Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(127)

“I will.” It was the only gift he could give his brothers now.

“Ah, there she is.” Tag managed a smile as the lobby door opened.

Ten managed a brilliant smile because his whole world was walking in. Faith waved to Grace and then made a beeline for him, her face practically glowing. She was wearing a nice hunk of diamond on her left ring finger, a promise he meant to keep.

Damn, but love felt good. He opened his arms and she walked right into them. He was marrying her in a few weeks. They would keep it simple, but he wanted his friends and family there.

Her face tilted up. “Hello.”

This was the best part of his day. Any time he got to kiss her. He brushed his lips over hers. “Hello, darlin’.”

“I’m going to vomit,” Tag said under his breath, but his lips were still curled up. “All right, Tennessee Smith. Your fiancée wanted me to put together a present for you. Chelsea actually did all the legwork and it was quite impressive. I have to hand it to my sister-in-law. I didn’t think she’d be able to do it with the little information she had, but it turns out she’s better than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?”

Tag glanced toward the conference room. “I’m talking about the fact that all Chelsea had to go on was a date and a place. Your birthdate and the café you were left at. When she couldn’t find anyone in that particular town who could possibly have been your birth mother, she widened her search. She went to a small town twenty miles away where one Carrie Holmes lived. It had been a closely guarded secret that she was pregnant. Only her two closest friends knew, and Carrie claimed to have given up the baby for adoption but no records were found. She had a very strict religious upbringing. I think she was trying to hide the pregnancy from her parents. She was in high school at the time.”

“What did you do?” He looked back at the conference room.

Faith tugged his hand into hers. “Ten, your birthmother is gone. She died of a drug overdose years ago, but Chelsea tracked down her high school boyfriend. She apparently dumped him after she found out she was pregnant. He never knew. Ten, that man in the conference room is your dad. His name is Bill Hartford and he owns a gaming store that specializes in puzzles and strategy games. I thought that was very telling. He has one son by his former wife. You have a brother. They’re both eager to meet you.”

Ten stared as the man stood and turned. Bill Hartford looked startled at first and Ten knew why. It was why he was startled, too. It was like looking into a mirror. He was looking at a slightly older version of himself.

Faith squeezed his hand. “He says he would have moved heaven and earth to find you if he’d known. He’s scared you’ll hate him, but he’s here because he wants you to know that you were wanted. You were loved.”

Tennessee Smith proved he’d been wrong about one thing. He could cry.

He tangled his fingers in hers and walked in to meet his past.

He already had his future. She was right there in his hands.





Kai Ferguson sat down, his head still reeling. “What the hell is going on in the conference room? I swear to god I think I saw Ten crying.” His gut took a nosedive. “Please tell me we haven’t lost someone else.”

He wasn’t sure how the team would recover from losing Theo. He’d been giving Erin and Case space, but he was at that point that he would have to talk to Tag because they needed sessions. They needed a place to talk, and he was the resident therapist.

Alex McKay sat behind his neatly appointed desk. “Nothing of the kind. It’s a little family reunion Ten’s fiancée organized. I’m glad to hear it’s going well. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you in.”

“Especially since I’m not technically an employee.” He owned his own place. Yes, it was the building next to Sanctum and he was very slowly paying it off, but it was his. He ran a treatment center specializing in soldiers returning from war and others suffering from PTSD. Big Tag had funded him for the first year, but he was planning on paying that back, too. Now he accepted funding from military charities and private individuals.

“Yes, I know, which is why I really need you to consider doing us a favor,” Alex allowed.

Favors in the McKay-Taggart world often meant getting shot at. He was a sadist, not a masochist. A happy, happy sadist who needed to stop thinking about his assistant and her far too juicy ass. It just needed a spanking so very badly. Kori Williamson was the most tempting sub he’d ever met and the only one he couldn’t have. Because she was afraid of him.

“What do you need?”

Alex slid a thick folder across the table. “The FBI came to us yesterday asking for help. Specifically, they asked for you.”

He opened the file and grimaced. Dead girls. Shit. He really hated the bloody stuff. Fun, consensual torture was one thing. These girls hadn’t asked for what was done to them. He ran through the police files. Five women. All Caucasian. All brunettes with blue eyes. All healthy girls. They had been curvy women. “They think they have a serial.”

Serial killers tended to prefer one type of victim above all. This man obviously had a type.

“Yes,” Alex replied. “The problem is the locations of the killings. They’ve connected five murders over the past three years. Potentially there’s more, but the killer moves around a lot. We also believe he’s killed women in Eastern Europe and Australia. There are victims in both places who fit the profile and timeline.”