by Cynthia Eden
Because he doesn’t want them to know about me.
Mercer never wanted anyone to know the full truth. Not unless it was absolutely necessary. Because of that secrecy, he’d sent these agents out hunting, blind.
But come 0600, they wouldn’t be so blind any longer.
* * *
“THE LOCAL COPS have no leads on Genevieve Chevalier’s abduction,” Logan Quinn said, shoving a frustrated hand through his hair. “With Carnival taking over the city, they are too short-staffed and in way over their heads to handle this case.”
A case that was the work of a professional killer and his crew. “You ever hear of a guy called the Executioner?” Cale asked him, cocking his head as he waited for Logan’s response.
Logan was their team leader, the guy who’d earned the moniker of Alpha One in the field. If anyone had intel on the Executioner, it should be him.
And, sure enough, Logan stiffened. “The Executioner? Hell, it fits.” Disgust thickened his voice. “He goes after the society princesses—takes them, ransoms them and, half the time, he kills them for sport.”
That wasn’t exactly what Cale had wanted to hear. He and Logan had headed into the back room while Gunner Ortez, the team’s very deadly ex-SEAL sniper, stayed in the den area to keep tabs on Cassidy.
“I guess this mission just became about hostage rescue,” Cale said as he turned away from Logan to glance quickly toward the den. Good thing the EOD agents specialized in that area. Even before he’d joined the EOD, Cale had worked plenty of rescue cases on his own. He’d slipped in and out of more hellholes than he could count, rescuing folks that others had given up for dead.
Logan didn’t speak.
Cale glanced back at him. “The locals can’t handle this. We can.” Heading in and out of the dangerous spots that most would never dream of entering and saving those who couldn’t be saved was their area of expertise.
Cale’s phone rang just as Logan opened his mouth to speak. He glanced down, realizing the time. 0600. Mercer was always punctual. He answered the call immediately. “Cale—”
“Is Cassidy in the room?” Mercer’s rough voice barked without bothering with any niceties. That was Mercer’s way, always cutting through the bull.
“No,” Cale said. “But Logan is.” He figured Mercer would want to brief him, too.
He figured right.
“Put me on speaker.”
Done.
“I know Genevieve Chevalier was taken a few hours ago,” Mercer announced. He would. Did anything happen that the EOD director wasn’t aware of? “But tell me,” Mercer continued, voice even harder, “that Cassidy doesn’t know about her abduction yet.”
An odd thing to say. “Cassidy knows.”
Mercer swore. “She is not to go after Genevieve, understand?”
“But as an EOD agent, she can—” Logan began.
“Cassidy isn’t an EOD agent. She’s an asset, one that I want brought back into the office immediately.”
An asset. The lingo used to describe a person who had intel that was often vital to the EOD’s success.
Logan stepped closer as he frowned down at Cale’s phone. “What about Chevalier? Cale thinks the Executioner may be at work here, and I have to agree with him. Genevieve’s abduction sure seems to fit the victim profile developed for that killer.”
“Cale’s been talking to Cassidy.” A new note had entered Mercer’s voice. One that Cale couldn’t quite understand. “Be careful with her, Cale. Before you know it, Cassidy will have manipulated you into doing anything that she wants. I’ve seen it happen before, with plenty of other agents.”
Those words caused tension to harden Cale’s muscles. But he’d already known that Cassidy was a manipulator, hadn’t he? The instant Cassidy came toward him with her eyes lit with desire, when she put those silken lips against his and so softly whispered...
Help me.
His body had responded instantly to her. How could he not respond to that sensual invitation? But he’d suspected—damn it—that she was just trying to use him.
Use his desire for her to get exactly what she wanted.
“Cassidy Sherridan is to be brought back to the D.C. office right away.” Now there was no emotion in Mercer’s voice. Just a cold demand. “Cale, you bring her back, got it? I’ll send a separate team down to hunt the Executioner—”
“But we’re already here, sir,” Logan cut in, his frown deepening. “Even if Cale leaves with the woman, Gunner and I can do recon work. We can find this bastard. We can save Chevalier.”
“I want you watching Cale’s back,” was Mercer’s fast response. “Guard them every second that Cale and Cassidy are down there. I know those SOBs already made a grab for Cassidy once, and I won’t have her falling into their hands. Cassidy’s safety is the priority. She’s to be brought back to the U.S. Once I know she’s safe, then I’ll make sure that the Executioner is handled.”
Cale didn’t like this plan. Not when a woman’s life was in the balance. “We don’t know how much time Chevalier has,” Cale snapped, unable to hold back his anger. Just letting a woman stay in a killer’s hands? No. That wasn’t the way he worked. “We’re here, we can—”
“Another team is already en route. And the Executioner... I know how he works,” Mercer muttered. “He’ll be leaving the country ASAP.”
All the more reason for them to hunt him, then.
“Get Cassidy back here, Cale, and that’s an order.” There was a whip of command in the words. “Cassidy is the mission. Bring her back. Stay with her, and get her back to D.C. in one piece.”
So much for the full briefing that he’d wanted.
Bodyguard duty was continuing, and Genevieve Chevalier—she was just going to be left on her own?
