Chapter Twenty
“You have tobe fucking kidding me.”Carson stared at Jax, completely flummoxed.It was almost impossible to believe anyone would have the balls to show up at the front gate of one of the most respected Special Ops teams in the world, spewing nonsense a third-grader could see through.Jax relayed the story to Carson as soon as Fallon excused herself to the restroom.
“I wanted to give you a heads-up before I talked to Fallon.No one is buying his story, but she has a right to know what’s happening downstairs.”
“What’s wrong?I heard Carson cursing and my name.”Carson turned his attention to the hall, surprised to see Fallon standing in the shadows.“The sedative might relax me, but it didn’t render me stupid.It wasn’t hard to figure out why Jax accompanied us upstairs—it was obvious he had something he wanted to tell you once I was out of the room.Just my damned luck he was facing the other way, and I only caught my name.”Jax chuckled and shrugged.
“I swear this damned club is a magnet for brilliant women.As inconvenient as it is at times, it’s also reassuring to know we’re all kept on our toes.”Fallon settled on one of the bar stools before returning her attention to Jax.
“Did Hagan do something stupid?”Jax frowned, and Fallon laughed.“Don’t look so surprised.It wasn’t much of a stretch.It’s his… damn, what do the cops call it?Oh, yes.It’s his M.O.He isn’t the brightest crayon in the box, Mr.McDonald.”
“Jax.Please call me, Jax, unless we’re in a club setting.”She nodded her understanding, the movement so exaggerated she almost fell off the stool.
“Come on, Cher.Let’s move to the sofa.If you’re going to tumble to the floor, I’d prefer you were much lower.”It only took Jax a couple of minutes to fill Fallon in on what was taking place downstairs.
“Jen?Beautiful, blonde, Jen?The woman whose legs go on forever?She’s interrogating Hagan?”When Jax and Carson both chuckled, Fallon grinned.“Please tell me you are videotaping it.She is going to chew him up one side and down the other before she spits him out.She’ll probably use big words—someone should be standing by to interpret for him.”
“I didn’t stick around for the interview but considering his ridiculous story about you stealing the puzzle from him.I’m looking forward to watching the video.Jen McCall is going to get into his head so quick he won’t have time to admire the skin she’s flashing.”Jax rolled his eyes and laughed out loud.“Sam and Sage are going to blow a gasket.They hate it when she’s the lead interrogator.She can paint a perp into a corner faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
Carson watched the exchange between Fallon and Jax, shocked she seemed amused rather than angry the man she’d dated accused her of stealing the last gift her father had given her.Her attitude spoke volumes and made him grateful for the level of trust Fallon had shown in their relationship.
“Sam and Sage are Jen’s husbands?”When Carson and Jax both nodded, Fallon continued, “Sorry, I’m usually good with names and faces, but this whole thing has me off my game.I’m tired of everyone yanking the damned rug out from under me.I knew Brody and I didn’t have a future together after the first date.This is what I get for not telling him to piss off when I should have.Who did you say was going to blow a gasket?Damn it, what did Silas give me?I’m a pharmacist, I should have asked.Holy hell, I’m always cautioning people against blindly taking meds without asking questions… and then—what did I do?The same damned thing.There isn’t a hypocrite of the week award, is there?I’d win that sucker hands down and probably never live it down.Is it getting darker in here?”
Carson pulled Fallon against his side as her eyelids dropped.Watching the slow rise and fall of her chest, Carson shook his head.“She lasted longer than I thought she would.”
“I don’t know what Silas gave her, but I’m glad her mind is resting.Damn, she was spinning dangerously close to the edge.”Carson agreed.It was obvious she’d been spinning and not in the way he and Silas preferred.“I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I’m going to say it, anyway.If you think she is the one you guys have been waiting for, you need to get her into your space as soon as possible.After tonight, it’s a safe bet her ex is going to be headed back to New York with his tail between his legs.Screw whatever social conventions or timelines you think might apply.”Carson appreciated Jax’s advice.It was unnecessary but appreciated.
“Let me get her settled.See if you can find a couple of beers among the top-shelf liquor and expensive wine the Wests keep stocked in the bar.”Returning a few minutes later, Carson grabbed the beer Jax thrust his way and led the way out to the deck.
“Her ex is a real piece of work.I used the remote link to look in on the interview.I have to tell you, I’m glad I’m not in the room—there’s not a chance in hell I could keep a straight face.Jen is playing him like a song.She’s amazing.I swear her neighbor in DC taught her well.”Carson remembered hearing Jen had been friends with an older woman who lived in her apartment building.The woman was a retired spook who’d taken Jen under her wing.Jen swore she’d learned more by accident from her neighbor than she’d gotten from four years at an ivy league university.
Jax took a long, slow drink from the bottle in his hand before leaning against the rail.“I swear Jen’s secret weapon is that no one sees her coming.They see the outside, and let’s face it, the woman is model gorgeous.She plays the part and blindsides women as well as men.”
“I haven’t worked with her, but from what I’ve seen, she’s never met a challenge she didn’t master.”
“True enough, but I have to tell you—the clothes she’s almost wearing are enough to scramble Brody’s brain.The video of this interview will be used for training until the end of time.”
*
One Hour Earlier
Kyle leaned backin his chair, watching the monitor in front of him as Hagan Brody stared with open-mouth wonder.The damned man’s head swiveled on his shoulders so far, Kyle wondered how it kept from popping off his shoulders.
“How did you convince him to wait?I’m surprised he didn’t insist on talking to one of us.”Kent pulled a chair around so he could see the screen.
“The guys at the gate deserve a raise.They blew so much smoke up his ass it’s a wonder it didn’t come out of his ears.They fed him a line about the two of us being out of town.When he was led into the main room downstairs, they told him we’d left our Administrative Assistant in charge, and she was in the middle of asession.”
“Session?What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You are not going to believe this shit.Sam is going to go out of his damned mind.Sage and Jen have outdone themselves this time.”As he finished speaking, Jen McCall sauntered into the room wearing thigh-hugging black leather boots with spiked heels so high, Kyle had no idea how she walked in them.Her skirt was so short it barely qualified as clothing.Black fishnet stockings were secured on her upper thighs by a matching lace garter belt, leaving enough tanned skin exposed to tempt a saint.A barely-there black lace bra topped off an outfit most Dommes could only dream of pulling off.
“Holy fucking hell.Sam is going to kill Sage.”Kyle could hear the amusement in his brother’s voice but also knew Kent well enough to note the concern underlying the humor.Sage McCall was a wildcard on his best day, but this plan was a long way over the line the two brothers usually followed with their wife.
“What the fuck?”Sam McCall stood beside Kyle, staring at the screen.“I leave my idiot brother alone with our wife for one evening, and this happens?Somebody want to update me before I skin Sage alive?”Kyle repeated the story Fallon’s ex-boyfriend fed the men stationed at the gate.“He claims she stole the cryptex from him.Fallon said she’d never told him it was a cryptex.She’d only said he’d given her a puzzle.”
“So, he’s working with someone here?”Kyle understood Sam’s surprise.None of them wanted to think someone from the club was working with Brody.
“That’s our best guess and the reason Jen is going to have a chat with him.Hell, from the look on his face, I think she could have gotten the information wearing jeans and a turtleneck.”Kyle shook his head at the man’s head spinning double-take when Jen entered the room.Watching her long legs eat up the space between them gave Brody plenty of time to take it all in.When the man started squirming in his chair, Jen tilted her head to the side in a move so subtle it was easy to miss, but it wasn’t wasted on Brody.He’d interpreted the move as interest, falling face-first into the first of many body language traps Jen would set during the short interaction.