She walked away, the sway of her hips calling to him.
He stepped inside, grabbed the Scotch and two glasses, and then walked back out. He heard the shower turn on and settled down into one of the Adirondack chairs that sat on his big porch. He looked out into the trees that surrounded his house. “You can come out now. We’re alone. Did you enjoy the wedding?”
“It was beautiful. I wish I could have come to the reception.” Tennessee Smith came out of the woods like a wraith melting away from the camouflage and finding his form. He was dressed in black with a ball cap on his head and a backpack over one shoulder. And his face had exploded.
“Dude, you look homeless, and what’s all that shit on your face?”
Ten stopped and stared for a moment. “You know, I’m gone for months in a hostile place with everyone in the Agency looking to drag my ass in and your first words are about my beard?”
“Is that what that’s supposed to be? Because it looks like a fucking poodle died on your face.” He poured the man a Scotch because he really looked like he’d been through hell.
Ten shook his head and then laughed. “Fuck you, Tag.” He dropped the backpack and then stepped up, taking the glass Ian offered. “Damn but it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too. You could have written. Maybe a call letting us know you’re all right.”
Ten shook his head and settled into the other chair. “Too dangerous. It’s why I forced Hutch to come home. I was in Saudi and then Iraq.”
“And now you’re home.”
“I am. Has there been any blowback from killing al Fareed?”
Tag shook his head. “No. The asshole you questioned couldn’t remember a thing and the whole incident was written up as a street crime. Albertson was fired from the senator’s team. What the hell did you do to cover up the op at al Fareed’s compound?”
“I talked to his brother,” Ten said. “Ibrahim al Fareed is as far from Hani as a person can get. He’s why Hutch and I didn’t get caught. He’d been suspicious of his brother for a long time. He was happy to cover it up. He doesn’t want the stain on the family name. He’s an ally.”
It was good Ten had found someone to help him. And definitely good to know the senator wasn’t coming after them anytime soon. It had been a peaceful couple of months. Tag was ready to kick a little ass. “Tell me you’re here for a reason, brother.”
Ten nodded, his mouth a grim line. “I’ve found it. I’ve found a way to get to Hank McDonald.”
The man who had used his influence to burn Ten. The man who had sold Jamie Grant out. McDonald was the reason Jesse’s unit had been murdered and he’d been tortured for months on end. Yeah, he wanted a piece of that. That pie was going to be filled with all kinds of revengey goodness. “Tell me.”
“According to my intel, he keeps all his records and files on a private system offshore. The bastard owns a compound in the Grand Caymans, and my sources say that’s where all the evidence will be.”
Ian was fairly certain he didn’t want to know how Ten had gotten that information. Ten looked older and infinitely harder, as though the last few months had taken all the party boy out of him and left nothing but the predator. “All right. How do you get on the island?”
Ten’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “He has a daughter. Once a year he throws her a no-holds-barred party there. I’m going to get an invitation to that party.”
“Nice. How are you going to do that?” His brain was already working. They would need to plant a few operatives in that house, maybe around the island, too. He wasn’t going to allow Ten to go in alone.
“By seducing her and becoming her boyfriend. There’s one problem with that.”
Tag saw the obvious problem. “Yes, that shit on your face. Unless she’s into Grizzly Adams, you’re going to shave.”
Ten’s green eyes rolled. “Not that, asshole. She’s in the lifestyle.”
Now it was Ian’s turn to grin. Oh, this was going to be so much fun. He slapped Ten on the shoulder. “Then it’s time to Dom you up, buddy. And I know just the place to do it.”
But the man had to shave. After all, Sanctum had its standards.
Tennessee Smith and the rest of the McKay-Taggart crew will return in Master No coming August 4th, 2015.
AUTHOR’S
NOTE
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