As Evan turned off the TV, a shadow outside the window caught his eye. He grabbed his Sig Sauer and quietly edged to the living room, peeping through the curtain. A man dressed in black was stalking along the privacy fence, gun in hand.
Terry, how could you?
Evan moved through the house to the back door, where the intruder was probably going to make his entrance. Standing there, he had a straight view into the master bedroom.
The window was open.
Evan hadn’t opened it.
Someone was already inside.
The intruder had to be in the bedroom. Evan would have spotted him in the kitchen. The other two small bedrooms were at the front of the house.
What was he waiting on?
Carefully and quietly, Evan slid a kitchen chair in front of the back door. If anyone entered, he’d hear the chair scrape across the tile. He crept into the bedroom. Dresser on the right. Bed in the center.
He toed the door back.
Resistance.
Adrenaline rushed at the same time the attacker did.
He shoved Evan into the dresser, the mirror shaking. The intruder grabbed Evan’s wrist and slammed it against the wall, working to release his grip on the gun. Evan kneed the attacker in the gut and shoved him backward. He toppled onto the floor as the back door burst open, the wooden chair crashing onto the tile.
A second intruder pounced on Evan, slamming his fist into his cheek. The warmth of blood filled his mouth. He reached for the gun he’d dropped and the other attacker kicked it away, pointed his gun at Evan’s head.
Evan grabbed the attacker from the back door and used him as a shield.
“Evan!”
Jody?
“Novak!”
Wilder?
“They have guns!” Evan hollered.
The armed attacker hurdled the bed and bolted through the window. The second attacker went for the same route, but Evan grabbed his ankle, pulling him down and cracking his jaw.
Jody entered the room, gun in her right hand, looking exhausted and pale. What was she doing here? She wasn’t supposed to be released from the hospital yet.
Wilder entered behind her.
Evan kept the assailant pinned to the floor while Jody kept her aim on him. “Take his mask off. Let’s see this slimeball.”
He hesitated. So many questions right now. Like why was Jody here? And why wouldn’t she look directly at him? Evan peeled off the mask to reveal a total stranger. “You trying to earn that two mil?” Evan asked.
His dark eyes held contempt, but behind it was surprise. Earning a fee for Evan’s death was news to him. “I don’t know nothing.”
The guy couldn’t be over twenty-five. A decent-looking kid, but hardened from life. His breath smelled of whiskey. A scar ran across his bottom lip. “Who hired you to kill me?”
“I don’t know nothing.”
“Which means you know something or you missed English class, my friend,” Wilder said, and stepped forward, a dark strand of black hair falling in his eyes. He squatted and placed the barrel of the gun between the boy’s eyes. “That’s a double negative. Either way, I don’t care.” He pressed it in, sending the attacker into a panic-laced spasm. “Name and who hired you to come here.”
“No one hired me.”
Wilder’s eyes narrowed and he slid the barrel of the gun onto the tip of the guy’s nose. “You don’t give me the answer I’m after, I won’t think twice about puttin’ a slug right through your snot-box.” Even Evan wasn’t sure if Wilder was serious or not. The man clearly knew how to be scary, but then, he’d been a SEAL.
Evan grabbed the attacker’s shirt and gave him a good shake.
“Okay...but...I’m dead either way.” His voice came out nasally from Wilder’s gun still pressing into his nose.
“Name? Who do you work for?” Evan asked.
“Jose Rodriguez, and I work for Robert Ramos.”
Evan shook his head. Name didn’t ring a bell. “Why are you here?”
The attacker went cross-eyed as he stared at the gun on his nose. Evan motioned for Wilder to let up. He complied and the man gritted his teeth. “What kind of deal am I going to get? I need witness protection or something!”
They couldn’t make deals, but they didn’t have time to make the necessary calls. Besides, this guy might be blowing smoke. Evan read him his rights. He wanted this to go down properly. “Tell us what you know and we’ll see what we can do.”
“Robert Ramos runs guns. From the Philippines.”
“Ghost guns,” Evan said.
“Yeah. He got wind he’d made a deal with the Law. That you—” he looked directly at Evan “—were running some kind of task force to take Ramos and his business down.”
“By who?” Evan asked.
“I don’t know. Above my pay grade. I do what I’m told and I was told to come here and eliminate you.”
“By Ramos himself? Or someone else?”
“David Knightly. Works for Ramos. And once Mario gets back to him and tells him I was caught, I’ll be dead.”
Evan filed the names away. Mario was the attacker who got away. David Knightly was a middle man for the guy Evan had been trying to bring down—Robert Ramos. But without either one of them in custody to interrogate, Evan wasn’t sure if Lawman1 had spilled it to Ramos or if Terry Pratt had done it himself. Either way, they had to be working in tandem.
Jody limped forward. “Do you know who attacked me at the hospital today?”
What? Evan snapped his head in Jody’s direction. Jody had been attacked? Rage coursed through his veins and he tightened his grip on this guy’s shirt, but the real rage he directed toward himself.
Evan hadn’t been there like he’d said he would.
No wonder she wore such a cool expression.
He’d made her a promise.
And he’d broken it.
