Kissing Sin (17 page)

I nodded, warmed by his caring more than I wanted to admit, and forced myself to meet Jack’s less-than-happy gaze again. “How many attacked you?”

“Five.” His face was grim. “Looks like they were intent on getting you and the shifter back.”

“Or getting rid of us,” Kade said, as he came through the doorway carrying another laser pistol. “These things are set to kill, not stun.”

“Goddamn it.” Jack grabbed the gun from Kade, and examined it. “Are these the weapons you were talking about?”

“Afraid so.” Kade’s gaze raked my length and came to rest on my lips. He smiled. “Want me to kiss that bruise better?”

“Rhoan tells me kissing is off-limits for now.”

“That’s unfortunate. But I’m willing to compromise and kiss other places.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly, “but I think now is not the right time to be discussing compromises.”

“Hey, I’m versatile—”

“Enough.” Jack’s voice was curt. “Grab your things, people. We’re getting out of here while we can.”

“And going where? Obviously the mole in the Directorate is someone close to the director if they know we’re here.” Rhoan came out of the kitchen and handed me an ice pack. “Either that, or Riley and Kade have trackers in them.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You didn’t check?”

“We ran a scanner over you both,” Jack said, “but maybe they’ve developed something the scanners can’t pick up.” His expression became even grimmer. “Rhoan, you recheck Riley. Kade, let’s look you over.”

Rhoan motioned me to one of the bedrooms. I followed him in, and closed the door. Everyone in this apartment might have seen me naked at one stage or another, but I wasn’t about to flaunt it at this particular moment.

“So,” he said, “tell me about this meeting Jack is unhappy about.”

I did as he began to check me for bugs.

“The Blue Moon is safe, no matter what Jack thinks. It’s Misha you’ll have to watch. Don’t trust him, no matter what.”

“I won’t.” I hesitated. “Why does the mole at the Directorate have to be someone close to the director?”

“Because she’s the only one who knew our whereabouts.”

“Which would suggest the Director herself.” Only, she wasn’t likely to betray her own brother, or the organization she’d started and run for more years than I’d been alive.

“It’s not her. But it could be someone who has access to her office and maybe overheard a conversation.”

“What about Gautier?” Even saying his name had a shiver running through me. Gautier might be the Directorate’s top guardian, but he was a creep, a murderer, and, I suspected, a psychopath on the edge.

“He’s not close to the director.”

“But I’m betting he’s reporting to someone that is.”

“It wouldn’t make a difference. Whoever the mole is, they’ve obviously been with the Directorate a long time. It’s someone very canny, someone we wouldn’t ever suspect.”

“So make a list of people you’d never normally suspect, and start watching them.”

“Hard to do when we don’t actually know who we can and can’t trust.”

True. “Couldn’t we just watch who Gautier talks to?”

“Gautier’s clever enough to realize we’re doing that.” Rhoan glanced at me. “Besides, he’s on assignment up north at the moment. Has been for the last month. He’s not involved in this little episode.”

At least that explained why I hadn’t seen him around. I thought I’d just been damn lucky. “What about Alan Brown?”

“As shifty as hell, and definitely involved in something, but again, I’m not sure he’s in on this.”

“But he fast-tracked Gautier’s entry into the Directorate, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but we’ve a feeling he was forced into that. Brown’s being blackmailed.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Someone knows about his appetite for whores?”

“His appetite for gambling, more likely.” Rhoan sat back with a grunt. “Can’t find anything resembling a bug.”

Good. At least I wasn’t responsible for bringing problems home to threaten him and the others. “If you know he’s being blackmailed, then surely you’d be able to trace the source.”

He rose, grimacing. “I wish it were that easy.”

“Paper trail?”

“No trail.”

“How come?”

“Brown’s as cagey as a fox. We’re certain he’s giving someone information, but we can’t uncover who or what.”

“You’ve put him under surveillance, then?”

He gave me the look. “Hell, no. We just thought it was easier to let him wander around as he pleases.”

I whacked his arm. “Don’t get smart.”

“Then don’t ask dumb questions.”

I grabbed my clothes off the floor and re-dressed. “What about the whores he uses?”

“You’ve seen the disks in his office. If he’s using the whores to pass information, there’s only one way he could be doing it, because he certainly doesn’t talk to them.”

“He’s a vamp, so he’s telepathic. Maybe he’s figured out a way around the psi-deadeners.” Hell, if Jack could get past them, surely other vamps could. Though Brown didn’t seem to be anywhere near the same league as Jack.

“We’ve checked the whores. Their minds haven’t been touched.”

“Then he
has
to be passing something during sex.” Though given what I’d seen on those videos, the only thing Brown had seemed interested in passing was his own dead sperm.

“We’ve had our own cameras installed. We don’t believe that is happening.”

“Then how is he getting information in or out? And if you don’t think he’s involved in my snatching, does that mean he might not have been involved with Genoveve?”

“Possibly. Many of those files Brown inherited from the former assistant director.”

“And he is?”

“Very dead.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Accident?”

“Probably not.”

I slipped on my shoes. Rhoan started for the door, but I placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. Lowering my voice, I asked, “I know you said you weren’t going to steal Kade’s file for me, but did you happen to search the database when you were in there today?”

“Yes. There’s nothing to be found.”

“Nothing you can get hold of, anyway.”

“Yes.” He looked at me. “What are you plotting?”

“Me?” I gave him my most innocent look. He didn’t seem to be buying it. I smiled and added, “Look, don’t you find it strange that he’s here? You and I both know that Jack would normally have shipped him off so fast his head would spin.”

