From Sanctum With Love (Masters and Mercenaries Book 10) (10 page)

“She’s a reporter. Why is she still here? Is there a reason we haven’t given her the boot?” Case asked. “Hell, I’d like to know why she was allowed into the class in the first place.”

“Because I’m curious,” Big Tag said. “She’s a freelance reporter. What’s she reporting on? According to Adam, she hasn’t sent anything to an editor except a few opinion pieces that are unrelated to anything having to do with Sanctum. She doesn’t typically write undercover pieces. For the last couple of years, she’s mostly written about Austin business. Now she shows up in Dallas? She’s asked a bunch of questions about McKay-Taggart.”

“Not to mention the fact that Danvers isn’t her birth name,” Kai threw in. He’d figured this out a while back. He’d gone to Ian about Mia Danvers. It was precisely how her file had ended up with Adam. Nothing in her evaluations made him think she was violent, but he’d suspected she was hiding something. “Lawless. It’s her brother who interests me. Apparently they’ve tried to hide their family ties. At least on paper. There are four siblings, but only one still uses the family name.”

Rush was suddenly sitting up. “Lawless? Are you talking about Andrew Lawless? As in 4L Software?”

Ian nodded. “Yes, she’s the sister of Drew Lawless. Her other brothers are legally known as Riley and Brandon Lang. This family has done a lot to hide their connection and stay private. Adam said it took him a very long time to unravel all the paperwork and link them together. Riley and Brandon work for 4L, but as far as we can tell not even the employees there understand they’re related to the boss. It’s very suspicious. I want to know why a billionaire’s sister is snooping around my club asking questions about my business.”

“Because she’s working for The Collective,” Case shot back. “It wouldn’t be the first time that group sent in a reporter to gather information and cause chaos, or do you forget the London op from a few years back? Which is precisely why we should shove her out on her pretty ass.”

Charlotte put a hand on her brother-in-law’s shoulder. “Or we keep her close and watch her. She’s here for a reason. Let’s figure out what it is. If we toss her out, they’ll likely send in someone else and then we’ll have to start all over again.”

“If she’s Collective, I doubt she understands what she’s involved in.” Kai had spent time with Mia. While she was hiding her identity, he didn’t buy that she was working to bring down McKay-Taggart. She was a woman he would bet would try to do the right things. “Read my profile on her, Case. She’s the kind of woman who could be reckless if she thought it was for a good cause. I think she’s actually in need of some protection herself.”

Case shoved back and stood. “She’s not getting it from me. She wants to come in here and try to take my family down? She has no idea. She can get her ass back to Austin. Her brother’s billions mean nothing here.”

Case stormed out, the door slamming behind him.

So that seemed like a firm “no” on reading Mia’s file and giving her a fair shake. “Her story’s more complex than he thinks.”

Ian closed his file as well, standing and indicating that this particular meeting was over. “That whole family is fucked up, but it doesn’t mean that her brother’s not involved in The Collective. I go through what he did and maybe I’m not so picky about my business contacts either. Anyway, I’ll talk to Case. I think he’s our best bet when it comes to figuring out why she’s here. She’s shown zero interest in her training Dom. I think she wants a Taggart, and Case is the only one whose penis isn’t tethered to a female. And Kai, I know this isn’t easy for you. I appreciate everything you’re doing.”

“Enough to let me in on the secret? I’m not stupid. Something’s happening here that you’re not telling the rest of us.” He could feel it. It was there in the way Ian’s face went blank at certain moments, in how he and McKay whispered and shut up when anyone else walked in the room. It was something to do with this operation and why it was so important.

“Like I said. I’m grateful.” Big Tag nodded and walked out.

And that was all he was going to get.

Rush and the rest of the team filed out, leaving Kai behind with Eve.

“I’m here if you want to talk, you know,” she said as she gathered her things.

“I might take you up on that. Rush might be right and I’m too close to this to see it properly,” Kai admitted. “I’m having a very difficult time believing my brother has anything to do with this. What I want to do is sit his ass down and ask him what the hell he’s thinking traveling around the damn world with a serial killer. Women are falling down dead all around him and he’s probably been too involved in some Xbox game to notice. That I can believe.”

Eve straightened her suit. “Maybe that’s what you do then. Look, no one knows your brother the way you do. In serials there are almost always signs from youth. I find it difficult to believe that you wouldn’t have seen them. And kindness to strays—both animal and human—isn’t usually a part of the serial killer makeup. Your brother’s in trouble, Kai. It might be time to look at that relationship because if you don’t do everything you can to help him, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

This was what had kept him from finding any peace at all this afternoon. “It’s easy for me to see that in an intellectual fashion, but I can’t look at this academically.”

“Which is why my door is open if you need to talk.”

What he needed was a long night at Sanctum focused on a submissive. He could practically feel the pressure building.

What he was going to get was his brother in his face all night. He was going to be grumpy for freaking weeks.

He stepped out into the surprisingly quiet office. Grace wasn’t at her desk. Normally someone was milling about even this late in the evening, but tonight the halls of McKay-Taggart seemed quiet.

He stepped toward the lobby doors when he heard Big Tag’s voice. He was quiet, but Kai could hear him. From where the voice was coming from, it appeared that Ian was in the hallway that led back to the daycare. His girls would still be here, likely the last kids left along with Eve and Alex’s son.

“I don’t care what you have to do, Rush. I did not put my club and my people at risk on a whim.” Ian’s voice came out in a harsh grind. “My intel is solid, but I need your people.”

Yes, this was the point when he should stride right out the door because he was a good man and good men didn’t eavesdrop.

They could slow down though. Make sure they had everything. Had he left his cell phone in the conference room? He patted his pockets.

