by Cynthia Eden
Mercer’s expression tightened. “He did the same thing with Melanie and Van.”
Yes, he had. “He’s killing the women, almost executing them, and I think he is doing it just to make their lovers suffer. He wants them to hurt, to grieve. When they’re broken, then he goes in—”
“—for the kill,” Mercer finished.
“He’s doing it again. It’s already in motion. I can see it now.” Her words were coming out too fast, so she tried to slow them down. “Gabrielle Harper. He’s not talking to her because she’s the reporter investigating his kills. He’s focused on her because of her relationship to Cooper.” A very personal relationship, judging by what she’d just seen in that interrogation room. “He’s already told us—we just didn’t realize—Gabrielle is his next target. And, once she’s dead...”
His voice and face grim, Mercer said, “He’ll go after Cooper.”
Chapter Ten
He shouldn’t be kissing her. He should be taking things slower, trying to soothe her. Trying to mend the fences that he’d destroyed.
But he needed her. So much.
His body pressed against hers, and Cooper knew that Gabrielle had to feel the force of his arousal. For her.
Everything was for her.
Her hands flew up and grabbed his shoulders. He tensed, expecting her to push him away.
Then her mouth parted beneath his. Her tongue met his. She kissed him back with the same raw, wild need that he felt.
In that moment, she nearly brought him to his knees.
Everything was going to be all right. Gabrielle understood why he’d kept his true identity secret. They could go back to the way things had been before.
Her taste made him light-headed, desperate for more.
His hands locked around her. He pulled her against him, holding the curve of her hips.
But then she shoved against him. “No.” Her voice was husky but brimming with anger. “Just because I want you, you aren’t going to get away with what you’ve done to me.”
Tears glittered in her gorgeous eyes. Actual tears.
“I trusted you. You broke into my home. You destroyed evidence.”
“I was following orders.” Those words seemed hollow to his ears.
She edged away from him. “That’s what you’re still doing. Let me guess...whoever runs this place told you to come in here and charm me again?”
He wasn’t touching that one.
She laughed, and the sound wasn’t like her at all. Gabrielle wasn’t that bitter. Gabrielle was open, happy.
“This isn’t going to work. We aren’t going to work.” She headed for the door.
He had to stop her. Cooper hated to do it, but he stepped into her path.
Her head tilted back as she stared up at him. “What are you going to do?” Gabrielle asked him as she swiped a hand over her cheek. “Handcuff me again?”
“No.” Stay calm. Stay calm. But it was hard because he felt like his world was unraveling before his eyes. “I’m going to make sure that you’re free to go, but in return, you have to do something for me.”
“I get to just walk out of here?” Doubt was plain on her face.
“We have your flash drive. You don’t know anything else about the EOD, nothing concrete. And if you try to cover the story, you will put lives at risk.” He crossed his arms over his chest and studied her. “That’s not who you are. You bring justice to families. You don’t go out and try to hurt anyone.”
“You actually sound as if you know me.”
“I do.” Better than he’d known any other lover.
“I wish I could say the same about you.”
Hit. The woman was lethal with her words.
“But I don’t know you,” Gabrielle continued on fiercely. “I feel like I’m staring straight at a stranger.”
“You’re staring at your lover.” She wasn’t going to deny that—deny them.
She gave a hard shake of her head. “I’m staring at an EOD agent who’s done nothing but lie to me.”
“I’m the one who got you out of Lockwood’s place so the cops wouldn’t find you there. I’m the one who’s been helping you.” She might not want to see the truth now, but sooner or later, she’d have to look past her rage.
I want sooner.
“We can keep helping each other,” he told her, trying to keep the desperate edge out of his words. “We make a good team, Gabrielle, and that doesn’t have to end. Agree to drop any inquiries into the EOD, and I’ll talk to my boss. I’ll get you out of here.”
Her eyelashes flickered. “Why did I get dragged into this place? If I already had an EOD agent with me day and night, then why did I—” She broke off as her eyes widened. “You.”
Hell. This was about to go from bad to worse.
“You were chasing after me. I ran from you, and you called in your backup, didn’t you?”
His back teeth had locked. “A killer is out there. After you. What was I supposed to do? Let you run straight into danger?”
“You don’t even know that he’s after me—”
The door opened behind Cooper.
“Yes,” Bruce Mercer’s distinct voice said clearly. “We do know that the killer is after you, Ms. Harper. And if you want to keep living, then I would suggest that you calm down and get used to the idea of working with the EOD.”
THE PROFILER WAS too damn good.
She’d been poking her head in where it didn’t belong, getting too close.
Trying to learn too much about me.
He hadn’t thought Mercer would pull in an outsider to hunt him.
He’d underestimated the bastard.
He hurried down the hallway. Other agents were working, barely glancing his way.
They knew that a killer was among them. Did they care?
No, because we’re all killers.
Some just hid that truth a bit better than others.
He rounded the corner. His gaze cut to the office on the right.
She was there.
