From Sanctum With Love (Masters and Mercenaries Book 10) (38 page)

Something horrible had happened to his girl. She’d heard him betraying her and then she’d seen something no one should ever have to see. Now she wouldn’t accept his comfort.

Fuck, even Mia had clung to Case afterward. She’d cried and held on to him. Kai had picked Kori up and carried her out while Case called the cops. He’d held onto her, praying she hadn’t hit her head. When her eyes had fluttered open, she’d seen him and for a moment it was like nothing had happened.

Then she’d come to her senses and moved away from him.

Tell me you didn’t do it.

He’d known in that moment that she’d heard everything and there wasn’t much he could do. He couldn’t lie to her again. It wasn’t in him to do it. He couldn’t lie and he couldn’t tell her the truth. He was caught in a trap and she was the one who would pay the price.

“Why?” Jared asked. He looked up and for the first time Jared looked tired, weary even. For the first time he could see how his brother had aged. “Why would someone kill her? I know she was a bitch, but she never deserved anything like this.”

“I don’t know.” He was tired, too. Tired of everything. Case had been taken to a room to visit with his lawyer. Mitchell Bradford was here, and Kai wouldn’t be surprised if he’d brought Harrison Keen along for the ride. Mitch was McKay-Taggart’s attorney, but Harrison was one the top criminal defense attorneys in the state and he happened to be a sub at Sanctum. While Harrison might enjoy submitting to Dommes in his free time, the man was an animal in the courtroom. An alpha animal.

McKay-Taggart was busy protecting their own. And he couldn’t protect Kori at all.

He was starting to believe he needed to protect his brother, too.

“When was the last time you talked to Lena tonight?” Kai asked. He couldn’t talk to Jared about the FBI investigation. It would go against McKay-Taggart’s deal with the feds and could stop the flow of information. He couldn’t risk that, not when they were in the middle of an interrogation room. Anyone could be listening in. They could be taping the two of them for all Kai knew. Without a lawyer present, the cops could do what they liked. He would feel better if they’d been taken to Derek Brighton’s precinct. Lieutenant Brighton was a Dom at Sanctum and he’d taken care of issues before, but he wasn’t here tonight.

Jared’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. It was hard to talk to anyone. The club was so loud. I talked to her before we went in and she said she needed a couple of hours of my time tomorrow because she wanted to talk about a staffing issue. She said one of the guys had to go. I don’t remember who she said because the reporters were in my face by then.”

Maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe this had nothing to do with the serial case. “Okay. So Lena had a problem with one of the guys.”

Jared sighed. “Lena always had a problem. She’s tried to get me to fire every one of them at least twice. She hated everyone. She was always asking for private meetings so she could talk shit about the guys.”

“But if one of the guys thought she was a threat to his job, he might have wanted to take her out.”

“I can’t imagine that. They all knew she talked about them behind their backs. They expect that behavior. Why aren’t we talking about the patrons of the club? Someone likely followed her back there and tried to take her purse or something.”

“This wasn’t a crime of opportunity.” Lena had been killed in the same fashion as the others. Even with only a brief glance he could see the same MO. “Besides, it would be difficult to get back there without going through one of the two ways into the VIP longue.”

The lounge was cordoned off from the dance floor, but there were two ways servers and staff could get there. There had been the direct route to the bar and bathrooms, and then there was a specific entrance to the right for staff that led back to the bathrooms but not through the lounge. It was the way he and Case had gone to discuss the op.

If only they’d been smarter and not discussed it at all.

It was his fault. Not Case’s. Case had tried to make the handoff and leave it at that, but Kai had to push. Kai had to get his two cents in there. Now Kori knew and she hated him.

He needed to see her. Maybe if he could get her alone, he could make her understand.

Understand what? He couldn’t tell her anything. He couldn’t do anything but apologize.

He was so fucked.

Kai sank down into the chair beside his brother’s. “I’m sure they’ve got security cameras. They’ll be able to tell who went back there and at what time.”

Jared nodded. “I only went back once and it was to go to the bathroom. I didn’t see Lena back there at all. I have to admit though that I skipped the lounge and went the back way because I thought she was in there at the time. She was arguing with Brad and I didn’t want to get in the middle of that shit.”

