Page 2 of Justified Lies (TFH Team Bravo #3)

They followed her into the kitchen. She started an electric kettle, then grabbed a French press.

“What do you need?”

You.

Dammit. No. That was wrong.

He cleared his throat, which caused both Eden and Graeme to look at him.

“Your name is connected to our current case,” he said.

She glanced at him, then at Graeme. “I got that already.”

“What Kap is trying to say is that we were called to a murder scene of someone you know.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Please. I’m tired. I landed at about three this morning from Japan. Just spit it out.”

There was tension in her voice that had him on edge. Did she know what happened? Did she have anything to do with it?

“Andrew Green was found murdered,” Graeme said.

Most people wouldn’t notice the way her eyes flared and the little bit of color that leeched from her face.

But he did. They may have been involved for only a month all those years ago, but he knew her better than any woman he had been involved with.

That was why he was there. Graeme probably didn’t even notice it.

“You worked with him,” he said.

She shook her head. “Not directly. We knew each other because we were stationed in the same region. We had the same mentor.”

“And that would be?” Graeme asked.

She stared at him as the kettle went off. After a few seconds, she finally grabbed the kettle and poured water into the French press.

“Ms. Carlyle, we need to know who that is.”

She sighed, then looked at Kap. “You know I can’t say.”

That meant the mentor was still active.

“He was found here in Hawai’i?”

They both nodded.

“I didn’t know he was here.” She lifted her hands to rub her temple. “He didn’t contact me.”

“He had your cell phone number.”

Her hands dropped, and she looked at them. “A lot of people have my number.”

“This is your unlisted number with Dillon. I guess a lot of people don’t have that one,” Kap said.

He knew from what her partner had told them one time that all agents on assignments get a phone that is unlisted and almost impossible to trace and track.

She swallowed, another sign of her stress. “Do you know when Green came here?”

“No.”

Team Alpha might know, but he had no idea, which helped with the questioning. He wasn’t lying to her, and, normally, he wouldn’t care about lying. But she was former CIA and a former lover. She would pick up on the lies.

“He never called me. I’ve been in Japan for the last week.”

“Mix wasn’t with you?” Graeme asked.

Mix was her usual partner. His real name was Ian Smith, the brother of Autumn Bradford, a Team Alpha member. This was going to be so damned messy.

“No. He picked up a job with Task Force Honolulu. I had already been approved for a job in Japan. Emily is working with him.”

“Who were you protecting in Japan?”

She blinked, then shook her head. “Talk to Dillon. If they say I can brief you, then I will. Otherwise, I signed an NDA. I can’t say anything without their approval.”

“This is a murder investigation,” Graeme said, irritation threading his Scottish brogue.

“I understand, and I will happily tell you where I was if you call Dillon to get approval. I need coffee first and a shower because I feel like I have traveling crud on me still.”

He knew she wasn’t lying, or he thought she wasn’t. But there was something she wasn’t telling them.

“Can you take a guess at why he had your number?” Kap asked.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure, unless he was trying to get a job with Dillon.”

Which would make sense. Dillon Security was one of the world’s top security agencies. There was still something there, something that she wasn’t telling them. And that pissed him off. This was a murder investigation, and she was fucking around.

“He had your unlisted number,” Kap said, unable to keep the anger from bubbling up.

She shrugged, but he noticed the tension in her shoulders. “I don’t know. He was CIA.”

“Former,” Kap said.

Her eyes widened. “He left the CIA?”

That was a genuine reaction, although Kap wasn’t sure. She had lived a lie most of her life, so it was second nature to her.

“You didn’t keep up with him?” Graeme asked.

She shook her head. “We had the same mentor, but we didn’t work much together. I was kept away from many known operatives because I was considered more of an asset. Andrew was…well, he was sloppy at best.” She sighed. “I did suspect him of being one of the people who might have outed me.”

“We’ll need proof you were off the island.”

She nodded. “You can talk to Dillon. I flew back with the client, so they will have to get his approval.”

“Your brother? Was he here?” Kap asked.

“No. He was on the job with me. Why he’s here with me still, I have no idea.”

Graeme chuckled. “Not fun living together?”

