by Lexi Blake
Alex liked being in control, too, and he wasn’t about to give it up. “It’s not happening. If I decide to take the job, you would be backup, nothing more. Evans is mine.”
Evans had destroyed him. It would be nice to return the favor.
“Well, it certainly sounds like he has your number. One hint of the man and you’re lying to your friends. I called Ian, by the way. He thinks you called me when the meet changed at the last minute and you realized I was closer. I think Ian has enough on his mind without worrying about his best friend lying to him.”
Ian should understand. He was obsessed with finding Eli Nelson. Alex had caught him on several occasions staying up late at night at the office going over and over every piece of information they had, all of it laid out on a conference table like the pieces to a puzzle he just couldn’t make fit.
“Thanks.” Guilt gnawed at him. He wasn’t trying to lie to Ian, but this was important. And what about Eve? How is she going to take it, you asshole?
Lately his inner voice had taken to calling him all manner of names. He strode through the door and a blast of heat hit him. The Texas sun had been turned up to full blast. He looked out over the well-manicured landscape of North Dallas. Northwest Highway was in front of him, cars jammed into the lanes like sardines moving slowly toward some unknown destination. Traffic in Dallas always sucked, but construction was making it utterly unbearable. He strode toward his truck, wondering how his reception would be back at the office. He didn’t believe for a minute that Ian would buy Simon’s story. Ian knew him way too fucking well. He was in for an ass kicking the minute he got back to the office.
And he would take it because the truth of the matter was he needed his team.
“Mate, that’s a terrible look. What’s going on in your head?” Simon was a douchebag when it came to women, but he was astute. And he was the only one who didn’t have a personal relationship with him and his wife. Ex-wife. Eve. Simon didn’t know the intimacies of the case. Maybe he would be a good sounding board.
That traffic really did look like hell. And there was a great sushi place inside. “What do think of raw fish, man?”
Simon turned a little green. “I think it sounds perfectly horrible. We Brits believe in frying our fish, thank you very much.”
“You’re not in England anymore, buddy.” He would learn. “Come on. Lunch is on me.”
They walked back inside, Alex’s brain turning around and around the whole time.
* * * *
Alex picked up his cell, hitting a number he hoped still worked. Simon was sitting at the table, a pint in front of him. The Brit didn’t have a problem drinking his lunch, but he actually had a fairly cool head when it came to business. They’d spent an hour and a half discussing the upcoming op, and Alex was feeling better about it.
“Petty.”
Alex couldn’t help but smile a little. Petty sounded every inch the FBI agent. Serious and just a little bit pompous. He’d sounded that way at one time. “Hey, Warren, how’s it going?”
There was a little pause. “McKay?”
“Yeah.”
“Holy shit. Alex fucking McKay.” A little slap came over the line. Warren had always smacked the nearest hard surface when he was surprised. “What the fuck? How long has it been?”
So freaking long. “At least three years. How is the wife?”
“Alice is good. And Janelle is about to graduate from high school. Can you believe it? I have a damn eighteen-year-old kid.” There was a little pause and a sigh. “How is Eve?”
Alex stared out of the window. He could see the parking lot from here. The day was sunny and bright, with busy shoppers walking by. Eve was likely in her office by now. “She’s good. We’re both busy working.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of good things about that company you started with Taggart. You have some serious contracts. Is it true you’re working with the Secret Service?”
They had been consulting on certain details of travel, but they’d signed a metric shit ton of non-disclosure agreements. “I have no knowledge of that.”
A knowing chuckle came over the line. “Got it, man. I told Eddie he should call you when the campaign heats up in a couple of months. You know he’s going for the nomination.”
Edward Petty. Senator from Oklahoma. Warren’s brother had his eye on the White House. He’d been in the senate for the last six years. Alex remembered when Eddie was just a fresh-faced kid who had lucked into a congressional seat. “We’re close enough. We can certainly handle his security and run background on everyone surrounding him. He can’t take that seriously enough, you know.”
