Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(4)

“Not that it made him lose his job,” Dec pointed out.

“But we know he’s bad,” Tag replied.

A whole lot had gone down in LA and it had a major effect on the London office, which suddenly found itself down a bunch of memory-blank soldiers it had been hiding and one operative who was now marrying a Hollywood star.

Charlotte sat down across from her husband, her strawberry blonde hair upswept in a professional bun. It made him wonder briefly how she’d worn her hair when she’d been a Russian mob assassin. She seemed to relish taking care of the day-to-day business of running McKay-Taggart. She pushed three envelopes out to each of the men who’d worked the LA job. “I think you’ll find that Josh and Kayla were happy with your services and with helping train a new set of bodyguards for when they travel. They wanted to give you all something to show their appreciation.”

From the way Shane’s eyes widened, that must be a mighty big check. Sometimes the bonuses on certain jobs could be outstanding.

Damn, but he needed one of those jobs. He’d sent the others on the LA job because he’d wanted to stay close to home. Now he might be losing home altogether. But he wasn’t about to show that fear here in the office. They had plenty of other things to worry about. “Do we have an update on the situation with Sadie?”

Sadie Jennings was Grace Taggart’s niece, and for the last couple of years she’d taken her aunt’s place as the office receptionist. She was a ball of sunshine in everyone’s day, always willing to help out even in the dangerous stuff.

He was worried that level of loyalty was going to get the young woman hurt or even killed because a few weeks before, she’d been kidnapped. She was rescued, but one of the kidnappers got away and according to all the information they had, he was still after Sadie.

“Chase is keeping her hidden,” Ian said, his voice grim. “But Jonathan Jones was recently sighted in the San Antonio area. Sean’s driving down to Fort Hood for an update and to check in on her. Apparently she’s got a bunch of friends down there, and some of them are military. He trusts them, but she’s not safe until Jonathan is dealt with.”

“Sadie is quite smart and capable,” Charlotte said in a tone that made it obvious this wasn’t the first time they’d talked about this issue. “She’ll stay put until we are able to find the asshole.”

Ian raised a hand as if to stave off the inevitable argument. “We’ll find him. On to other things… Riley, you wanted some time off and I’m giving it to you. Go and have fun, but keep your phone on. If there’s an emergency, I might have to call you back.”

Remy got the meaning behind those words. After the LA mission, they didn’t know what would happen with the Lost Boys. If the Agency came after them, it would be all hands on deck, and they might be going up against the CIA.

Riley nodded. “You need me, call, boss. I’ll be there. But until then, I’m going to…rest for a while.”

Yeah. Remy got those words, too. Riley would crawl into bed with a woman or two and not get out for a good long time. Exactly what he himself would do if he could. Find a good-time girl. One who didn’t want anything more than a couple of orgasms because that was exactly all he had to give any woman at this point.

“Shane, your request to stay in Dallas for a while has been approved,” Charlotte said with a smile. “We’ve got a couple of short-term jobs around town so you can settle into the new place. Is it true you’ve got an outdoor shower?”

Shane smiled, the satisfaction clear on his face. “Country living with all the joys of the city. Best of both worlds. I can’t wait to have my first barbecue.”

“That leaves us with an assignment in South America. It’s on the dangerous side and I don’t know if we should take this one at all,” Ian said, opening the folder in front of him. “It’s a bodyguard assignment to a diplomat going to speak in Argentina, but I’m not sure about him.”

“I’ll take it,” Declan said.

“I think we should talk about it, but if we decide to move forward, Wade should take this one,” Charlotte said, starting to push the folder Wade’s way.

A big hand came out, slamming over the folder and pulling it toward him like it was prey being dragged back into some predator’s cave. Declan’s. “I’ll take this one.”

A brow rose over Tag’s eyes. “Damn it, Dec, you just got back from a long-term assignment and quite frankly you look like shit. Have you been sleeping at all?”

“I sleep fine and this one is mine.” Declan didn’t look up, merely opened the folder and started reading.

“I can’t take it because I have a case of my own.” Wade rode into the rescue like the cowboy he was. “I have a friend in town and he’s asked me to watch after a lady from his hometown. Emily Young.”

“The country singer?” Tag asked. “The one who played Top a while back?”

Wade nodded. “She’s doing a full tour this time and she’s attracted some crazies. She needs a full-time bodyguard. I head out to Houston tomorrow to join the tour. I hope it’s all right. Remy approved it.”

“We’ve all had some personal stuff we have to do,” Remy replied. “I’ll stay here and back up Shane and run the office.”