He could hardly breathe. He was his dad. There was no overcoming it.
Why had he made that stupid move?
“I asked about my attack,” Jody said.
“No! I don’t know nothing about that. I promise!” Jose shook his head like a dog on a bone.
Evan jerked him up and to his feet. He wasn’t sure who to call to have this idiot carted off and further questioned. He was a fugitive and couldn’t reveal his whereabouts. Terry was a traitor. “Were you at the junkyard when the deal went south?”
“Maybe.”
That was a yes.
Wilder pulled his phone. “I have a local FBI friend. August Fenner. I’ll have him here to deal with this moron.” Wilder hit a button on his phone. “Hey, August, how ya doing?...Cashing in a favor, bud...As a matter of fact it will require discretion.” He tossed Evan a pair of cuffs and exited the room.
Evan cuffed Jose and peeked at Jody, shame begging him to turn away, but he had to know, had to see into those blue eyes. “What happened to you today?”
Instantly he regretted it. If looks could melt a person, Evan would be a puddle of goo right now.
“I woke up to a pillow over my face.”
“That was not me!” Jose insisted.
“Shut up!” Evan bellowed. He waited for Jody to continue. He should have been there. “And?”
“And I decided on an early checkout.” She remained tight-lipped. Cool. If Evan reached out, he was certain he’d be able to touch a tangible wall she’d erected between them. A wall that had crumbled in the few short days they’d been together.
This time it felt impenetrable.
He had no one to blame but himself. Now wasn’t the time to press further. “We have to find Terry.”
“Oh, I know,” Jody said, laying on heavy condescension, eyes narrowed but hazy from the pain meds. “That’s your priority. Getting cleared. Getting your honorable reputation back
and making sure your precious name and identity isn’t tarnished.”
Evan couldn’t breathe.
He did want all those things but not more than he wanted her to be safe, but his actions weren’t declaring that. All she saw was another promise broken. He’d made a choice to leave hoping to protect her and he’d failed in every sense of the word.
What could he say? Sorry?
She wouldn’t believe him. The past was there to affirm it.
Evan had stopped believing Dad’s apologies, too, even when he had seen desperation in his eyes. There wasn’t a thing he could say or do and certainly not here in front of this thug.
His lungs turned to iron.
His head spun.
How could he make this right? If there was any way at all.
“Jody, I meant Terry Pratt has proved he’s our guy. He knows you’re alive.”
Jody’s jaw dropped. “My suspicion was right. You left me and used me as bait knowing I was drugged up and not at my best! I trusted you—” She glanced at Jose and held her tongue.
She’d finally given him her trust and he’d blown it. Panic gripped him. “That is not what happened. I—”
“August will be here in five.” Wilder popped back in the room but slid a glance from Jody to Evan. The tension was palpable. “So...he knows everything, Evan, and he’s willing to risk some things for me...for you. We can trust him.”
Evan didn’t ask questions. His head was spinning.
Wilder frowned.
“Why didn’t you tell me she’d been attacked when we were on the phone earlier?” Evan asked.
“Because it happened while I was on the phone with you.” Wilder eyed Jody. “You told him everything?”
“She did not.” Evan worked his jaw. What was everything?
“I’m fine,” Jody said, and stormed from the room—best someone could with a bum leg.
Wilder’s eyes gave the truth away.
It hadn’t just been an attack. It had been a serious close call.
A knock came.
FBI.
* * *
Jody sipped a cup of hot tea in the CCM kitchen. Two days had passed since Jose Rodriguez had been taken in and questioned by the FBI. Special Agent Fenner must really owe Wilder a big one—one that could jeopardize his own career. Basically, he was aiding and abetting fugitives for Wilder, but he’d been a SEAL with him, so there was some kind of brotherhood and loyalty that ran thicker than blood.
None of which Evan would know about.
Except deep within, Jody knew that wasn’t true. He was loyal to the Secret Service and he’d never been unfaithful to her during all their dating years. At the moment, she was nursing a tender heart. Questioning herself. Evan.
They’d lain low at CCM. It was an iffy move, but with the kind of surveillance they had around the property, they’d know if law enforcement was descending or camping out, spying. They’d see a drone. Hear a chopper. But Terry Pratt knew Evan was in Atlanta—somewhere. Jody doubted he’d tell his supervisor that information—whether he was a good guy or bad, it could land him in prison. He’d also aided and abetted a fugitive regardless of his motives.
Evan hadn’t taken off to Mexico. That was a surprise, but now that he had Jose and was convinced Terry Pratt was the dirty agent, he’d want to stick close. Catch his man. Jody felt the bitterness and prayed that God would help her work through the feelings that cropped up unwanted.
Evan should catch his man. They’d stripped him of everything he held dear. He was on the run but innocent. She shouldn’t fault him for doing everything in his power as quickly as possible to right this injustice.
But her heart didn’t think logically—it shouted that he’d abandoned her again and broken a promise.
She limped to the kitchen to pour another cup of tea.
Citrus and cinnamon.
The last forty-eight hours, Jody had secluded herself in her apartment. In part because she didn’t want to see Evan. But she needed the rest and recovery time. Evan had either respected that or didn’t have the words to apologize to make things right.