A low chuckle came over the line. “Oh, I know. I think Eddie has learned that lesson along the way. Everyone wants something from him. Alex, it’s so good to hear from you.”
Because he hadn’t called his old partner in forever. Their friendship had been one more victim of Evans. “Well, I have a favor.”
“Anything.”
“Have you got new information on Evans?” He hesitated to mention what Kristen had discovered. He didn’t know her yet, couldn’t trust her.
Warren sighed, a low sound. “Man, you need to let that go. I know how much you want this guy. God, no one knows more than I do. I know what happened, but I promise, I’m doing everything I can to find Evans. The fucker seems to have disappeared. I’ve gotten some CIA intel that he’s working somewhere in South America with a cartel.”
Narcoterrorists. It fit with what Kristen had told him. “I can’t let it go and you know why. I have some connections now. I might be able to give you some insight. Could you just let me look at the new intelligence? I know it’s not protocol.”
“I could bring you on as a consultant, Alex, but do you really think that’s a good thing to do? You’re still with Eve, right? Does she know you’re looking into this?”
He didn’t want to talk about this shit. “Eve and I are fine. She isn’t particularly interested in this case. I’m just looking around. I’m curious. You would be, too. If this happened to Alice, you would always want to be in the loop. You know it.”
A long pause came over the line. “I know. I don’t want this case to go cold. It eats at me.”
“I know, man.” Warren had been by his side after Eve had been taken, staying up late helping to look for her. “I just want to look at the new information.”
Maybe there was something in there that would jump-start his brain and put him in the proper mindset. He had the original files practically memorized, but there was five years of information he hadn’t been privy to, including all the files on Evans’s escape. He’d been out of the loop by then because his wife had become a victim.
“Things have tightened up around here. I have to get you clearance. I’m sorry, but I’m about to be under a lot of scrutiny because of Eddie.”
Damn it. Bureaucratic red tape. And Warren was right. The minute Eddie threw his hat in the nomination ring, the press and Eddie’s opposition would scrutinize every member of his family, especially his FBI brother. “Do what you can. I understand.”
It could be weeks or months before he got the information. He was more dependent on Kristen than he liked.
“I’m sorry, but, damn, man, it’s good to talk to you. Any chance you’ll be in DC soon?” Warren asked.
“Probably not, but I bet you’ll come out to Oklahoma City in a couple of months.”
“Absolutely, can’t miss little brother’s kick-off speech. I’ll be sure to stop in Dallas. I would love to see your operation. See how the other half lives. Maybe I’ll even get out of government work one of these days. You know the pay is shit.”
The pay at McKay-Taggart was much better and they could choose the cases they worked. Warren was a longtime agent, and he had deep political connections thanks to his brother. He would be a welcome addition. “Any time you want to talk, my door is always open. And anything you can do to get me those files would be appreciated.”
He didn’t want
to trust Kristen’s hacked files. He wanted to look at the same thing Warren looked at. It might not tell him anything he didn’t know, but maybe studying them would keep his head in the game.
“I’ll see what I can do. Hey, is Evie…I don’t know, how is she really doing? You know I think about her a lot. I just…I wish I could catch him, man.”
Warren had been the first of his friends to get to the hospital. Ian had been on a plane the second he found out, but Warren had been there when Eve had come out of surgery and the doctor had informed them of all the damage. He’d been the one to stand outside the room while Alex cried over his wife’s body. Warren had kept everyone off him. “We’re still standing.”
It was the best he could say about them. And they might not be standing when Eve found out where he was going and why. He wasn’t sure what would be worse—Eve being pissed or not caring at all.
“All right. Give her my love. We all miss you, man.”
A knot sat in his chest. He’d really loved working with those guys. For a long time it had been him and Warren and Tommy and Leon. Tommy and Leon were gone now. They’d been a tight-knit little family, but when the chips had fallen, he’d come back to Ian and Sean.
