On Her Master's Secret Service, Masters and Mercenaries, Book 4

by Lexi Blake

  “Please don’t try to move. It will only make it worse,” a now familiar voice said.

  Jesse Murdoch. The man who had murdered her husband.

  “You killed Alex.”

  Jesse stood over her, his hands held out. “I’m not so sure about that. I checked the police radio and monitored the hospital admissions. No male gunshot victims. I’m pretty sure I hit Kris.”

  And he didn’t look happy about it. His eyes were sunken as though he hadn’t slept for days. There was a grim line to his mouth and his face was marked with stubble. He ran a hand through his hair, and then his whole body twisted as he screamed.

  The sound reverberated through the room, making Eve flinch back, but there was nowhere to go.

  He finally stopped that tortured sound and his hands shook. “I’m sorry. I just fucked up again. I can’t stop fucking up. Why can’t I stop?”

  He was a little bit crazy with a side of fucking nuts. And that was a professional opinion. But Alex was alive. She hoped she hid her smile. If Alex was alive then he would come for her, and she had to be ready. She needed to do anything she could to make his job easier, and that included talking Jesse Murdoch out of whatever plans he was coming up with now.

  “Are you upset that you missed Alex or that you hit Kristen?” She scooted around, trying to sit up. He’d adjusted her, and now her hands were zip tied in front of her body. He seemed to have gotten rid of the one on her legs. She could move them freely now.

  He moved toward her and for a minute, she was sure he was going to hit her, but he merely shoved a hand under her elbow and helped her to sit. A striking man, Jesse had sandy hair and blue eyes that went dark when he was emotional. She’d noticed it before. When he’d talked to her in the hallway that first day, his eyes had been almost like sapphires, but the day of the luncheon, they’d gone dark when one of the men had made a remark that he wasn’t surprised to see Jesse at the club.

  Because the man knew his past and thought he’d turned, she’d reasoned.

  Jesse paced, still wearing a big hoodie even though the heat of the day was upon them. “I didn’t mean to hurt Kris.”

  She hoped Kris was fine, but god, she was so glad it hadn’t been Alex. “But it’s fine to hurt Alex.”

  “He’s a soldier. Soldiers get hit. It’s what happens.”

  “This isn’t war.” She said the words, but then wondered if the war had ever ended for Jesse.

  “You say that because you’re a civilian.” He took a long breath and seemed to attempt to gain some control. “I wonder if I killed her. I never killed a woman before. Not intentionally.”

  Oh, he wore his guilt right there on his sleeve. She needed to bring it out even more. Though it pained her, she needed to manipulate him. Something was off, and she had to find out what it was. “Are you talking about the woman in your unit?”

  His eyes flared. “How did you know about that?”

  “It was all over the news, Jesse. It was hard to miss. There was a woman who was captured with you.”

  “Alannah Tally.” He whispered the name like it was a blessing, or perhaps a curse that had been following him.

  He’d been close to her. “Was she your girlfriend?”

  He shook his head, rubbing the scruff of his beard, his eyes far off. He glanced down at his cell phone as if it might save him. Not once did he react as he should, Eve noted. He was in the position of power. He could tell her to shut up or walk away, but once he decided he didn’t have a handy excuse, he gave up. “I liked her a lot.”

  It was so lucky she spoke male. “So you slept with her, but you weren’t in love with her.”

  He was a big man, but she noticed that he hid much of his bulk in the slump of his shoulders. “Yeah, something like that. She was a nice lady. She wasn’t some slut.”

  And he was still defending her, as though the very act of sleeping with him put her at risk. Deep insecurities. She needed to play on them and soothe them. He was obviously a man who needed a soft voice in his life. And he responded to women. “I would never use that word, Jesse. Women don’t often merely sleep with a man to scratch an itch. We tend to sleep with men we admire. She must have admired you.”

  His breath hitched. He stood again, that anxious pacing beginning. Two steps one way and then another three the other. Over and over, as though the pattern was ingrained in his head.

