by Lexi Blake
“Lots of places in Europe have good Internet,” Erin pointed out.
Nick shook his head. “Ah, but Greg Hutchins took several years of German while he was in school and scored high on his CIA test for the language. His father was in the Air Force and he spent seven years of his childhood outside Ramstein. He’ll go where he’ll feel comfortable.”
“He would feel comfortable in his own freaking home.” Ian huffed, a deeply annoyed sound. “Although after I find him and drag him back he’ll find his home is now a freaking cell until I deprogram the little fucker.”
Charlotte got to her feet and moved in behind him, putting her arms around him and hugging her body to his. The comfort he took from her was obvious in the way he leaned back and how his hand moved over hers, bringing it up to cover his chest. “We’ll find him.”
Ian nodded. “That’s what Nick’s here for.”
“I’m trying,” Adam said quietly.
Nick shook his head. “You’re too similar to him. I don’t think we’ll find him through a computer, though I will need your help. I think he’s trying to set himself up to make some cash.”
“You think he’s trying to take over where Chelsea left off.” Erin was stiff beside him as though she’d seen the intimacy between Ian and Charlotte and realized how different it was between them.
They’d had a baby, but she was a complete stranger to him.
“Chelsea Weston. She was the Broker at one point in time.” He sat up at night reading the files on the people he should know. His brothers had given him file after file filled with information he’d known before. Chelsea was Charlotte’s sister and married to Simon Weston, another operative at the company. For years she’d been a commanding online presence, brokering information she found for money and power. Now she worked for the CIA. “You think Hutch is setting himself up as an information broker? Why would he do that?”
“Power. Money. Insulation.” Case counted out the reasons. “He knows what it did for Chelsea and Charlotte, and he has some connections I don’t think he ever really let go of. Hutch was a black hat when Ten found him. He was into some pretty dark stuff. I think he’s going back to what he knows. Nick, how are you going to catch him?”
Nick picked up the coffee mug in front of him. “First I need Adam to use his facial recognition software. I’ve got the dates I believe he would have traveled on. I’ve talked to some friends at Interpol and they’re willing to get me CCTV footage from the Hauptbahnhofs. We’ll start with the major cities. Munich first. It’s the southernmost. I’ll work my way north. From there I’ll use my contacts and find out what name he’s using. I’ll find him. Don’t doubt it.”
“And then?” Liam asked.
“Then we have a decision to make,” Nick replied. “Do you want me to bring him home or should I watch him? He’s smart and resourceful and he’s extremely angry. I think he could find her before anyone else.”
“We bring him home,” Erin said resolutely.
But Theo already knew what the others were thinking. “If Hutch is looking for her, should we sit back and watch and wait? He could lead us to her.”
“I’ll find her.” Adam slammed down the top of the laptop. “We don’t need Hutch. Chelsea and I are on it. Bring him home. That’s the only choice.”
But it wasn’t. Theo could see that clearly. Maybe it was because he couldn’t remember actually giving a shit about anything, but he could see plainly that the best plan of action was to wait and watch Hutch. If he had connections in the black hat world, he might be their best bet to find Hope McDonald. It made sense to use whatever assets they had to assess, find, and eradicate the target.
It wasn’t like Hutch wanted to come home. If he did he would be here right now.
Would he have run if he’d had the chance? Theo had been surrounded by his brothers and Kai for days. He’d been locked in a room when they couldn’t be with him. He hadn’t been allowed to be alone, hadn’t been allowed the chance to run.
Was he still thinking about it? Was he thinking about how peaceful his life could be if he simply started over again? It wasn’t like he remembered any of these people and yet they looked at him with expectation in their eyes.
Erin looked at him and he could see how much he disappointed her. Would he disappoint the boy, too? Would it be better to walk away and let her find a better man to raise their child with?
Ian slammed a hand on the table, his decision obviously made. “Find him, Nick. Do whatever you have to. Do we have anything on McDonald?”
