by Cynthia Eden
Hell.
I am so screwed.
Cale squared his shoulders and looked back into Cassidy’s beautiful eyes. “I knew you had secrets.” He just hadn’t realized that those secrets were this personal.
He squeezed her shoulders and got ready to face his punishment.
A faint line appeared between Cassidy’s brows. “Wait….What’s happening?”
He moved to stand across from Mercer. The thick carpet swallowed his footsteps. “Am I out? Is it time for me to clean out my desk?” He should have known that the gig wouldn’t last long. So much for being a part of a team again. He’d done this, crossed the line and—
“Mercer, no!” Cassidy was right by Cale’s side. “I’m the one who wanted to go after the Executioner. I’m the one who—”
“Ian Gagnon.”
Cale frowned at Mercer’s curt response. “What?”
“The Executioner. His real name was Ian Gagnon. I received a report on him right before you two arrived.” He exhaled slowly. “And, Cale, I owe you…” It sounded like the man was choking. “Thank you for protecting my daughter. You took a bullet to keep her safe.”
“Barely a scratch,” Cale muttered.
“Cassidy’s strong-willed, just like her mother was.” Sadness there, a whisper that slid into Mercer’s voice then vanished. “I knew she was trying to track down Gagnon—for years. Ever since Helen…” He shook his head and turned his focus back to Cassidy. “I had my team looking for him, too, but the guy was like a damn ghost. He’d take his victims, use them, kill them and vanish. I was working to bring him to justice, I swear that I was…I just—I didn’t want you in his target range. I wanted you safe.”
“But I kept hunting him.”
Mercer nodded. “You didn’t realize that it wasn’t just about the money for him. It was the secrets.”
Cale felt his gut clench. He knew where this was going. In this business, the right secrets were better than gold. No. They were gold.
“Helen…her father was an Irish diplomat. It started with her—Helen’s ransom was for cash and intel. When her father wouldn’t give the man what he wanted, Helen died. Anytime the families didn’t share their connections—the classified information that they had at their fingertips—then their daughters didn’t come home.”
And if this Gagnon had realized who Cassidy was to Mercer…the man would’ve been given access to some of the deadliest intel in the world.
Cale shook his head.
“Now you realize just how much was riding on Cassidy’s safety,” Mercer murmured.
Yeah, he did.
“And you realize—” Mercer’s bushy brows lowered “—how grateful the EOD is to you both for finally tracking down the Executioner. You’ve just taken down one of the most wanted men in the world.” He lifted a finger and pointed at Cassidy. “It was dangerous. It was reckless. It was—”
“You’re welcome,” Cassidy told him as a smile spread over her face.
Mercer blinked at her, looking confused.
Oh, yeah, she does that to people. Even to her own father.
“Helen can rest now,” Cassidy said. “And for once, I won’t dream and hear her begging me for help.” She glanced at Cale. “I was supposed to be with her that night. We were supposed to leave the pub together, but Helen had met a guy and she wanted to stay and dance and dance….” Cassidy swallowed. “I was tired. I took a cab home. I left her.”
And the guilt had eaten away at her ever since.
“I never saw Helen again after that. Not alive, anyway.”
So she’d made it her mission to get justice for her friend.
“It’s over now,” Cassidy said with a nod. “I can move on.”
Just what did that mean? Cale realized that he wasn’t ready for Cassidy to move past him. He wanted her to stay with him. He wanted her.
So what if she was Mercer’s daughter? He wasn’t afraid of the director. No one was going to stand between him and Cassidy.
“You’re safe now,” Mercer told Cassidy.
But Cale wasn’t so sure about that. Would the EOD director’s daughter ever be truly safe? Mercer had plenty of dangerous enemies, and if one of them ever found out about Cassidy…
His eyes met Mercer’s. That’s why you keep guards on her, isn’t it? It was also the reason no one knew about her.
But now Cale realized the truth, and he was sure that Drew knew—or suspected.
“I made sure that your apartment in town was ready,” Mercer told Cassidy. “I’ll get an escort to take you over, and we can finish briefing in the morning.”
Briefing? Was that honestly the way that the man talked to his daughter?
“I should have waited,” Mercer continued. “But I needed to see you with my own eyes. I had to make sure.” His lips twisted. “Well, I’m sure now. You’re all right. I’m starting to realize you’re a whole lot stronger than I believed.”
Yes, she is.
Cassidy turned for the door. So did Cale. But Mercer stopped him, calling out, “I’m going to need you to stay a few minutes longer, Agent Lane.”
Ah, so he wasn’t out of the woods just yet.
Cassidy stepped toward Cale. He caught her hand. “Wait for me. We need to…talk.”
The leather of Mercer’s chair squeaked.
Cassidy nodded; then she slipped soundlessly from the room.
As soon as she was gone, Cale knew that the gloves would be coming off.
“Agent Lane.” Now Mercer was back to his growling, fierce self. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter?”
