Nauti Temptress

As the boat came into view, clearing the fog, the trolling motor easing it through the water, Brogan grimaced in irritation. This was definitely one of those uncalled-for occurrences in his life.



At the controls was Eli. Riding in the back of the expensive bass boat was Jed, cradling an automatic rifle. Sitting cool and comfortable in the seat next to Elijah was Chatham Bromleah Doogan III, director of operations and all-around fucking bastard.



There were opinions that he and Timothy Cranston were cut from the same cloth.



That wasn’t exactly true. Cranston had a heart. He had compassion. Doogan had neither. Brogan was convinced pure ice water ran through his veins. That or oil. All good robots had to run on something.



As the boat pulled up to the small dock and Jed jumped out to secure it, Brogan stepped from behind the tree and strolled out to the boardwalk that led from the beach to the dock farther out in the water.



What the hell were they doing there cramping his day?



Doogan pulled off his dark glasses, amusement filling his dark brown eyes as a grin curled his lips.



“Dawg Mackay’s looking for his sister and he’s fit to be tied,” Doogan stated, mockery filling his gaze. “He’s a little overprotective, wouldn’t you think?”



What would Doogan know about protectiveness?



“You don’t have a sister, do you, Doogan?” Brogan asked.



Doogan shuddered, his gaze flashing in mock horror. “My parents were actually humane enough to stop with me,” he said. “So I can’t say I do.”



“It shows,” Brogan retorted.



Doogan scowled back at him. “Nevertheless, Dawg didn’t care much for Timothy’s explanation, nor mine. The fact that Dawg knew I was in Somerset still greatly concerns me. I was unaware he knew my full name.” As opposed to the codename Doogan had insisted be listed instead. The only reason Brogan, Eli, and Booker were aware of it was because they’d trained with him, drank with him, and listened to his drunken ramblings before he’d begun his climb up the federal ladder.



“It should,” Brogan assured him. “My question is, how did you find us?”



Doogan smiled complacently. “This is a political retreat, Brogan. All those nasty politicians with their young mistresses need someplace safe to hide. And someone has to make sure the place doesn’t get overcrowded. That job falls to me.”



“And if it does? Get overcrowded, that is,” Brogan asked mockingly.



Doogan shrugged. “Federal Protective Service has a houseboat stored along a nearby tributary and another cabin hidden along the lake. But overcrowding doesn’t happen if one is diligent.”



“Regular little caretaker, aren’t you?” Brogan taunted him.



Doogan tilted his head to the side. “Why do I keep seeing a real dishonorable discharge in your future?”



Brogan shrugged. “Wishful thinking maybe? Because we both know John David Bryce isn’t going to allow that.”



Doogan’s eyes flashed with rueful laughter rather than the offense Brogan had intended.



“There is that,” Doogan agreed. “It’s kind of hard to fire the director of Homeland Security’s bastard son, I would imagine.”



“Well, a few have tried.” Brogan shrugged. “I’m still here.”



“Unfortunately, unfortunately,” Doogan lamented on a sigh. “But I didn’t come up here to trade insults, as much as I do enjoy the opportunity. And neither did I come up here to warn you about Dawg. Though I would enjoy being present when he finds you.”



Brogan only snorted at the comment as he waited to see why Doogan had shown up.



Stepping from the boat, Doogan started around the small clearing. “It’s really rather pretty here,” he commented.



“Get to the point, Doogan,” Brogan growled. “I have things to do.”



Concern flashed in Doogan’s eyes for a second before the brown depths were once again icy and emotionless.



“We need to seriously discuss this operation,” he warned Brogan. “I know you; you intend to tell her your purpose for being here, and the fact that you were ordered to develop a friendship with her.”



Brogan’s brow lifted as he noticed the amused amazement on Elijah’s and Jed’s faces.



“A friendship?” Brogan questioned him. “Doogan, you’ve been playing pimp from afar for more than two years in your attempt to get me to invite myself into her bed. It was only your dumb luck that I wasn’t able to stay the hell away from her any longer.”



Doogan slid one hand casually into the pocket of his slacks as he stared back at Brogan coolly.



“I did you a favor, actually,” he drawled. “You’ll thank me for it later.”



“Get the hell out of here before I have to shoot you.” Brogan glowered back at him. “I don’t have time to deal with you.”



“Not until we discuss what you intend to tell Ms. Mackay.”



“The truth,” Brogan snapped. “I won’t lie to her.”



“I would highly suggest doing just that,” his boss ordered. “She hasn’t been cleared for this operation, and her brother and cousins sure as hell haven’t been cleared for it.” He swiped his fingers through his hair as he glared at Brogan now. “I’m ordering you not to inform her of your true purpose for being here. You will stick to the parameters of your cover and tell her nothing more.”



Brogan almost laughed. Doogan liked to think he had some measure of control over his agents, but they’d all learned how to deal with his manipulations.



“Go to hell, Doogan. Tell me something I want to hear or get the hell out of here,” he warned, hostile.



Brogan might not know what he was up to yet, but he’d figure it out. When he did . . . well, it wouldn’t be the first time the two of them had fought.



