The Butterfly Tattoo by David Horne

Author:David Horne
Language: fra
Format: azw3
Published: 2018-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

“Whoa, take it easy,” Mark said and put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. He took a cautious step forward and, when it looked safe to do so, pulled Wade into the room and shut the door.

“I knew they’d taken you,” Wade sputtered. “I couldn’t do anything, but…what are you doing here?”

Mark looked over the man he’d known as Jack. He looked the same, though his hair had grown out a little. His mind raced as he tried to reconcile what he’d known with what he’d learned since. “I…I work with the agency now.”

“What?” Wade hissed. “They don’t just hire—"

“What happened?” Mark demanded. “Who are you? They said—"

“I’m sure they said a lot of things,” Wade growled and shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you who I really was. It’s classified, or it was. Whatever they told you—"

“They told me you kill people; that you’re a mercenary.”

Wade rubbed his head, gun still in hand. “I worked for them, Mark. I did what they asked me to, for the good of our country. I’ve never worked for hire. I know they told you I betrayed them, but I never did that either.”

Mark sighed. This was all too much. “What about the two people on the yacht? That was you I saw coming out of the water that night.”

Wade took a breath and nodded. “Those two men were working with someone in the agency, someone who set me up.” He saw his lover’s confused look and jumped at the opportunity to try and explain. “A year ago, there was a highly sensitive operation in Africa. I coordinated from headquarters. Stephen Boyles—"

“Stephen?”

“Yes, he was second-in-command on the ground. A friend of mine, Angus, was the team leader. We were supposed to go in and gather intelligence and try and rescue some of our agents if we found them. The whole thing fell apart. Stephen was the only one who came out alive. Angus and I were both blamed, but suspicion fell on me that I’d screwed something up. It was a routine investigation, but then a few more operations went south and the agency discovered that our enemies knew where we were going to be. The evidence pointed to me and I was branded as a traitor. I ran before I could be arrested and have been trying to find a way to clear my name ever since.”

Mark stared at him in amazement. He tried to think on his feet, tried to see through the lies, but he couldn’t. All of his training and instinct was telling him that it was the truth. “You think it was Stephen, don’t you?”

“You’ve met the guy,” Wade tried to quip.

It worked. Mark relaxed and nodded. “He’s an ass.”

“Yes, he is.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment and then Mark eased closer again. He reached out, trailing a hand down Wade’s chest.

“I think Wade suits you better. So does the accent,” he added with a grin.

The taller man returned the smile and then pulled him in for a kiss.

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