  He was walking the length of his cell. She would bet that he’d paced that small enclosure so often during his imprisonment that now it was ingrained in him, a habit he couldn’t break.

  She could pull him back from Evans. She could bring him to their side.

  “She didn’t admire me in the end. She hated me. Did you see the video?” He stopped and seemed to force himself to be still. He patted his jacket down and came up with a cigarette and lighter. “I fucking hate these things, but it was the only thing they let me do. Did you see the tape?”

  She shivered a little as he lit up, and the smell of cigarettes filled the air. “The one where she died?”

  He took a long drag. He was twenty-seven, but she would have sworn he was fifty in that moment. “Yeah.”

  “Part of it.” It had been all over the news, but they had cut out just before the killing blows had been delivered. Major news networks carried the story, but declined to show the grislier parts of the video. Of course, nothing was ever really contained on the Internet. She knew Ian had watched the video after the Agency had asked him to consult.

  “They made me watch,” Jesse explained. “They would get me high on heroin and then they would stand me up and force me to watch as they beheaded my brothers.”

  No wonder he was a little cuckoo. But he was still the reason she was tied up and he’d still tried to kill her husband. “They gave you heroin so you would look passive, as though you didn’t really care or were even involved in the process.”

  “Yeah, I got that. I don’t think Alannah did. None of them did. They all thought I’d turned. They hated me. I just wanted to make my dad proud, you know. I thought I could go into the Army and make something of myself.”

  She needed to make connections. He’d just given her a big one. “My husband was in the Army.”

  Jesse’s brow furrowed. “Are you talking about Master A?”

  And she needed to try to establish a little trust. “Don’t prevaricate, Jesse. I suspect you know a lot about my husband. His name is Alex.”

  “Yeah, McKay. I figured that out.”

  “Did you know he was a decorated soldier? He served his country just like you.”

  His blond head shook shortly. “Not like me.”

  “Not exactly, but there are a lot of similarities. He’s been trying to bring down your boss for a long time. Do you want to know why?”

  Jesse’s eyes narrowed, and he put the cigarette out. “How do you know about this? He talks to you about his work?”

  Otherwise known as the “maybe you’re not so innocent” question. She stepped lightly. “He values me.”

  “He beats you.”

  She was so done with this crap. Impatience got the best of her. “Mr. Murdoch, you seem to kill people for a living, so I don’t think you have a right to look down on me for my sexual choices. What my husband and I do together is our business, but I will tell you he’s never hurt me in a way I didn’t find pleasurable. We’re not all the same. We don’t all enjoy vanilla sex. Some of us need more, and it doesn’t always have to do with something that went wrong in our childhoods. I was built this way and there’s nothing wrong with me. I enjoy dirty games and a certain level of pain when it comes from the man I love more than my own soul. I make no apologies for the love I make. I will not beg forgiveness for my differentness. I celebrate it. I fight for it.”

  He’d blushed a little the minute she’d mentioned the word sex. He ignored all but her last words. “Fight for it?”

  Here was where she would get him. Evans had obviously been lying to him. The man had issues with women being hurt.
The thought that he’d killed Kristen—god, she hoped that wasn’t so—had torn him up. It was time to give him the truth about his boss. “I was raped and tortured by a man who used my lifestyle against me. He hurt me over and over and told me what a pervert I was, what a whore I was to want what I wanted.”

  He flushed again, running a hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry to hear that. I…I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I would think you would stay away from it.”

  “That was what he wanted. He wanted to take something precious from me, and I wouldn’t let him.” A well of strength seemed to have opened up inside her. She’d been a psychologist studying the human mind for most of her life, but she’d learned that while she could empathize, sometimes things had to be experienced to be fully understood.

  She was only his victim as far as she allowed herself to be. She hadn’t been in control of what Evans had done to her, but she was in control of how she reacted. She’d let that monster take too many years from her. She wasn’t going to allow him to take her husband, too.

  He nodded and seemed to come to a decision. “Why is your husband doing this?”

  Was it time for honesty? “He’s been searching for the man who hurt me for years.”