He sucked in a deep breath and walked closer to her door.
Then he heard her laugh.
Rachel Mancini wasn’t alone, and there was only one man that ever made her laugh.
A few more steps and he saw that Dylan Foxx was leaning over her, putting his body too close to hers.
The fool gave away too much when he looked at Rachel. He made the same mistakes that Frank Malone had made with his Jessica.
His glances were too possessive, his posture too protective.
Rachel might not feel the same way that Dylan did, but what did that matter?
He needed a distraction, someone else for the profiler and Mercer to focus on.
He’d change the order of his game. Move his pieces around the board a bit.
Rachel glanced up then. The smile was still on her pretty face as she looked at him.
Time for my attack.
He stepped into her office.
* * *
COOPER BRACED HIS body in front of Gabrielle’s. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said flatly.
Wait, who was he talking to? Gabrielle peered around his shoulder. The older man with the gray at his temples or Agent Evers?
Gabrielle pushed onto her tiptoes and tried to see a bit better.
“No.” Cooper spun around and grabbed her shoulders. “The less you know about him, the better off you are.”
Her heart slammed into her ribs. Just when she’d thought that things surely couldn’t get any worse...
“Don’t be so certain,” the man replied. “I’m here to offer Ms. Harper a very special deal, one that I think she’ll accept, if she wants to keep living.”
She met that man’s stare
, feeling a wave of shock sweep over her. “Are you threatening me?”
The man was handsome, tall, fit...and dangerous. The danger clung to him like a second skin.
Noelle Evers stood beside him, and she kept glancing nervously at the fellow.
“I don’t threaten,” the man said simply. “Threats are a waste of time. It’s actions that matter.”
Cooper dropped his hold on her.
Gabrielle shook her head. “Who are you?”
“Let’s just say I’m an old friend of your boss’s.”
Doubtful. “Are you the same ‘friend’ who convinced Hugh to take his little out-of-town trip?”
He flashed a grim smile. “Guilty.”
Okay. Her breath was icy in her lungs. She wasn’t just looking at another agent. “You’re the one in charge here, huh?”
His head inclined.
“You’re in danger,” Noelle said, her words sharp. “I think you’re the killer’s next victim.”
Was that true? Or just the EOD’s way of trying to keep Gabrielle in line?
“I believe that he’s going to come after you—” Noelle advanced toward her “—in order to hurt Cooper.”
Her temples were throbbing. “How would targeting me do anything to Cooper?”
Beside her, Cooper growled. Actually growled.
Her gaze shot to him.
“It would do plenty.” He’d never looked at her quite that way before. The intensity in his eyes scorched through her.
For a moment, Gabrielle was at a loss.
“You need protection.” The big boss seemed definite on this point. “The local cops can’t handle this killer—”
“—because he’s someone you trained, and now you can’t control him?” Yep. There she went. Saying perhaps a wee bit too much to a man who could probably make her vanish in five seconds flat. Actually, he’d already made her vanish.
Mr. Mysterious stared at her.
Just stared.
She stared back, not about to let him think he was pushing her around—even if he was.
“I want this rogue stopped,” he said clearly. “And I also want you to keep living. Despite what you may believe about me, my organization doesn’t target innocents. We save them.”
“The killer isn’t saving anyone, and he’s part of your organization.”
Mr. Mysterious glowered at her.
Noelle focused on Gabrielle. “He’s called you. He’s broken into your house.”
Gabrielle’s eyes darted to Cooper, then back to Noelle. “There seems to be a lot of that going around.”
Noelle’s lips tightened. “The next move he makes could be to kill you.”
She wasn’t in the mood to die.
Cooper’s boss straightened his, well, already ramrod-straight shoulders. “There are over two dozen of my agents currently working undercover missions. They are putting their lives on the line in order to protect innocents.” That gaze of his was practically arctic. “Before we go any farther, I have to know that I can trust you, Ms. Harper.”
Wait. He doubted her? “I’m not the one who’s been pretending here!”
“Gabrielle,” Cooper snapped out.
“Don’t ‘Gabrielle’ me.” She marched right up to Mr. Mysterious. “Look, I’m not interested in blowing the covers of your agents. I’m interested in stopping this killer. I made a promise to Kylie Archer’s little brother. I told him I’d do everything possible to give his sister justice, and I mean to do exactly that.”
“Even if the price you pay for that justice is your own life?” The man asked her. “Don’t you think that price is too steep?” His gaze slid to Cooper. “I can already tell you, he thinks it’s too high.”
“I don’t plan on dying,” she managed to say. “I’m not blowing the covers of your agents, and I’m not winding up in a morgue.” She paused. “Happy now? Can I go?”
“Once you agree to let Agent Marshall stick to your side—24/7—yes, then I’ll be...happy.”
She wasn’t sure anything could truly make this guy happy. “Why are we even playing this game? You’re going to stick me with your agent, no matter what I say.”
His eyes seemed to warm as he studied her. “Cooper was right, you know. The two of you did make a good team.”