“Her last known location was Malaysia,” Liam stated, his Irish accent lilting. “She’s been using a shell corporation that was connected to her father’s old accounts to clean the money they stole. From what I can tell she’s got a couple million in capital, but that won’t last long the way she likes to run through it. There is something that’s worrying me.”
Charlotte sat back down, and Ian’s gaze sharpened on Liam. “What is it?”
From what he could tell, everyone at McKay-Taggart listened to Liam O’Donnell’s instincts. Even now they were all leaning in, waiting for whatever the Irishman was going to say. Wouldn’t it be nice to be so trusted?
“She had a secondary site in Malaysia. One as complex and well-staffed as the place in Argentina. Theo and his friends weren’t the first experiments, from what I can tell,” Liam explained.
That was news to Theo. A chill went up his spine. He’d only ever known Robert and Victor. His brothers. Victor was dead. He’d been killed in the fight that had rescued Theo and Robert. There had only been the three of them. That was the extent of his family.
Not his family. Of the experiments.
“Why would you think she had other men?” He asked the question, his whole body tensing at the idea.
You’re special, Tomas. You’re my greatest work.
He shivered and told himself it was because it was cold.
“The men on the ground found evidence of several inhabitants other than the doc and her ground staff. There were seven cells in the compound, much like the ones Theo described. They all appeared to have been used. We found some records and I think she’d kept up that base for a good while. You’ll find it all in Ten’s report. He and Ezra led the team into the compound.” Liam turned his gaze to Theo. “Would Dr. McDonald leave for periods of time?”
“If she did, he wouldn’t remember,” Ian shot back.
But he did remember a little. “She would leave us with Tony for training. We would still take our meds, but we got a break from the therapy. It was hard to tell days and nights. We wouldn’t go outside often unless we were casing a site. We had sleep periods. She would leave for a few. Maybe five or six. That was usually when we would run a job.”
When he would shove a gun in a girl’s face and demand money. When he became the monster he used to hunt.
He wasn’t sure exactly how many times he’d robbed banks or individuals. He got images in weird flashes at times and sometimes he dreamed and he knew he was reliving some of the things he’d done. Like he knew the girl in the dream who’d become Erin had been real and she’d been alive when he’d left her. One of the things he could clearly remember was his feeling of elation as he and Robert and Victor had raced out of that bank with their biggest haul ever. Adrenaline had rushed through his system and he’d felt free for a moment. He’d felt powerful.
It was awesome that the only pieces of himself he could remember was what a complete shitbag he was.
Nick was staring at him.
“You have something to say to me?” He was sick of not being in on the joke. The Russian obviously hated him and he had zero idea why.
“I have nothing to say to you.” His accent had thickened, eyes dark with distaste. “As far as I am concerned, you’re not here at all.”
The rage that seemed to always be simmering below the surface bubbled over. Yeah, that felt good. He liked that. It was better than feeling hollow. He burst out of his seat and was practically on
top of the asshole. “You want to see how real I am? I can show you.”
He wanted a fight. He wanted to punch that asshole right in the fucking face. For a second, the Russian’s countenance dissolved and he could see Tony there. Tony. He’d been the one to break bones and burn flesh. The left side of his face was fucked up because of Tony. Tony liked to call himself the dog trainer.
He could see himself doing it. He would smash his fist through Tony’s face. He could see the red of the blood and hear the way the bones would crunch. When he did that, he would be free.
He felt his whole body hauled back, feet scrambling to find purchase.
“He got strong while he was gone,” Ian was saying as he gripped Theo’s waist and forced him back over the table.
When had he gone over the table? His head ached and all he could remember was that he’d been about to kill Tony.
Except Tony was dead. He’d died weeks ago.
He started to turn, to try to explain why he’d freaked out on Nick, who had to have been scared out of his mind that a raging lunatic had been coming his way.
