by Cynthia Eden
He was barely aware of his own wounds, some scratches and contusions from the blast. The docs at the hospital had patched him up, too, despite his protests.
Tina headed toward the monitors on the right side of the bed.
“The docs gave her a sedative to help her sleep.”
Tina paused, then glanced back at him. “Is that what they told you?”
He didn’t like her tone, not a bit. Suspicious now, he kept a wary eye on her.
Tina reached for the clipboard. “It looks like she’ll be just fine.” She put the clipboard down and turned to face him. “Now let me check on you.”
Cale grabbed the hand that lifted toward him. “What’s going on, Tina?”
She glanced down at his hand. He felt the tremble that shook her. No, Tina didn’t like leaving the safety of her labs at the EOD. But she’d come there tonight, on Mercer’s order?
Is that what they told you? Her words rang in his head again.
“What’s going on?” He wanted to know. He and Tina hadn’t exactly gotten close during his time at the EOD. Tina and Sydney were tight, though, best friends from what he could tell.
“I’m following orders,” Tina said. “We all have to follow orders, don’t we?”
He was getting tired of the orders. Before he’d joined the EOD, he’d been a free agent working to help those who needed him. A mercenary? Maybe he hadn’t liked that title. Maybe he’d wanted to see what it would be like to be part of a team.
And being a Shadow Agent did have its moments.
But it could also—
“If Cassidy was awake, she’d fight.”
He almost missed Tina’s whispered words.
But as they sank in, a cold fury spread within him. “What’s happening?” As if he didn’t already suspect—Mercer. The director was happening. His schemes and plans.
“A transfer team is waiting outside. Since her location in D.C. has been compromised—” serious understatement “—Mercer wants her taken out of the city. When she wakes up, Cassidy will be far away.”
He shook his head in denial. “Mercer didn’t tell me about any transfer. He didn’t—”
“That’s because you’re not going with her.” Tina didn’t look him in the eye as she revealed this information.
The hell he wasn’t.
Tina stared at his neck. “He says the threat to this asset is too strong. That she has to be relocated before her position can be compromised again.”
This wasn’t happening. “You’re just going to take her while she’s unconscious? While she can’t say or do anything to stop you?”
“It’s not me.” Her gaze flew back up to hold his. “You have to understand, Mercer is—”
“Screw Mercer!”
She flinched.
No, he couldn’t take his fury out on Tina. He brushed by her and went back to the bed. “Get the IV out of her.”
Tina didn’t move.
“Get it out, Tina!” Because that IV was pumping the drugs into her body. Not to stabilize her, as he’d been told, but to keep her unconscious so that Mercer could whisk her away again.
Cassidy’s weak voice whispered through his mind. Get me out of here. Had she made that plea because she knew what Mercer would do? Had he done that to her before?
Probably.
But he wasn’t doing it again.
Cale heard the light shuffle of her footsteps as Tina inched closer to him. “If you go against Mercer, you know what will happen.”
He could kiss his career in the EOD goodbye. Fine. Whatever. “It should be her choice.” That was exactly what it would be. She would be awake. Aware. Cassidy would be able to choose—the path Mercer wanted for her, or...
Me.
Because he could protect her. If she needed to get away from D.C., then he could make that happen. He already knew exactly where he wanted to take her.
Home. Whiskey Ridge, Texas. The only home he’d ever known.
“I—I—” Tina’s halting steps stopped. “He said she was in danger. That we had to move her.”
And Tina was following orders, trying to protect a civilian.
“Get the IV out of her.” Or he would. He just didn’t want to hurt Cassidy. But one way or another, that IV was coming out.
He looked over his shoulder and leveled his stare on Tina. Waited. “It should be her choice. You know it, and I know it.”
Tina gave a small nod.
Then she reached for the IV.
* * *
GUNNER APPROACHED THE VAN slowly, his weapon up, two other EOD agents at his back. They’d kept regular law enforcement personnel in the background as much as possible—not like it had been easy to cover up the explosion in the park.
