by Lexi Blake
Tucker sighed. “It’s called The Collective. Kronberg was a part of it.”
“We’re pretty sure Big Tag neutralized them the last time they tangled,” Ezra continued. “He took out the head and we’re hoping it takes them years to reorganize.”
“Are you telling me The Collective was real?” She tried to make sure her jaw didn’t drop.
“Yes, and I think Levi likely had some connections to them,” Solo explained. “It wouldn’t be the first time an Agency employee worked for The Collective. He could have done double duty, reporting back to both the Agency and his corporate bosses. If your sister was getting close to The Collective or what was really going on at Kronberg, they might have sent him in to keep an eye on her.”
Now she was the one whose stomach threatened to revolt. Tucker squeezed her hand again. “Baby, you couldn’t have known, and if she’d told me the same thing, I would have thought she was crazy, too.”
How much had she missed? And how much had she been played on all sides? “We’ve already established that I was likely hired because my sister was investigating Kronberg. They were going to use me as leverage against her. But they never threatened her. Not that she mentioned. If you’re looking for her old notes, I don’t have them. Mom and I went through her things, but we couldn’t find anything of value. Her apartment was burglarized two days after she died. Naturally the police don’t have suspects.”
“So we can assume Kronberg did it,” Solo said. “They would have gone in and cleared anything that might have implicated them. I’ve tried to get Levi’s records from the Agency but what they sent told me nothing. He was definitely in Europe around that time. I don’t know what he was working on. I know he was meeting with key assets during that time frame, but the names are redacted. Dating Katie could possibly have been his way of hiding the fact that she was an asset.”
“Also, we can’t believe a word that comes out of Levi’s mouth.” Ezra sat back. “He lies like the rest of us breathe.”
“He’ll tell the truth if it buys him something,” Solo insisted, but the words were flat as though the speaker knew she wouldn’t be heard. “In this case finding that intel buys him a lot.”
“And if what it buys him means the truth never getting out?” Tucker asked.
She hadn’t thought about how that would affect him. He’d been tortured for years and his pain might be weighed against governmental secrecy and corporate profits.
There was a knock on the door.
Solo pushed her chair back and stared at Tucker, her expression completely open. “I don’t know that letting this particular secret out does anything but hurt the country. I don’t know that it was ever going to be allowed out in the open. But I promise you’ll be free. I might not be able to give you the justice you deserve, but I can give you your freedom.”
Somehow she didn’t think Solo was merely talking to Tucker.
She turned and walked out.
Tucker leaned over. “Are you okay?”
Her heart ached for him. They’d had such a good start to the day, but reality was already infringing. She let her head rest against his. “I’m fine. It was a shock to see him again. I hadn’t thought about Lewis in years. He disappeared after Katie died. I’m more worried about you. They want you to remember what happened, but it made you sick.”
“Did I thank you for taking care of me?” His hand found her hair and he stroked her. “I’m usually the one playing doctor.”
“You’re not playing, babe. You are a doctor, and an incredible one at that,” she replied. Sometimes she forgot how much he didn’t know about himself. It wasn’t natural and she needed to remind him. “You’re smart and you know a lot about the workings of the human brain.”
“I don’t think neuro was what I wanted to do.” He kissed her forehead and sat back up.
Now that she knew this side of the man, she was fairly certain he’d been honest with her that day in Paris. “You didn’t. You wanted to be a GP like your grandfather. You told me you wanted to go back to the States and find a small town and be a general practitioner like he’d been.”
He was still for a moment and he let go of her hand. He took a deep breath and stood. “I’m going to grab some water.”
She looked back at Ezra. “Did I say something wrong?”
“I think he’s trying to avoid getting sick again,” Ezra replied. “You gave him a big dose of information and he wants so badly to chase it down in his head. I would bet he got a flash of something. It’s okay. He knows how to handle it. Trust me. This is not his first time. But it’s worse today because Levi’s here. He can seem perfectly reasonable, you know. Levi, that is. When he wants to, he can be very convincing. That’s why he’s good at his job and he got away with it for years. He’s going to keep getting away with it if Solo has her way.”
“What are our other options?” She wanted what Solo was offering. Solo offered her a way to get out of this tangle and get back some normalcy. She wanted it badly, but maybe she should ask some questions.
Ezra huffed out a laugh and ran a hand over his hair. “Our other options are running like hell, getting every single person we love into legal trouble, and probably getting shot at the end. I know she’s offering us the best possible way out. The trouble is I don’t trust that she can make it work. Solo…she means well, but things go wrong. She trusts the wrong people.”
“Like the president?” It was hard to believe, but according to Tucker, Solo worked with the president and his closest allies. Apparently she’d missed meeting one of the mysterious Perfect Gentlemen who surrounded the president.
“I think Hayes will back her up as long as he can, but he’s a politician. He’ll do what he has to do. Solo is being Solo. She’s tilting at windmills, trying to be the hero, and I worry it won’t end well. But I don’t have another play, and being stubborn hasn’t worked for me so far. I’m going along with it because there’s nothing else to do.”
