You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(14)

A secondary? Shit. She said there had been a secondary sniper and he might still be around. Someone was serious about wanting him gone.

He let that knowledge settle in his mind.

Jesse moved to the back of the van and got in. Alex pushed the bin to the van and tilted it forward.

There was Phoebe, her body completely slack. There was a black wig on her head. It was short and curled at her jawline. She’d put some makeup on, and for a second he thought maybe they’d gotten the wrong woman. She looked so different from the Phoebe whose hand he held. She had dark hair, but it was threaded through with reds and golds and there was so much of it. She usually put it in a ponytail or a bun, but when she let it loose it seemed to go everywhere. She certainly wasn’t this polished, professional-looking woman.

“Jesse, we’ve got incoming,” Tag reminded him.

The cops. He could hear the wail of sirens in the background now. He reached in and grabbed her, hauling her into the van. Tag reached down again and came up with what looked like a suitcase and Phoebe’s purse. The gun was likely in that case. They wouldn’t leave evidence behind.

Tag, Alex, and Adam were in the back of the van in a heartbeat, abandoning the bin to the street. The minute the doors were closed, Simon took off.

And he was left holding the woman who had tried to assassinate him.

“Adam?” Ian asked.

Adam needed no prompting. He opened his laptop and looked up with a smirk. “We’re good. I took out all the hotel’s CCTV cameras. Luckily Dallas is behind the times on security cams. No one is going to pick us up on a camera. They’ll have to go off eyewitnesses and since no one was actually hurt, they’ll dump it the minute something more exciting comes along. I’ve already texted Derek. He’ll handle it.”

There was a moment of silence before Ian turned to Jesse.

“Do I need to say it?” Tag asked, his jaw clenched so he spoke through his teeth.

“I’m fired.” He was surprised he’d lasted so long anyway. He knew he should put her on the floorboard, but it probably wasn’t clean down there and Phoebe was always very neat. He couldn’t stand the thought of her body lying there. So he hauled her into his lap and tried to look like he didn’t give a shit.

“No, you dumbass. I can’t fire you because you would be dead in like fifteen f*cking minutes. What the f*ck was that? Which Army did you serve in, son, because it sure as f*ck wasn’t the one I did. My goddamn COs taught me not to walk into the freaking bullet.”

And Tag was off. He was yelling and cussing and there was a certain comfort in it. Big Tag only got quiet when he didn’t care anymore. Jesse had scared the hell out of him and this was his punishment. He would take it.

There was a lull in the yelling and he looked up. Everyone was staring at him so he supposed it was time to say something. “I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry? You’re f*cking sorry? You would have been f*cking dead.” Tag was off again.

Jesse looked down at the woman in his lap. Her wig slipped and he could see that she’d put her hair in something that kept it close to her head. He didn’t like it. She was prettier without the makeup and the shiny black hair. He wasn’t sure why, but he needed to see her real hair. He slid his hands over her hairline, sliding the wig and the little cap off. Her hair immediately flowered out like it had been desperate to get away from the confines of the wig. Her hair tumbled over his arm. Her face turned up and he could see she wasn’t completely out. Her eyes opened slightly and she looked like a sleepy kitten.

“Jesse. My Jesse. Good dream.” She curved into him, rubbing her cheek against his chest. She moaned. “He’s so loud.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle because Tag really was loud.

Her eyes closed again and the van got quiet. Suddenly Jesse could feel three pairs of eyes on him.

“She’s an operative, Jesse,” Adam said quietly. “Very well trained.”

“She nearly killed me,” Jake complained.

Tag shook his head. “It’s not even broken. Fatherhood made Dean grow a *.”

Phoebe frowned, her eyes glassy. “Pussies aren’t weak. I’d like to see Tag shove a baby out of his penis.”

He’d never seen her drunk. She wouldn’t ever have more than one margarita or glass of wine. She seemed like a fun drunk.

Adam laughed and shook his head when Tag sent him a forbidding look. “Sorry, Tag. She’s got a point.”

“She should be out,” Tag complained. “You didn’t dose her properly.”

“I gave her enough to put down a freaking horse,” Adam replied. “Which means she’s likely been taught to counter the effects, and we all know that’s what the pros do.”

“She’s involved in something we don’t understand,” Alex said, sympathy in his eyes. “You can’t pretend she’s Phoebe Graham anymore. You have to change your thinking about her. She isn’t the woman you care about. That woman doesn’t exist.”

“And you’re a goddamn idiot for thinking she did,” Tag said.

Phoebe’s legs started moving. Her head came up slightly and her eyes were about half open. “Fuck you, Tag. He’s not dumb…not stupid. You stupid. Dumbass.”

She sounded so drunk and yet the words were sweet to Jesse. Maybe he was stupid, but she was drugged. She didn’t have any defenses but she was defending him. What was he supposed to do with that?