The van’s back doors hung open, its cavernous interior dark.
As the men closed in, one agent swept a light inside.
The light fell on a dead body.
Gunner’s eyes narrowed. Two shots. One had hit the man in the stomach. One had blasted right into his heart. From the look of the wounds, both had been administered at a very close range.
Cassidy had told Cale that she shot her attacker—that she hit him once.
Had she been mistaken, or had another scene played out here?
His gaze searched the van. No driver. But someone had been behind the wheel while Cassidy had been held captive in the back.
His stare returned to the body.
Cassidy shot him in the stomach. That would make sense. The first bullet, ripping through him, gave Cassidy the precious moments that she’d needed to escape.
But that wound hadn’t killed him.
The wound to the heart had ended the man’s life.
His partner shot him in the heart.
It was the partner that they had to find.
He turned away from the van and began to slowly scan the street. He was good at tracking, almost as good as his grandfather had been. He’d been trained on the reservation as a child, and when it came to hunting, he did the job well. Maybe too well.
Gunner crept to the edge of the road. Let his light sweep over the grass.
There. Bent grass, broken by feet running too quickly.
He followed those telltale marks. The bent grass, the snapped twigs.
The driver had come this way for a reason. He’d abandoned the van in that spot for a reason.
A few more feet, and he found that reason.
Tire tracks. A second vehicle had been stashed there.
The killer was on the move again, and he could very well be closing in on Cassidy.
* * *
CASSIDY’S EYES SLOWLY opened, the green color muted, her gaze confused. “C-Cale?”
He didn’t like the slur in her speech. He’d been right there, right beside her, and she’d been drugged.
He couldn’t believe Mercer had been dumb enough to think that Cale would let her walk away. Or just be taken away.
“What’s happening?” Cassidy asked as she tried to sit up.
He put his arm around her, helping to steady her. He’d already dressed her—well, done his best, anyway—in jeans and a T-shirt that he’d gotten Tina to sneak up from the gift shop. “Mercer wants to take you out of D.C.” There was no time to sugarcoat. He figured they had all of about five minutes to get a plan in motion.
Mercer moved fast.
So did Cale.
“Out of...” Cassidy put a hand to her head.
“You have a choice to make.” He kept his voice steady. Kept his hand on her arm because she was weaving a bit on the bed. “Do you want to go with Mercer? He can put you on a plane and take you out of the city. You’ll be safe while the EOD hunts the people who took you.”
She frowned at him. “Where’s the choice?” Her voice was a bit stronger. Good.
“You can go where he sends you...or you can come with me. I can take you out of the city. I can keep you safe with me.”
“Both options have me leaving,” Cassidy whispered.
&n
bsp; Yes, they did.
But who she left with—
“Going with Cale would be a mistake. He didn’t keep you safe before,” Mercer’s growling voice cut through the room as he stormed inside. He glared at Cale. “She was taken, stabbed, on your watch.”
Cassidy sucked in a sharp breath. Cale knew, understood with every fiber of his being, that if Mercer took Cassidy away from him right then, he would never see her again. Mercer would make her vanish.
I can’t let that happen.
Cassidy’s gaze slid over Cale. To Mercer. “Did you find Genevieve?”
Cale saw Mercer shake his head. Then he glanced at an avid Tina. “Wait outside, Doctor.”
Tina hurried to obey. She was probably already afraid that she’d crossed a line with Mercer.
Folks needed to stop jumping when the big, bad wolf growled.
Cale wasn’t in the mood to jump.
Mercer waited for the door to shut behind Tina. Then he said, “We found the man you shot.”
Cassidy sat up a bit straighter. When she winced, Cale’s fingers caressed her arm. He hated for her to hurt.
