by Dawn Ryder
Harley let out a squawk, a loud one that the parrot emphasized with a flap of his wings.
“I don’t like the bird,” Saxon informed her.
“Well, he doesn’t like you and neither do I,” she announced.
Maybe it was a childish answer but Zoe held the cage close, the knowledge that she was completely at the mercy of the man studying her slamming into her. He lifted one eyebrow but Mercer let out a sharp bark of laughter.
“I really hate getting shot, Zoe, so drop the innocent act and spill your contact information before we have to get creative.”
Greer jerked the cage out of her hand while she was staring at Mercer, seeking any hint of the man she’d allowed to become her lover.
Not lover.
Sex partner.
She forced herself to swallow the term.
Sex partner …
She really had to get a wall up between her personal emotions and the charge of being a traitor. Fast. Before she made an idiot of herself by letting her injured feelings be seen. Business first.
“I already told you, the only person I seem to know who carries a gun around is you.” She forced her voice to be devoid of emotion. Pain ripped into her but she drew confidence from it. “Which makes me a fool…” Her eyes narrowed. “And you a gigolo.”
“Cute.”
Saxon interrupted but not before she got a look at Mercer’s temper flickering in his eyes.
“Sit your ass down and stop whining about the method. You weren’t a virgin.”
Zoe turned to glare at him and fought off the urge to squirm. She wasn’t the one out of line. “That doesn’t excuse your actions. You’ve got a nerve setting me up like this.”
Saxon appeared only mildly amused by her temper. “I save my concern for the men who end up dead when greedy people like you sell their positions out. There’s not a hell of a lot I wouldn’t do to succeed in bringing you down.”
His expression was hard and certain, but she still struggled to believe what he was saying. Zoe stared at him in astonishment because whatever reality he was talking about was just not soaking in. It threatened to scare her to death because it was all focused on her.
“Sit, or I’ll have someone duct-tape you to that chair.” He tossed out his options in a bored tone.
“Why duct tape? Did you misplace your handcuffs, Mr. Federal Officer?”
Saxon shook his head slowly. “Nope, got them right here.” He pulled a pair off his belt and dangled them from one finger. “But duct tape hurts a hell of a lot more when I rip it off.”
“You’re a turd.” But she dropped into the office-type chair, still wrestling with the mental concept of espionage. There was a degree of intense seriousness in the room that chilled her blood. But her confidence wasn’t dead yet. She knew she was innocent. It was time to prove it.
“We got a second laptop, it was part of the parrot stage…” Greer appeared in the doorway, taking Saxon’s attention away from her. “Thais is checking it.”
“I only use it for pictures.” Her mouth went dry when Saxon looked back at her. There was a flicker of victory in his blue eyes. “So look through it until you’re satisfied … I am not a spy.”
“Then your brother is. Testify against him and we might be able to keep you away from the firing squad.”
Cue the intimidation tactics.
Zoe shook her head. “You’re dead wrong about Bram.”
“Dead? Who’s dead are men who had their positions exposed for the right price.” Saxon leaned forward. “I’ll go to a lot more extreme measures than just sending one of my men into your bed to blow the cover off this operation. Tell me who your contact is or I’ll introduce you to the side of my personality that isn’t so nice.”
“I want a lawyer to be present for any further questions.”
Saxon smiled at her, sending the temperature of the room down a few more degrees. “In case you missed it, we’re a special unit. An issue like this requires immediate response. Which means we cut through the bullshit.”
The urge to look toward Mercer had her turning her head, but she froze before she did. Her temper flared up, killing the chill that had taken control of her. Zoe gripped the plastic armrests of the chair and leaned forward, choosing to face Saxon with the aid of her temper instead of shivering in a huddled ball.
Confidence.
Anger was only an advantage to an opponent.
Zoe drew in a deep breath.