  Jesse’s fists clenched, his eyes tightened. “And this man is here?”

  Yes, it was definitely time for honesty. He was on the hook. She just had to reel him in. He could be turned. She could make him an ally instead of an enemy. He could possibly lead them right to Evans. “Yes, Jesse. Your boss kidnapped me and raped and tortured me. Michael Evans did that, and he’s hurt a lot of women. I don’t know what he’s told you, but he’s lying. Alex was the FBI agent who took him down. He’s working in the private sector now, but he still has connections. When we catch Evans, if he’s alive at the end of it, we’ll turn him over.”

  Jesse stood up, staring down at her. “That’s impossible.”

  “No. Just read the news on him, Jesse. It’s so simple. Look him up on the Internet. Michael Evans is a monster. He’s a rapist and a terrorist, and he’s running drugs through the club we’re working at.”

  “I know. That’s exactly why I’ve been hunting him. He’s not my boss. I work for the FBI. Do you understand? I’m not the bad guy. I’m a fed, and you’re a liar.”

  Her whole body went cold. “You’re working for the SAC?”

  He was working for Petty. Petty, who had called her half an hour before Michael Evans had kidnapped her. He’d told her he was bringing Alex home.

  Petty, who had known where she was and how many guards were watching her. He’d selected them himself.

  Petty, who knew their house as well as his own. She’d always wondered how they had known exactly which windows to go through and how to move through the house.

  There was a knock on the door. Jesse straightened up and took a long breath. “Now you’ll see. That’s Special Agent Petty. He’s going to clear this up, and you’re going to find out your husband has been lying to you.”

  The truth was almost too much to bear, but she couldn’t question it now. She couldn’t come up with a reason for Jesse to lie. But she could come up with one reason for Petty to lie. Carmen Garcia.

  How far had their old friend gone?

  “Does he know I’m here?” She practically hissed the question. He’d set Jesse on them, ordered the hit on Alex. “Does he know Alex isn’t dead?”

  He looked toward the door. “He knows I brought you in. I wasn’t going to lie. He knows I was going to try to take McKay out earlier. I have to tell him now. I’ll make him see reason about you.”

  “Don’t answer that door, Jesse. He’s done with you. He’s about to have everything he wants and he won’t need you anymore. Please don’t answer it.”

  He shook his head as he approached the door. “We’re the good guys.”

  The door opened, and Warren walked through. She hadn’t seen him in years, had thought he was out of her life. “I just got your message. You didn’t kill the woman?”

  Jesse shook his head, moving deeper into the loft. “No, sir. I wanted to talk to you about that.”

  All of his attention was focused on Jesse. He didn’t bother to look at her. Warren followed Jesse’s every move. “But you carried out the attack on McKay? And now you have his woman prisoner?”

  “Yes,” Jesse began.

  “Excellent.” Petty reached into his coat and pulled out a nasty-looking gun. “Then your job is done, son.”

  “What?” The question came out on a shout. Jesse’s hand went to his coat pocket, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  A little ping rang through the air, the silencer on the end of the gun doing its job. Jesse’s big body jerked and then he looked over at her, his eyes going so sad as he fell to his knees and then forward. He hit the ground with a little quake.

  “Eve, you really should have left well enough alone.” Warren Petty finally turned his attention to her, stepping around Jesse’s body. “Oh, well, at least I can now pay a debt that’s been hanging over my head for years. Evans still wants you, dear. I think it’s time he had you again.”

  He raised the gun, pointing it right at Jesse’s head. A bullet to the heart obviously wasn’t enough for Warren. Before he could fire, Eve ran at him, knocking him off guard. They tumbled together against the wall.

  Eve jerked her body up. She had to get out the door.

  “Not so fast.” Warren put the gun to her head. “We’re going to play this my way. Move. We’re getting out of here.”

  She had no choice but to move along and pray Alex could find her in time.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alex stepped up to the doors of Cuffs knowing damn well he was very likely a marked man. Whoever had taken that potshot at him today had to have reported back to Chazz. And that didn’t mean a damn thing because he wasn’t going down today. He was going to find his wife and get her back.

