Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(62)

“The security cameras did. Whoever it was they were good and very fast. They were in and out before the police or Hutch could get there. I didn’t want to go screaming out in case you planned on keeping Faith out of the loop. Again.”

The youngest Taggart was also the most judgmental. “You know why I told her it was over.”

“Yes, so she’ll act normally, and by normally you mean commit some kind of crime.”

“Could you please tell me about the break-in?” The tiniest Tag’s discipline had gone to shit since he’d started working for his brother.

“From what I can tell from the cameras, he knew what he was looking for. He entered through the backdoor—which will be getting a serious upgrade tomorrow—and went straight for the bedrooms. He glanced around the master and then headed for the one Faith had been using. When he realized she’d packed up, he left in a hurry, tried to cover his tracks. I doubt we’ll find any evidence. He was wearing a ski mask and gloves. I’m thinking about getting a dog. A nice sweet puppy who’ll tear off the balls of anyone who breaks into my house. Erin could have been there.”

“And she would have taken the balls off the guy,” Ten pointed out. “Shit. I have to go through Faith’s things. She’s got something someone wants. I’ll need Erin to distract her.”

“They’re supposed to go to lunch in a few days with Phoebe. They’re planning some kind of shopping trip.”

Ten felt his brow rise. “With my sister?”

Theo grinned. “Yes, with your super-supportive sister. I think you’ll find she’s Team Faith all the way. Also, who’s Dawn? Because she said after someone named Dawn, Faith was an angel sent from heaven.”

He felt himself flush. “Dawn was a double agent who lived with me for a year and then sold me out to a terrorist cell who tortured and nearly killed me.”

Theo gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re totally doing better this time, boss. And it’s cool. I’ll come by at some point and you can distract Faith so I can go through her bags. Plausible deniability if we get caught.”

And an excuse to beat the shit out of Theo. If Faith caught Theo going through her bag, Ten would be forced to kick his ass. It would be part of his cover. A really fun part of his cover.

Theo frowned. “I don’t like the look on your face.”

Which proved he wasn’t a dumb shit. “Don’t worry about it. I like this plan. You check her purse before they go and then we’ll go through her bag and laptop while they’re at lunch later in the week. I want to figure out what she has and why they want it. I want this over with before we head to the Caymans.”

“Erin is going to start softening her up for leaving a little early,” Theo said as he opened his locker.

“I know she doesn’t like doing it, but it really is for Faith’s protection.” He suddenly felt the need to make Theo understand. It was unsettling, but he couldn’t not follow it. “I’m going to take care of Faith. I’m going to try to take care of her even after the op is over.”

Theo’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

Ten nodded. “I said I would try. I didn’t say she would let me. I’m going to have to play it very carefully. It’s why it would be best if we could get in and then find a reason to get out before her father gets to the island. I might have a shot at protecting her from the fallout if I can ease her into the truth.”

O’Donnell was wrong. If he told her now, he would lose her, but once she saw what her father was involved in, she wouldn’t have a choice but to turn to him, and by the time she found out who he really was, she would be so tied to him there wouldn’t be anywhere to go.

It might work. It would require a lot of deception, but it was all meant to protect her—from her father, from pain.

“I’ll help you anyway I can,” Theo promised.

Ten believed him. God, working at McKay-Taggart was making him soft, but he really did believe Theo.

He walked out of the locker room to find Faith laughing with Phoebe.

Soft. He was really going to have to deal with that.





CHAPTER TEN



“I like shoes,” Erin argued over her enchiladas. There was a massive margarita in front of her.

“No,” Phoebe shot back with a grin. “You like boots, and not the cute kind. You like combat boots. The salesperson at Nordstrom nearly cried when she saw what you’re wearing.”

Faith found herself smiling. She’d never been the girliest of girls, but she seemed to fit in with Erin and Phoebe. They weren’t ones to spend all their time talking about Hollywood stars and their sex lives or makeup. Even this shoe conversation was more about teasing Erin than it was really discussing the latest Prada line.

It was good to fit into a group in the real world. Sometimes it felt like she’d been through too much, seen too much to ever really belong in nice places where bad things rarely happened to good people.

“I’m with Erin. I like my boots. I prefer sneakers, but I learned really fast not to wear them in the jungle. They’re too easy for snakes to bite through.” Faith felt herself flush. This was why she didn’t fit into polite feminine circles.

“Yeah, those suckers have some serious fangs, but I’m still thinking the hooded vipers we had all over the bases in Iraq win the nasty reptile war. I’ve never seen so many Special Forces dudes cry like girls,” Erin said, sitting back.