There was nothing to do but follow her sister. And leave her dreams of Ben behind.
Part II
Now
Chapter Five
Ben Parker sat at the conference table staring at his mentor. Joseph Caulder was in his late forties and had been working intelligence for twenty years. So long that there was almost no way he didn’t know who Mr. Lemon was. “How long have you known?”
Joseph looked up from his notes. “Parker? You’re still here? Do you have a problem with the new assignment?”
It had been three weeks since that day in Nepal, and he hadn’t spent a single second thinking about anything but Mag…Kenzie Taggart.
His whole body felt alive when he thought about those minutes they’d spent together. He’d made a mistake. He shouldn’t have allowed her to walk away. He should have thrown her over his shoulder and forced her to come with him. He’d seen it in his head. He could find a nice cell for her and she could serve him until she’d made up for lying and making him look like a fool.
Then he thought about the hollow look in her eyes, and he wanted to call her, to ease her and soothe her.
Which was exactly what she wanted.
“I think I should be the one to go to Dallas. Now answer my question.”
Joseph stared at him for a moment. “How long have I known what?”
“That our American contact was Ian Taggart.” He’d spent every spare moment he had learning everything he could about the Taggarts. On paper they were a family of five with an adopted eldest daughter, Tasha, and two sons, Seth and Travis, and one grandson, Colton Taggart.
On paper Kenzie Taggart and her twin didn’t exist.
Joseph sat up and took his glasses off. “I’ve known Ian for a long time. Most of my career, actually. I got involved in a case that revolved around his nephew many years ago. I was a field agent then.” He sighed. “I suppose this is about Ms. Magenta.”
“So you know she’s his daughter.” The betrayal cut through him.
“I suspected, and I suspect she’s not the only one. If I recall he had twins. Two girls who looked an awful lot like their mother,” Joseph said softly, as though remembering. “If you look today there is no mention of the twins. Given that I know for a fact the young woman who runs the team and coordinates with base for them is his oldest kid, I did think it was more than possible Ms. Magenta was Ian’s as well. The whole team is something of a family. TJ is his youngest brother’s son. Cooper McKay is his best friend’s kid, and Tristan Dean-Miles belongs to a family Ian’s worked with forever. So yes, I suspected.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it to me?”
“Well, I don’t gossip about other agents, Ben.” He took a long breath as though considering the situation. “I know you’ve had trouble with her and you suspected her of keeping intel, but Ian always made sure we got it. He’s a valuable asset to our agency. I know things are touchy with the Americans, but he’s solid. So no, I didn’t give up his secrets because you didn’t need to know them, and before you say something you shouldn’t, fucking another operative in the field is not enough to make me cause a rift between our team and Ian’s. Though I think you’ve managed to do exactly that.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means we have data the Americans don’t have and when I suggested you go down and debrief the team, they requested another operative,” Joseph replied.
A wave of anger surged through Ben. She thought she could fuck him over? “If they want the data, they can get it from me or they don’t get it at all.”
Joseph groaned. “And then we don’t get their data. For fuck’s sake,Ben, I thought you wanted me to take Huisman seriously. Well, here I am. Taking him seriously, and you’re the one screwing around. Literally. Can you think with your actual brain for ten minutes?”
Not when it came to her. He’d proven that time and time again.
What made him ache was how peaceful he’d felt with her in his arms. He’d lain there and known he was going to die and it was okay because she was with him. She’d been everything in that moment, and she never bothered to tell him she was two different people.
Gaslighting. He was pretty sure this was a textbook case of gaslighting since he’d mentioned several times it felt like she was two different people and she’d blown him off saying it was a work persona.
“You kept important intel from me, Joe.”
A brow arched over icy eyes. “So you needed to know which twin you were dealing with when all you were supposed to do was work with her? Did you need to know which twin you were passing intel to? Or did you want to know which one you were hitting on? Tell me—did you sleep with both of them or just one?”
“I’m pretty sure it was only the one.” Tim walked in, carrying a folder. “You see, boss, there was a good Maggie and a pretty evil but still hot Maggie. I think he liked the sweet one. I’ve thought about this a lot and I think the one Huisman tortured is the mean one.”
Yes, he’d come to the same conclusion. He’d spent days and days going over every op he’d been on with the Americans, and he’d split up the times he’d dealt with Kenzie’s twin. Kala. That was her name. Kala Taggart. Well, Kala McKay, if what she’d told him was true.