The Russian hadn’t moved. He sat back watching the scene play out as though none of it mattered to him. He frowned, but it wasn’t a frightened thing. If Theo had to guess, he would say the Russian was almost disappointed.
“Relax, brother. I don’t want to have to sedate you.” Ian kept a tight grip.
“You should do as he says.” Case was standing over him as though waiting for him to flip his shit again. “Big brother has a plan in place. We’ve got tranquilizer guns stashed around the office just in case.”
“I like to call it Operation Sleepytime.” Ian forced him to his seat, but Theo was already coming down.
“I call it Operation You’re An Asshole,” Adam replied.
Ian grinned down at him. “I might have tested it out on Adam.”
“That shit hurts, you know.” Adam huffed as he started to pack up his laptop. “I take it our meeting is over. I’ll get on the facial recognition Nick asked for. Unless we’re about to kill Nick. Are we about to kill Nick?”
“I’m thinking about it.” Erin eyed the Russian.
Why was that woman so hot when she was mean? She seriously looked like she was ready to take the man out even though he outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds of pure muscle. She was also willing to kill him despite the fact that Theo had been the one to attack.
What the hell had he done that someone that beautiful was so loyal to him? Had she loved him because he’d been handsome? He’d seen pictures of himself.
He wasn’t handsome anymore. He wasn’t whole anymore.
“Ease off, Argent. You know this is hard on him, too.” Ian had backed off, but not by much.
“I can make it easy and send him back to London,” Erin replied.
“You know he’s the best tracker we’ve got right now and he’s got skin in this game.” Ian seemed to realize the crisis had passed and moved back to his own seat at the head of the table. He shoved a weary hand over his head. “How would you feel if I told you to sit this one out? Because I want to, Erin. I want to order you to concentrate on your personal life for once and let cooler heads deal with McDonald. How do you feel about that?”
Erin chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “Personal life? You think I have one of those, Tag? I’m a single mom. I have no life at all. I have a man who can’t look at me without his head hurting and a bunch of dates with a shrink. So no, I’m not leaving this case. The only joy I have in life is the fact that I’m going to find that bitch and make her pay.”
“Yes,” Nick said, his voice silky and deep. “You see, we do have much in common, Erin. We should work together, not be fighting. We worked beautifully together once. Do you remember how we took down the senator? Two shots in perfect synch. That was pure pleasure.”
Now he wanted to close his hands around the Russian’s throat for a different reason. He wasn’t stupid. That voice the asshole was using wasn’t a friendly tone. Pleasure. Fucking pleasure?
Before he knew what he was doing, Case was shoving him back into his seat with a growl. “Do you need a time-out?”
Because he was a fucking child.
The Russian stood up, smoothing down his perfectly tailored suit. “There you go, sweetheart. You say he can’t look at you, but the moment another man does, he goes crazy. I would say that is hope. He might not remember much, but he knows what belongs to him. That’s as primal a memory as a man can have. As for taking me off the case, if you try I will simply work on my own and then you will not have my intelligence. I’ll find her and kill her myself. Should I send you a postcard when I’m done?”
Charlotte moved toward the doors. “Not at all, Nick. Why don’t we find you an office for while you’re here?”
“That would be nice. I have much work to do and I need to call back to London,” Nick said as they walked out of the conference room.
“Are you okay?” Erin asked. “You have to ignore him. He’s an asshole. He was born in Russia so it comes naturally.”
From what he could tell, Erin thought everyone was an asshole. She was surly and at times unfeminine. So why did he feel something every time she walked into a room? Oh, sure that weird feeling was followed by a nasty kick to his brain pan thanks to the doc’s torture therapy, but there was always an instant where he felt something akin to joy.
“I’m fine.” He couldn’t forget that he tended to go blind with rage. He’d proven it twice in a five-minute time span. He took a deep breath, trying to banish the anger. He could hurt her, had hurt her a hundred times in his dreams. Hurt her. Hurt the kid. He didn’t turn her way.
