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

Two

Eden shut the door and leaned back against it.

Her entire body was flushed with a mix of excitement and fear.

It was an unusual combination that left her feeling dizzy.

How did he seem to get better-looking every time she saw him?

Kapone Hanson was a tall drink of water, and she always felt thirsty around him.

After three years, she should be over him.

He’d walked away from her fast enough. When her world was falling apart, she had gone to him.

It had been the worst decision of her life.

Even in that moment when he was accusing her of being a whore for the CIA, she had wanted him.

She wanted nothing more than to see him smile, feel his body against hers…

and he had looked at her like she was a traitor.

He had captured her attention from the beginning.

He’d stepped into the ballroom in the embassy, and her entire body had sizzled.

Standing over six feet tall, he had green eyes, short dark hair, and dark brown skin.

He was built, but more along a streamlined kind of body like a swimmer, and she had fallen for him from the start. Stupidest move of her life.

She stepped into the kitchen and frowned at her French press. It looked like sludge.

“That looks gross, Ed.”

She rolled her eyes at her brother. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“That Kap knows you were lying.”

“I know,” she said, her nerves still pinging.

It was the same reaction she’d had to him every time they’d interacted.

It was the pain. The pain that he’d caused by his own betrayal.

And like an idiot, she still wanted him.

Needing something to do with her hands, she started cleaning her press out and turned on the kettle again.

“But you said you would go in and talk to them.”

“I said we both would, so maybe not be an asshole to the people who are investigating the death of one of our suspects.”

“You told them you suspected him.”

A statement, not a question. El was really good at eavesdropping.

It had been one of his greatest talents when they were kids.

Once they started working for The Company, he used it to his advantage.

Now, he worked a lot of corporate espionage cases, and she was sure he used it to his advantage there as well.

“They would have made the connection. It’s Task Force Hawai’i. It’s better to let them know that I personally suspected him.”

He sat on one of the chairs at the breakfast bar. “So I guess we mark him off the list.”

She nodded as she thought about all of their suspects. “I wonder if Marv knows.”

Her brother made a rude noise. Marvin Bellows had been her mentor.

He was a family friend, known as Uncle Marv to both of them.

Since the incident in Saudi, her brother had been suspicious of everyone who wasn’t family.

Real family. Meaning their parents and them.

That was it, and she didn’t blame him. After decades of service to the country, their family had been sold out to the highest bidder.

Their lives had been in danger from that moment on.

After pressing the coffee, she poured each of them a cup.

“Come on.”

She didn’t have to tell him where they were headed. One of the reasons she had bought this house was the hidden room beneath the stairs. She knew it would be perfect to hide her investigation.

El followed her, a silent dark cloud surrounding him.

He blamed himself, but it wasn’t his fault.

If anyone was to blame, it was Eden. She was the one who’d slipped up, somehow.

Whoever this was had outed her. Yes, they had gone after her brother, but that was to draw her out. She was positive she had been a target.

She opened the hidden panel of buttons and pressed the code to open the door. It creaked open, and she slid it open the rest of the way. The lights came on automatically as they stepped in. El walked over to the board and crossed out Green’s name.

“You never thought it was him,” she said.

“No. He was a mess, but I never got the vibe that he would go after people he worked with.”

She stepped up next to him, then took a long, healthy sip of her coffee. In the past, there had always been people who wanted to sell out The Company. There was more than the public knew about because, well, the CIA is filled with a bunch of secretive bastards. It was the nature of the beast.

“Had you heard Green was in Hawai’i?” she asked.

“No. I guess it was a good idea to move here after all.”

“They said he had my number with Dillon.”

She felt his gaze roam over her. Eden and El had always had that twin thing, until El’s weekend in hell. Both of them were still dealing with his PTSD.

“Not hard for an ex-CIA agent,” he murmured.

She knew he was correct. They both had a multitude of contacts who could help them, including one she hoped her partner at Dillon never found out about. He would not be happy about it.

“I guess I need to call Dillon and let them know.”

He nodded. “That will probably be lover boy’s next stop.”

She let that comment go by. El had feelings about Kap. Sooo many feelings, even though this was the first time they had ever met. Men. Always screwing up her plans.

