You Only Love Twice (12 page)

She had a really sexy voice when she got all authoritative.
He’d never minded a woman being in charge. He totally blamed his grade school
teacher, Ms. Tucker. There had been so few children that she’d taught grades
one through five, and she’d been the first female authority figure he’d ever
had. She’d been sweet and kind, and she knew how to kick a little ass when
she’d needed to.

Malone and the rest of the men sat up straighter. “Look,
ma’am, all I know is the boss got on the phone earlier today and when he got
off he went into psycho mode. We didn’t even get a mission briefing. All we were
told was we had to extract an operative without loss of life. He showed us your
picture and gave Ace directions where to set the chopper down.”

“I damn near shit myself when I realized where we were,”
Boomer admitted.

“Dude, too much information,” Deke said with a shake of his
head.

Boomer merely shrugged. “Big Tag scares me. I know what our
Tags are capable of and I think that dude’s meaner.”

“No, he’s just older,” Case Taggart said as he walked in.

“I don’t know. I saw what he did to Ten with that stapler.”
Theo was right on his brother’s heels. They were twins, but Jesse could tell
them apart. Theo had a lightness that escaped Case.

“Which is why you should probably stay away from him,” Case
said with a pointed stare his brother’s way.

Theo sat down. “It’s just dinner. Our sister-in-law is very
persuasive.”

“Grace is not our sister-in-law,” Case argued. “Neither is
Charlotte.”

“She is and why are you so opposed to having more family?”
Theo shook his head. “We don’t have any as it is.”

“We’ve got each other and the team. That’s all we need.”
Case paced behind them as though he wasn’t about to get comfortable. Stubborn.
Yeah, he was a lot like Big Tag. “And while we’re on the subject, you should
stay away from that red-haired chick. Do you think I didn’t see that? You let
her get the jump on you.”

Theo turned a nice shade of pink. “I’m not used to fighting
girls.”

From what Jesse had seen, he wasn’t very good at it either.
Erin had gotten him and good. If Theo was interested in Erin, he might have a
touch of masochist inside. Of course, he wasn’t one to talk because just being
close to Phoebe was making his dick stir.

“Where is Tag?” He needed to get this thing moving. The
faster Tag showed up, the sooner he could leave and avoid making an idiot of
himself.

“He’s having to haul Ten in. Apparently there’s the issue of
someone’s balls swelling,” Jake Dean said as he sat.

The rest of the team walked in after Jake, some with cake
and punch, and some with ice packs on various parts of their bodies. Ten’s team
straggled in with them. Erin looked up, eyeing Theo Taggart like an annoying
pest she couldn’t get rid of. Yet she also couldn’t quite keep from watching.
Her eyes strayed to him constantly.

“Are you all right?” Phoebe turned in her chair.

He couldn’t look at her. “I’m fine.”

“You have a bruise on your jaw. Should you have some ice on
it? I could get you some.” She pushed her chair back. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t.” He practically growled the words her way. She was
so much easier to deal with when all she did was stammer and blush and seem to
follow orders.

“Jesse, you’re hurt,” she argued.

“And I’ll survive. I don’t want any help from you.”

“Well, that’s too bad because you’re going to get it,”
Phoebe shot back. “Don’t think for a second that just because I back off
getting you an ice pack means we’re not going to discuss the fact that someone
is trying to kill you.”

“That would be you.”

She sighed, a frustrated sound. “I told you I had zero idea
who that kill order was on before I got to the hotel.”

“You lined up your shot fast enough,” Simon pointed out.

“Look, just the fact that you casually say phrases like kill
order tells me everything I need to know.” He didn’t want to find her
attractive. He didn’t want to look at her. Hell, he didn’t want to think about
her because the minute he did, his heart rate ticked up and he lost his damn
mind.

“That’s pretty hypocritical of you.” She turned back in her
chair, staring straight ahead. “I was doing my job just like everyone in this
room has done their job. Actually, I didn’t do my job or you would be a chalk
outline in the middle of downtown Dallas.”

“I should thank you for that?” There was still that little
piece deep inside that wished she’d just done it. It would all be over and he
could move on to whatever the hell happened to dead men.

She frowned suddenly, turning to Simon. “Why were you there?
In the alley, I mean.”

