by Nicole Helm
She wished her doubts about Holden were more pronounced. They should be. Intellectually she knew she’d already given too much, trusted too much. But when push came to shove, she couldn’t seem to help it.
And he hadn’t tried to hurt her, had he?
“My assignment is to stop the hit man, Willa. It’s what I’ll do. If your parents are the target, I’ll do everything in my power to protect them.”
“You need my help.”
He dropped the bullet into a bag. He’d send it back to his group and hope to get some information from the study of it, if she had to guess.
“You won’t be left unprotected, Willa. Even if he shot at me, clearly you’re a target in all this.”
“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about them. You have to let me help.”
“Help what?”
“Help with your assignment. You don’t know my parents. You don’t know who they are or what they look like.”
“I don’t know the hit man either. I’ll find both. It’s my job to find both. Whether you want to believe it or not, I’m very good at my job.”
Oh, she wanted to believe it, but that didn’t make it possible for her to sit on the sidelines. Not this time. Not until she heard from her parents directly. “It’d be easier with my help.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Do you want me to prove I can shoot a gun? That I can sneak around unheard? Do you want me to prove everything they taught me, because I can. I will.”
“It’s not that I doubt your...capabilities.”
But he did. Of course he did. He looked at her and saw a weak, silly woman surrounded by animals. No matter how much she explained to him how she’d been trained to protect herself, he wouldn’t believe it. She could probably prove it and he wouldn’t believe it.
Because he didn’t want to. Didn’t have to.
“Fine.” And it was fine. She wasn’t tied to him. She didn’t need him. She had her own two feet. Her own mind. Her own choices. “I’ll go after them on my own.”
“Not an option,” he said, his voice cold and authoritative.
Which stirred the anger she was using to cover up her paralyzing fear. “So funny—I don’t remember consenting to let you boss me around or tell me what I can’t do.”
He groaned out loud. “Willa. Just...hit pause, okay? It’s the middle of the night. You’re tired. You’ve been shot at. Let’s just go to sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
“Oh, we’re going to go to sleep?”
His expression was bland. “Sure.”
“For some kind of spy, you’re a terrible liar.”
“I’m not a spy, and I’m not lying. I’m trying to do my job and you’re getting in the way. How are you going to help me? I know what I’m doing. I’m trained in what I’m doing. You’re a farmer.”
“I know their habits. How they operate. I may not know where they are, but I can tell you things about their past missions that might give you an idea where to start. Yes, you have the whole whatever-you-are-that-isn’t-a-spy thing down, but I know them. If we work together, we can save them faster. I’m sure of it.”
The back door swung open. Willa jumped, though she stopped a surprised shriek from exiting her mouth. A woman stood there, and Holden immediately relaxed his hand on his weapon. Though he was clearly surprised by the woman’s appearance.
“Shay.”
Willa blinked at the woman. She was tall and, well, very pretty. Her hair was blond, her eyes were blue, and Willa figured if she wasn’t dressed head to foot in tactical gear, you might even be convinced she looked elegant.
But she was in tactical gear, and she had that same aura of control and action that Holden and the other man from his team had.
“We need to talk.” Shay’s gaze flicked to Willa. “Alone.”
Willa might have wilted at the authoritative look on a different day, but today... “This is my house. If you want alone, you can leave it.”
Shay’s eyebrows shot up. “It seems you left a few things out of your report, Parker.”
Willa had the fascinating view of Holden tensing. She wouldn’t say his expression was guilty or defensive, exactly, but it certainly wasn’t controlled.
“I have a handle on the situation. I’m not sure why you’re here.”
Shay eyed Willa again. Willa kept her chin up and her gaze direct. She wasn’t going to be afraid or nervous. If Holden wouldn’t help her, it was always possible this woman would.
“Did she give you that bump on your head?”
This time Holden’s gaze slid to Willa. “Not exactly,” he muttered. “Willa. Give us a few.”
Willa didn’t even bother to respond with words. She crossed her arms over her chest and stayed resolutely where she was. She would not be maneuvered. She would not be...set aside. It felt too much like being a kid again. Set aside so Mom and Dad could handle whatever new job they had to take.
Had to. Couldn’t escape their former lives. She’d always believed that. But for a brief, horrible moment, it occurred to her that maybe they just hadn’t wanted to quit. Not enough.
She shook the thought away. Or tried. Because Shay nodded toward the door and Holden went outside. Shay followed.
Willa was left alone in her house. Out of the loop. Pushed to the side. While a bunch of people she didn’t know decided things about her life, and her parents’ lives.
She couldn’t control them. No, she’d learned that from living with her parents. She couldn’t control anyone.
But she could control herself, decide herself and act herself.
So, she would.
* * *
HOLDEN STOOD OUT in the pitch-black night feeling unaccountably...caught. Why? He didn’t have a clue. He’d done everything he should have done. Followed protocol.
