Street Game (GhostWalkers, #8)(42)

There was knowledge in her eyes and he knew she accepted Kane’s betrayal better than he did. Maybe she even understood it. Jaimie seemed able to see things he didn’t. She put her hand up and tried to push Joe away.

“Let me, sweetheart,” Joe said. “I can explain.”

“We both can,” Kane added, more, Mack suspected, for his benefit than Jaimie’s. “Just let him work on you. You know how dangerous brain bleeds are.”

Jaimie tangled her fingers with Mack’s and clung, but she forced herself to stop fighting.

“Her name is Jaimie,” Mack said. “Not ‘sweetheart.’ ”

Joe glanced at him. “You’re looking for a fight, but you’re not going to get one from me. I was just—”

“Doing your job,” Jaimie cut him off, closing her eyes, not wanting to look at his face. “I hear that a lot. It’s such a great excuse, isn’t it? Following orders.”

She hadn’t known Joe was a GhostWalker or that he’d been sent to watch her. At first she’d suspected. He’d been her second choice, but her first choice had taken another job. She’d thoroughly investigated Joe and everything checked out. Even that, she knew, could be manipulated so she’d interviewed him several times, trying to trip him up with questions. If a story was rehearsed, it was often retold nearly word for word. Joe had been an easy talker.

And she should have recognized another GhostWalker. Or at least someone with psychic abilities. Judging by the heat in her head, he definitely had psychic abilities.

“It’s not like that, Jaimie,” Joe protested.

“Really? You didn’t answer my ad and apply for the job? You didn’t have a cover in place—a very good one, I might add. I’m pretty certain you never mentioned you were keeping an eye on me.”

“That your place across the street my men uncovered?” Mack asked.

“I couldn’t believe your man spotted me. He’s one of a very few who ever have.”

“He ID’d you walking up to the front door as well.” Mack didn’t identify Gideon. He didn’t know what was going on and protecting his men was instinctual.

Jaimie tried to think through the pain. It mattered little if they gave her explanations. Betrayal had a certain smell to it and that scent had been all over Kane. Why not Joe? That bothered her. She’d become fond of him. They’d spent many hours isolated together, working to turn the warehouse into a home and office. In all that time, how could she not have known what he was?

She felt him lift his fingertips away and the burning sensation eased. She could taste blood in her mouth. The overloads were getting worse, not better. She hadn’t said anything to anyone because who could she tell? Who could she trust? She didn’t dare go into a hospital. And what could a doctor do for her? Only Whitney might have a chance of helping her, and he was a monster without scruples. She’d probably come out from under the anesthesia and discover he’d given her wings.

“She should be better if I can get this medicine into her IV,” Joe said, sitting back. For the first time he looked strained, his handsome face lined with fatigue.

Mack held out his hand. “What is it?”

Kane put the medication in Mack’s hand. Mack closed his eyes, blocking out all sights, concentrating on the vial held between his palms. He inhaled deeply, scenting the liquid, looking for trace amounts of poison, sensing whether or not it could bring Jaimie harm. It bothered him that she couldn’t read Joe, and that Gideon, who had the eyes of an eagle, hadn’t spotted him easily. He wouldn’t have known Joe was a GhostWalker if he’d passed by him. If Whitney ever realized that both Joe and Gideon weren’t recognizable as GhostWalkers to the others, both men would be in danger. Whitney would move heaven and earth to find out why. Mack handed him the vial and watched him put it into Jaimie’s IV.

“I’m giving her a painkiller as well,” Joe said. “It will make her sleepy. I’d like to stay for a few hours and check on her. She’s not entirely out of danger.”

Mack knew Javier was on the second floor using Jaimie’s equipment to ferret out Joe Spagnola’s secrets. He nodded his head. “Thanks.”

He still hadn’t really looked at Kane. He wasn’t certain he could without punching him right in the face. Kane had asked for the sergeant major to put someone on Jaimie without even coming to him about it. To take manpower from one of the teams, and Joe Spagnola was definitely an elite GhostWalker, Griffen would have asked something in return. Mack knew that somehow Jaimie was going to be part of the price tag.

Joe stood up and stretched.

“I’d be careful moving around,” Mack said.

Joe’s eyebrow shot up. “I spent a good deal of time studying the safety areas of this room from the rooftops and windows. Your sniper doesn’t have a shot.”

“Not if he’s outside,” Mack agreed.

Joe hesitated and then went to the refrigerator and pulled out a Corona, shaking his head, clearly uncertain whether or not to believe Mack. “I see someone’s been enjoying my beer.”

“I thought it was Jaimie’s beer,” Kane said.

“She doesn’t drink,” Joe said and took a long, slow swallow.

Mack frowned. “You seem to know a lot about Jaimie.”