“I get that, Mr. Taggart. We’re doing everything we possibly can, but you could be wrong about this,” Rush replied.

No. He had his cell. He started to make his way toward the door.

“I’m not wrong. Find my brother.”

Kai stopped, his hand on the door as he saw Ian stride down the hallway toward the daycare. Rush disappeared into one of the empty offices, likely the one he’d been given while he was working in Dallas.

Find my brother.

Kai walked to the elevator, his mind on Ian’s words. Kai knew where his brother was, knew he was in trouble.

Find my brother.

The elevator doors opened and he walked inside. Eve was right. He had to at least try to figure out how deep Jared was involved in this mess. He pressed the button that would take him to the lobby.

It was only then that he realized what Ian hadn’t said. He hadn’t mentioned a body. He hadn’t asked the special agent to help him in recovering his brother’s body. The last time he’d talked to Ian about it, Ian had been certain Theo’s body had been dumped in the Caribbean.

Find my brother.

That wasn’t some verbal error on Ian’s part. If he’d meant body, he would have said body.  He hadn’t and that meant something. It was what had been bothering Kai about this operation all along. Ian was private by nature, cautious by design when it came to his life, his friends and family. Big Tag wouldn’t put his family at risk in order to find a body. He wouldn’t open his club to a killer in some attempt to find closure.

There was only one reason Big Tag would risk everything. Kai thought about going upstairs and demanding answers, forcing his way into the inner circle.

Instead he walked to his car. If Ian wasn’t saying anything he had his reasons and Kai needed to honor them. That man had done more for the people around him than they would ever know. Ian didn’t need him to storm in. What he needed was for Kai to deal with his brother so Ian could find his own.

Theo was alive and that meant Kai couldn’t fail.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Oh. My. God. Is it true? Do you think it’s actually true?” Sarah was practically vibrating as she stood in front of Kori’s locker, folding the scrubs she’d been wearing. She’d worked the day shift at the hospital and driven straight from work. Normally they would have driven in together, but today Kori had been grateful for the privacy.

Kori had gone home after sitting at her desk for an hour. It had been nice to have the place to herself for a portion of the evening so she could sort through what had happened before coming here to Sanctum and throwing herself into the maelstrom again. She would likely have to watch Kai scene.

“What are you talking about?” She must have missed something because everyone was whispering and there was a definite vibe of excitement running through the room.

“The e-mail.” Sarah’s big eyes went wide. “Right before five, an e-mail from Big Tag came through about the fact that a movie is going to be shooting right here in Sanctum and Jared Johns is starring and he’s going to be here tonight. Jared—the hottest guy in the world—Johns is going to be here in Sanctum tonight. Do you think that’s real or is Big Tag fucking around with us?”

She wouldn’t put it past Big Tag, but she happened to know this information was true. So Jared hadn’t been talking about some dance club earlier in the day. Well, he was likely going to be surprised to see her here tonight. “I saw him earlier today. He was visiting Kai, who in a surprise twist turns out to be his brother.”

Not that they were close. There was some serious tension between those two. She’d thought about it all afternoon, their relationship running through her mind like a script she was trying to write. There was the quiet, stalwart brother. Intelligent and serious. He was the hero of the story, but constantly eclipsed by his younger, flashier brother. Yes, she could work with those two. As they fought whatever the story would throw at them, they would also fight each other, trying to sort through a myriad of issues that would lead to their eventual reconciliation.

Sarah stood there staring at her. “Are you freaking kidding me? You work with Jared Johns’s brother and it never crossed your mind to mention that tidbit to your bestie?”

She’d met Sarah at Sanctum and they’d become fast friends. When Sarah had needed a place to stay after her divorce, Kori had offered her a room in her cozy ranch house. Sarah was exactly what she needed in her life. Fun and energetic, she pulled Kori out into the world.

Kori gently closed her locker door. “I didn’t have any idea. I thought Kai was an only child. He’s mentioned his mother a couple of times, but never a brother, and it’s not like he’s got a bunch of pictures in his office. Even when I used to go in and water his plants at his old place, there weren’t any mementos or photographs. I was shocked when I walked into his office and there was Jared Johns standing there talking to him. As for the rest of it, I don’t know much except what I looked up on the Internet after finding out about Kai’s Hollywood connections. Apparently a major studio is doubling down on the
Fifty Shades
trend and they’re filming Serena’s book
Love After Death
. Jared Johns is starring. He’s going to be training here for a few weeks and then there’s six weeks principal photography in and around Dallas. So you’ll be able to drool all over him for a while.”

She’d pulled up some of the more accurate entertainment sites and gotten the info on the production company while Kai sat in his office doing yoga or some shit. It was obvious to her that he’d been totally thrown off his game by the appearance of his brother and that meant either meditating—which seemed like complete BS to Kori—or he was doing the downward pug or something. It was all part of the super serene Kai method of dealing with stress.

Now it was time to get some stress relief of her own. If she could find a Dom to play with.

What would Kai be doing tonight? Who would Kai be doing tonight?

Damn that was starting to hurt.

Sarah leaned in. “Hey, are you all right? Does this film thing bring back bad memories or something?”

Sarah was the only one who knew what she’d done before coming to Dallas. Well, Big Tag likely knew because of Sully, but she was certain no one else did.

“It’s all right. I looked into the production company. It’s fairly new. I don’t know any of the power players and that’s a good thing.” She hadn’t mentioned that she’d met Jared a couple of times. It was so long ago and they hadn’t truly been friends, so she didn’t feel bad about it. She wasn’t sure why Jared even remembered her name. “My main issue is Kai getting his panties all up in a wad. He and his brother don’t get along.”