Cale kept his hands at his sides. “You’re the one who sent me to down Rio. If you didn’t want me near her—”
“I wanted you close because you’re a damn good agent. I thought you’d do your job and keep her safe.”
“The case is over.” They should be clear on this. “But my involvement with Cassidy isn’t.”
Mercer rose. “An involvement isn’t going to happen.”
He hadn’t been asking for permission.
“The EOD is the most dangerous thing in Cassidy’s life. Being my daughter puts a target on her that you can’t imagine.”
He could imagine plenty.
“What the hell do you think would happen if our enemies found out that Cassidy was both my daughter and that she was involved with an EOD agent? They’d use her against us. They would hurt her. They’d—”
“No one hurts Cassidy on my watch.” The words were quiet, cold. Lethal.
Mercer stared at him with a measuring gaze. “That better be a promise, Lane.”
It was a guarantee.
* * *
“READY?”
Cassidy whirled at Cale’s warm voice. He strolled out of Mercer’s office looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Most people looked terrified after having closed-door meetings with her father.
But Cale almost seemed happy as he reached for her hand and led her into the elevator.
When the doors closed, when they had a precious minute of privacy, she had to know. “Just what happened in there?”
“Mercer and I got a few things straight.”
Oh, had they?
“The mission is over.”
Did that mean another agent would be coming to protect her? Always another agent lurking in the back of her life, skimming the shadows.
“I’ve got some time coming my way,” Cale continued. “And I…I want to spend that time with you.”
Hope—real happiness—began to unfurl within her. “You do?”
He nodded and closed in on her. His fingers slid around her, flattening on the walls of the elevator and caging her in.
She rather liked
being caged in with him.
“This isn’t about a case. It’s about us.” His eyes searched hers. “I want you, Cassidy Sherridan.”
He knew who her father was—he knew her most closely guarded secret. He wasn’t running. He wasn’t intimidated.
He…
Wants me?
“I want you,” she whispered back.
He smiled at her. Her breath caught. The man had a killer smile.
She thought he would kiss her. He didn’t. He eased back right before the elevator glided to a stop. But his fingers laced with hers as he led her through the lobby.
She’d always been nervous, scared, when she’d been in that building before. But Cassidy didn’t feel scared then. She was with Cale.
He made her feel safe.
They brushed by the guards and headed out into the night.
She caught sight of Gunner and Logan. They were outside, probably returning to their own homes. A completed mission. They could all—
The crack of a gunshot broke the night. Even as the sound filled her ears, Cale was pushing Cassidy to the ground and covering her with his body. She hit the pavement with an impact that rattled her bones.
Again? Won’t it ever stop?
But, no, it wasn’t stopping. Because she heard more shots, blasting away.
She heard voices yelling. Heard Cale swearing softly above her. He’d pulled his weapon, but he wasn’t running to chase the shooter. He was staying with her.
Guarding her.
“Get him! Northwest corner!” Cale yelled. “Now!”
Someone had just taken a shot—several shots—at them. No, wait…had the shot been aimed at Cale?
Or me?
“We’re getting out of here.” Then he was pulling her up, shielding her as he seemed to do too many times. They didn’t run for a vehicle, though, not like before.
Instead, they raced back inside the EOD—back into the safety of that building with its bulletproof glass.
Mercer was running toward them in the lobby. “What the hell is happening?”
Cale’s fingers brushed over Cassidy’s arm. “Someone just took a shot at Cassidy.” Cale’s voice was grim.
And Cassidy realized that her illusion of safety had just been shattered.
The case might be over, but the threats to her—because of who she was—were always there.
* * *
CASSIDY SHERRIDAN WAS a dead woman.
Rage pumped through the shooter’s body, a killing fury that had to be unleashed.
Cassidy wasn’t in sight any longer. She’d rushed back inside that nondescript building.
I know about that place. The EOD’s headquarters.
Secrets had revealed that location. The right leverage, applied to the right people. With that kind of deadly leverage, anything and everything could be revealed.
Cassidy’s agent had rushed her inside. He’d moved too quickly, responding even as the bullet had whistled through the air on its way to Cassidy’s heart.
The bullet should have hit Cassidy’s heart.
But Cale had saved her. How had he known about the bullet? How?
The shooter hurried away. A getaway vehicle was waiting. A retreat now, but another attack would come, soon enough.
The Executioner wasn’t gone. He had one last victim to claim.
Cassidy Sherridan wouldn’t get to walk away.
Instead, she would get to join her dear friend Helen in the ground.
CHAPTER SEVEN
If he’d moved slower, if he’d ignored the kick in his gut that had screamed of danger, then Cassidy would be dead.
Cassidy sat in Mercer’s office, looking dazed and lost in Mercer’s leather chair.
Did she realize that shot had been meant for her? He’d shoved her to the ground, and the bullet had sunk into the bricks in the wall—bricks that had been right behind Cassidy.
The shooter had aimed for her heart.
Now Mercer was out there, demanding answers, and Cale had no answers to give him.
“Thank you.” Cassidy’s quiet voice.