Her gaze snapped to the mirror. She’d been in enough police stations to know how those two-way viewing mirrors worked. “I wondered how much of an audience we had.”
Apparently, a pretty big one.
Gabrielle sighed. To get out of that place, she’d be ready to promise plenty. “I agree to the deal.”
“You won’t regret it,” Cooper promised softly.
She already did. Actually, there were quite a few things she regretted concerning Cooper Marshall, but she’d shared enough with these folks.
“We’re going to be monitoring your phone line. If he calls you again, we’ll trace his call,” the big boss said.
“I’m surprised you weren’t already monitoring me,” she muttered.
Cooper’s cheeks flushed. “We were,” he confessed. “After the first phone call—”
“Right, I got it.” She shoved back her hair. “So I’m a target, the killer is coming, and I’m supposed to be the bait to lure him out. I think I’m up to speed now.” Though she’d rather not be just then.
“You’re not bait,” Cooper immediately denied. His arm brushed against hers. “You’re my partner. I keep telling you that. We’re working together from here on out.”
She wanted to believe him.
She couldn’t.
“Cooper Marshall is the only EOD agent that you should trust,” the boss told her.
Her eyebrows lifted at that warning.
“The others you’ve met—Rachel, Dylan—I don’t want you alone with any of them. Cooper was out of the country when I first became aware of the rogue. Cooper is clear.” Spoken flatly. “Trust him.”
Noelle nodded. “And I’m going to finish working up my profile. Understanding why the rogue is killing is key. He’s targeting the women first for a special reason. I—I think it’s even possible that the man we’re after lost someone that he cared about, and now he’s determined to take out his rage on the other agents. He wants them to feel the same pain, the same agony that he experienced.”
Cooper frowned. “He’s punishing us?”
“By taking away what you value most,” the boss told him. “So remember the advice I gave you. Do whatever is necessary, Cooper, to protect what matters most.”
* * *
GABRIELLE COULD ONLY see darkness. Another blindfold covered her eyes. Only this time, Cooper had been the one to blindfold her.
She might have gotten an audience with the mysterious EOD boss, but apparently she didn’t have enough clearance to learn the EOD’s address.
A door shut. Cooper took her hand, as he’d already done several times. A car engine growled, and then she heard the distinct sound of wheels rolling away.
Their ride—heading back to the EOD.
She waited, expecting Cooper to remove the blindfold.
When he didn’t, she tensed. What’s next?
His fingers curled around her elbow, and he led her forward. He guided her up a set of steps.
A wind chime sounded. A familiar sound. It was her wind chime.
Her hands lifted, and Gabrielle ripped that blindfold away.
They were back at the brownstone.
So much for not being bait.
Cooper stood beside her. He stared at her with wary eyes. The guy was right to be wary. The darkness of the night surrounded him, and the only light spilled from the porch. In that harsh light, his face seemed carved from granite. The shadows and darkness surrounded him.
He opened the front door.
Right. They couldn’t just stand out there. They’d no doubt make a perfect target if they did that.
She hurried inside and immediately went toward the stairs.
“Gabrielle.” He caught her hand, stilling her before she could escape. “My place. Day and night, remember?”
Like she could forget.
Seething, she followed him. She understood why the EOD needed to be kept secret. She understood that he was doing his job.
But why did he make love to me?
That part, she didn’t get it. The idea that he’d just been using her, trying to get close to her so that he could gather intel...that part hurt the most.
She made her way into his apartment, too aware of every move that he made. He shut the door behind her. She took five more steps—then froze. “Are we being watched?” The way she’d been watched back at the EOD?
“We could be under surveillance,” he admitted as he came toward her.
Not what she wanted to hear. “Video equipment? Audio surveillance?” The whole place could be bugged. “Did they see what we did?” Her voice was a horrified whisper.
If he’d let the other agents watch them...she felt her cheeks burn.
Cooper gave a hard shake of his head. “Do you think I would let that happen? That was about me and you, and no one else.”
Her breath rushed out in relief. She turned away.
“Don’t treat me like a stranger.”
Her hands trembled. She rubbed her fingers over her jean-clad thighs. “Isn’t that what you are? I mean, I lay down next to my lover—a living, breathing man I trusted, but then I found out that he was some secret agent, and that he’d supposedly died on a mission in Afghanistan.”
“I should have died. I was shot to hell and back—”
The image of his scars flashed through her mind.
“But somehow Mercer found out about me.”
Mercer. She filed that name into her vault.
“I don’t even know how I showed up on the guy’s radar,” Cooper continued. “He found out about me. He came for me. His Shadow Agents burst onto the scene, they dragged me out of that hell, and they brought me back to life.” His shoulders rolled back as if he were trying to push away the memory. “But by that point, everyone on my original team already thought I was dead. And it wasn’t like I had any family. I never knew my dad. Cancer took my mother when I was a teenager. Hell, I already felt like a ghost, so when Mercer made me an offer, I took it.”