Shane let the guy get as far as the open entryway. Didn’t invite him to sit down or have a drink. Kept him pinned by the door and within range of the gun tucked by Shane’s side. He only got that far because Shane had had warning and could hide the documents and computers before Tyler walked in.
“Why are you here?” Shane asked even though he’d never believe the answer. Not now. Tyler had managed to wave a red flag that had Shane’s back teeth grinding together.
Tyler’s gaze stayed on Makena. “We need to talk about Jeff.”
He could stare wherever he wanted. He likely thought he could win her over. That they still had a certain rapport. Truth was, she’d looked at the newest investigation documents an hour ago, and whatever loyalty she had to the man was waning.
Then there was the part where Shane didn’t want Tyler talking to her. It wasn’t a jealousy thing. More like Shane’s control hovering right on the edge. He was looking for any excuse to take this guy out, and if Tyler said or did the wrong thing to Makena, he would do it.
“I’m more concerned with how you knew to come here.” With that move the target shifted to Tyler and stayed there.
“I have some tech skills and I—”
“No.” Not a good enough answer. The Corcoran Team had the latest tech. The team didn’t fool around when it came to staying undercover. If anyone even performed an internet search using any of their names, a message was transmitted back to headquarters. No way had Tyler just stumbled on some personal information while poking around. “This is not a house you find on a whim.”
“I got the license plate off your car and followed you here.” Tyler delivered the line as if he expected applause. But his own words kept tripping him up.
Shane wondered if Tyler knew how easy he made it to doubt him. “The same car that isn’t actually in the driveway since I’m driving one I just borrowed.”
Tyler shrugged. “Why does this matter?”
As subterfuge went, that response wasn’t great. Shane let him get away with it anyway. “Because when people randomly show up where they should not be, I grow skeptical.”
Tyler shook his head. “I get that you take your job seriously.”
Shane ignored the condescension. He had a feeling he’d have to ignore a lot of annoying stuff if he wanted to make it through this conversation without having his head explode. “Which job?”
“As Makena’s bodyguard.”
She finally moved. Instead of taking on the bodyguard comment or anything else, she homed in on facts that brought the visit into question. “Tyler, you told me you never leave your house. You stick close and limit your contact with the outside world.”
“You matter to me. After Frank...” Tyler held up a hand, gave a big show as if he couldn’t talk and had to force the words out. “That was too awful.”
Makena didn’t back down. She tilted her head and kept rattling off the attacks against her. “Someone followed me, us, from your house, or it certainly seems that way.”
“I heard about the bridge accident, and there’s chatter online,” Tyler said even though she hadn’t specified which incident. “Jeff is feeling hunted and looking for revenge.”
Interesting how he changed the discussion. Shifted the attention off him and onto Jeff. Made an allegation without actually saying anything negative.
Her eyes narrowed. “You think he’ll hurt me?”
“He’s on the edge and desperate.” Tyler looked at Shane then. “You guys keep talking with him.”
Shane guessed that was supposed to be some kind of shot. It would take a lot more than that to knock him off task, and right now the task was to get as much information out of Tyler as he could before putting a bullet in him. “How do you know that?”
“I follow the chatter.”
All of a sudden everyone knew about the supposedly private discussions on the loop. “But you didn’t bother to tell Makena that the loop existed so that she could be prepared, too. She had to find out through Frank.”
“I didn’t take it seriously.”
Shane really wanted to hit this guy. He had so many reasons—the way he looked at Makena, the fact that he put their safe house at risk and on general principle. “Do you take your position seriously?”
“What does that mean?”
“Your service record doesn’t check out.” Makena dropped the biggest bomb of all without flinching. The words came out and then she waited.
Tyler did not disappoint. His expression morphed from concern to disappointment to a touch of anger as Shane watched.
“You’re reviewing my records?” Tyler glared at both of them this time. “You can’t be serious.”