His head jerked up.
“You keep saving me.” A ghost of a smile curved her pale lips, but her dimple didn’t appear. “It’s a habit you seem to have.”
He stepped toward her, helpless.
“Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been in danger my whole life. I’ve never…never gotten to just walk down a street without a guard on me. Never gone to a football game and sat in a crowd. Never done so much…because I’m Bruce Mercer’s weakness.” Her lips compressed as the smile vanished. “I learned that fact when I was eight, you see. When I was taken.”
Every muscle in his body clenched. “Taken?”
Her fingers drummed on the desk. The move gave him pause—Mercer did the same drumming movement, in that exact position, when the man was in deep thought.
“I was with my mother. We were going on a trip to meet Mercer.” She licked her lips as her fingers stopped drumming. “We didn’t make it.”
He was by her side in an instant. The pain in her voice shattered him. “Cassidy…”
“Mercer has a lot of enemies,” she whispered. “You don’t get to his position by playing nice.”
No, you didn’t. And Mercer had been in the business of death for decades.
“I don’t…I don’t think they meant to kill my mother. Maybe just to take her, too, but she fought them, and one of the men had a gun.”
Her gaze was so far away.
“It was raining that day. Perhaps that’s why a gunshot still reminds me of thunder.”
He wanted her in his arms, but Cassidy looked so brittle then.
So breakable.
“I knew she was dead. With that much blood, even a child knew.” She swallowed. “They put me in their van, and they rushed away. I don’t… I don’t know what would have happened to me if Mercer’s men hadn’t rushed to the scene so quickly. They followed them. I knew they were there for me when I heard the sound of more thunder.”
This was the spoiled princess? Hell, no.
“An agent pulled me from the van. Took me away, but I looked back. I saw the bodies left behind. In this business, there are always bodies, aren’t there?”
He’d left his share of bodies in Rio.
“I didn’t ask for this.” Now anger pulsed in her words. “You and Mercer, this is the world you chose, but I didn’t.” Cassidy pushed to her feet. “I don’t want this.”
I don’t want you.
He stiffened. Cassidy hadn’t said those words. She’d told him less than thirty minutes ago that she did want him, but right then the woman was sure putting off get-away-from-me vibes.
He didn’t blame her.
The door opened behind him. Cale glanced over his shoulder. Gunner stood there. With his sniper expertise, Gunner had been the first to rush toward that northwest strike zone.
“Tell me you found him,” Cale demanded.
Gunner shook his head. “No. The guy had cleared out before I got up there.”
“Sydney’s ordering a scan on all the security cameras in the area—she’s going to pull in traffic cams, too. She might be able to spot him out there.”
“Who’s Sydney?” Cassidy asked from her position behind Mercer’s desk.
“My wife.” Gunner’s voice was quiet.
Surprise flickered over Cassidy’s face.
Before Gunner could say anything else, Mercer pushed into the room. His face was set in determined lines, and he moved with a hard, nervous energy. “They think that they’re going to come to my door, take a shot at my—” He broke off, sending a hard glance toward Gunner. “At my asset? No, no, this does not happen.” He pointed at Cale. “Get Cassidy to the saf
e house on Donaghey—”
“But I want to go home,” Cassidy interrupted, voice sharp. “You said my apartment was ready.”
“And the shooter might already know all about your home.” Mercer shook his head. “No, it’s not safe. You have to—”
“I’m never safe. Haven’t we learned that?”
The bitterness from Cassidy just seemed wrong.
Mercer flinched.
“I won’t ever be safe, not totally.” She walked from behind the desk. “And I’m so tired of living in the prison that you make for me.”
A prison made of agents, always watching her movements.
“You might not like it, but you’re going to have to stay under guard.” Mercer had locked his jaw. “Until we can find out who we are up against, you have to keep up with your protection.”
Cale could see the fury staining Cassidy’s cheeks. “Fine. But I’ll choose my agent.” She turned, looked straight at Cale and said, “I choose him.”
Mercer didn’t look particularly surprised by that choice. Gunner did.
Mercer began, “I don’t know about continuing your protection with Cale. Drew Lancaster is—”
“Not my choice,” Cassidy finished. “Cale is the one who just saved my life. Cale is the one that I want.”
Her words made his heart beat faster. Harder.
Mercer crossed to his side, paused in front of him so that they stood toe-to-toe. “You guard her with your life. Got me, son?”
He didn’t need Mercer to tell him that.
“I’ve got her.” And that was all that mattered.
“Go out through the parking garage. I’ve arranged for transportation there.” Mercer stepped back. He looked at Cassidy and paused as if he wanted to say more.
But he didn’t.
How long had the wall been there, blocking the man from actually talking to his daughter?
Cassidy headed for the door.
Cale made sure he was with her every step of the way.
“Cassidy!” Mercer’s voice.
She looked back at him.
“I’ll find the shooter,” he promised her.
Cassidy nodded. “But what happens next time?” Her smile was brittle. “Isn’t there always a next time?”