Dungeon Games (Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)(19)

Shit and balls. “He was just trying to prove a point and it wasn’t really play. It’s undercover work.” Luckily she had the perfect thing to get them off the subject. “I think our guy is watching me. You two need to be careful.”

A single eyebrow rose on Sean’s face, a move he seemed to have gotten from his brother. Or maybe the ability to make a person feel like a dumbass with a single look was just in the Taggart DNA. “And you’re mentioning this now? That might have been a good reason to use your phone.”

When Little Tag wanted to Dom out, he could go all the way. Luckily he wasn’t her Dom. “I was already on my way up and I didn’t want to tip the bastard off. The last thing I want to do is spook the guy. We need him to come after me.”

Sean stared her way. “Fine. What direction did it seem to come from?”

“If I had to bet, he was in the building across the street,” she said. “It’s got easy access and if he needed to he could be here in a couple of minutes or get on the train and be gone in the same time.”

Li groaned a little. “I don’t like it. I don’t like any of it. I don’t like working with government employees. They put covering their asses over solving the case. I definitely don’t think we should be using Karina as bait. If a damn thing goes wrong they’ll cut her loose and she’ll be just another dead body.”

Li had serious issues with authority—particularly government bodies—but then they had burned him in the past. She had to admit it was nice that somebody didn’t want her to end up stuffed in a body bag.

“No, she won’t because we’re going to look after her,” Sean said. “We’re her backup. Besides, Derek won’t let anything happen to her and he won’t give a shit about red tape. It’s the only reason I’m not calling in favors to get her shoved into protective custody.”

Karina rolled her eyes. “What’s up with you guys and protective custody? I’m not exactly fragile. I can hold my own. You guys have sent me into plenty of tight spots.”

“Not without backup,” Li replied. “We run ops differently than the government. Our people come first and we don’t have to answer to anyone about it. Derek has to answer to his captain and the chief. The department has to answer to the Rangers. Everyone has to liaise with the f*cking DA. It’s a maze of shit, I tell you.”

It probably was, but she wasn’t going to worry about it. She had Sean and Liam as her backup. They wouldn’t give a crap what the press would say, and no one would fire them if they chose her well-being over the op. “Well, I’m willing to listen to the two of you. You might have to fight with Brighton, though. Apparently his ex-wife is the ADA on the case.”

She’d spent an hour researching the ex-Mrs. Brighton.

“Shit,” Sean said. “Maia is a raging bitch half the time and a succubus forty-nine percent of the time.”

She’d kind of figured that out. Keller had been more than willing to talk about the ex-Mrs. Brighton. “And the remaining one percent?”

Sean shrugged. “She has moments of kindness. Brief moments. They’re usually followed by someone getting fired. Anyway, just let Derek handle her. Now, we’ve got some security set up. Like Li said, we put a couple of small cameras in the stairs. The elevators already have cameras and there are setups at each of the entrances that we hacked into so we’ll have someone watching. Is there a reason there’s no keyed entry to the building?”

“You need a key fob to get into the gate to the lot, but too many people complained about having to buzz in their friends.” It wasn’t exactly a hot spot for crime, but Dallas wasn’t some fuzzy suburb either. “Of course, all a person really has to do is wait until someone comes in or out and they can drive right through.”

“Or walk up.” Li leaned against her counter. “Why the hell are you here, Karina? There are far nicer places with better security.”

“I can’t afford them. I don’t work for some big corporation with endless pockets.” She grinned a little. “Tag is my biggest client and I overcharge the hell out of him so I can work for the little guys. Most of my clients can’t pay me crap, but it doesn’t mean they don’t need me. It does mean that I can’t afford a big nice place. This is stretching my budget as it is.”

Sean snorted a little. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, K. You keep sticking it to big brother. I’ll never tell.”

Liam chuckled. “You always were one to fight the good fight, love. Now let’s talk about how to ease ourselves into your daily life.”

They were worried that the unsub would figure out something was wrong if she suddenly had a bunch of men in her life. It made sense. If he’d been watching her for any amount of time, he’d likely seen a woman who worked and went to clubs and not a whole lot else. “I thought you were going to work at one of the clubs. Can’t I meet you there?”

“Alex had an in. He got me a job as a bartender at the club we’re most interested in. Li’s going in as a bouncer. I don’t want to overtax our resources so we’re going to put our emphasis on that club. Three of the four victims had been known to play there. But I think we need a story about why Li and I come in and out of your place so often, and you need to stick with it with anyone who doesn’t know the truth. I mean anyone, Karina.”