His parents had gone into witness protection when they realized Manny had hired someone to kill them. He hadn’t seen them in years. All he had was this team.
Tim walked out without a backward glance.
Was she that great an actress? Now that he looked back he could easily tell which twin he’d been with every time they’d met. Even when he’d saved her, when he’d walked into Manny’s old house in Toronto and found her lifeless on a medical table, it had felt off. Like he was touching something that wasn’t his. Perhaps it was mere fancy, but when he’d made love to Kenzie he’d known she was his.
Joe looked grim. “Ben, I need to ask you a question. Do you honestly think she was playing you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do, but your past is a wall between you and the truth. Huisman fucked you over. He’s the boogeyman, and I am not making light of what he’s done to you. It might be time to try to find a way to move on.”
“I don’t fucking want to move on from her.” He realized what he’d said. “Damn it. You were talking about Manny.”
There was an amused expression on Joe’s face. “So Tim is right and you’re fighting something that could be good for you personally.Terrible for your career, though.”
“It is not. We just need to have a wall up when we’re not working together.” Why had he said that? He’d thought it through a thousand times, but he hadn’t meant for Joe to know.
“Allowances could be made, especially if we’re working on mutual goals,” Joe offered. “The truth of the matter is we’ve found some property lists and other information that could use your subject-matter expertise. You know the doctor in a way no one else does. What would you say if I offered to let you manage the data? I’ll assign you your own team and you can work this from a desk. I will make sure that when we get boots on the ground, you’ll be there.”
“I quit.” He hadn’t meant to do that either. “I’m going to Dallas one way or another.”
“To screw with Taggart’s team?” Joe asked tightly.
“To figure out why I can’t get her out of my head. To find some fucking peace when it comes to her. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Tim’s right. Maybe I’m letting what Manny has done to me affect my relationship with Kenzie. I won’t know until I see her again.” He thought about the invitation he’d received in the mail three days before. The crisp cream stationary had contained a request to attend the wedding of Natasha Taggart to Darren Nash in Dallas, Texas. This weekend. Five days from now the whole Taggart family was gathering, and if he walked into that wedding he would know everything. All their personal secrets. He would be on the inside.
He could be one of them. Like Dare. He could have a family.
He shoved that idea aside.
There had been a handwritten note slid in.
Hope you can be there. Kenzie misses you, and honestly, so do I. Dare
What had been his first thought? That Dare was in on it, too.
He was fucked up. He needed a damn therapist.
He needed her.
“I have to see her. Even if it means stepping away from the only thing I have.” His job. His mission. There was a sense of shame that ran through him. He was picking a woman who had lied to him over justice for Deanna. Over the peace and safety of the world.
And yet he wasn’t going to take the threat back because this was the first time in weeks that he felt better. The decision to go to Dallasand…confront her? Accuse her?
Try with her?
He would know when he saw her. He would know when he got close to her again. He wouldn’t let Manny’s cruelty force his hand. He would figure her out and only then would he let her truly in.
But they would have a chance.
Joe stared at him for a moment. “I think this is a mistake.”
There it was. He was in a corner, and he didn’t even hesitate. “You’ll have my resignation before I leave.”
He wasn’t going to sit behind a desk. He’d had his childish tantrum, and he was going to see her. He would find out the truth no matter what.
And he would have her again. But this time, there would be no time limit, and they would do things her way. Which meant taking control. It also meant he had to be prepared.
“Ben,” Joe called out.