  He gripped the doors and growled when he discovered they were locked.

  He heard a lock slinking back and then the door opened. One of the big bouncers stood in the doorway, his massive shoulders blocking the way. Alex couldn’t remember what his name was so he just thought of him as Massive Asshole.

  Massive Asshole frowned. His Neanderthal-like looks didn’t aid in his attractiveness. He looked like what he was—a hired killer. “You got fired. Chazz just called two minutes ago and said I’m not supposed to let you in.”

  Not supposed to let him in? What kind of pussy was Chazz? If it had been Alex, he would have had a kill-on-sight order out, not a “Hey, he got fired.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t let the whole employment situation here stand. I need to talk to Chazz.”

  Massive Asshole’s eyes tightened. His hand twitched to his side as though he was trying to make the decision on how to act. Maybe Chazz’s orders had been a bit harsher, but MA wasn’t a hardened killer. Not yet. Alex would use that to his advantage.

  He kicked the door, shoving it against MA’s enormous, very likely steroided-out chest. Alex would bet all of his strength had been gained in a gym.

  “Hey!” MA lost his balance, proving that he had no real experience. “Man, you can’t come in here.”

  Alex didn’t hesitate. He didn’t pause to talk to the fucker. He had one goal in his head, and no one was going to get in his way. Grabbing the guy by his shirt, Alex pulled his SIG, pointing it right at the middle of MA’s head. “You should leave now. And if you call the cops, I will find you. You will wake up in the middle of the night and I’ll be there standing over you. You won’t go down fast. I’ll make sure of it. Am I understood?”

  Nope. The dude wasn’t trained. Most trained operatives didn’t piss themselves from one little threat and a gun to the forehead.

  MA was out the door the minute Alex let go.

  “I have your boy.” Chazz stood at the top of the stairs, a gun in his hand. Unlike his bouncer, Chazz seemed fairly cool. He believed he had the upper hand.

  He believed he had Sean.
Alex wouldn’t believe it until he saw it, though Sean hadn’t answered his cell.

  He needed to figure out how deep the shit was. And getting captured just might suit his plans since he needed to get taken to wherever Eve was.

  Alex put his SIG on the floor and held up his hands. If they’d wanted to shoot him now, it would be done, but Alex had figured out there were two factions at hand. “Are you working for Evans or my old partner?”

  Chazz frowned. “I work for Michael Evans, Mr. McKay. I’m his right-hand man.”

  He was Evans’s flunkie, but it wouldn’t pay to point that out now. “So he hasn’t told you he’s working with a fed?”

  Chaos was his best friend.

  “You’re lying, but then you’ve been doing that to me this whole fucking time, haven’t you. You and Kris. Where the fuck is she, anyway?” He started down the stairs just as two other bouncers showed up. They, like Massive Asshole, were big and dumb, but at least they had guns. They took up spots on either side of Alex.

  “Kris was shot. She’s probably dead. Are you telling me you didn’t try to take me out earlier?” His brain raced with the possibilities. Chazz might not know he knew anything.

  His cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Adam, he hoped. He prayed Adam had figured out who the shooter was. The ambulance had been loading Kristen in when Alex had slipped out of the building, taking Adam’s ride. Adam had been playing the role of concerned bystander, explaining to the police that he had no idea what had happened, merely found the girl on the ground and tried to save her life.

  And that was when Adam’s wife proved to be an asset. Alex had stopped on the street just above the building and watched as she’d driven up like she owned the place, racing to her husband and hugging him. Serena had looked sweet and fragile, her hand on her belly to show off the baby growing there. Anything to keep Adam from getting taken to the station house for a statement when Alex needed him on that computer of his.

  Alex had driven up the road and picked up Jake, secure that Adam would be there when they needed him.

  Alex allowed the two bouncers to each get a hand on him, hauling him toward Chazz. Jake was outside, waiting for the signal that he was needed.