From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(24)

He stepped toward the lobby doors when he heard Big Tag’s voice. He was quiet, but Kai could hear him. From where the voice was coming from, it appeared that Ian was in the hallway that led back to the daycare. His girls would still be here, likely the last kids left along with Eve and Alex’s son.

“I don’t care what you have to do, Rush. I did not put my club and my people at risk on a whim.” Ian’s voice came out in a harsh grind. “My intel is solid, but I need your people.”

Yes, this was the point when he should stride right out the door because he was a good man and good men didn’t eavesdrop.

They could slow down though. Make sure they had everything. Had he left his cell phone in the conference room? He patted his pockets.

“I get that, Mr. Taggart. We’re doing everything we possibly can, but you could be wrong about this,” Rush replied.

No. He had his cell. He started to make his way toward the door.

“I’m not wrong. Find my brother.”

Kai stopped, his hand on the door as he saw Ian stride down the hallway toward the daycare. Rush disappeared into one of the empty offices, likely the one he’d been given while he was working in Dallas.

Find my brother.

Kai walked to the elevator, his mind on Ian’s words. Kai knew where his brother was, knew he was in trouble.

Find my brother.

The elevator doors opened and he walked inside. Eve was right. He had to at least try to figure out how deep Jared was involved in this mess. He pressed the button that would take him to the lobby.

It was only then that he realized what Ian hadn’t said. He hadn’t mentioned a body. He hadn’t asked the special agent to help him in recovering his brother’s body. The last time he’d talked to Ian about it, Ian had been certain Theo’s body had been dumped in the Caribbean.

Find my brother.

That wasn’t some verbal error on Ian’s part. If he’d meant body, he would have said body. He hadn’t and that meant something. It was what had been bothering Kai about this operation all along. Ian was private by nature, cautious by design when it came to his life, his friends and family. Big Tag wouldn’t put his family at risk in order to find a body. He wouldn’t open his club to a killer in some attempt to find closure.

There was only one reason Big Tag would risk everything. Kai thought about going upstairs and demanding answers, forcing his way into the inner circle.

Instead he walked to his car. If Ian wasn’t saying anything he had his reasons and Kai needed to honor them. That man had done more for the people around him than they would ever know. Ian didn’t need him to storm in. What he needed was for Kai to deal with his brother so Ian could find his own.

Theo was alive and that meant Kai couldn’t fail.





CHAPTER FOUR




“Oh. My. God. Is it true? Do you think it’s actually true?” Sarah was practically vibrating as she stood in front of Kori’s locker, folding the scrubs she’d been wearing. She’d worked the day shift at the hospital and driven straight from work. Normally they would have driven in together, but today Kori had been grateful for the privacy.

Kori had gone home after sitting at her desk for an hour. It had been nice to have the place to herself for a portion of the evening so she could sort through what had happened before coming here to Sanctum and throwing herself into the maelstrom again. She would likely have to watch Kai scene.

“What are you talking about?” She must have missed something because everyone was whispering and there was a definite vibe of excitement running through the room.

“The e-mail.” Sarah’s big eyes went wide. “Right before five, an e-mail from Big Tag came through about the fact that a movie is going to be shooting right here in Sanctum and Jared Johns is starring and he’s going to be here tonight. Jared—the hottest guy in the world—Johns is going to be here in Sanctum tonight. Do you think that’s real or is Big Tag f*cking around with us?”

She wouldn’t put it past Big Tag, but she happened to know this information was true. So Jared hadn’t been talking about some dance club earlier in the day. Well, he was likely going to be surprised to see her here tonight. “I saw him earlier today. He was visiting Kai, who in a surprise twist turns out to be his brother.”

Not that they were close. There was some serious tension between those two. She’d thought about it all afternoon, their relationship running through her mind like a script she was trying to write. There was the quiet, stalwart brother. Intelligent and serious. He was the hero of the story, but constantly eclipsed by his younger, flashier brother. Yes, she could work with those two. As they fought whatever the story would throw at them, they would also fight each other, trying to sort through a myriad of issues that would lead to their eventual reconciliation.

Sarah stood there staring at her. “Are you freaking kidding me? You work with Jared Johns’s brother and it never crossed your mind to mention that tidbit to your bestie?”

She’d met Sarah at Sanctum and they’d become fast friends. When Sarah had needed a place to stay after her divorce, Kori had offered her a room in her cozy ranch house. Sarah was exactly what she needed in her life. Fun and energetic, she pulled Kori out into the world.

Kori gently closed her locker door. “I didn’t have any idea. I thought Kai was an only child. He’s mentioned his mother a couple of times, but never a brother, and it’s not like he’s got a bunch of pictures in his office. Even when I used to go in and water his plants at his old place, there weren’t any mementos or photographs. I was shocked when I walked into his office and there was Jared Johns standing there talking to him. As for the rest of it, I don’t know much except what I looked up on the Internet after finding out about Kai’s Hollywood connections. Apparently a major studio is doubling down on the Fifty Shades trend and they’re filming Serena’s book Love After Death. Jared Johns is starring. He’s going to be training here for a few weeks and then there’s six weeks principal photography in and around Dallas. So you’ll be able to drool all over him for a while.”