Simon stepped up, his cell in hand and a frown on his face.
“Give me a second, Warren.” He muffled the phone against his shirt. “What’s going on?”
“Ryan just left me a message looking for you,” Simon explained. “He’s been trying to call you.”
He’d noticed and Alex had let it roll to voice mail because Ryan Church managed Sanctum, and right now Sanctum was at the bottom of his priorities. Besides, Ryan’s next call would likely be to Ian. “Why didn’t he call Ian?”
“I think Ian is the problem, McKay. He didn’t say exactly what was happening, but he said Ian’s in trouble. With traffic we’re at least forty minutes away.”
Alex held the phone back to his ear. “I have to go, Warren. Just e-mail me the files if you can. Thanks for everything.”
He hung up and they took off for the parking lot. No matter what was going on in his world, he would drop it all for Ian.
Chapter Three
“What do you think this is about?” Liam asked, pulling his SUV into the parking lot at Sanctum.
Eve shook her head. She’d gotten a phone call from Ryan almost thirty minutes before. He’d been a bit cryptic, asking her if she wouldn’t mind coming down to the club and dealing with an issue they had.
Alex was stuck in traffic. Ian was nowhere to be found, and Jake and Adam were apparently somewhere in the West End eating chicken wings. That left Liam driving her to the industrial-style building where Sanctum was housed. She’d argued that she could drive herself. She was perfectly capable, but Liam had professed a sudden and deep desire to visit the club he loved during daylight hours.
Yeah, like she couldn’t figure out what that was about. The men of McKay-Taggart were all alpha-male, protect-the-women types. When Grace went out for a coffee run, one of the men inevitably decided that he needed to go, too, and she either found herself with an escort or an errand boy. It was just the way they were. These men had seen all the crap that could happen to a woman on her own and had made a conscious decision that it damn straight wouldn’t happen to one of theirs.
“Did Ryan say anything?” Liam asked, peering out the front window at the unobtrusive exterior of the club. Eve knew exactly why he was asking. He was debating just how much ammo to take. She wasn’t foolish enough to think he was questioning whether or not he should take a piece with him. Oh, no. He always had a gun on him. He just needed to know if he should carry an extra clip or two.
“Well, sweetie, he called me so I don’t think the club’s under siege. I think we can safely bet this is a purely therapeutic visit.” Sometimes Ryan called her in to interview potential members. No one got into Sanctum without a thorough screening. It was the same for new employees.
But he’d been awfully evasive about this visit. And she never did emergency interviews.
“Just stay close to me,” Liam said. He never bothered to hide that thick Irish brogue anymore unless he was undercover. Liam was finally comfortable being Liam.
Could she be Eve again?
She slid out of the SUV, her heels hitting the pavement. She loved the black and gold Givenchys, but maybe the first thing the new Eve should do is buy a pair of flip-flops. She was pretty sure the new Eve wanted some comfy shoes. Not anything horrible. She could find designer flip-flops, surely. And maybe the new Eve could ease up on the diet a bit. Once a week. Twice. Maybe a little chocolate every now and then.
Maybe she would let Alex order for her. He always knew what she liked and when he’d really been her Dom, she could relax and enjoy it. She had…issues. She’d had them all her life, but those years when she’d been married to Alex, they had been under control because he’d been in control.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have permission to enjoy her life again? Some of her peers would say it wasn’t healthy to seek another’s permission, but Eve had learned long ago that it didn’t necessarily matter how a person found happiness so long as they did. And it was beyond healthy to acknowledge one’s weaknesses and to seek a remedy to them.
“Earth to Eve?”
She couldn’t concentrate today. “Sorry. I was thinking about something.”
He gave her a grin. “You were thinking about that bugger again, weren’t ya?”
“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.” She looped her arm through his because while the parking lot was well taken care of, it was still a minefield when it came to five-inch heels.