“True enough.” He continued to study me with that patient you’re-about-to-get-me-into-trouble expression. “But that doesn’t solve the problem that I can’t get into locked files.”

“No.” I hesitated. “But I can.”

“Oh, can you, now?” He eyed me with amusement. “I’m betting Jack doesn’t know about that little gem.”

“Er…no.” As a liaison and his personal assistant, I did have some access that Rhoan didn’t. But I’d also picked up some other access codes in recent months, thanks to time spent watching him key them in from the safety of my desk. It was amazing just how easily you could work out keystrokes if you took the time. “You really don’t want to know any more. Do you?”

“No.” He stood. “So what are you planning my part in this little snoop operation to be?”

“All you have to do is get me his com-unit.”

He snorted. “Yeah. Like that’s going to be so easy.”

“It could be. After all, we’re about to depart in haste. It’d be easy enough to grab equipment and just slide the com-unit my way.”

He gave the sort of sigh that spoke of long-suffering patience. “I’ll try.”

I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

He grinned and opened the door. “Anything to keep my twin happy.”

“Anything to keep the peace, you mean.”

“That, too.”

Two of the three men in the main room swung around as we entered. Quinn was a shadow in the corner, but one whose presence I could feel through every pore.

“We’re going to split into three groups,” Jack said. “Rhoan, I want you to head into the Directorate and start writing up reports. Make sure they’re encrypted and sent to Director Hunter only. Tomorrow morning, pick up some trackers and bugs, then head on over to the Blue Moon and do a thorough check of the club and its patrons. Riley’s not going near the place until we know it’s safe. Quinn, as we dare not risk any of the cars we have here, I want you and Riley to beg, borrow, or steal a vehicle, and drive around until we contact you to come in.”

“And what will you and Kade be doing?” Quinn asked the question that was sitting on my lips.

“We’ll be paying a little visit to the company who manufactures these devices.” He held up the plastic-wrapped laser.

Rhoan and I shared a glance. If Kade was involved in something like that, he was definitely more than just a builder.

Jack tossed me a phone. “Don’t go anywhere near that club until we call you.”

“Just make sure you call me before three tomorrow. I doubt Misha will take kindly to being kept waiting.”

“And yet he
will
wait. Remember, he’s probably got as much to gain from all this as us. Let’s move it, Kade.” He headed for the door, but threw over his shoulder, “Rhoan, call in a cleanup team and ensure all Directorate goods are out of here before you leave.”

My gaze shot across to my brother and I couldn’t help my grin. Sometimes, things
did
fall into place.

He just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he said, “Quinn, do you want to head downstairs and find yourself a car? I’ll meet you out front with Riley.”

He waited until Quinn had left, then picked up the com-unit and walked over to hand it to me. “You do know he’s going to check that all items were picked up from this place. Which means he’ll realize soon enough this com-unit is missing.”

“By which time, I’ll have returned it.” I kissed my brother’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I won’t drag you into this one.”

“How often have I heard that?” His voice was dry, and I grinned. We both knew the answer to that particular question was “more often than necessary.” He touched my elbow lightly and motioned toward the bedroom I’d woken in. “Let’s go grab a bag of clothes for you.”

I walked into the room and dropped the unit on the end of the bed then headed for the wardrobe. “I just hope the passwords I know will get me deep enough into the system to uncover who the hell Kade is.”

“If you haven’t got full codes, it might be better
not
to tackle the Directorate’s data, but rather, go for outside sources. As his assistant, you have clearances into most Government systems.”

Now
there
was a thought. And it was less likely to get me in deep shit with Jack. “Uncover what he isn’t, you mean?”

He nodded, and walked across the cut-open window. His short red hair barely stirred in the cool breeze as he stared out into the night. Given his expression—or rather, the chilled lack of it—those creatures wouldn’t want to attack a second time.

“If Kade
is
a builder, there’ll be trade certificates, business registrations, stuff like that. And you should be able to find other pointers, like birth certificates and school reports, to confirm he is who he says he is.”

“And if he isn’t who he says he is, I’ll beat the damn information out of him.” Hey, I had to take my frustrations over fate and the shit she was shoveling my way out on someone.

Rhoan’s sudden smile lifted the coldness from his eyes. “Or you could tease him, then withhold sexual privileges. That’ll get the information out of him right quick.”

I smiled. “Ah, but that’ll be punishing myself, as well.”

“There’s plenty of wolves out there who’d be more than willing to cure
that
particular affliction.”

“Not to mention a particular vampire who’d be more than willing,” I muttered without thinking.

“Is that why he’s still here?” Rhoan asked. “Because he’s finally realized he let a good thing go?”

I snorted. “It’s not the only reason, no. I’m
never
the only reason he’s down in Melbourne.”

My voice held an edge, and he frowned at me. “I thought we’d sorted all this out?”

I blew out a breath. I really should learn to shut my mouth. “We did. But I sort of offered him a compromise.”

He shook his head. “That’s not wise.”

I shoved the com-unit in the bag and cushioned it with more clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes. “I know, I know. But if he
could
learn to deal with me having other partners, then I can’t see the harm in it.”

“The harm in it is that he won’t ever change, no matter what he says.”

Maybe. And maybe he deserved the chance to prove otherwise. “It’s all a moot point until he says yea or nay to the compromise, anyway.”

“So when did you make this deal?”

“Up on Macedon.”

“And why were you up on Macedon?”

Oh God, I hadn’t told him yet. I took a deep breath, and slowly released it.