Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(14)

“Sometimes that’s the perfect time,” Shane pointed out. “Not that I don’t agree with Wade wholeheartedly about the morals thing, but we’ve all been put in positions where we had to do sketchy shit to protect a client.”

“Or two,” Riley said with the smooth smile of a player who knew how good he was at the game. “Or three.”

Dec snorted. “Misti, Janice, and Crystal weren’t clients. They were the client’s sisters.”

“And they needed protecting, too,” Riley replied, a wistful look on his face. “Such sweet, innocent ladies.”

He was a lost cause. “Look, even if I wanted to be honest with her now, I doubt she would talk to me. She practically ran down that hallway when I said hello to her. I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t start looking to move.” Speaking of moving. “Shane, could you pull up her GPS? Her sister said she planted the tracking device I gave her on Lisa’s handbag. I didn’t see her car in the lot. I need to tag that, too.”

Dec shook his head. “I didn’t either. You said it was a late-model Audi. I saw a couple of those, but not a gray Q5. I don’t know. All those hipster cars look the same to me.”

“I’m not sure you understand the meaning of the word hipster.” Shane fired up the laptop. “But I didn’t see it either. She must have parked outside the lot. Let’s see where she’s going.”

“So you don’t want to sleep with her?” Declan asked. He had slumped onto the sofa as though tired. “Because again, she’s pretty cute.”

Why had he invited his friends over? “If I thought I could get in and out of her bed without causing a shit ton of problems, I would do it in a heartbeat. She’s gorgeous and she’s exactly my type physically, but she needs more than I can give her. That’s why I told her I wasn’t interested the first time she asked.”

Riley stared at him. “You did what? Like you told her you had a girlfriend or something, right?”

Wade was shaking his head. “Shit. You didn’t bald-face tell her that, right?”

Even Declan seemed surprised. “Dude, I’m terrible at expressing myself and even I would have found a way to let her down easy. You’re screwed. Unless she’s got no self-esteem. Did she ask you more than once?”

“Oh, she hasn’t talked to me since,” he admitted. And now he wondered if she’d actually left Sanctum to get away from him. He didn’t like how that made him feel.

Could he be honest with her? Tell her that he was leaving soon, but he wouldn’t mind spending some time with her. Explain what had been going through his head. He wouldn’t be lying to her. He just wouldn’t be telling her the whole truth.

According to her family, she wasn’t dating anyone and hadn’t in over a year. Apparently there had been a graduate school boyfriend who’d left her for someone he was now married to.

Maybe she was as lonely as he was and wouldn’t mind passing some time with someone who knew what the score was.

“I think she’s on the train,” Shane said. “There’s no road, but the light-rail goes through there.”

Riley moved in behind him. “I think you’re right. Otherwise she’s the Flash and she doesn’t mind running across fields. Yep. That’s the red line. There’s a stop within walking distance of this building. Where do you think she’s going?”

“Why is she taking the train?” Remy asked.

“You know some people take it to save the environment,” Dec replied with a yawn. “Yeah, I know that sounded stupid. Is her car in the shop? Do you want me to go break in to her place and see if I can find out?”

“I think we’ll keep the break-ins in our back pocket,” he replied, staring at the screen with the others. His brain was still on what they’d talked about before. Sleeping with her would be the best way to keep track of her. She didn’t have a job right now. He would have to pretend to go to work and then follow her, but she couldn’t know how much vacation time McKay-Taggart owed him.

They could have some fun and then when the case was done, he would say good-bye and she would be a nice memory. They couldn’t work out long term, but maybe she wouldn’t mind slumming for a few weeks.

“She’s off the train. Two stops,” Shane was saying. “Not the best part of town.”

Like all cities, Dallas was a hodgepodge of the wealthy, the middle class, and what could only be called the not so nice parts of town. And they weren’t all that far from each other. He could be in a super-wealthy neighborhood one block and within four have gotten to a section he needed a gun to feel safe in.

He doubted Lisa Daley carried a gun. “Where the hell is she going? That section of town is nothing but dive bars and…”

“Hey, I know that one,” Wade said, pointing at the screen. “Cherry Pies Strip Club.” He frowned suddenly, noticing that all eyes were on him. “What? It’s got a good buffet.”

Sure it did.

Holy shit. He stared at the screen, knowing exactly what building she was going into. Wade wasn’t the only one who had been to that part of town. Lisa Daley had just walked into one of the skankiest strip clubs the city of Dallas had to offer, and he doubted she was asking for directions. “Gentlemen, I think it’s time we took this party on the road.”