From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(97)

The lounge was cordoned off from the dance floor, but there were two ways servers and staff could get there. There had been the direct route to the bar and bathrooms, and then there was a specific entrance to the right for staff that led back to the bathrooms but not through the lounge. It was the way he and Case had gone to discuss the op.

If only they’d been smarter and not discussed it at all.

It was his fault. Not Case’s. Case had tried to make the handoff and leave it at that, but Kai had to push. Kai had to get his two cents in there. Now Kori knew and she hated him.

He needed to see her. Maybe if he could get her alone, he could make her understand.

Understand what? He couldn’t tell her anything. He couldn’t do anything but apologize.

He was so f*cked.

Kai sank down into the chair beside his brother’s. “I’m sure they’ve got security cameras. They’ll be able to tell who went back there and at what time.”

Jared nodded. “I only went back once and it was to go to the bathroom. I didn’t see Lena back there at all. I have to admit though that I skipped the lounge and went the back way because I thought she was in there at the time. She was arguing with Brad and I didn’t want to get in the middle of that shit.”

“I would like to know if Brad followed her to the bathroom. You don’t remember anything?”

“No. I got up right after Sarah took Kori in the back. When I returned, I realized Sarah was practically humping some * on the dance floor and then I acted like a douchebag the rest of the night. I know I ignored her. I know it hurt her. I was actually trying to apologize to her when they told me Lena was dead.”

“You were trying to apologize? Verbally?” He knew his brother pretty well.

“Fine, I was trying to kiss her. The cops came in just as I got my hands on her. They acted like I was trying to murder her or something. For a minute I thought someone was going to shoot me. Who’s the guy in the suit? Is he the lead detective? He’s the one who damn near shot me.”

Rush. Of course Rush had come to the scene. He’d likely been shadowing them all night. He’d been waiting for something to happen and it had. Kai guessed he should be happy Jared wasn’t under arrest yet. He needed to tell Jared who Rush was and why he was here, but he glanced toward the mirror that covered a good portion of the room. Somewhere behind that mirror they were watching. He wasn’t sure if it would be Rush or one of the FBI’s profiling team, but they were watching every move his brother made. It was likely why they’d left Kai in here with him. They wanted to see if Jared would screw up and say something.

They might want to see if Kai was more loyal to his brother than he looked.

If they were listening in, he would give them a show. Jared wasn’t showing any signs of lying. There was nothing in his manner that led Kai to believe Jared was anything less than devastated by what had happened. So maybe if there was a profiler on the other side of that mirror, they would see it, too. “Has anything like this happened before? Any women you knew who went missing or got killed?”

Jared’s eyes widened. “No. I’ve never known anyone who got killed. Like murdered. I knew a guy who died of a brain tumor, but that’s about it. And missing? No. I meet a lot of people though. Why are you asking?”

His brother didn’t even realize he’d left a trail of bodies during his travels. “Do you keep up with the women you sleep with on the road?”

His brother turned a nice shade of pink. “That’s none of your business, Kai. And there aren’t as many as you would think. Every now and then I’ll hook up with someone, but when I’m on the road, they very rarely ever call. I give them my private number, but no one calls. I think they probably see me as a collectible.”

“You don’t call them?”

“I don’t want to pressure anyone. I’m also not real great about using my damn phone, okay? One of the guys programs it. It’s easier to give them my number.”

“You honestly believe that you’ve had sex with a bunch of women who don’t want to have sex with you again? Because I’ve heard some of the stories. Hey, my fiancée left me because apparently you’re better in bed.”

Jared stood, his shoulders squaring. “She left you because she was a bitch and you didn’t see it. She left you because she couldn’t stand to have you walk away from her. She left you because just like the rest of us mere f*cking mortals, she couldn’t quite live up to your standards.”

Shit. He did not want to do this here. “Fine. All I’m saying is I find it highly unlikely that none of those women called you back.”

“Seriously? This is what you want to talk about? Are you trying to solve a murder or fix my love life?”

The door slammed open and Kai was surprised to see Erin Argent standing there. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, her face makeup free and her wild red hair up in a messy bun, as though she’d rolled out of bed to come here. “Is Case with Mitch?”

“Yes. They called him out a while ago. He’s not in trouble or anything,” Kai explained. “He was there when we found a body.”

Erin’s left brow rose, a queenly gesture. “So it was a fun night. Big Tag wasn’t answering his cell so Case called me and told me to get the lawyers down here pronto. Then he told me to go back to bed and not worry. Yeah, like that was going to happen. I called Mitch, who called the subby boy, and then I got Hutch on the case. He was on guard duty.”