“What you are is a special brand of jerk. Who gets high off intimidating people. I’m not a traitor and you’re messing with the wrong family when it comes to questioning our loyalty. My brother and father are out there, too, so you can bet your ass I’m not selling out their positions.”
Saxon held her stare, doing his best to break her, but Zoe didn’t back down. Someone began pulling a length of duct tape off the roll, the tearing sound as sharp as nails on a chalkboard, but Zoe held her ground.
“Someone’s moving intel…”
Saxon looked away, his attention on the woman in the other room. “How the hell is that possible?”
He was out of his chair and across the floor before he finished asking the question. Mercer cleared out of the doorway, his eyes narrowed.
“Someone’s on her home system.”
Saxon leaned over Thais, reading the information coming across her computer screen at the same time she did. Everyone turned toward the surveillance flat screens, but the one in her office had switched to a black-and-white sandstorm.
“Who’s your partner, Zoe?”
Mercer asked the question. His voice was low but full of incrimination. It hurt, stabbing into her.
“No one.” She looked at the floor, furious with herself but unable to banish the sense of betrayal.
A hard hand cupped her chin, raising her face so Mercer could witness every boiling emotion showing in her eyes.
That physical contact was her undoing. Her skin rippled with sensation, her insides tightening, and she just lost it completely.
How could she respond to him?
“I don’t have a fucking partner!” She kicked him, exactly the way her dad had taught her. Her knee came straight up and the bottom of her foot went crashing into his tender parts. He cussed and stumbled back, one hand covering his crotch out of instinct. Zoe was out of the chair before he could stop her.
“And if you want to know who’s using my computer … call the damn cops to see who’s in my house because I’m here!”
She’d underestimated Saxon’s use of the word team. Greer grabbed her from behind before Mercer shook off the pain. She was deposited back on the chair, the spring protesting at how hard she landed. The duct tape ripped again, a flash of silver reflecting the light as Greer looped it around her body. He taped her to the chair with amazing speed.
“You can’t do this.”
Her mind was having trouble absorbing the situation again. It defied the boundaries of her life. It was the stuff of movies and murder-mystery paperbacks, not her benign existence.
“We can do anything necessary to close this leak, Zoe.” Mercer cupped her chin once more and she hissed as a familiar jolt pierced her. He frowned and released her, almost as if he felt the same thing.
Which was impossible, because the guy had only been doing his job when it came to getting into her pants.
His job … nitwit.
“I got that part already.”
She offered him the same cold stare he’d been aiming at her. The duct tape ripped some more but she refused to allow it to terrify her. By all rights, she should have been scared to death, but the pain of betrayal seemed to be fending off everything else.
Well … she’d take what she could get.
“Ease up, Greer. She won’t get the jump on me again.”
Another loop of silver tape went around her body. “I’d just as soon not sample any of her work; that kick was dead-on. She’s Daddy’s little girl, all right.”
“Leave my father ou
t of this.”
“Either your brother or your father is a traitor,” Saxon announced on his way back into the room. He scanned her, the sight of the duct tape binding her to the chair causing not even a hint of emotion from him. He went back to his chair and sat down.
“Maybe all three of you.”
“Yeah, well how do you figure in the fact that someone is using my computer after taking a shot at us?”
“I think you made Mercer, and your contacts wanted to take out my team to wipe any trace of guilt off your name. I sent him in to catch you red-handed. We already have enough evidence to take you to trial, but I like my cases airtight.”
“If I’d figured out he was working a case, I never would have…” Words failed her as her cheeks turned hot. Saxon homed in on the weakness.
“Let him screw you?” he asked bluntly.
“Don’t be vulgar.”
There was a hint of something in his eyes that looked like appreciation but he covered it quickly. “You’ve missed the fact that you’re duct-taped to a chair and very helpless.”
“You seem to have missed the fact that whoever you’re looking for is currently in my home,” Zoe fired back. “If you’re waiting for me to start bawling, better get comfortable.”
