You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(35)

Jesse looked up as Big Tag and Ten walked into the room. Limped was more like it for Ten. The right side of his face was swollen and his lower lip had cracked a bit. Big Tag managed to almost look like a man who hadn’t had his balls abused by a pair of cowboy boots. He winced just a little as he eased into his chair.

“Nothing’s broken,” he said. “Jesse, you okay?”

“I’m better than most.” His ribs still ached and he had a spectacular headache, but he would live. “Can we get this over with? I’d like to get home.”

“He’s planning on quitting.” Simon was like a little boy tattling on his brother.

“No,” Phoebe protested.

“Who’s quitting?” McKay asked.

“It better be Phoebe,” Erin said under her breath. There was only one chair left and it was beside Theo Taggart. He tried to hold it out for her but she rolled her eyes. “I’ll stand, buddy.”

“I’m not your buddy,” Theo warned, his jaw hardening.

“No, you’re not, kid,” Erin agreed.

Theo stood, matching Erin’s aggressive stance. “I’m not a kid either.”

“Oh, is the baby looking for a mommy?” Erin could be obnoxious to say the least.

“I’ll show you what I’m looking for, sweetheart.” Theo took a step her way.

“I’m too old for this shit,” Tag groaned. “Theo, dude, she will tear your dick off.”

“The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess,” Theo tossed back with a smirk on his face.

Tag stared at his brother. “Then your heart really needs to have a long discussion with your dick because again—she will rip it off. It’s why I hired her. Please, can we stuff the sexual tension down where it should be? Like deep down. I don’t want to hear about anyone’s f*cking feelings or dark desires or childhood anxieties. Shove it down like a man and yes, I mean you, Erin.”

She sat down with a sigh. “I’m not the one with a case of the feels, boss. Your little brother has obviously never been around a girl before.”

“I take it back,” Case said, smiling for the first time. “I like her.”

Ten shoved a hand through his hair, a weary look in his eyes. “My men better stand the f*ck down. I might have broken a couple of ribs, but I can still shoot you. Sit and behave. We have a problem.”

“A major problem. Turns out the kill order didn’t come from Ten,” Taggart announced.

“What kill order?” Boomer asked. “Hot new boss lady said something about it and then Murdoch looked all sad and shit. I still don’t get why we’re here.”

Ten looked at Taggart. “He’s actually the single best sniper in the country. All right, let’s go over some things. I sent Phoebe in when it became apparent that Taggart was going to get involved with Jesse Murdoch, a man who has been on several watchlists since he was rescued from a jihadist prison.”

“Lots of people got taken,” Li said, sitting forward. “Most of them are welcomed back. I know what happened with Murdoch was unusual, but why wasn’t he given the benefit of the doubt?”

“Shortly before we found Murdoch we received intel that an Iraqi psychologist was working with a jihadist group to try to turn American soldiers and then release them back into the military,” Ten explained.

“From there they were supposed to become sleeper agents, waiting for a time and place to strike,” Taggart continued. “Given what Jesse said about his captivity, the government and the Agency came to believe Jesse had been in that particular program.”

“Shit, that’s very Manchurian Candidate,” Simon said under his breath.

“But if he’d really been turned, he likely wouldn’t have mentioned the psychological torture.” Phoebe didn’t look his way, but he could tell she was aggravated by the way her fingers drummed along her thigh. She kept her hand under the desk as though she didn’t want anyone to know.

He wanted to reach out and still her hand, to give her some comfort.

“Or he could tell us exactly what he told us because it would throw us off the scent,” Ten argued. “You know as well as I do that the best covers always contain a grain of truth.”

“He’s not a traitor. Do you even read the reports I submit?” Phoebe sent Ten a stare that would freeze lava.

“It doesn’t matter now.” He could easily put an end to this argument. “I quit. So you don’t have to worry about me tainting McKay-Taggart anymore. I’m going back to Wyoming. I’ll keep a low profile and I won’t try to lose whatever tails you feel necessary to set on me.”

“No.” Taggart took a sip of the ridiculously strong coffee he liked.

“You can’t stop me.” He should have known his boss would make things difficult.

“Yes, I can. And so can Ten. We’ve agreed to a few things. Mostly we agreed to beat the shit out of each other again at the first convenient time, but we also agreed that something is wrong here. Phoebe, you’re the first person in a very long time to fool me.”

“I wasn’t trying to fool you, sir. I was trying to do my job,” Phoebe pointed out.

“Nonetheless, you have my respect. Unfortunately, you also have my distrust and bitterness, and don’t discount those. I have to say the over-the-top scaredy cat shit threw me off. And the Harry Potter crap was a nice touch. I don’t think there’s been a spy in the history of time who hid behind Harry Potter bobble heads. Adam, call Guinness.”