But here he was now.
“I want to talk to you.” He spoke softly, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“About what?” Jody kept her eyes on the electric teakettle.
“What happened in the hospital. I would never use you as bait. I never told Terry you were there. I was trying to protect you.”
She spun around. “Fat lot of good that did.”
Evan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I regret the choice I made, Jody. I should have stayed.”
Jody refused to cry, to cave. She couldn’t take any more pain and suffering in the name of Evan Novak. She needed a clean break. For good. “You promised you’d stay. Would one more hour or two...a day have killed you?”
“No.” He hung his head.
Jody set her cup of tea on the counter. “I’m not sorry for forgiving you. I needed it for myself. But I am sorry I trusted you again.” Everything was shattering inside. She swallowed the growing lump burning her throat. “I’ll see you to the end. Like I promised. Then that’s it, Evan.”
Evan’s nostrils flared and his jaw twitched. “I did it for you.”
Evan’s need to be everything his father wasn’t had him bound. His desire to show he was a man of honor, good reputation and respect in the public eye had destroyed everything in his personal life. Anger passed and nothing was left but loss and regret and pity.
“No,” she murmured, “you did it for you.” She faced him. “You didn’t have to show yourself a hero by leaving me to take down a bad guy. Staying by my side would have proved that.” Tears pooled in her eyes against her will. “You’re the only man I’ve ever loved. And you’re the only one who’s broken my heart. Repeatedly. I’m such an idiot. I thought that maybe the new you and me could be something again, even after everything that happened between us.”
“Jody—”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I needed you again. And you let me believe I had you. I don’t think I’ve ever had you, Evan.” She strangled a cry and tried to blink away the hot tears.
“That’s not true,” he whispered.
“You never committed to me.”
“I did. I was always faithful to you,” he pleaded.
“You wouldn’t even marry me.” She inhaled sharply. “And I’m done. I have to be done. For good. Forever.”
The sharp lines of his Adam’s apple bobbed with his swallow. A sheen filmed his eyes, but he studied her, searching for truth. Look closely, Evan. I mean it.
Pain flickered across his face when it became apparent he’d recognized she meant every word, as much as it hurt to say it. He gave a resolute nod. “Jo, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved—the only woman I’ll ever love. But I’ve done it badly.” He raked a hand through his hair. “And I am sorry. But you’re right. I have hurt you repeatedly and—”
Wilder burst into the kitchen with Cosette hot on his heels. Looked like they’d been in some kind of argument again. “I need coffee and I have news.”
“Wilder Flynn!” Cosette stood with her hands on her hips, red lips pursed.
“Nope.” He swung open a cabinet door and yanked out a mug. “Go away.”
Cosette’s face turned as cherry as her lips. “Everyone on our team includes you. It’s important.”
“I’m busy.” Wilder poured a cup and drank it deep and black. “Jose Rodriguez cut a deal with the DA and offered up Robert Ramos. His assets have been frozen. FBI analysts are working through his accounts now. Warrant is out for Ramos’s arrest.”
Evan frowned. “I want access to those accounts, too.”
“Had a feeling you’d say that.” He raised his mug to Cosette. “I’m the boss. End of discussion.” He and Evan waltzed out of the kitchen, and Cosette w
ent to blabbering in Cajun French and stormed out behind them.
Lord, Evan didn’t fight for me. Not then. Not now.
He’d agreed without an explanation.
Never even responded to her statement about marriage.
But this time she would trust God. For healing. For renewed hope. For strength.
An hour later, Jody entered Wheezer’s office. Organized chaos. Wilder and Evan loomed over him.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Agent Fenner called. Ramos is in custody. He’s not talking—may never—but his hard drives are telling some of the tale,” Evan said. “I need to know who Terry Pratt notified about me being alive and in the safe house.”
“How long until you’ll know anything?” Jody asked, trying not to make too much eye contact with Evan.
“We set up the gun trade two weeks ago, so they’ll make that time frame a priority. See if there are any emails between Terry Pratt and Ramos—or Lawman1 and Ramos. Of course this all depends on whether or not they were making their emails untraceable.”
Seemed like they were hunting a needle in a haystack. “What about phone records? They subpoena those, too?” Jody eased onto the black leather sofa, her leg throbbing and needing a break.
Evan nodded. “They’ll be looking—”
Wilder’s phone rang. “Hello.” He listened for a few moments and grinned. “Thanks.” He hung up. “Ramos used his private email and we have who informed him of the gun deal sting. It was Lawman1.”
Evan frowned. “We only have Ramos’s emails. He might have been stupid enough to use his private email with no encryption, but you can bank that Lawman1 did. They won’t be able to trace his IP address.”
Jody propped her leg up and winced. “Well, we know Lawman1 was told first, and while it could be anyone on your task force, Pratt only knew that we were alive...and our locations.”
“I didn’t tell him, Jody.” Evan rubbed the back of his neck. “I knew revealing I was alive would make me a bull’s-eye, but I’d never endanger you.”
Wilder looked at his phone and groaned, then narrowed his eyes. “I think it was me.”
“You?”
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