Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(92)

“Can you give us a minute?” Erin asked.

Theo stared at her for a moment as though not completely sure of what he should do. He finally stepped toward the door. “Brody will be waiting in the hall to lead you to the office.”

When they were alone, she looked at her former friend. “What do you want, Erin?”

Erin huffed and sat up with a muffled groan. So stubborn. “I want to be the woman I was before I had to go to Africa. I want to not give a shit about you or Theo Taggart or anyone else. It was easier. I didn’t have to compromise. I hate this compromise shit.”

“Well, guess what, sister. You don’t have to care about me at all.” With the exception of Tennessee, Erin was the one she was most angry with. She’d been comfortable with Erin. It was a precious thing. Friends were a little like lovers. She was picky about them. She could spend time with people and enjoy it, but she didn’t connect with many people the way she had with Erin.

Now she had neither friend nor lover. She was afraid she didn’t have any family either.

Why, oh why, would those guards have silencers on their weapons? And why would her father and sister lie about the vaccines? Had she been a na?ve idiot all these years?

Erin made her way to the window. She stared out at the lush green of the garden. “I don’t make friends easily. I know. It’s a huge surprise. I’m so sweet and open that everyone should love me.” She snorted, an inelegant sound. “I’m crass and closed off and I can be a little mean at times. I get it. I was raised in a family where if I wasn’t tough, I got walked on. Hard. None of that matters. I hate this. I hate being vulnerable.”

“Well, I hate being lied to.” She forced herself to say the words because she was already softening. Her impulse was to sit Erin down and talk to her. The redhead looked so lost, so out of her element.

Faith reminded herself that she was the victim here.

“Yeah, I know. Theo thinks we’re going to explain our mission and you’ll understand and forgive us all. He’s na?ve. I know what’s going to happen. We’ll lay out the mission, you’ll realize the truth, and you’ll help us.”

“You really think so?” She wasn’t so sure.

“I know you, Doc. You won’t be able to turn away, but you won’t be able to forgive us either. Especially me and Ten. You’ll look at Theo and the rest of them and be able to say they were doing their jobs. Not me and Ten though. Because you loved us. It’s a stupid word, you know. People say they love you, but what does it mean? It’s overused and overvalued and god, it goes away so easily. There should be some constancy to that stupid word.”

“Love can be killed like everything else.” She wasn’t going to give in to the tears that were forming behind her eyes. She wasn’t going to let Erin get under her skin again. And that went double for Ten Smith.

Please let him be alive.

“Yeah, I guess if anybody can kill it, I can. Ten never wanted you to know what Theo’s going to tell you. He forbade us. He could have used the information you’re about to receive to bring you to his side, but he chose not to. Do you understand what it takes for a man like Tennessee Smith to bury information that would help him achieve his goal?”

“I don’t know Tennessee Smith at all. I knew a man named Ten Graham, but he wasn’t real.”

“I think he was more real with you than he’s ever been with anyone else. I understand Ten. God, I understand Ten better than I do anyone else on this crew. He has no idea who the f*ck he is. He’s been undercover for so much of his life, he’s got no idea who the real Ten is. I think he liked who he was with you. It’s the only reason he wouldn’t use that information. The Ten I know is ruthless. He’s hard as a rock, but he got soft for you. I hope he’s still alive.”

“My father wouldn’t kill him.” She couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be true.

A vision of those thugs her father employed using their guns with silencers crossed her brain.

“Your father has killed. He’s killed many times and he’ll continue to do so. He killed Ten’s brother, Jamie. Not directly, but he sold the troop information to the man who did. He was also indirectly responsible for the physical and mental torture of Phoebe’s husband, Jesse. Your father killed or damaged the two men she loved most in the world. The truth is you lost your only family a very long time ago, and to the same man Ten lost his to. His mission should be yours, but he was willing to shoulder the burden alone because he loves you.”

“What do you mean by…” Erin’s words sunk in. Faith shook her head. “No. No. He loved my mother. He couldn’t have. He would never.”

“He lied to you. You weren’t sick that day. Your mother didn’t call the pediatrician to make an appointment. She had an appointment with a divorce attorney. She also had spoken to a lawyer at the Justice Department. They had opened a file on your father. After your mother was murdered, they closed it. Theo can show you everything. He’ll also explain why your father was the man behind your kidnapping in Ghana.”

Faith had to take a step back. She felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. All the air seemed to rush out of the room and for a moment, her peripheral vision began to fade.

Erin was suddenly at her side, offering her support even though she still had to be in pain from the sutures.