Maybe he’d left a few details out of the report. Maybe he’d been a little vague when it came to Willa. But that didn’t mean he needed Shay to appear on the scene. Nor should he feel anything but competent and ready for the next step now that she was here.
Why was everything so backward? He didn’t know, but it had to stop. “I’ve got it covered. I don’t know why you’re here.”
“You didn’t say you’d been hurt,” Shay said gravely.
“That’s not why you came. You couldn’t be here all the way from headquarters this quickly if Gabe dimed me out.”
“It’s not diming you out to inform your superior of a serious injury. You need a new bandage. There’s concussion protocol to follow.”
“Hey, Mom? I’m fine.”
She didn’t laugh. She didn’t so much as sigh. “This isn’t a joke, Parker. You know the rules.”
“Yeah, I know the rules. I also know I’m fine and I know what I’m doing.”
“Last mission you stepped in when Sabrina was still fighting because she was injured and you knew it.”
“It’s a bump. There’s also not someone currently attacking me. It’s different than what happened with her. You have to know it’s different. And we don’t have time for this. I’ve got the bullet. Gabe’s got the shells. We need to run tests. We need to move forward before the hit man closes in on the target.”
“You don’t think she’s the target?” Shay said, inclining her head toward the old farmhouse.
Holden looked back at the house. Lights were still on. He knew he’d been fooling himself that Willa would go crawl in bed and sleep, but he’d held out some stupid hope she’d just...let him handle it. “I’m not sure. She’s not the only target, if she is one. She thinks it’s her parents. They’ve got connections to spy groups. Including the CIA. Which would have been in my next report, once I’d finished gathering evidence.”
“Why do you sound unsure?”
“Something doesn’t add up. I can’t figure out what. It might
be her.” Holden thought about the pseudobunker belowground. “Can we get Elsie out here?”
“If necessary.”
“If there’s the potential this connects to the CIA, I don’t want anyone but her poking around on the computer Willa’s got.”
“Willa. That her real name?”
Holden shrugged, trying to sound detached. Because he was detached. Even if Willa had saved his life. “Not sure. She might not even be sure. Her parents are spies. After seeing the setup, I believe it. Or maybe I believe they’re involved in something. She thinks it’s good. But what if it’s not? She wouldn’t know. She’s their daughter.”
“Unless she’s part of it.”
Holden considered. Tried to really, dispassionately consider it. “It wouldn’t fit. I just can’t see how her playing me would fit.”
“Women have ways to make men think they’re weaker than they are.”
“I work with you and Sabrina. Who do you take me for?”
Shay seemed to consider that. Then she jerked her chin toward him. “How’d you get the bump?”
He explained the car accident in more detail than he’d given North Star before. Left out the part about Willa chaining him to a bed. It wasn’t hiding things. It was just not including information that was neither here nor there. He was out of the chains now.
“This spy thing...”
“She won’t give me their names. I’d say you guys could investigate her, but we don’t know what our hit man knows. We don’t want to bring more suspicion on her. But she’s got a fancy computer in that underground bunker of hers. If Elsie can hack into it, she might be able to find things Willa doesn’t know or doesn’t want to say.”
“Will Willa let that happen?”
An idea formed. One he didn’t particularly like, but it would get the job done. “If I let her come with me to track down her parents, she won’t have to know.”
“You can’t take a civilian around with you on a dangerous mission.”
“She wants to go. She claims her parents taught her some skills.” He thought about the way she’d fought him in some attempt to prove she could knock him down first. No, he hadn’t fought back, but she’d held her own. “She demonstrated some.”
“Gross.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Shay. I’ve known this woman less than twenty-four hours.”
“Please, Holden. I’ve seen you work.”
Torn between offense and amusement, Holden shook his head. “She tried to fight me. She’s okay.”
Shay made a considering noise. She studied the house, and Holden knew she’d consider his plan. Pros and cons. Even if she didn’t agree, she’d take the time to consider it.
Shay shook her head, and Holden was sure he’d either have to disobey a direct order or find some new, better reasoning for Willa coming with him. Which was more likely: Willa letting them search her computer, or convincing Shay to let him take Willa with him?
He really didn’t know.
“You know she’s running, right?” Shay said conversationally, rocking back on her heels as she slipped her hands into her pockets.
“Running?”
“I’d lay my life savings that she’s already climbing out a window on the other side of the house.”
Holden stared at the house. She wouldn’t. He didn’t exactly expect her to crawl into bed and sleep, but she wouldn’t run. She couldn’t. “She wouldn’t leave her animals.”
“You so sure about that?”
He was. He was. But he found himself moving forward anyway. Creeping around the house until the back was in view. He saw no sign of her, but there was an open window, the screen missing. No, not missing. It had been carefully propped up against the house on the ground.
Holden swore. Shay chuckled and slapped him on the back. “She’s got your number, Parker. Admit it.”