“She’s doing it for you, too.” Tucker returned, a glass of water in his hand. “She’s trying to get your job back.”
“I don’t want my job.” Ezra sounded wildly stubborn again. “Why would I walk back into a nest of snakes that bit the hell out of me already?”
“Even if you don’t, if the Agency restores your good status, you’ll have options you don’t right now,” Tucker argued. “You’ll be able to work in the open. By the way, when you hire on at MT, negotiate with Charlotte. Big Tag tries to pay in French fries. It almost worked on this guy named Boomer.”
Ezra smiled, an expression that made him look years younger. “I’ll remember that, but I don’t think I’ll go that route either. I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“She’s trying to give you options,” Tucker said.
“She’s trying to assuage her conscience.” Ezra shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know what she’s trying to do anymore. I don’t know what I’m doing either. I’m not this man. I can’t think around Kim. Never have been able to. She’s a force of nature. When she’s around, it’s like the rest of the world falls away. But then I remind myself it’s hard to see anything through hurricane winds. When it goes bad, Tucker, I need you to come with me.”
“If it goes bad, you know what I value,” Tucker said with a solemn air.
Ezra nodded. “We all do.” He seemed to shake something off. “I’ll try to set up a call to New York tonight. It’s going to have to be later.”
She would get to see Vi. The thought brought tears to her eyes. “I’ll look forward to it. And I’ll try to remember anything I can about Lewis’s relationship with Katie. My mom might know something more. I’ll ask her about it tonight.”
She glanced back at Tucker and he’d gone stock-still. “What is it? Are you okay?”
He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Well, hello, Veronica,” an oddly familiar voice said. The German accent was soft as though the harsh edges had been rounded out by speaking all those other languages he spoke. �
��I didn’t think I would see you again. And Steven. I certainly didn’t think to see you since you were supposed to be dead. It seems Dr. McDonald stole much from you both.”
A chill snaked along her spine and she turned. Arthur Dwyer stood there in his tweed jacket and pressed slacks. He looked like the young academic he was, well-groomed and confident. He’d been one of the many doctors who wouldn’t give her the time of day at Kronberg unless it was to treat her like an underling.
He’d lied to Rebecca and Ariel. She’d thought the man barely noticed she was alive, but that wasn’t true. He’d been watching them all those years ago. He’d known exactly where they’d been.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Tucker asked the question before she could.
“You weren’t informed?” Arthur asked. “Perhaps that’s why Ms. Solomon is arguing with the intelligence officers. They’re getting quite heated.”
Ezra stood. “I think I’d like a word, too.”
If Arthur was intimidated by all the eyes on him, he didn’t show it. He merely looked around the room before settling on Roni. “I came because I made a terrible mistake before. I didn’t understand what was going on. I should have known what Dr. McDonald was doing and intervened. I didn’t realize Steven was playing such a dangerous game and you were caught up in it.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and knew exactly who was laying a possessive claim on her. The day had been brutal on him. She hadn’t missed the fact that Levi Green had alluded to someone helping him trick her sister. It wouldn’t have been Tucker. She had faith in him. He needed to know that. She reached up and put her hand over his. “No need for intervention. We’re fine. And yes, Dr. McDonald stole years from us.”
“But we’ll move on and have many more together,” Tucker said resolutely.
It was good to have a man who wanted her. Not for a second since he’d woken up had he made her question if he wanted her. His adoration was a balm for the years he’d been gone. “Many more.”
Arthur stared at them for a moment as though trying to figure out how to handle them. “Well, it seems we were wrong about you, Steven. I was told you didn’t remember your past and that was why we were needed.”
“My name is Tucker and you’re not needed at all,” Tucker said. “I’d like to know why you’re here. Unless you’re going to tell me you’re German intelligence.”
Arthur shook his head and took a seat opposite Roni. “Not at all, though I am working with them. I am exactly what I’ve been for years, a doctor specializing in neurology, but I recently moved into a new role at Kronberg. It has come to the attention of the board of directors that Dr. McDonald continued her experiments after the board kicked her out. I’m ashamed to say my predecessor attempted to cover it all up, though I understand the impulse. When we realized we still had a problem, we immediately informed our intelligence agency.”
“So when we broke in and grabbed all the files you’ve been hiding for years, you decided to come after your victims,” Tucker said, his voice colder than she’d ever heard it.
She wasn’t sure that Tucker should be admitting to breaking into Kronberg. “He’s not being literal. When someone broke in. That’s what he means.”
Arthur chuckled. “Oh, he’s being perfectly serious. Breaking into his old employer’s building is a minor crime compared to what McDonald forced him to do. But you should know that Kronberg will not prosecute in any way. We’re willing to ignore what happened if you help us find out who aided McDonald. We mean to clean house. If anyone on the board or still employed knew what McDonald was doing in our labs, we will deal with the problem.”
“Of course you will,” she said demurely because arguing with him would do nothing.
