Submission Impossible (Masters & Mercenaries Reloaded 1)

“Yasmin said you didn’t even say hello, and she had her daughter with her, and yes, she did cry,” Big Tag insisted.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” MaeBe replied with wide, innocent eyes. “He seemed perfectly normal to me. And Yasmin’s little girl was crying because she wants a puppy. Like real bad. There’s an adoption drive in my neighborhood this afternoon, but Yasmin doesn’t have any personal days left.”

Big Tag made a gagging sound. “Not only did you cover for your boss, now I have to lose my receptionist for the afternoon so she can pick up some sad-sack dog who will poop on her floor. You’re working reception.”

MaeBe sat up straighter. She never seemed to mind covering the phones. “Absolutely, boss.”

Excellent. Everyone was getting what they wanted except him. “Why am I here?”

He wasn’t sure he wanted to be back at Noelle’s, but he knew he didn’t want to be here. He should go to his place and work from there, but he’d stopped by before he’d come to the office and been struck by how little warmth there was there. Unlike Noelle’s, which was covered in pictures of her family and friends, his house had blank walls and utilitarian furnishings. It felt empty.

Like his life.

Adam nodded Ian’s way. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”

He wasn’t playing around right now. “I have work to do. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Tag shifted from mildly amused to that blank expression that let Hutch know he meant business. “We’ve had a couple of developments in Noelle LaVigne’s case.”

His gut tightened because whatever Tag was about to tell him wasn’t good, and if Adam was sitting here rather than running his own company, then it was probably bad. “What is it?”

“First of all, I ran a check on the security guard you asked me to look into. He’s definitely DPD,” Tag explained. “Brighton told me he couldn’t work with us on this one, and that tells me we’re caught in something serious.”

“Chris Taylor is a veteran detective who moved onto a major crimes task force six weeks before he took on this second job of his.” Adam rested his hands on the table as he talked. “Brighton might be loyal to his department, but we can always find someone willing to give up some intel.”

“Brighton would talk in a heartbeat if he thought someone was in danger. Brighton’s unwillingness means that Chris Taylor is working something serious. One of the things he’s known for is working well with the feds,” Tag explained.

The knot in his stomach got tighter. How serious was this and how was Noelle involved? “So we think we’ve got feds on this?”

“That’s what I want MaeBe to figure out.” Big Tag passed her a folder. “I need you to do a deep dive on Genedyne and Jessica Layne. I want to know everything about this woman, including all the nasty rumors about her on the Deep Web. You know they’re out there. I want to figure out who’s looking into her and why. Check into Chris Taylor, too. I’d like to know if something in his background makes him suited for this particular job. If there is, it might give us a clue about what he’s looking into.”

MaeBe nodded, taking the file. “Will do. The rumors about Jessica Layne are numerous.”

“I want to hear them all.” Now that Kyle was moving into the woman’s circle, they needed to know everything about her. “I’ve got some contacts who might be able to help.”

He kept up with his old group of hacktivists. Most of them were married with families, but a few were still active. He could throw out a couple of lines and see if he caught anything. The Deep Web thrived on rumors and gossip.

“Do that, but we’ve got something else we’d like you to check into.” Tag looked to MaeBe. “I’d like something on Jessica Layne this afternoon. Thank you, MaeBe.”

She stood, taking her tablet and the folder with her. “I know when my clearance level has been reached. Fine. But it will be hard to do since I’m covering the phones.”

She didn’t even flinch when Tag grunted, proving she’d been around long enough to speak Tag. That was his you-got-yourself-into-it grunt.

The door closed and Tag’s attention was once again on Hutch. “She was a good hire. She didn’t even tell me you’re upset because you slept with the client and then apparently got the cold shoulder from her.”

“Seriously? Damn. I didn’t expect that,” Adam said. “Are you sure? Isn’t Hutch usually the one who slips out the door before his lady love awakens?”

“You’ve been reading too many of your wife’s books. Hutch doesn’t have to slip out of the door. Well, not out of the door of like an apartment or a house. He’s slipped out of lots of closets. You know his upper body strength must be off the charts,” Tag mused. “Some of those closets are small. He’s got to be picking them up.”