t acknowledged that he recognized him, but deep in his gut, Brody knew this boy was his littlebrother. What had his abductor told him about his family?
    Brody had told Will that he’d looked for him for years, but the boy had shown no reaction.
    But somewhere deep down he had to know that Brody had never given up the search and that he loved him.
    And if he didn’t, Brody would make sure that he told him every day for the rest of his life until he believed him.
    * * *
    J ULIE CORNERED A GENT Cord in the break room. “We have to get a medical and psych exam. That boy has been severely abused.”
    “I agree,” Agent Cord said. “But I’m not so sure he’s not the leader of a gang.”
    Julie clenched her teeth. “It’s possible, but he’s scared, which indicates he has someone to report to, someone he’s afraid of.”
    “You think he recognized Hank Forte?”
    Julienodded. “He put on a face of steel, but he definitely reacted to the boy’s picture.”
    Brody curled his hands into fists. “Then he should tell us where the unsub is keeping him.”
    Julie sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “Maybe he’s afraid the creep will hurt Hank if he tells.”
    “So how do you suggest we approach the situation?” Agent Cord asked.
    “Let’s get the medical evaluationsand maybe the judge will release him to a mental health facility. Counselors might be able to convince him to open up. But we have to remember, he’s undergone seven years of intense abuse. It may take time for them to earn his trust enough for that to happen.”
    Agent Cord agreed and Julie stepped aside to call and make the arrangements. Brody’s suffering drove her to take one last stab atKyle, so she went back into the room. He was still sitting in the same chair, arms behind his back, his expression closed. Bleak.
    His bruises had darkened to an ugly purple. Those were the ones she could see. He had so many others inside, ones maybe even deeper and more painful than the visible ones on his body.
    Her heart ached for him. Had he had any kind of affection the past few years?
    Probably not, she thought sadly. His only physical contact had most likely been at the other end of the kidnapper’s fist.
    “I want to explain what’s going to happen,” Julie said matter-of-factly. “You’ll spend the night in the cell,” she said. “In the morning, you’re going to be given a physical exam by a doctor, then a psychiatrist is going to speak with you.”
    A belligerent looktwisted his face.
    “Remember, I’m on your side,” Julie said. “I’ll do whatever I can for you. And if you help us find the person who kidnapped you, who took little Hank Forte from his mama and daddy, then we can make these charges against you disappear.”
    For a hairbreadth of a second, he looked at her as if he wanted to talk. Then that hardened look passed over him again, and he staredat the