She sighed, a deeply frustrated sound. “Of course. Well, I guess I’ll see you at Kai’s this afternoon. We have a session. Unless you don’t even want to see me there anymore.”
He didn’t. Not really. He wanted to pretend she didn’t exist. “I’ll be there.”
Because Case would force him. Because he saw the disappointment in everyone’s eyes when he came up with excuses about why he couldn’t go to couples therapy. He didn’t even know he was part of a fucking couple, damn it.
He wished she’d just been a girl in a bar. He wanted to go back to that second when he’d seen her and she’d smiled and he’d thought one good thing had happened to him. He could take her hand and buy her a beer and laugh a little. And then he could take her to bed.
If he remembered how to have sex. His dick seemed to, but only when she was in the room. Or in his head. Which was always.
“Come on, then, darlin’,” Liam said in his smooth Irish accent. “Let’s get the boys and meet Avery in the park. She’s got a nice picnic for us. It’ll be good to get outside for a bit.”
He didn’t like the way the Irishman put a hand on Erin’s elbow, hated how proprietary he was with her. Case put a hand out as though giving him the signal to stay still. To sit.
He was always someone’s dog.
The door closed and he was alone with his brothers. The biological ones. The ones who seemed so tired all the time.
“He’s been her partner since she joined the company,” Case said, slumping back into his chair. “Liam is like her big brother. He wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole, but he will touch you if you hurt her.”
He’d already hurt her enough. “It’s fine. She can do whatever she wants. I’m not going to stop her.”
Case’s eyes rolled. “What she wants is for you to try. Can’t you see that? It’s been six weeks and you still haven’t met TJ. He’s here in this office in day care and you don’t even stop by to look in on him.”
“Kai doesn’t think it’s a good idea.” He went to the only crutch he had. He hated those sessions with Kai, but they came in handy sometimes.
“Kai didn’t think it was a good idea in the beginning,” Case shot back. “Now he thinks you’re being too cautious and I want to know why. You have a kid, man. Why won’t you spend time with him?”
“Case, will you give us a moment?” Ian asked.
Case pushed his chair back. “Sure. Why not? It’s not like he’s going to listen to me. I’ve got a meeting with Mike about the Houston job. We leave in a week. He’s going to have to stay with you while I’m gone.”
“Or I could stay on my own.” He was sick of being treated like a freaking kid. He was a man. At least he looked like one in the mirror.
Case didn’t even answer, merely strode out the door, letting it thud closed behind him.
But it wasn’t like he was alone. The main conference room had glass walls and he could feel everyone looking at him. They would avert their stares if they saw him looking, but he knew what they were doing. Pitying him. Or in Nick’s case, hating him for some reason.
“What did I do to the Russian dude?”
“Never mind about that.” Ian sat down beside him. “You have to forgive Case. He doesn’t understand. He’s never been through what you’ve gone through, and all he sees is that he’s losing his brother all over again.”
“I’m still here.”
“Are you? Tell me you’re not thinking about walking away.”
Theo was silent for a moment. “Sometimes I think it might be better for everyone. I do get why Hutch did it.”
Ian sat back, his shoulders up around his neck. “I yell about it, but I understand it, too. It’s hard to make the transition after something like that happens. I do get that.”
Now that he was alone with Ian that terrible numbness seeped into his system again. He was supposed to feel something for this man. He was supposed to feel something, anything at all. Yet most of what he felt was rage, and even that came in moments of blindness, as though there was some other Theo inside him and he was pissed. “He needed space. I think eventually he’ll come back.”
“I know you think about walking, but you can’t. You get that, right?”
“Because I have a kid.” It was all about the kid he didn’t know, didn’t remember creating.
“Because you love Erin,” Ian insisted quietly. “I know how hard the kid thing is. I do. Women don’t get it. They get knocked up and suddenly they’re a mom. She can feel the baby move and she has a connection. You don’t feel that.”