Page 46 of Master of Lies

I shook my head. “I get that. But why fuck with my head like you did? Does Ethan know you’re here?”

“There’s a lot that Ethan doesn’t know. And it goes both ways. He doesn’t tell me shit, because he has to be the big man who handles it all alone. He won’t let me contribute, or let me help with anything. So I’ve been investigating on my own.”

“Oh, shit.” I blew out a sharp breath. “So…the prison. You tracked me down.”

“Yes. I hacked your friends’ messaging system. Someone said something about putting someone in prison. So I searched mugshot databases, and I found you. James.”

I shook my head. This clusterfuck was compounding at a terrifying rate.

“Who put you in prison, Jed?” she demanded. “Who arranged to get you out?”

“I’m not telling you jack shit,” I said. “You’re the one who should explain yourself to me.”

“I did nothing wrong. I’m not the one who sold Shane out.”

I jerked the Jeep to a halt, shocked. “You think I sold Shane out?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been exploring every avenue of inquiry. I followed the money, and the money says you did. So does the forensic evidence. Then you vanished, and that didn’t look all that innocent, either.”

“The money and the evidence were manipulated, Sandee! I mean, Freya. And I went into fucking prison, undercover, to find info on Shane!” I had to stop, breathe, fight to control myself. “You really think I’m capable of fucking over my friend?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so. Ethan and Shane trusted you, and they’re no dummies. But I don’t know you, really. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men, and all that.”

I waited until I could control my voice, and started the car up again. “Why the whole seduction schtick?” I asked her. “What was all that about?”

Her face blushed faintly. “I had to establish a connection,” she said primly.

“You think I would spill sensitive intel to a bubblehead like Sandee?”

“Pillow talk. People get careless. And yes, it was thin, I admit it. But it was as good a plan as anything else I could come up with. And don’t badmouth Sandee. She’s a sweet girl, and she means well. And after all, Jed. You fucked her.”

I didn’t flinch. “She said she wanted it, and I took her at her word. You can’t blame me for that. Nobody told me she was a duplicitous, whoring spy.”

Freya shrugged. “Well, hell. People are just full of surprises.”

I bit back a sharp comment. She’d brushed up against death twice in the last twenty-four hours. I could handle a little snark. It wasn’t necessary to scold her.

The world would punish her plenty without my help. It already had.

Besides, I was still reeling from the news. I had spent the night boning the innocent kid sister of my comrades-at-arms, with a carnal intensity that would make the Masters brothers pound me into sausage meat if they ever knew. Holy God.

She was blessedly silent for a few minutes, but I knew it was too good to last.

“So, who is that guy?” she asked.

“What fucking business is it of yours?” I snarled.

“Well, he almost maimed and killed me. And he knew my name, and Holly’s name. That makes him my business. Does he have anything to do with Shane?”

I glanced over at her. “What do you think?”

She harrumphed. “I think you’re capable of mortally pissing people off on your own merits. But I doubt he’d have reason to know my name and Holly’s name if he didn’t have something to do with Shane. So tell me. Who is he?”

I gave in to the inevitable. “Wex Boer is his name.”

She glanced over at me, eyes widening. “Wait. I know that name. From the Ready Line massacre. Wex Boer’s outfit partnered with you and Shane, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I said. “Sometimes.”

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