The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(10)

He hated getting blindsided.

“Derek Anderson saved my life and the lives of three of my men, giving his own in the process. He was under my charge in Afghanistan. He was my responsibility. His sister was his only family. I owe her. She has asked me to do one thing in ten years. One f*cking thing. She asked me to take care of her client who is being stalked and harassed. She asked me to take care of a single female in a professional fashion. Do you want to explain to me what the problem is?” No one in the whole world could ice over words the way Ian Taggart could.

“She did come in early,” Eve pointed out. “Not a one of us knew what was going on. You might have at least let Grace in on the situation.”

“I sent her an e-mail.”

Grace frowned, obviously not allowing Ian’s tone to intimidate her in the least. “Which I got about thirty minutes after Serena Brooks ran out of the office. Don’t you try to pin this one on me. I handled it the best way I knew how. The minute I found out she was dealing with a stalker, I called in Jake and Adam. They’re the close contact guys. They’re the only ones here who can do twenty-four seven since you put Liam on the Black case.”

Ian’s mouth turned down. “Well, the last information I have is that the bastard is in Europe. Liam has better contacts there than anyone else.”

“And I’ve contacted them. Now all we can do is be patient. But the big bastard here doesn’t do patient well. I can handle more than one case at a time. Especially when all I’m really required to do is keep my ear to the ground,” Liam complained.

Alex sat back in his chair, his hand scrubbing across his face. “I can handle it, especially if Liam can back me up.”

“Not the way we can,” Adam interjected. “And you have that corporate case you’re working on.”

Ian held out a hand and everyone shut up. “I always meant to put Jake and Adam on the case. Jake and Adam handle close contact, Eve profiles the *, and Liam can be the backup. From what I can tell, the cops assume this is a domestic dispute and are trying to stay out of it.”

Eve sat forward. The former FBI profiler pinned Ian with a stare. “Why do they think her husband is involved? Is there a history of violence? Do we have a file on him?”

Alexander McKay passed her a file folder. “I pulled together what I could after I talked to Ian. I knew you would be interested in this particular case. This is personal, more up your alley.”

Her warm brown eyes turned to her ex-husband. Jake didn’t know why the couple had broken up, but there was no doubting that they still cared. There was also no doubt that there was a wall between them. As Eve’s hand went for the file, she carefully avoided contact.

“What was your take on the husband?” Eve asked, her eyes sliding away from Alex’s.

Alex cleared his throat and sat up straighter, his usual professionalism back in full form. “I’m not half the profiler you are. I would rather you formed your own opinions. And he’s her ex-husband. They divorced years ago. He filed. She didn’t contest it.”

She started to flip through the file. “Then why would he start harassing her now? Especially if he’s the one who decided to leave?”

“That’s what’s thrown the cops off.” Ian finally took the seat at the head of the table. “Look, according to the cops, she’s somewhat suspicious.”

“Bullshit,” Adam said. “There was nothing suspicious about her.”

Jake thought about strangling his partner. He never knew when to shut up. He could practically hear Ian’s thoughts before he put them into words.

“Adam, don’t make me regret giving this to you. She is the client. Actually, she’s not the client. Lara Anderson is the client. Serena Brooks or Amber Rose or whatever you want to call her is to be handled carefully, and part of her handling is going to be figuring out what’s the truth and what’s complete fiction. She should know a little bit about fiction. She writes a bunch of it.”

“Are you trying to say she’s not trustworthy because she’s a writer? That’s ridiculous.” Grace looked ready to defend the author.

Ian held out a hand to stop her. “I’m saying she’s incredibly ambitious. The woman went from working part time at a retail store to publishing fifteen books in a two-year period. She learned the business very quickly. Lara said she’s never had a writer quite as prolific as Serena. She’s worked the whole e-publishing business to spectacular advantage, building a devoted following in a short period of time. A woman like that could use the publicity. Tell me, Grace, what is she known for? What types of books does she write? We all know it’s erotic, but there’s something more, isn’t there?”

Grace’s flushed face told Jake that Ian was right.

Ian shook his head in a brief arc. He wasn’t going to take silence for an answer. Ian rarely asked questions for which he wasn’t pretty damn sure of what the answer would be. “And what types of plots does she write?”

“Suspense.” Grace sighed. “She’s known for writing great suspense plots. Damn it, Ian, that doesn’t mean she’s making this up.”

“Has she ever written a stalker book?”

Grace’s head shook, but her words told the truth. “Three Riders, One Love. The heroine was being stalked. She ran to a small town and found her lovers there. But she’s also written serial killer books and books that feature Russian mafia hit men. They haven’t shown up in her life.”