“I made you a couple of months back. We’ve been following
you ever since,” Simon explained.

She flushed slightly. “It was the night The Collective came
after you, wasn’t it?”

He’d been scared for Phoebe that night, but now he knew he
should have just taken her with them. She’d likely have dropped a couple of
Collective operatives. “Yeah, Simon figured it out and then we found the tracer
on my Jeep.”

“Might I point out that you guys were about to be
horrifically murdered when we showed up?” Deke said.

Malone nodded. “Taggart was running late, cousin. If Phoebe
hadn’t set us on your trail, Chelsea would now be in Collective hands and you
and Murdoch there would be six feet under.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Phoebe held a hand up. “Yes, I did put
the trace on your Jeep. I’ve been filing a report on what happens in this
office once a week. I’ve kept in contact with Tennessee, but until today I had
not received any kind of orders beyond watching and reporting. Hello, Mr.
Taggart, Ten. You both look worse for the wear.”

Jesse looked up as Big Tag and Ten walked into the room.
Limped was more like it for Ten. The right side of his face was swollen and his
lower lip had cracked a bit. Big Tag managed to almost look like a man who
hadn’t had his balls abused by a pair of cowboy boots. He winced just a little
as he eased into his chair.

“Nothing’s broken,” he said. “Jesse, you okay?”

“I’m better than most.” His ribs still ached and he had a
spectacular headache, but he would live. “Can we get this over with? I’d like
to get home.”

“He’s planning on quitting.” Simon was like a little boy
tattling on his brother.

“No,” Phoebe protested.

“Who’s quitting?” McKay asked.

“It better be Phoebe,” Erin said under her breath. There was
only one chair left and it was beside Theo Taggart. He tried to hold it out for
her but she rolled her eyes. “I’ll stand, buddy.”

“I’m not your buddy,” Theo warned, his jaw hardening.

“No, you’re not, kid,” Erin agreed.

Theo stood, matching Erin’s aggressive stance. “I’m not a
kid either.”

“Oh, is the baby looking for a mommy?” Erin could be
obnoxious to say the least.

“I’ll show you what I’m looking for, sweetheart.” Theo took
a step her way.

“I’m too old for this shit,” Tag groaned. “Theo, dude, she
will tear your dick off.”

“The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess,” Theo tossed
back with a smirk on his face.

Tag stared at his brother. “Then your heart really needs to
have a long discussion with your dick because again—she will rip it off. It’s
why I hired her. Please, can we stuff the sexual tension down where it should
be? Like deep down. I don’t want to hear about anyone’s fucking feelings or
dark desires or childhood anxieties. Shove it down like a man and yes, I mean
you, Erin.”

She sat down with a sigh. “I’m not the one with a case of
the feels, boss. Your little brother has obviously never been around a girl
before.”

“I take it back,” Case said, smiling for the first time. “I
like her.”

Ten shoved a hand through his hair, a weary look in his
eyes. “My men better stand the fuck down. I might have broken a couple of ribs,
but I can still shoot you. Sit and behave. We have a problem.”

“A major problem. Turns out the kill order didn’t come from
Ten,” Taggart announced.

“What kill order?” Boomer asked. “Hot new boss lady said
something about it and then Murdoch looked all sad and shit. I still don’t get
why we’re here.”

Ten looked at Taggart. “He’s actually the single best sniper
in the country. All right, let’s go over some things. I sent Phoebe in when it
became apparent that Taggart was going to get involved with Jesse Murdoch, a
man who has been on several watchlists since he was rescued from a jihadist
prison.”

“Lots of people got taken,” Li said, sitting forward. “Most
of them are welcomed back. I know what happened with Murdoch was unusual, but
why wasn’t he given the benefit of the doubt?”

“Shortly before we found Murdoch we received intel that an
Iraqi psychologist was working with a jihadist group to try to turn American
soldiers and then release them back into the military,” Ten explained.

“From there they were supposed to become sleeper agents,
waiting for a time and place to strike,” Taggart continued. “Given what Jesse
said about his captivity, the government and the Agency came to believe Jesse
had been in that particular program.”

“Shit, that’s very
Manchurian Candidate
,” Simon
said under his breath.