“Do you have any idea how far you’ve come in the last couple of months?” Liam modified his walk for her, giving her balance against the slight uphill grade. “When I first came on, you wouldn’t touch anyone, not for any reason.”
“Hey, I’ve learned to trust you guys.” She wasn’t sure when it had really started, but she thought it might have begun with watching Sean fall in love. And then Adam and Jake, and now Li. She grinned up at him. “I figure if you idiots can get your shit together, I should probably get mine.”
Liam laughed. “See. There you go. Ya never used to joke. It looks good on ya, darlin’. We love you, Evie. There’s nothing we want more than for you to get your shit together.”
She gave his arm a squeeze. Having these men around had been a wonderful thing, but she really thought it was their women who were bringing her out of her shell. They’d all been through hell, and they were still standing. Eve was still here, still kicking. They found their strength. She was going to find hers, too.
It was time. Alex had changed. She had changed. The question was could they still be together?
The door to Sanctum opened and Ryan Church stepped out. Eve could hear loud music blasting from inside just for a moment before the door closed again.
“Are you having a party?” Eve asked. Sanctum didn’t open until eight or nine o’clock at night, depending on the day. It was just a little past two in the afternoon. No one except staff should be here, and from what she understood, Ryan ran a tight ship. He was a former CEO who had run into hard times. He’d taken the job of Dom in Residence and manager of Sanctum after his business had gone under.
Ryan had a grim handsomeness to his face. She pegged his age at somewhere around forty. He’d been in the lifestyle most of his adult years, and she’d heard a rumor that he’d even kept a permanent submissive at one point, but she’d left when his fortunes had turned. “Yeah, I guess you could call it a party. A party of one. I’m sorry to call you, but we don’t know how to deal with him. I’ve tried talking to him, but he just ignores me. I tried sending him a couple of subs, thinking maybe they could change his mood, but he just scared the fuck out of them. I now have three crying subs and my bar manager just quit on me because he says he can’t handle Guns N’ Roses. Does he do this often?”
Eve looked at Liam, who shrugged. Obviously he didn’t know what the hell was ha
ppening. “Does who do what often?”
“Ian. He was here when I got to work an hour ago. None of us were supposed to be here until six this evening, but I wanted to go over the scenes for the weekend. There’s a really complex one Jake wants to do and with Serena pregnant, I wanted to make damn sure every piece of equipment is in full repair. I brought the subs in so we could test everything, but there was already a scene playing out on the stage. Ian has got that Scotch bottle in complete submission, I tell you.”
“Ian Taggart is here, and he’s drunk at two o’clock in the afternoon?” Ian was always in control. She’d never once seen him out of it.
“As far as I can tell. He’s not exactly talking much. He growls a lot. Cusses. That man has a mouth on him. And it’s a good thing he’s the boss because he’s worked his way through a bottle of Macallan thirty-year-old Scotch. Do you have any idea how much that costs?”
A whole lot. What the hell? She looked to Liam. “Do you know of anything that could have set him off?”
Liam shook his head. “No idea, but he won’t want me to see him like this. He might be able to handle it with you.”
Because she was a sub and his longtime friend, but Li was right. He would be horrified at anyone but her and Alex seeing him in less than perfect control. He might still lash out at her, but she could handle it.
“Should I call Sean?” Li asked, looking a little helpless. None of them wanted a world where Ian Taggart wasn’t Superman or at least a growling, foul-mouthed equivalent.
That would be the worst thing he could do. Sean and Ian had a complex relationship. Over the last year, their relationship had been strained because of an operation where Ian chose to save his brother’s life over Grace’s. Grace had survived, but Ian wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Sean, however, was slow to forgive. “Don’t you dare. Just try to get Alex here as fast as possible. I’m going to go and just reassure myself that he’s all right.”
“I don’t think he’s okay,” Ryan said, opening the door again.