“I would like to know if Brad followed her to the bathroom. You don’t remember anything?”

“No. I got up right after Sarah took Kori in the back. When I returned, I realized Sarah was practically humping some asshole on the dance floor and then I acted like a douchebag the rest of the night. I know I ignored her. I know it hurt her. I was actually trying to apologize to her when they told me Lena was dead.”

“You were trying to apologize? Verbally?” He knew his brother pretty well.

“Fine, I was trying to kiss her. The cops came in just as I got my hands on her. They acted like I was trying to murder her or something. For a minute I thought someone was going to shoot me. Who’s the guy in the suit? Is he the lead detective? He’s the one who damn near shot me.”

Rush. Of course Rush had come to the scene. He’d likely been shadowing them all night. He’d been waiting for something to happen and it had. Kai guessed he should be happy Jared wasn’t under arrest yet. He needed to tell Jared who Rush was and why he was here, but he glanced toward the mirror that covered a good portion of the room. Somewhere behind that mirror they were watching. He wasn’t sure if it would be Rush or one of the FBI’s profiling team, but they were watching every move his brother made. It was likely why they’d left Kai in here with him. They wanted to see if Jared would screw up and say something.

They might want to see if Kai was more loyal to his brother than he looked.

If they were listening in, he would give them a show. Jared wasn’t showing any signs of lying. There was nothing in his manner that led Kai to believe Jared was anything less than devastated by what had happened. So maybe if there was a profiler on the other side of that mirror, they would see it, too. “Has anything like this happened before? Any women you knew who went missing or got killed?”

Jared’s eyes widened. “No. I’ve never known anyone who got killed. Like murdered. I knew a guy who died of a brain tumor, but that’s about it. And missing? No. I meet a lot of people though. Why are you asking?”

His brother didn’t even realize he’d left a trail of bodies during his travels. “Do you keep up with the women you sleep with on the road?”

His brother turned a nice shade of pink. “That’s none of your business, Kai. And there aren’t as many as you would think. Every now and then I’ll hook up with someone, but when I’m on the road, they very rarely ever call. I give them my private number, but no one calls. I think they probably see me as a collectible.”

“You don’t call them?”

“I don’t want to pressure anyone. I’m also not real great about using my damn phone, okay? One of the guys programs it. It’s easier to give them my number.”

“You honestly believe that you’ve had sex with a bunch of women who don’t want to have sex with you again? Because I’ve heard some of the stories. Hey, my fiancée left me because apparently you’re better in bed.”

Jared stood, his shoulders squaring. “She left you because she was a bitch and you didn’t see it. She left you because she couldn’t stand to have you walk away from her. She left you because just like the rest of us mere fucking mortals, she couldn’t quite live up to your standards.”

Shit. He did not want to do this here. “Fine. All I’m saying is I find it highly unlikely that none of those women called you back.”

“Seriously? This is what you want to talk about? Are you trying to solve a murder or fix my love life?”

The door slammed open and Kai was surprised to see Erin Argent standing there. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, her face makeup free and her wild red hair up in a messy bun, as though she’d rolled out of bed to come here. “Is Case with Mitch?”

“Yes. They called him out a while ago. He’s not in trouble or anything,” Kai explained. “He was there when we found a body.”

Erin’s left brow rose, a queenly gesture. “So it was a fun night. Big Tag wasn’t answering his cell so Case called me and told me to get the lawyers down here pronto. Then he told me to go back to bed and not worry. Yeah, like that was going to happen. I called Mitch, who called the subby boy, and then I got Hutch on the case. He was on guard duty.”

“Guard duty?” Jared asked, looking Erin over as though trying to figure out if she was a threat.

She was. Erin was deadly when she wanted to be. Years in the Army and then private training with Big Tag had turned her into a deadly weapon, but she wasn’t a threat to them. “A couple of months ago an op went wrong and Big Tag is simply making sure Erin’s safe.”

