From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(65)

“He was taking f*cking notes. I hate that. Why the hell was he taking notes? Does he think he’s going to learn something? I get that the film is about a security company but that * was acting like it was all about me. Dumbass.”

They were right back to Ian’s self-awareness issues. “I think he was trying to help out Jared. You know the character he’s playing has a lot in common with you.”

“Fine, but that kid is annoying as f*ck. And he talks about your brother like he walks on water. I swear the kid has a crush on him. I know I agreed to do this, but it’s too many f*cking people. There’s Death in a Dress who complains about everything and wanted to know if the water in the coffee had been blessed by holistic monks. Then there’s that smiley, happy f*ck who seems to have worked out so much he’s OD’d on endorphins. I want to kill the guy who told me I need a stylist. I don’t need a f*cking stylist. I don’t even know what they’re supposed to f*cking style.”

“I’ll get rid of them.” Ian deserved some peace. “I’ll take care of this. From now on it’s going to be Jared alone and he’ll simply observe.”

Somehow he knew Jared would keep that promise.

Ian ran a hand over his head, a long sigh coming from his chest. “I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this. Do you have any idea how shitty I feel about bringing this down on us?”

It was a good bet Ian wasn’t simply talking about the film crew. He was talking about the investigation. “It’s all right. We’ll keep everyone safe.”

“I have my reasons.”

“I know you do.”

Ian’s head turned, eyes narrowing. “Do you?”

Kai merely smiled. “I know that you would never endanger anyone here or at the club without a good reason.”

“You know.”

He wasn’t going to lie to the guy. “There’s only one thing you could possibly want from the feds.”

“Shit.” Ian moved from the window, pacing like an angry, caged lion. “I don’t want Erin to know.”

He understood that. He’d considered it after finding out about Theo and he agreed with Ian’s decision. “You don’t want to give Erin false hope.”

Ian had turned a nice shade of red. “Shit and f*cking shit, you really do know. Goddamn it. I always said you were too smart for your own good.”

It was definitely time to stop playing games. “Just so you’ll stop testing me, I know you have reason to think that Theo’s alive and you have the feds working on it. I suspect Liam’s sudden desire to take a family vacation to South America has something to do with it, too. And I agree with you on keeping it from Erin. She needs to concentrate on the baby and having a healthy pregnancy.”

“Erin’s too reckless. If she thought for a second there was the slightest possibility that he was out there, she would go off alone. She asks me every single day if I’ve found Hope McDonald. Erin would go after her, too. So I lie to my sister-in-law. I know they weren’t married, but it’s how I have to think of her. I swear to god if it weren’t for Charlie and the girls…”

He would be in a hole somewhere, doing what he was attempting to keep Erin from doing. Ian would invest the rest of his life in killing one woman. “And if Case didn’t have you and Sean, he would be lost, too. Ian, you’re doing what you have to do. There’s no judgment from me. If everyone knew, they would pitch in.”

“They can’t know. I don’t even like you knowing, but I trust you not to give it away.”

Kai knew how to keep a secret. “It’s not an issue. Now why did you need to talk to me?”

His shoulders eased down marginally. “It’s about Mia Danvers. She’s been talking to some interesting people lately. Hutch pulled her phone records. She’s been calling a number in Argentina. I need to know who she’s talking to. I need to listen in on that conversation the next time it happens.”

“Li’s in Argentina, isn’t he?”

Ian nodded as he slumped into the big chair behind his desk. “Yes. It’s the last known location of a medical group called Project Remembrance. It’s a small group funded by a known Collective company. They move around doing research on memory and how global and political conditions affect neurological function. What they’re actually doing is something very different.”

He’d read the reports. Normally he wouldn’t, but he’d insisted in this case because of the stress damage the operation had caused on members of the team. He’d also insisted every single person who’d been there come in for sessions. Some had been surprisingly willing to talk. Case was angry, but he’d sat and talked about his brother and the hole in his life. Erin had been utterly shut down until Kori broke through to her. At the London offices, he was coordinating with a fellow psychologist Damon Knight had hired to help the other members of the team.

Ian had refused all sessions. He’d handed his girls over to Alex and Eve and disappeared into Sanctum with his wife for two days. The club had been locked up and when he’d come back out, he’d been calmer, more focused. Charlotte was Ian’s therapy.

“I suspect they’re testing out the time dilation drug Dr. McDonald used on Ten.” Tennessee Smith was a former CIA operative who now worked for McKay-Taggart. The op had been his and it had gone straight to hell. Hope McDonald was something of an evil genius. She’d designed a drug that tricked the brain into thinking time had passed, time that Hope filled with the experiences she chose to give the subject. In Ten’s case, it had been days of pain and torture all wrapped up in a single dose of her drug.