“We might be twins, but he’s still my little brother.”

“By five minutes, Eden,” her brother said as he walked into the kitchen. He was dressed now, or at least he’d put on a shirt.

“We’ll be talking to Dillon,” Graeme said.

She nodded. “I’ll be waiting to hear from them.

I’ll happily come into TFH when they give me permission.

” Which meant that whoever she traveled with had Dillon sign an NDA, which wasn’t that unusual.

Celebrities and the wealthy often preferred to keep many aspects of their lives out of the public eye.

“What happened?” El asked.

She glanced at them, and Kap nodded, letting her know she could tell her brother. One thing about Eden was that she knew how an investigation had to proceed.

“Andrew Green was found murdered.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise. That’s when Kap realized he and Eden shared the same light blue eyes.

“Green?” He looked at Graeme and Kap. “He was on the island? That’s weird.”

“Why?”

“He was all about the Middle East. He could even speak Arabic and Farsi.”

“You knew him?”

“Briefly. He was a bit annoying. Like he was always trying to impress people with his language skills and the fact that his uncle had been in the CIA.” He shrugged. “That’s a dangerous habit when you’re working undercover.”

He was right. That must be what Eden meant about him being sloppy. Eden would never accept that since she had been so damned good at hiding her real job from him.

“He left the CIA,” Eden said. “Had you heard that?”

El shook his head. “Wow. I thought he would never leave. He would brag about his uncle, saying he would move up the chain fast. I think he saw himself as a section chief, which we all knew wouldn’t happen.”

“We?” Kap asked.

“Everyone who talked to him. Bragging is the kiss of death as a spy. But both Eden and I are considered out of the circle of trust.”

“We’ll probably want both of you to come in,” Graeme said.

They both nodded. “Get us the all clear from Dillon, and I will happily come in.”

She gave them her number and saw them to the door.

“If you think of anything, let us know,” Graeme said.

She gave Graeme a blinding smile that had Kap curling his fingers into his palms. Even knowing she was doing it to divert Graeme’s attention, it irritated Kap.

Again, the acid taste of jealousy hit him hard.

Graeme had no interest in her, though. First, she was tied to their case, and second, he was insanely in love with his wife, their ME.

“I sure will,” she said, injecting more of her Texas accent into her voice. Yep, she was trying to divert them.

Graeme headed for the SUV, but Kap lingered. It had nothing to do with the fact that he still dreamed about her. No, he knew without a doubt, she was lying to them. Maybe not outright, but she wasn’t being completely honest.

“We’ll find out what you’re hiding, Eden.”

She studied him. “A woman has the right to a few secrets.”

“You call them secrets. I call them lies.”

Her smile dissolved. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Kappy.”

Fuck, he hated when she used that name. “You see it differently, I’m sure.”

“Interesting. I have a question for you. Have you worked deep undercover?”

“That’s not the same.”

“Answer the question. Unless you’re afraid to.”

“Yes.”

“And even if you met someone you liked while you were undercover, would you blow that cover?”

“It wasn’t the same.”

“No, it wasn’t. I have a feeling that you had no idea what was on the line.”

“I have a good idea.”

“Oh, do you? When you were undercover, was your entire family at risk? Did one of your sisters get into service and help you with your undercover work?” He said nothing. “No. They didn’t. So forgive me for not telling you everything the moment we met.”

Kap knew she was right, that she definitely had done her job just like any other undercover operative had.

“We were together for four weeks and you never said—”

“This argument is old. You’re pissed that I wasn’t completely truthful with you from the moment we met. Do you remember what I told you?”

You don’t want to get involved with me, Hanson.

“Yeah, you do,” she said, as she studied his expression. She shook her head, suddenly looking as if she was exhausted. “I’m sure Dillon will call me when they clear me to talk to you.”

Without another word, she stepped back and slammed the door in his face.

He pulled in a deep breath and released it before heading to the SUV. When he stepped up into the vehicle, Graeme gave him a second before he started asking questions.

“So, do you think she knows something?”

He studied the front of the house.

“Oh, she knows something, but not sure what it is or how it fits into the broader story.”

Because the one thing he knew about Eden was that there was always more to the story.