There was the sound of hurried footsteps and then Ariel and Robert were striding in the room.
“Tucker, are you all right?” Robert walked right up to Tucker and pulled him into a fierce bear hug, complete with masculine back pounding. “God, man, I was so fucking scared for you.”
“I’m fine,” Tucker said. “How is Jax? And River?”
Robert took a step back. “She’s okay. She lost it that first night. Buster did too. I swear that dog howled the whole time she was crying. But she got to see Jax today. She said he looked good but complained about the food. She’s being positive. She’s hoping this is over soon and they can go home.”
“She misses Bliss,” Tucker said with a wisp of a smile.
“We miss you.” Ariel moved in, wrapping her arms around Tucker, too.
He’d built a family from the ashes of his life. He hadn’t been completely alone, and she was so grateful for that. He’d found brothers.
Who was he? Not deep down. She knew his soul, but who was waiting for him out there in the world? What had he been doing at Kronberg? She’d been so worried about whether or not he’d been lying to her all those years ago that she hadn’t considered he would have a family on the other side of this. Did Violet have another grandmother waiting out there? Did she have other siblings? He was young but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have had a wife and kids.
“Are you all right?” Arthur was staring at her. “It doesn’t seem you’re part of that happy reunion.”
Ariel was asking about Tucker’s health and Robert had a hand on his shoulder as if he was worried about letting him go. Tucker was smiling again, looking open and happy with his friends.
“I’ve spent plenty of time with him over the last few days,” she replied with a breezy smile she didn’t quite feel. She didn’t think he had a wife. At least not one he’d been married to at the time. He wouldn’t have slept with her if he had. He wasn’t that kind of man. Still, there could be an ex and they could have had kids together. He could have a family waiting for him. If he got his memory back, how would it work? “Hiding out from the bad guys is a great way to cement your relationship.”
A single brow rose over his eyes. “Bad guys? I certainly don’t see myself that way. I’m a practical man. It does no one any good if McDonald’s research gets out. It would cause someone to take it up again. And it would make your boyfriend there famous. I don’t know that he wants that.”
“It also saves the company you work for from any number of lawsuits,” she pointed out. “No one with any reputation would want their names associated with Kronberg. You wouldn’t be able to recruit at all. You might end up having to hire more doctors of my caliber.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Arthur asked.
“I didn’t have the grades for that position and you know it. You knew it then. It was why you were such a prick to me.”
Arthur shrugged. “Perhaps I’m just a prick to everyone.”
She’d watched him too carefully to buy that. “You were quite polite to those you thought were worthy. Some might even say you were good at kissing ass. Why did Kronberg hire me?”
“I assume they hired you because they thought you would be a good fit. I wasn’t in charge of that. Dr. McDonald asked for you specifically. I was surprised she wanted such an inexperienced nothing of an intern, but that wasn’t my place.”
Ah, there he was. She’d been waiting for him to show up again. “You weren’t at the airport that day. I’m talking about the day Steven and I went to France. You were in the lab. So why would you tell Rebecca and Ariel that you saw us there? That’s what you told them a few weeks ago when they interviewed you.”
His face went blank and then a bland expression came over him. “Memory is a funny thing. It’s certainly not foolproof. Sometimes memories lie to us and then we find ourselves lying to everyone else. I wonder how your boyfriend has lied to you. Do you think committing a crime shouldn’t count if you don’t remember you committed it?”
Arthur stood and smoothed down his blazer as Solo and Ezra entered followed by the man she’d seen that night at The Garden, the one Tucker had identified as the new head of MI6. There was another man with him and he’d been there that night as well. He’d been standing with Arthur. Germa
n intelligence. They’d sent the big guns. Solo explained she would show everyone to the rooms they would be using for their stay here.
Still, she had an answer for Arthur. “He was forced to commit those robberies. He was under the influence of powerful drugs. He didn’t know another life. So no, even if he remembers them, they don’t count.”
Arthur’s eyes flared with something akin to victory and she knew she’d made a mistake. “Ah, but what about the crimes he committed before he ever took a drop of McDonald’s drugs? What happens when he remembers why they called him Razor? And what happens when his victims were closer than he’d ever imagined? Think about that, Veronica. While you sleep beside him tonight, think about all the things he could have done. Because you don’t know him.”
He turned and followed Solo out. Roni tried to quell the fear his words had stoked.
It was irrational fear because she knew him. She knew Tucker for who he was deep inside and that was all that mattered.
Chapter Eleven
Tucker stared at the man in the cage. It was a small cell that contained only a cot. It wasn’t meant to function as an actual jail cell, though Ezra claimed it would work for their purposes.
It was nothing like the stark white rooms he’d been kept in. His cell had been technologically advanced down to the toilet that could also give McDonald medical data. The walls had been thick glass. There had been no privacy, nowhere to hide. She could plunge them into complete darkness or blind them with light.
He’d always preferred the darkness. He could pretend in the darkness, pretend he wasn’t where he was. In that bald, raw light, there was nowhere to hide.