His expression hardened. Words really weren’t needed to convey the message his stony features sent her. This man could be ruthless, no doubt about it.
“She might be telling the truth,” Mercer put in.
Saxon didn’t like what he had to say but the team leader looked past her to his man. “Meaning what?”
“It’s possible her brother isn’t involving her in the deal. We haven’t found the money and she doesn’t live beyond her means.” Mercer studied her. “She’s either really good or a mule.”
“My brother isn’t a traitor,” Zoe insisted.
Mercer was back to leaning in the door frame. “Then tell us who is, because we followed a trail to you, Zoe. Information is moving, money, too, and all through your computers. Let’s not forget that someone just took a shot at me. You’re the one who told me your neighbors don’t have guns. Who else has access to your house?”
She opened her mouth but shut it without saying anything.
Saxon leaned toward her and she felt the stares of his men on her. “Nothing to say? That’s a first.”
“Spit it out, Zoe,” Mercer urged her. She turned to glare at him, wanting to refuse him on principle, but there was a challenge in his eyes she just couldn’t ignore.
“Tim.” She hated saying it, detested hearing the name of someone she considered family crossing her lips under the circumstances.
“Tim is … who?” Mercer pressed.
“He books the parrot parties for my dad … or me, when my dad is deployed,” she said, her mouth dry with horror. “He has a key and the alarm code so that he can deal with Harley if I get stuck somewhere overnight.”
“Convenient,” Saxon shot back at her. “What a nice scapegoat. Bet the guy didn’t count on being set up when he signed on to be a good business partner.”
She bristled. Saxon raised an eyebrow at her. “Cat got your tongue at last?”
He was prodding her. She knew it but just couldn’t stop herself from rising to the bait.
“I was going to call you all a bunch of assholes, which is still true, but you’re a dedicated group of jerks.” She looked at Mercer. “I recognize the mission mode. But I also know I wouldn’t be sitting here if you had any solid evidence, which means you’re all making assumptions. The only true thing you’ve told me is that you don’t have an airtight case, so you’re trying to intimidate a confession out of me.”
She’d surprised him. It flashed through his eyes and left a small spark of guilt behind.
“And you’re dead wrong. My brother is no traitor. That goes double for my dad. That’s the only reason I recognize the level of intensity in you. Besides, I was on that countertop, too, which means I could have been the target. I’d expect a team of this caliber to recognize facts when they hear them.”
It would be a whole lot simpler if she didn’t understand their motives. She could curse Mercer and his asshole of a boss, but deep down in her gut she knew her brother would have done the same. They were going to extremes to protect their fellow soldiers.
But that didn’t keep her from feeling used.
* * *
“Bet Colonel Magnus will have a meltdown when he discovers what you’re up to.”
Tim jumped. Tyler Martin simply stared at him for a long moment. “It’s your lucky day. I want a cut and I can make it all land on the girl.”
Tim wasn’t happy. “Why should I trust you?”
Tyler moved his shirt, exposing his badge. “Because if I didn’t want a piece of the action, you’d already have a toe tag. Your contact on the other side has been made. There are cameras all over this house now. I know, it’s my team that’s on the job.”
“So why am I still breathing?” Tim mumbled.
Tyler shook his head. “When I was looking over the case, I knew what was driving you. Years of working under Magnus’s thumb when you were enlisted and now that you’re a civilian? You jump when the good colonel calls, too. The girl has too much of her daddy in her to be the one selling intel. You, on the other hand, you’re just the help.”
Tim grunted. “Maybe you just want me to give over the name of my buyer.”
Tyler shrugged. “Could get that without taking the time to set it up so you could get in here while the colonel’s little princess is neatly out of the way and under suspicion. I’d just have to haul you in. Half an hour with a bowie knife and you’d sing. I’m no Boy Scout. Never have been. I like my job because I don’t have to be a good guy. I can get my hands dirty.” Tyler finished up with a grin.