“He’s making sure crazy pants Doctor Evil doesn’t come back for seconds.” Erin rolled her green eyes. “Which she won’t since she’s off happily fucking around with unsuspecting victims somewhere that’s not here. But Big Tag, Little Tag, and Should Have Covered His Tracks Better Tag decided I should have protection, at least at night, so they all take turns sleeping in my guest room. I swear I’m going to be pissed if someone breaks in and I don’t get to kill someone. No one ever lets me have fun anymore.”

Erin’s idea of fun could get grisly. And Big Tag had been worried about more than Hope McDonald. He’d been worried about her being alone, worried she might hurt herself or run away. So far she’d been pretty solid. Tonight she even sounded like the old Erin. She was apparently seriously amused that Case had gotten caught. “You didn’t have to come down here. We’re not in any real trouble.”

She gave him a sour grin. “Maybe not with the police, but I’m intrigued. You see, Hutch is a very smart hacker and he works for candy. I wanted to know what had gone down here that would require not one but two lawyers for our boys. So I shoved a bag of gummy bears his way and he managed to find some very interesting video of the hall outside the private lounge.”

“What?” Kai moved in close. What the hell was Erin thinking? “This is a police investigation.”

She shook her head. “I’m sure the murder is. I’m not concerned about some Hollywood chick. I’m concerned about what the hell you handed Case and why he’s running an op that isn’t on the books. Don’t tell me it wasn’t an op. Case had his op face on. It’s a little like his I-ate-too-many-fries face but with a hint of his vicious-badger face. I love my broth…I like the guy, but he’s pure muscle. He can’t play a role to save his life.”

It wasn’t inaccurate. Of the two, Theo had been the better operative while Case could kick ass and take names all day. “You should take it up with Case.”

“What does she mean about an op?” Jared asked, looking between the two of them. “And why would she hack into the video feed from the club? Is the hacker five? Who else eats gummy bears?”

Naturally that was what Jared would hit on. “Don’t worry about it. We need to worry about making a statement and getting the hell out of here. We can talk more when we get home.” He frowned Erin’s way. “You do realize someone is likely taping us even as we speak.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it for now, but why does Kori look like she lost her best friend?” Erin asked. “We’ll get back to Case later, but Kori’s sitting out in the station waiting for a ride. Shouldn’t you take her home, Doc? Or is this part of the sadist stuff?”

If they’d been at Sanctum, he would have called her on that. Erin had played before. Hell, Erin had played with him. Erin was one of the few women who could handle his form of play, but it had been apparent even in the beginning that she’d had a connection to Theo. Once the youngest Taggart had come on the scene, Erin hadn’t been interested in play anymore. Not with him. So he found it very annoying that she was accusing him of neglecting his sub.

Except Kori wasn’t his sub anymore. She never had been since he hadn’t managed to find a good time to talk about contracts with her.

“She’s not going anywhere.” It didn’t matter that she was pissed at him. All that mattered was taking care of her. “You go out there right now and tell her she’s not to leave this building. I will be very angry if she tries to go home without an escort.”

Jared stood up beside him, a stubborn look crossing his face. “And Sarah isn’t an escort. She’s not going anywhere either.”

Erin looked between the two of them. “Wow, for a minute there you two actually looked like brothers. Tell me something, Jared. How did you get the masculine name and Kai here got the hippy name?”

“My mom simply liked it.” Let it stay there. Please.

A slow smile split Jared’s face. “He hasn’t told anyone, has he? Kai is short for Kaiser. Kaiser Ferguson. And before you think maybe we had a German relative in our background, you’re wrong.”

“Jared,” he began.

Jared didn’t skip a beat. “When he was born, the doctor handed him over and the blanket slipped off his butt and Mom said his backside looked like two perfect Kaiser rolls. And that’s what she named him.”

Erin burst into laughter, her whole body moving.

Damn but it was good to hear her laugh. He shot his brother the finger, but Jared smiled as though he’d known the woman in front of him needed a reason to momentarily let go.

Before Erin could finish laughing, the door came open and Special Agent Rush strode in. He was followed by two uniformed officers, and there was no way to miss the handcuffs in his hands. The metal glinted in the stark light of the room.

“Jared John Ferguson,” Rush began. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Lena Klein. You have the right to remain silent.”