He ended the call and fought to calm the fury that was growing in him. He hadn’t agreed to join the EOD so he could stand back while a woman was tortured and killed.
“Cale...you heard the director.” Logan was studying him worriedly.
Yes, he’d heard the director.
Jaw locking, Cale gritted his teeth. “Are we just going to leave Genevieve here?”
Cassidy wouldn’t want that. He already knew just what kind of fight he’d have on his hands as soon as he tried to force her from Rio.
His gaze guarded, Logan said, “We follow orders.”
Right. That was what good soldiers did.
Only...they weren’t still in the military.
A plan began to form in his head. Protecting Cassidy was Mercer’s stated priority. And as he protected Cassidy, both Logan and Gunner were supposed to have his back.
So where Cassidy went...
We all go.
A grim smile pulled at his lips. Maybe Cassidy would get the help she wanted from him, after all.
And she didn’t even have to seduce him in order to get it.
Huh. That was a pity.
* * *
WHEN CALE CAME out of the back room he had a backpack thrown over his shoulder. Cassidy noted the bulge of his weapon under his arm.
She jumped to her feet. “You talked to Mercer.” Genevieve is gone. It’s happening again. I have to help her!
A curt nod from Cale. “It looks like you’ve got yourself an escort back to the U.S.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She hadn’t even realized the denial had come from her until she heard his clipped response. “We can’t leave! We have to help Genevieve!”
“A ransom demand hasn’t been given to her family yet,” Logan said. Cassidy thought she saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes, but that flash vanished too quickly for her to be certain.
“How do you know that they haven’t made contact?” Cassidy fired back, desperate. “They could have—”
“The EOD knows. Mercer assured us that he’s keeping tabs on the situation.”
“No, he’s keeping tabs on me.” There was plenty of bitterness in her voice.
“Because you’re an as
set?” Cale had taken a few more steps toward her.
Cassidy flinched. “Is that what I am?” It figured that Mercer had pulled the old asset card. He’d used that before. Her trick of blending truth and lies? She’d learned it from him. Learned it before she’d even learned how to drive a car.
Some lessons were taught early, and you never forgot them.
“According to Mercer—” it was Logan talking again—the other agent, Gunner, hadn’t spoken to her at all while the others had been gone “—you’re an important asset that has to be escorted back to D.C., pronto.”
This couldn’t be happening. One of that bunch had to be sane. “You’re all going to escort me away while Genevieve dies? While she’s tortured?” If they wouldn’t help her, she’d have to help herself—and Genevieve. “Look, those guys—the Executioner’s men—they want me. They came to that ballroom looking for me.” Cale had been right there when they’d shouted her name.
“What they wanted was to kill you hours ago. That was a bullet that came your way in the alley,” Cale said, his hand tightening on the strap of his pack. “Not an abduction attempt.”
The guy was missing the obvious. She gave a little growl of her own as she tried to explain what he should know. “They tried to kill you, not me. I saved your hide, cowboy.” And she still hadn’t received any gratitude for that.
Logan slanted what could have been an amused glance Cale’s way.
“Cowboy?”
What? Now Gunner speaks?
She ignored him and focused completely on Cale. “I saved you, so now you owe me. Help me find Genevieve—or at least, just, please, give me my own fighting chance to save her.” Get out of my way and let me help my friend.
But he wasn’t showing any signs of giving in to her. “I have my orders.”
Her shoulders slumped. Cale was just like the others. A robot, following all of Mercer’s commands without question. Even if it meant that an innocent woman died.
Cassidy wasn’t like that. She wasn’t a robot, and she didn’t care how angry Mercer became. After all, what was he going to do to her? Send his agents to control her life? Keep her locked up? Secluded?
Been there, done that. Over and over again.
The other agents weren’t helping her. Cale wasn’t helping. So it was up to her to get the job done.
Maybe the fact that they were all underestimating her... Maybe that would be her trump card. She just had to wait for the perfect moment....
Cassidy let her shoulders sag a little more as if she truly were defeated. “When do we leave?” Her voice came out soft, sad. She was being careful not to let that telling hitch—as Cale called it—slip out.
“Now.”
What? She’d sure have to act fast.
“We’ll head to the airport right now,” Cale continued in his getting-it-done voice. She decided she hated that voice as he added, “You’ll be back in D.C. by nightfall.”
Her thoughts raced. “I don’t have my passport. We’ll have to go back to my room and get it.”
The Executioner’s men might still be watching her hotel. They’d better be watching.
Because she needed them to find her.
And take her.
Chapter Four
She had to hurt Cale in order for her escape to work. She didn’t want to hurt him, but there was no choice. Sometimes, you had to play dirty in this world.
The SUV—Cale’s ride, which had been waiting outside the safe house—pulled to a stop near the side of her hotel. Not the main entrance, because they didn’t exactly want the valet staff there advertising their presence, but the staff entrance. A quick in-and-out trip. The other two EOD agents were about twenty feet behind them, waiting across the street. Watching them carefully.
Cassidy’s fingers flattened against her jean-clad thighs. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?” She had to try one more time.
