On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(42)

It was starting to annoy her. She felt like she was behind the redhead by more than a few steps.

Kristen gave her a bright smile. “I’m sorry. I’m going on and on. It’s just that I’ve been studying you all for a while now. I’m afraid it’s a little like meeting characters from a book you really enjoy reading.”

Eve felt her eyes narrow in suspicion. “Why have you been studying me?”

“Because I knew I would need Alex McKay if I wanted to break this story. I couldn’t go to the feds because I’m not sure that Evans doesn’t have someone on the inside. McKay only has one side to work here and that’s to take Evans down.”

Eve got the gist. “He wants revenge for what Evans did to me. You’re using that to your advantage.”

“I simply prefer that the people I surround myself with have open motives that dovetail nicely with my own,” Kristen explained. “To that end, I would advise you to keep an eye on Jesse Murdoch. I haven’t figured out what he wants yet, and that makes him dangerous in my book. Actually, you could help me with that.”

Eve let her lips curve up. “Yes, well, I think we can safely say he has an Oedipus complex.”

Kristen snorted a little, shaking her head. “You’re not old enough to be his mother. You’re barely older than me, and I’m not willing to play the cougar yet.”

“What do you get out of this, Kristen?” Eve never took her eyes off the other woman. She was usually quite good at detecting lies, and she wanted to see if Kristen had any tells.

Kristen stood, walking right up to Eve and offering her hands, proving once again that she was smarter than Eve had suspected. She held her arms out, palms up. “It’s okay. Feel my pulse. Watch my eyes. I’m not going to lie to you, but I want you to feel perfectly safe with me.”

Eve was game. She placed her fingers on Kristen’s wrists, finding her pulse quickly. “What do you get out of this?”

“I get to put on the white hat for once. I get to help out some people who I truly believe need helping out, and I might just get a little redemption. I had a job go bad on me a couple of years back and I lost someone I love very much. I want to honor his memory by being better than I was before.”

Her pulse stayed perfectly steady. There was no dilation to her eyes, and she never blinked or looked away. “Why Alex?”

“Because he always wore the white hat. And because I knew damn well he wouldn’t pass up a chance to avenge you. He’s trustworthy, and I know I can count on exactly what he will do. He’s a known quantity. You’re the unknown. Why are you here?”

Eve let Kristen’s hands go. Either Kristen was a sociopath or she wasn’t lying. Sociopaths could often pass lie detector tests because they simply didn’t feel enough to show physical signs when they were lying. “I’m here to watch Alex’s back.”

“You’re not here for Evans?”

She felt a shudder go through her. “No.”

“Not even a little?”

“No.”

“Now that does surprise me.” Kristen walked to one of the lockers and worked the wheel of the lock there.

It was odd. She actually thought the other woman sounded a little disappointed. “Why is that?”

The locker came open, and Kristen pulled out her bag. “I guess I thought you would be the type of woman who would want to go after Evans.”

“I don’t want revenge.” She never really had. She’d just wanted it to be over and then she’d wanted everything to be normal.

“I wasn’t talking about revenge. I thought you would go after him so he could never do it again. So no other woman would have to go through what you went through. I guess I read too much into it. I didn’t think you would want to hide from it.”

Eve bristled a little. “I’m not hiding.”

“But you’re also not here to take out Evans. It’s okay, but you should understand that is my goal. I’m going to make sure he can’t hurt women anymore. Because it’s the right thing to do and I do the right thing now.”

“I’m not hiding.” She wasn’t hiding from anything. She was trying to rebuild her life. “I’m just here to make sure Alex doesn’t kill himself.”

“Well, as long as we understand each other. I’m sure we can get along. You watch Alex’s back and I’ll handle the investigation part on the girl end. Was that really Sean Taggart?” She glanced back toward the door. “He’s Ian Taggart’s younger brother, right? I thought he would be bigger.”

Sean was six foot three. “He’s only small compared to Ian. There’s a reason they call him Little Tag.”

“Big Tag and Little Tag. That’s cute.” She settled the bag on her shoulder. “You have to watch out for Sienna and Sage. They’re twins and they’re mean-girl subs. They’ll very likely be all over Master A as soon as they lay eyes on him. Chazz tends to use them as arm candy when he entertains. That can happen in or out of the club, which is precisely why I needed someone on the inside. He always takes bodyguards with him, but I can’t trust any of them. It was a lucky thing that his last two bodyguards ran off. No idea where they went.”

Now Kristen’s irises flared just the tiniest bit. A lie. She’d done something to force the guards to leave. Very interesting. “Yeah, I’m sure that was a lucky happenstance.”