This was supposed to be a lovely week, one where she could go to the beach and act like a normal person.

Or even fly back to see her folks in Texas.

She glanced at her twin as he wrote the word Hawai’i with a question mark behind it.

This was the second former operative who had been murdered in Hawai’i.

Knowing TFH, it wouldn’t take them long to figure it out.

“I’ll call it in, then get cleaned up and go on in.”

“You know Conner won’t make you do that,” El said.

“No, but there needs to be a thorough investigation, and it starts with my phone.”

“Should we tell Conner?” El asked.

She shook her head. “The problem is ex operatives get whacked all the time. We both know that.”

Both of them knew people who had run into old enemies after retirement. One of them usually ended up dead.

Once she was in her bedroom, she grabbed her burner phone.

Eden: Take Green off your list.

Sam: Why? Did El kill him?

Eden: No.

Sam: Did you kill him?

Eden: Why would you ask me that in a text?

Sam: That’s not a no.

Then her phone rang.

“Listen, I have to take a shower and get to work.”

“I thought you were off for a week.”

“Yeah, that’s all fucked up. Green was murdered last night, or, well, the body was found last night. Not sure when he was killed.”

“And you have to go in for what reason?”

“He had my Dillon phone number.”

“Ah, well, if he had one of mine—which we know no one is as good as me, but there are a few that get close—he would be able to find that out easily.”

“TFH was here. They sent Kap.”

Silence. Silence from Sam was always dangerous. She had a genius-level IQ, and she definitely plotted things Eden never wanted to think about. That’s why she asked Eden if either she or her brother had killed Green.

“It isn’t his team’s job. They only investigate under a few circumstances. So, TFH is playing head games, sending him over with the big Scottish dude.”

“I agree, so make sure you’re only talking and texting on this number. They’re probably going to confiscate your other phones,” Sam said.

Yes, she had a lot of phones, but once you’ve been a CIA agent and you were raised by them, it was second nature to be that secretive.”

“El thinks we need to look at Hawai’i and why two operatives were here,” Eden said.

“And why they were on the list?”

She sighed. “See if you can find out Green’s movements before he ended up here. He should be easy to track. That dude sucked at being an agent.”

Sam would know. She was never an agent, just an analyst with an intelligence pedigree that even Eden found overwhelming. When you have family in both the CIA and MI-6, you are considered somewhat untouchable. Well, until you weren’t.

Which is why Sam had been in hiding for over two years. When El had disappeared, Sam was the person Eden had gone to. Eden had known that Sam could find anyone. What she hadn’t expected was that Sam would be targeted.

“He did. I didn’t know he had left The Company.”

The clicking of keys reached her over the phone, and she knew that Sam was searching. Yes, she could still hack into the CIA, which is why she probably scared the fuck out of them.

“Yeah. He retired two months ago. Or, well, quit. The rumor was that he had a job with a big security company.”

She wasn’t about to ask her friend how she’d found that out. The truth was that she had probably hacked into texts between coworkers.

“That’s the theory I gave them. I thought maybe he was looking for a job.”

“So, you didn’t tell them that you’re hunting for a possible serial killer?”

“No. That would make both El and me suspects for all of the murders.”

“You probably have alibis for at least some of them.”

“What are the chances that El and I would have alibis for each one, or it would look like we’re hunting people and killing them?”

“Okay, you’re probably right.” There was a long beat of silence, and Eden knew what was coming. “So, how is Mix doing? Is he still being a prig?”

She chuckled. Yes, she shouldn’t be amused by it, but the rivalry between her partner Ian Smith (aka Mix) and Sam was funny. It went back to both their days working for intelligence agencies. Sam never let him forget that she had the upper hand.

“He is not a prig with anyone but you.”

Sam snorted. “Are you going to work with him on that show?”

Ian was working on Task Force Honolulu. Apparently, they were having issues with security, and the star of the show, Jakob Wulf, was a billionaire who could afford protection until the network got their asses in gear.

“Probably not until next week, if he’s still working with them.”

There was clicking on the keys again.

“You’re texting him right now, aren’t you?”