“H-he can tell you where Genevieve’s...body—” she stumbled over that part “—is. You can make him—”
Mercer shook his head. “Doubtful. Dead men don’t tell a whole lot.”
Cale swore.
“I killed him?”
“Only if you shot him twice, once in the stomach and once in the heart.”
Cassidy tried to stand. Cale made sure he gave her the support she needed.
“No. I just shot him once.”
“Then it looks like his partner wanted to make sure that he didn’t talk. He was left, dead, in the van. Techs are dusting for prints, checking for any evidence that was left behind.”
Her breath heaved out. “He knows I’m your daughter. That was why they took me. It had nothing to do with the Executioner, and everything to do with you.”
Mercer actually backed up a step at the heat in her words. “Cassidy, you need to calm—”
“Calm down? Really? You think that’s what I need to do?” She shook her head. Finally, finally, more color came into her face, even if it was in an angry burst across her high cheekbones. “I didn’t ask for this life. You’re the one who sought it out, not me. I’m just the one who had to pick up the pieces after you.”
Silence.
Mercer inhaled slowly. “I have a plane waiting—”
“You always do. Like sweeping me away is going to fix things. This guy knows who I am. He knows the secret that we’ve both tried so hard to cover. If we don’t find him, how do we know that others won’t discover who I am, too? I’ve tried your way, Mercer. I’ve tried it for years.” She sounded weary. “I don’t want to disappear for you anymore.”
Mercer’s hard stare cut toward Cale. “And you think you can just walk away with him? That he’ll be able to protect you?”
Cassidy’s brows rose. “Only recently, you thought he could keep me safe. Isn’t that the reason you sent him to Rio?”
Mercer’s lips thinned. “That was before!”
“Before what?” Cassidy demanded. She still weaved, just a bit, but her voice was much stronger.
“Before I knew he was sleeping with you!”
Cale had been quiet up until that point, but Mercer had just crossed the line. He positioned his body right next to Cassidy’s as he faced off against Mercer. “Father or not, you don’t use that tone with her—you don’t ever, understand?”
Mercer stared back at him. Was that shock in his eyes? Get ready for more.
“I’m done,” Cale said bluntly. He hadn’t anticipated saying those words, but he had no choice.
“Done?” Mercer parroted.
“I’m out of the EOD. Consider our test run over.”
Definitely more shock now. “You’re just going to walk out on Cassidy when she needs—”
“I’m taking her with me. Provided that she wants to come.” Cale threaded his fingers through Cassidy’s.
Cassidy’s lips parted in surprise.
“I told you,” he said, focusing just on her. “You have a choice. You can go with Mercer, you can get on his plane, or you can come with me.”
“You don’t have any place to take her,” Mercer snarled. “You don’t—”
“Whiskey Ridge isn’t more than a spot on the map, but you won’t feel hunted there, Cass. My sister and brother-in-law have a ranch. There’s plenty of room for us. We can stay there until it’s safe for you.” Or for as long as you want. If you like Whiskey Ridge, then I’ll buy land for you. For us.
But he didn’t tell her those plans. Not yet. It was too soon. She had enough to deal with at the moment.
“I don’t want to put your family in danger,” she whispered.
“My brother-in-law was EOD, too. Trust me, he’s used to danger.” And his brother-in-law, Jasper, knew how to protect what he valued most.
Hope flickered in Cassidy’s eyes. “I don’t want to be sent away again. I don’t want to become someone new.”
“You stay yourself, and you come with me.”
Now Mercer was the one who wasn’t speaking.
“Trust me, Cassidy.” Wasn’t that what it came down to for them? Her trusting him? Her believing that he was more than just another agent following Mercer’s orders?
“I—I do.”
Those were the sweetest words he’d ever heard.
“I’ll come with you, Cale.” She gave him a small smile, one that made his heart race even faster. He couldn’t wait to get her back home.
“You’re not making the right choice, Cassidy.” Mercer’s angry voice.