Tim drew in a deep breath and relaxed. “I can do business with that sort of man.” His pallor was returning to normal. “Providing you bring something to the party.”
“I can bury the team that has the girl and knowledge of someone else picking up that intel. As far as the report will read, they were all gunned down by their buyer.” Tyler shrugged again. “That’s the risk of dealing with terrorists, don’t you know. It will be such a shame that my team got caught in the cross fire. I’ll have to make sure their relatives get their service medals.”
“Yeah, real shame,” Tim agreed. “Don’t forget Bram. We used his clearance code. Got to cap him or he’ll keep singing about the fact that it wasn’t him.”
Tyler grunted. “You’re a mean fucker. Know that? You’re going to leave Bryan Magnus with no family.”
“Payback for a lifetime of licking his boots,” Tim cut back.
“Thought he called you friend.”
“Friend?” Tim snarled. “In the way a man calls his fucking butler friend. I was burning shit while he was wearing an officer’s uniform when we served together. Had to fetch his goddamn ass wipes for him.”
“Wasn’t his fault you were enlisted.”
“Yeah? Well, it was never anyone’s fault that my life was a pile of shit. One foster home after another because my alley-cat mom had the right to keep me waiting for her when the bitch couldn’t keep her ass out of prison long enough to play parent. By the time I was eighteen, the only choice I had was serving. Just another way the system screwed me over while men like Bryan Magnus had a home. Well, I’m getting a slice of that pie and I’m going to enjoy it. About fucking time it was my turn to sit at the big table. You want part of the money? That’s the deal.”
Tyler stared at Tim for a long moment, letting the man think he was debating the issue. He wasn’t, but Tim wasn’t bright enough to realize he was being used.
“Soon. I need to let my team leader make the mistake of trying to come back in here.”
“And if he doesn’t move on that option?” Tim questioned.
Tyler grinned. “He will. This guy is a Boy Scout. He’ll melt under the weight of Zoe Magnus’s pretty little face. Won’t have the stomach
to send her through processing without a solid evidence trail. Just make sure you bring me enough to cover dealing with the paperwork of waxing half his team. That’s a lot of goddamn public funerals to stand through looking like I give a shit.”
“My buyer will cough it up,” Tim assured him.
Tyler nodded. “My car is in the garage. Get in the backseat. I’ll get you out of the area.”
Tim looked uncertain but moved toward the garage after a long moment of contemplation. He didn’t have a choice. Tyler didn’t really care about the guy at all. Not beyond the fact that he could be used to pay Congressman Jeb Ryland what the congressman wanted. The money would make a nice little evidence trail leading to Saxon Hale. That was, right after Tyler set up an account in the agent’s name and had Tim transfer the funds. Tonight’s little sniper attack would be easy to lay on Saxon, a lot easier since his entire team would be dead by the time everything was sorted out. Tyler got into his car and drove out of the neighborhood.
* * *
“She’s right.”
Mercer watched his boss, but his attention was on Zoe. She was still taped to the chair and left behind in the living room while they had withdrawn to the back room. He took solace in knowing she was secured, because she needed protecting. He was sure of it. Saxon shot a look that made it clear his team leader didn’t agree.
“Since she was on the countertop, it’s reasonable to wonder who the sniper was aiming for. She wouldn’t be the first mule slaughtered for the sake of making a clean getaway,” Mercer said.
“Any decent sniper can time a shot precisely,” Saxon insisted. “He was aiming for you, Mercer.”
There was a long silence as they both considered the facts. “That would stink of bad brass,” Mercer said at last.
Saxon snorted. “And the little princess of parrots might not be innocent.” He was thinking it through, weighing the details. “But the intel was moving through her home system with its minefield of passwords. So…”
“We still need a witness or we’ve proven nothing. The perpetrator will move his information through another location.”
“What are you suggesting?” Saxon demanded. “Going back in there? You’ve been made.”