“Like hell,” he muttered disgustedly. “Get Elsie here. Get her in that underground computer, whatever it takes. I’ll keep Willa busy trying to find her parents. Keep in touch. I want to know anything found the second it’s found.”
“Anything else?” Shay said blandly, a subtle reminder she was the boss, not him. Still, it was his assignment.
“That should do it.”
Chapter Ten
Willa moved through the dark with practiced ease. The moonlight helped, but she’d taken this path before.
Maybe Holden didn’t believe in her capabilities, but she knew them. She felt a twinge of guilt about leaving her animals behind. She had a plan in place for that too—she was nothing if not prepared—but a neighboring farmer making sure they were fed and watered wasn’t the same as being loved.
But it had to be done. Some things just had to be done. Like breaking into her parents’ safe and escaping into the night, away from Holden and his group and whatever their priorities were.
Her priority was her parents.
She hadn’t given them their insisted-upon thirty-six hours, but she thought the existence of a hit man, another secret group, and being shot at meant they’d have to forgive her for engaging in emergency measures early.
It’d take a while to make it to town. The sun would definitely rise before she’d get there. That was okay if she was careful. The RV storage facility where her parents stored their car was pretty isolated. Even in the light of day, it wouldn’t be too difficult to sneak in and take it.
She’d have to slow down, though. If she kept running, she’d wear herself out before she completed the long, long trek. But if Holden caught her...
Surely it would take him some time to figure her out. Some time to talk to the woman and make their plans. Surely he’d assume she went to bed and leave her to it.
“Don’t be an idiot, Willa,” she muttered to herself. He’d know. He’d find out. She had only minutes to make her escape count. Luckily, she knew the area and—
She heard the footsteps a second too late. In the next second she was tumbling to the ground, someone tumbling on top of her. She didn’t scream. She fought. She would always, always fight.
Hands clamped around her wrists, so she used her legs to kick wildly.
“Damn it, Willa. It’s me.”
She huffed out a breath, as if that changed anything. “I know exactly who it is,” she said, almost landing a knee where he’d definitely be knocked back by the blow. But he shifted at the last second.
They grappled, but all he did was try to grab. There was no attempt to hurt her or even immobilize her. It was like he was dodging blows, waiting for her to get tired or just accept that he’d found her.
“Would you stop?” he gritted out, barely dodging a fist to the nose.
She would have liked to have connected, but he maneuvered her onto her back on the cool, damp ground. He used his legs to clamp her legs together, so she only had her arms to try and escape. No matter how she tried to wiggle away, his legs kept her locked tight.
She could land a very, very painful punch in this position, but even as she balled her fist and considered it, he hopped off her.
He flicked on a flashlight, which had her wincing away from the sudden brightness. She lay on the ground and blew out a breath. They’d grappled, and she’d accomplished nothing. But at least he’d accomplished less than nothing.
“How do you get by in your job never, ever hurting a woman?”
He didn’t say anything to that. He got very quiet and very still, and she remembered what he’d said when she’d said he must not have anyone who loved him. Direct hit.
“I can’t believe you’d leave your animals,” he said, completely ignoring her comment.
She opened her mouth to lecture him about how much care she put into her animals, but that would give things away she was trying not to give away. Eventually she got to her feet, brushing off dirt she couldn’t see but could feel.
<
br /> “If you’re going to drag me back... Well, you’re going to have to fight me. Actually fight me. I won’t go back until I’ve done what I have to do.” She balled her fists, got into a fighting stance and readied herself.
He heaved out a sigh. “I’m not going to fight you, Willa.”
“Then you have to let me go. I mean, there’s no letting. I’m going.” She started to move, but he only stood in her way. Arms crossed. He held the flashlight, illuminating the area around them enough for her to see his face was smudged with dirt, so hers probably was too.
“You aren’t going anywhere. At least, not alone. You don’t know where the man who shot at you is. He could be here.”
“He could be. And he’d likely fight back.”
“He’d shoot you dead.”
“You don’t know that.”
Holden groaned. “You might be the most frustrating woman I’ve ever met. And maybe if you’d stuck around and actually cooperated—”
“Cooperated? You told me to go to bed! I won’t be pushed aside while my parents are in danger. I won’t.”
“You might have been cordially invited to accompany me,” he said dryly.
She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped her mouth shut. Had she been rash? Should she have waited? She narrowed her eyes at him. No. No, that wouldn’t have gone the way she wanted, no matter what he claimed.
“You’re going to come with me?”
“You’re going to come with me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you know where to begin?”
“Do you?”
She thought of the papers in her pocket. Codes again. Codes he wouldn’t be able to crack. At least, not quickly. She chewed on her lip, and in the glow of the flashlight his eyes narrowed.
“Willa,” he said, a warning tone to his voice. “What do you know?”
She opened her mouth to tell him. It was like second nature, somehow, to want to tell him everything. To be thrilled he was going to work with her on this. She needed to be more careful. More wary of him.