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Tasha followed Zach out of the viewing room and into the one that held Brian. She watched as Brian went completely still the minute the door opened. His body relaxed, breathing even. He would look to anyone else like he was perfectly asleep.
“It’s not going to work,” Zach said. “You won’t be able to bust out of the restraints. No one is planning on hurting you, Mr. Peters. If that’s your name.”
Brian’s eyes came open, an icy stare finding Zach. “You’re the server from the restaurant.”
“You’re observant.” Zach closed and locked the door. “But then you would be given your profession.”
“I’m an account manager for the Nash Group.” Brian said the words, but the tone wasn’t the Brian Peters she’d known. This was the operative. He might be playing some games, but he was going to show them who he really was under the mask. “Who are you, Tasha? Because I bet you don’t work for your dad.”
He would be wrong about that, but they didn’t give up their familial relationships. “You can call me Ms. White, and refer to my colleague as Mr. Black.”
Zach frowned. “You want to go that way? You know all Mr. Blacks are dickheads. Fine.”
Brian’s stark expression gave way to confusion. “You’re CIA?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Zach explained. “What matters is who you are and who you work for.”
“It matters if you’re Agency,” Brian insisted. “Because I’m working with you guys. I need some proof. I’m not saying shit until I see proof. I would say you’re lying, but we all know how fucked up the Agency is right now. It’s perfectly possible you have no idea what’s going on.”
She didn’t like the sound of that, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t already thought of.
“There are no Agency records of this guy.” Lou’s voice came over the speaker.
Brian frowned. “Is that your sister? That was a lie, too. Tell whoever that is that I’m not Agency but I’m working with them, and I won’t say another thing until you let me call my people.”
“As we don’t know who your people are, I’m not inclined to allow that communication,” Zach replied.
“Is he the boss?” Brian asked her. “Is he the one you’re working Dare over for? This whole situation is exactly what I thought it was. The boss sent Magenta in to get in good with Dare, but you’re the one who ended up with the prize because I distracted her long enough to let you slip in. It wouldn’t have worked. He wouldn’t have gone for her. She’s too cold for him. She’s gorgeous, but there’s not a lot of soul in there, if you know what I mean.”
Damn. She wished Zach had kicked Kenzie out. “I know you won’t believe this, but it was pure chance we showed up there. There was no way we could have known you would be there.”
“Of course there was. I posted it on social media and an hour later you showed up,” Brian replied, and then his eyes narrowed at the silence that followed. “You didn’t know. Who suggested the pub, Tasha? I was right. You’re not the operative. You’re backup for Magenta. Are you her handler?”
Her sister hadn’t known he would be there. She would have told her. Kala would never let her go into a situation without every piece of information she knew. Lou would have told her.
The guys would tell her. Cooper and Tristan and… She felt her fists clench. Zach wouldn’t have because he would have known exactly what she would have done. She would have held back and let Kala do the job. She wouldn’t have talked to Dare at all.
“It wasn’t Kara’s fault,” Zach said quietly. “Or Lou’s. Or the guys’. They didn’t know. I did. I sent you to the bar. I doubted Middleton would fall for her, but I thought Kara might be able to get to Nash, which would still put us in Huisman’s orbit. I saw the post and made the call, and it’s my right because I am in charge of this team.”
“It’s my team, Zach. They’re my…” She shut her mouth because she’d been about to say they were her family.
Zach’s expression went grim. “And that is why I’m in charge. I never meant for you to get involved, Tash. I thought Nash would take one look at Kara and she would blow him off and then she could play the hell out of him at the conference. You know I never expected anyone to fuck for intel. I wouldn’t do that.”
“But you’ll use it if it’s offered to you.” A numbness had settled over her. She’d thought they’d been going to a completely random pub. Not completely random. She’d known Kala had an address. She’d thought she’d gotten it off the Internet or a guidebook or something. She’d gotten it from Zach.