Only when Cale looked at the EOD director, Mercer’s eyes didn’t match his voice. No, the expression in his eyes actually looked...pleased.
Like he just played us?
“But if that’s your decision, so be it.” Mercer hesitated. “I just want you safe.”
And he’d been willing to do anything to get her out of D.C. Even use a bit of manipulation?
Would Tina really have gone against him? Or would she have followed his orders—and helped manipulate me, too?
Mercer...always the puppet master.
“Keep her safe, Agent Lane,” Mercer ordered.
“I told you, I’m done with the EOD.”
“We’ll deal with what you are and what you aren’t later.” Mercer turned for the door. But he didn’t open it. His shoulders were ramrod straight, his spine tall. But his voice was a rasp as he said, “I don’t want you to wind up like Marguerite.”
Cassidy’s fingers tightened around Cale’s.
“I loved her more than life. I should have made different choices. Maybe it’s always about our choices.” He glanced back. “I won’t make the same mistake.”
Then he was gone.
And Cale realized that he had just been well and truly played.
By a master. And a quiet, nervous doctor.
* * *
THEY’D GONE BACK to the safe house on Donaghey. Back for a few precious hours before their plane left for Texas. Cale was inside the place with her, just down the hallway, but Cassidy wanted him closer.
She stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. She looked like hell. Not exactly femme fatale material, but there wasn’t much to be done for that then.
Her fingers curled around the doorknob, and a few moments later, the heavy carpet was swallowing her footsteps as she slipped down the hall.
She needed Cale. They were alone, no other guards inside that safe house, and she wanted to be with him.
“Cassidy. Stop.”
Cale’s voice came from the darkness of the den. How had he even heard her? She’d tried to be so quiet.
“You’re hurt.” His words were gruff. “Go back to bed. Just rest.”
“I don’t want to rest.” She’d done plenty of that in the hospital, thanks to those ridiculous sedatives. Resting was the last thing on her mind. Cale was what she wanted.<
br />
“Cassidy...” Her name was a rough sigh. In that sigh, she could hear need and longing, the same emotions that were rushing through her.
When she was alone, Cassidy thought of all that she’d lost—her mother, Helen, Genevieve. She didn’t want to keep thinking of death and fear.
She wanted to think of Cale.
Of pleasure.
She wanted to be reminded that life waited for her. Not just the grim promise of death.
There could be more for her, more for them. Cale wanted her to return home with him. That meant something, didn’t it? She was more than a mission to him.
He’d offered to give up the EOD.
That meant—it had to mean—that he felt the way she did.
She took a few more steps toward him.
“I can smell you.”
She froze.
“You should smell like the hospital. Antiseptic. Sanitizer...something different...but you’re still just like roses. You smell so good. Too good.” The lamp flickered on beside him, but instead of illuminating Cale, it just sent dark shadows chasing across the room. His body was a hard outline against the chair. Powerful. She had the fleeting impression of a predator just waiting for his prey to foolishly walk by.
And here I am.
Only she didn’t feel like prey.
Cassidy took another step toward him.
She saw his muscles tighten. Saw his hands clench around the arms of the chair.
“Cassidy. Where are your clothes?”
Ah, yes, ahem. “I left them in the bathroom.” Because not having on clothes would help with the whole seduction routine that she was trying to have going on at that moment.
He lunged from the chair and stood right in front of her in an instant. Stood right there, but he didn’t touch her. She needed him to touch her. With the chaos of her life, she needed him.
“You’re hurt.”
The man was sounding like a broken record. “So? We can be careful.” Thanks to her dive into the pavement, she’d lost skin on her palms and knees. Her palms had been bandaged, but the tips of her fingers were unharmed. She let her fingertips skim over the powerful muscles of his chest. “I know you can be careful.”
His eyes burned down at her.
She rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. Her confidence was a brittle thing right then, and when a naked woman offered herself to her lover, well, she expected him to take her up on that offer.