“But if he’d really been turned, he likely wouldn’t have
mentioned the psychological torture.” Phoebe didn’t look his way, but he could
tell she was aggravated by the way her fingers drummed along her thigh. She
kept her hand under the desk as though she didn’t want anyone to know.

He wanted to reach out and still her hand, to give her some
comfort.

“Or he could tell us exactly what he told us because it
would throw us off the scent,” Ten argued. “You know as well as I do that the
best covers always contain a grain of truth.”

“He’s not a traitor. Do you even read the reports I submit?”
Phoebe sent Ten a stare that would freeze lava.

“It doesn’t matter now.” He could easily put an end to this
argument. “I quit. So you don’t have to worry about me tainting McKay-Taggart
anymore. I’m going back to Wyoming. I’ll keep a low profile and I won’t try to
lose whatever tails you feel necessary to set on me.”

“No.” Taggart took a sip of the ridiculously strong coffee
he liked.

“You can’t stop me.” He should have known his boss would
make things difficult.

“Yes, I can. And so can Ten. We’ve agreed to a few things.
Mostly we agreed to beat the shit out of each other again at the first
convenient time, but we also agreed that something is wrong here. Phoebe,
you’re the first person in a very long time to fool me.”

“I wasn’t trying to fool you, sir. I was trying to do my
job,” Phoebe pointed out.

“Nonetheless, you have my respect. Unfortunately, you also
have my distrust and bitterness, and don’t discount those. I have to say the
over-the-top scaredy cat shit threw me off. And the Harry Potter crap was a nice
touch. I don’t think there’s been a spy in the history of time who hid behind
Harry Potter bobble heads. Adam, call Guinness.”

“On it,” Adam replied with a grin.

Did anyone give a shit that he kind of had every right to
quit? He was about to say something to that effect when he saw Ten’s skin pale
and he turned to Phoebe.

“You brought them here?” Ten asked. “You brought the bobble
heads into this office?”

Phoebe looked down at the table. “I’ll talk to you about it
later.”

Taggart’s eyes went from one to the other, his brain
obviously working overtime. “All right then. Who has the number to her Agency
phone?”

“Just me. This wasn’t exactly a normal assignment. I’m given
a lot of leeway in how I run my department. Black ops within the Agency are
taken pretty damn seriously. I answer only to the head of the CIA. I recruit my
own men and I tend to run my own missions.”

“Yeah, into my fucking office. You’re paying for that
carpet. And for the chair Dean broke on Boomer’s head. That was a good chair.”

“Well, I wasn’t aware you’d turned the whole place into a
nursery, Tag. I kind of thought you ran a security agency. Now I can see you’re
all far too busy talking baby talk and drinking fucking tea.” Ten shook his
head like that was the worse thing a person could do.

“It was punch, boss. And it was really good. You see they
made it with sherbet…” Boomer stopped. “Is this one of those times when I
shouldn’t talk?”

“Yeah. Most of the time you shouldn’t talk, buddy.” Ten’s
eyes closed and he took a long breath. When he opened them again, he turned to
Taggart. “I’m sorry, Ian. She’s my sister. When you said she wouldn’t be a
problem anymore, I lost it.”

“And are you sorry for putting a spy on me in the first
place, asshole?” Tag asked.

“Nah, I had good reasons and I’m not apologizing until you
apologize for Chelsea. I’m not stupid. I know why she took the job. Now let’s
get down to business. I did not send that message,” Ten said.

Phoebe sat up straight. “Then who did? Is there any way it
could have been a drill?”

“I don’t know.” Ten nodded. “I’m going to look into it. So
everyone can stand down for now. This was all one huge mistake and I sincerely
apologize for bringing you into it. I’m going to figure this out and someone is
going to pay.”

“Yes. You will. I’m billing your ass,” Taggart said with a
long eye roll. “And we’re not friends anymore.”

“Like I said, I’m sorry about a lot of things.” Ten stood on
shaky feet. “My team, let’s get up to the chopper. Ace is waiting for us there.
I’ve got one more thing to say to Taggart, but I’d like to say that in private.
Go on. We’ll talk more about it back at base. We head back to DC in two weeks
and have an assignment the day after that. Get some rest and heal up. We’re
going to be on the move for a while.”

Ten’s men proved just how well trained they were by leaving
without another question.