Page 13 of Dangerous Lies

Xavier sighed. “I think she'll have dipped to another country before we cangetthere. Let her do what she is trying to accomplish. Casanova, Grim, and Lucas, you guys take the house next door. I'm going to fly to DC and meet with a few of my contacts. Carter is getting help from someone and we need to figure out who.”

Grim walked over to Rose and held out her hand. “Thank you for the information. Iknowall of this can seem a little intimidating, but if you need to talk, I'll be across the street. If you need me to kick his ass, I'll do that as well.”

Rose’s face lit up. “I'm pretty sure I can handle Ginger.”

Casanova followed Grim but stopped when he was next to Ginger. “Iknowyou've had issues with fitting in with the team, but remember we always have your back. Even if you don't think you deserveitfor lying to us—the shit in our past doesn’t matter. When Carter had you the team searched for you. Not one day passed did we forget about you. Even Penelope, the woman in the ocean you helped escape from Carter, pushed for us to find you. She really wants to speak to you soon.”

The night in the ocean flashed back. He’d just found out Brittany was alive and he wanted to clear his mind. He swam out into the ocean and found a woman drowning. When he tried to save her Carter shot him with a tranquilizer and lifted him into the boat. Penelope was a decoy, sent to lure him to his capture. Carter’s plan was for him to hear the woman in despair, and he would attempt to save her, except he was already out in the ocean and made Carter’s job even easier.

His teammate Scar had told him he liked Penelope and she was staying with him while they searched for Carter. She’d been a pawn in Carter’s chess game and Scar worried Carter would try to kidnap her a second time.

Brittany had told him Carter was after Rose, but she had no intel and he wasn’t ready to meet with Penelope. For the past few weeks, while he’d recovered, his teammates had tried to reach out to him, but he stillfeltlike a failure, not good enough even to be called one of their teammates. He didn'tknowwhere his military career would end up.

He didn't want to talk about Penelope. She was a decoy Carter had used, and he hadn't seen his enemy coming untilitwas too late. Ginger had taken a dart to his neck.

“I'll call her soon,” he said. “Tell the rest of the team I'm fine.”

Casanova rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “That's the thing, Ginger. They want to talk to you. When you're ready, give them a call...but if you wait too long, I won't be the only one here, and Commander will have your ass for causing his team to go rogue.”

“I'll give the team a call later.” He'd already delayed the call long enough.

Lucas hurried out behind Casanova and Grim as they strode out of the house. Xavier had his cell phone pressed to his ear as he left.

“You can go with them,” Rose told Ginger. “They are staying in the house across the street. If anything happens, I'll call.'“

“If Carter and his men attack,therewon't be time to make a call,” he said.

She threw her hands up in the air. “You’re just like my sister and think I can't protect myself.”

He took two giant steps and was across the kitchen. Her eyes widened as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and twisted her arm to her back. She whimpered as she dropped to one knee.

“Look how easily I got to you,” he said.

Rose squirmed in his hold, pushing upright, and brought her foot down on the inside of his. She didn't stop pulling at his grip. When he didn't release her, she kicked her leg back, but he captureditbetween his thighs. Hecouldtake her to the ground and pin her down. Instead, he dropped his hold, and she scurried away. He missed her next to him.

She glared. “I wasn't ready.”

He stepped forward. “That's the point. Carter and the thugs he hires aren't going to wait for you to be ready. Iknowyour sister has talked about how bad Carter is. Take what you imagine and multiplyitby ten. Carter is the scum of the earth and only uses people to further his agenda. He also is playing some type of game, and we all are his chess pieces.”

“I think you all give him too much credit. Not to mention the years my sister has spent chasing after him to find her husband. What is she going to do when she realizes he's dead?”

“Carter is a sick bastard. He probably gets a kick out of the fact your sister works for him and that she thinks her husband is alive,” he said. “If I had to guess, thereis a good chance he is still alive.”

Rose eyed him. “All this spy shit is confusing. At least with my job, you clean up and that'sitfor the day.”

“Except for the bugs you collect,” he said as a shiver slid down his spine. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that this woman kept live insects.

“Bugs tell you a lot of information. The crime scene guys collect them and use them.”

She was so sexy when she spoke about bugs. Her whole face lit up, and her deep blue eyes sparkled.

“Never thought hearing someone talk about bugs would be a turn-on,” he said. “Would you slap me if I kissed you? Iknowthat is the last thing I should do, but you’re like a blue light, and all I want is to be near you.”

She blinked a couple of times before a smile spread across her face. “Did you just use a bug pickup line?”

He wasn't the smoothest whenitcame to dating. Hell, he hadn't dated since he’d thought Brittany had died years ago. Instead of going to bars to drown the sorrows of his dead fiancée, he’d put all his time into going after Carter. Six years later, he was still on the same mission, but he didn't care as much about the outcome for once.

“Does bug talk make you horny? I'm all for kinky sex, but I draw the line at bug play.”

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