Page 105 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

Ian was never going to forgive her when she was forced to stand between him and Diego. She was going to lose him, and the thought of that was destroying her from the inside out.

IAN COULDN'T DISPEL THE TENSION growing in his gut as Kira moved from the sitting room and into the bedroom. He pulled the secured cell phone from the clip on his belt and hit the speed dial to Macey's phone while he watched her. Watched her and wondered how the hell she could feel any compassion, any pity, for the bast

ard that had destroyed so many lives.

"Gotcha," Macey answered, his voice low. "Everything's secured. You?"

"Awaiting contact. Any additional info?" Reno and Clint had still been questioning Tehya when Ian and Kira left just before dawn.

"We have a few suspects based on the deaths of her guardians, locations, and sites where they first disappeared. I've managed to put together some profiles from the information she's given us. She really knew more than she thought she did after we started piecing everything together. I've narrowed it down to about half a dozen men and I'm running some profiles based on lineage, physical characteristics that she might share with him, and various other parameters. I gotta tell you though, if one of these dudes is our guy, then we were right all along. Social and political connections, old money, royal blood, and plenty to protect. He's not going to come in easy."

The battle to identify the terrorist had been ongoing for years. Quantico had come up with a profile two years before, but no suspects. It wasn't a relief to hear that the profilers had been right.

"Have you been able to trace the cell phone hers is programmed to?"

"Nada. Secured. No trace, no how. Maybe we'll get luckier once we put the call through this afternoon but I doubt he'll stay on long enough to get a trace," Macey answered.

"Who are our suspects?" Ian asked then.

His brows lifted at the three names Macey gave him. He hadn't been joking when he said this could turn into a mess. All three men could trace their roots back to French and English aristocracy. All three came from old money that totaled in the millions, perhaps more, and enjoyed worldwide respect. If one of them was Sorrell, then it was no damned wonder he had managed to evade them for so long.

"We've almost managed to tie all three men, in one way or the other, to Ascarti. There's even a bit of rumor that I managed to uncover that Ascarti is one of the men's bastard son. I'd almost bet my money on that," Macey finished.

Hell, it sounded like a good bet to him.

Ian checked his watch for the time. He sure as hell didn't want to give anyone time to trace his own call.

"Good going, Macey. I'll check back later." He disconnected the phone before inhaling roughly and glancing at the door where Kira had disappeared into the bedroom.

He moved to the doorway, an edge of remorse biting into him. He had come down hard on her and he knew it. His fury at the thought of Diego working her emotions, her loyalties, strained his control.

"We have suspects." He stopped and watched her, as she checked her weapon and placed extra ammo in the pockets of her jacket.

Her eyes narrowed at his statement. Moving her jacket aside she shoved the gun back into the holster and moved to her feet.

"Who are they?"

"Erick Randolph, Jordan Lorraine, Marco Alloran. All three men are connected to Ascarti as well."

Her brows lifted. "Old-money names," she murmured. "I've met all three. Jason and I have actually discussed one of those men. Lorraine. He's secretive, sometimes reclusive, and was investigated once regarding a plot uncovered to overthrow Jacques Chirac while he was in office, but they couldn't make it stick. Still, that's a long way from white slavery and terrorism."

"It's the best we have at the moment," he said. "The birthmark will tie it in, but it will sure as hell help to have an idea of what we're looking at here."

"You're looking at a man with a God complex." She shook her head before pushing her fingers through her hair and gathering it quickly into a long ponytail. "A paranoid man. A man who believes the world has been corrupted almost to the point of no repair and that women are chattel rather than deserving of their freedom. That fits all three men, but Lorraine most of all. He's an arrogant son of a bitch. He refused to deal with Jason's law firm on an account several years ago when Jason sent me to oversee some details. He had to send a man," she sneered. "Self-righteous prig."

He heard the anger in her voice. Sorrell had been behind the bombing that had killed her parents and Jason's fiancée. Because of one man, she had lost most of her family.

Like him, she had spent her life searching for a way to bring down one man. She knew the pain, the horror, of fear and the knowledge that monsters existed.

"Percentage of Lorraine's involvement versus the other two?" he asked.

She inhaled briefly as she checked the ponytail with a quick swipe of her hands and then lowered them to brace them on her hips. Her brow creased, and Ian was treated to the utter delight of watching the agent work. He could see her mind turning over percentages and possibilities, working to fit what she knew against each man.

"I doubt it's Randolph." She shook her head. "He's a hedonist, doesn't care a bit to show his nudity, and he's in pretty good shape for his age. I saw him on a beach in France one year, he doesn't have a birthmark unless he knows how to cover it up. And he was very hairy. Doing a cosmetic coverup would have been virtually impossible. Besides, Sorrell wouldn't be caught dead naked. That would be a private thing for him."

"You saw Randolph naked?" Something like jealousy clenched inside him. Possessiveness. He did not want her seeing other men naked.

"Several times." She shrugged as though it were of little consequence. "It was a nudist beach."

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