Cale turned off the engine and gave a slow shake of his head.
Her breath expelled in a rush. Right. Just what she’d thought.
I’m sorry, Cale. And she was. Hurting people wasn’t her normal style.
Then Cale was exiting the vehicle and coming around to her side so very quickly. When she climbed out, he kept his body close to hers, shadowing her every step.
Protecting her.
While she prepared to hurt him.
Cale had never searched her. He probably should have done that. If he’d searched her when he’d first found her in that alley, he would have found the small knife that she’d strapped to her ankle.
She stumbled against him, bending low. His arms curled around her sides as he steadied her.
She grabbed for the knife, moving as fast as she could. When she straightened, Cassidy had that knife at his side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
His eyes—that unforgettable blue—held hers as his body seemed to turn to stone. “You shouldn’t do this.”
She didn’t want to do this to him. “I don’t have a choice.” They were so close, probably appearing like embracing lovers to any who might glance their way. But one lover wouldn’t threaten another with a knife. “You’re going to let me go.”
He shook his head.
Fine. That had been the response that she had anticipated. And the knife—well, that had just been a distraction...
Because Cale was moving even now with a ripple of motion, an attack designed to knock away the knife.
Again, just what I expected.
But the knife wasn’t the threat. She struck out with her left hand—her dominant hand—and caught him in the jaw.
She really did have a good left hook.
He stumbled back, slipped on the broken pavement and fell hard.
And Cassidy didn’t stay around to see what would happen next.
Genevieve needed her. Cassidy spun away from Cale and ran for the mouth of the alley that waited just a few feet away.
She heard car doors open. Then slam. She knew that sound meant that the other agents would be coming after her.
Hurry, hurry... She had to get away from the EOD agents.
There wasn’t any time to lose. She had a lead of only seconds. But it just might be long enough.
If the Executioner’s men were watching...if they saw her... Come and get me.
Because this was her last chance to save Genevieve.
* * *
CALE SMILED AS he rubbed his jaw. She’d landed a good punch. Not hard enough to take him down, well, not unless he’d wanted to go down.
And he had. The scene had to look believable, after all.
Logan and Gunner’s footsteps thundered toward him.
“She did it,” Logan sounded a bit impressed. “I wasn’t sure that she’d really carry through, but that woman wasn’t giving up.”
Cale had to admit that part of him was impressed with Cassidy, too.
“Now let’s stick to the plan,” Cale said to the men. The plan that Cale had made up back at the safe house right before he’d gone out and given Cassidy the news about her imminent departure from Rio. “You two keep your eyes on us, and if you lose visual at any time...”
Logan nodded. “We know exactly what to do.”
A risky plan, but it was all that Cale had to work with on short notice.
He rose to his feet and took off running toward the alley. He could only allow Cassidy a few moments’ head start. Otherwise, the watchers might realize they were walking into a trap.
A trap that used Cassidy as the bait.
Maybe he should have told her his plan, but he didn’t trust her. Didn’t know her well enough to trust her. So he’d done exactly what he had to do.
Cassidy wanted her friend back alive. He wanted to stop a killer.
He turned the corner, running faster now. He saw Cassidy up ahead, trying to scale a chain-link fence. The lady was doing a good job of shimmying up. She’d just reached the top when he caught her ankle.
“Going somewhere?” Cale demanded, making sur
e the words carried a bite.
Cassidy didn’t yell. Didn’t scream. She did kick him, a sharp hit that surprised him enough to let her go.
Then the woman heaved herself right over the fence and took off running.
Hell, she was better than he’d thought.
He leaped over the fence. Ran forward—and collided with the Carnival crowd that was already spilling into the street. So what if it was early? During these days in Rio, Cale knew that the party could be on the streets anytime. Music, voices, madness—everywhere.
Cassidy had probably been planning on the crowd. She probably thought it would help her to disappear.
She’d thought wrong.
He kept constant sight of her, moving quickly, shoving people out of his way every few feet.
Then Cassidy turned into another alley.
He was right behind her.
Only this alley didn’t have a chain-link fence that she could scale. A brick wall sealed her in.
“No more running,” he told her, making sure his voice carried over the roar from the crowd.
Cassidy spun around to face him. “You’re wrong. There’s always more running. There’s—” She broke off, her eyes widening as she looked at something—someone?—behind Cale. He knew what those wide eyes meant.
* * *
HIS PREY WAS finally taking the bait. Cale had wondered how long he would have to chase Cassidy up and down those streets before they attracted the right attention.
He whirled around and saw the men coming toward him. Two men and a black van had just sealed off the alley’s entrance.
They’d tried to take a shot at him before, so they could be planning to kill him, then take Cassidy.
Killing him wasn’t an option. He had to stay alive and stay with her.
Taking Cassidy? Yeah, that kind of had to happen.
“Don’t!” Cassidy immediately yelled as she rushed forward. “Don’t hurt him! I’ll come with you—just let him go!”
Trying to protect him? Interesting. Not that he needed that protection.
The men were wearing black ski masks again. They had guns in their hands.
One ground out, “Boss wants him, too...”
Ah, now that was news.