“There are a few details we need to go over,” Doogan began.



“Like the one where someone slipped into Eve’s room last night,” Elijah spoke up. “We saw it on the cameras when we returned to the inn. The same intruders tried to get into your room, but the new dead bolt you put on it kept them out long enough that they were forced to leave when Timothy made his rounds. That’s why Dawg’s trying to find you two. Timothy found her door unlocked, stepped inside to see the suite wrecked, and called her brother.”



Brogan slid his gaze to Doogan slowly.



The other man stared back at him coolly before turning to Elijah and Jed. “I could have taken care of that.”



“I was trying to help you out, boss.” Elijah shrugged with a tight grin.



Doogan snorted in disbelief as he turned to Brogan. “You inspire insubordination,” he accused irritably.



“You’re welcome.” Brogan inclined his head in a gesture of gracious accomplishment before turning back to Jed and Elijah. “Did they take anything from her room?”



Elijah shook his head in the negative. “They searched the hell out of it, though. She won’t be happy.”



She wasn’t going to be happy to begin with.



“Why search her room?” he asked thoughtfully. “I can understand searching mine, but why hers?”



“Maybe to be certain you hadn’t hidden anything there,” Doogan pointed out. “You would expect your room to be searched, but not that of a woman you hadn’t even made your lover yet.”



Brogan frowned, turning to Eli. “Did anyone leave the trip yesterday after I did?”



Eli grimaced. “Poppa Bear called it off after you left. He said he wasn’t going searching for scenic destinations or those caves the group was heading to see without the leader of the pack.” He chuckled.



Doogan snickered at the comment.



“This happened before we arrived back at the inn,” Elijah told him. “We were almost there when Donny asked exactly where the caves were, and Sambo commented that it would have been nice to have you there to make sure they were at the right place. That’s when Poppa Bear called us all to pull into the parking lot of a grocery store and suggested coming back.”



Sambo was a bear of a man and often pretended he didn’t know his own ass from a hole in the mountain, let alone how to find some of the most popular caves in Kentucky.



“Did anyone know why I left?”



Jed and Elijah shook their heads. “I don’t know if Donny and Sandi called anyone later or not, but they played real dumb after you left.”



“You know, Brogan, that boy’s acting damned strange anyway after the two of them went ape shit thinking one of them might die. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they might love each other. A lot.” Jed shook his head at the thought.



“That little strike was unsanctioned as hell,” Doogan reminded them all before glaring at Brogan. “You don’t use agency resources to get vengeance over a perceived slight to a potential girlfriend, Agent Campbell.”



Brogan found it strange that Doogan knew about it to begin with. And he’d had to have said something to Jed or Eli about it first for either of them to have discussed it with him.



Brogan turned to the other two men. “Is that everything Doogan needed to tell me?”



Eli grinned as the director shot a silencing look at him and then at Jed. Brogan knew that if there was more, one of them would call or text the moment they had the chance.



“Anything else I need to know before you leave?”



“Don’t tell her what you’re doing here, Brogan,” Doogan warned him again. “She’ll tell her brother, her brother will tell his cousins, and then I’ll have to start arresting Mackays.”



“I’ll consider your argument. . . .”



“No, damn you, you won’t consider shit,” Doogan burst out furiously as he stepped closer. “I’m giving you a direct order, you little son of a bitch. If you want to keep your job, you’ll obey it.”



Brogan’s eyes narrowed, though he was very damn careful to hold back the suspicion he could feel churning in his gut.



“Feel that strongly about it, do you?” he asked softly.



“I feel that strongly about your deliberate, constant insubordination,” Doogan snapped. “Get a handle on it before I take care of it myself.”



Stepping onto the bow of the fishing boat, Doogan stepped back into the boat and took his seat as he shot Brogan a deliberately superior look.



“Move out, Agent Grant,” he ordered Eli.



Eli did as ordered as Jed rolled his eyes and gave Brogan a quick, short shake of his head.



This was why he preferred working with Jed and Eli instead of the two agents over those in the regional office. He could trust them to cover his back, both in and out of the field. His gut was already telling him Doogan’s reaction was way off base.



He’d come out there specifically to piss Brogan off. All he’d done was make him highly suspicious. The other man was a manipulator. And he was trying to ensure that Brogan did as he wanted him to do, not as he was telling him to do.



Doogan wanted the Mackays in on this operation, and he’d wanted them there from the beginning.



From the first day Brogan had set foot in Pulaski County, Doogan had been pushing him toward Eve.



Walking back to the house as the last of dawn began to slip away, he knew Doogan was only pushing him, or Eve, into informing her brother of Brogan’s mission. And Brogan couldn’t figure out why the other man didn’t say so. Brogan had finally put Doogan’s manipulations together. He was salivating to get the Mackays on this operation.



Doogan was a hell of a manipulator, but usually he was only this bad when he had no other choice. And if he wanted the Mackays so badly, why not just ask them himself? Or he could have gone to Timothy. There were few things Timothy enjoyed more than manipulating Mackays; he would have loved to have pulled Dawg and his cousins into the operation himself.