by Cynthia Eden
The flashing lights sent his face into dark and dangerous shadows every few seconds. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“Ahem.” Dex cleared his throat and closed in on them. “You heard the lady. She’s fine. No hospital for her.”
Chase sent him a glare. “You don’t know what happened. She needs the hospital—”
“Sure I know what happened. You two went in the water. After you killed the attacker in the house. Very lethal and brutal job, by the way.”
Her shoulders stiffened.
“Thanks to the security image you previously obtained from Vivian’s building,” Dex continued as his voice hardened, “we know the dead man is the same guy who tried to break into her apartment. Obviously, he’s a hired thug, not the main player we are after. If you’d left him alive, Chase, then we could have made him reveal his employer’s identity to us—”
“I didn’t kill him,” Chase denied, voice grim. “He was unconscious, but breathing, when I left him.”
Dex glanced toward the cabin. “Really?”
“Yes, fucking really. I didn’t kill him. Maybe the other guys on his team did it—they could have been afraid that we’d make the injured man talk.”
“Well, he was shot—execution style—in the head.”
Vivian jerked.
Chase pulled her closer. “You’re safe.”
“Forgot you’re not used to this kind of thing,” Dex drawled as he seemed to assess Vivian. “Would it make you feel better about the man’s death if I said that shooting you—execution style—was probably his end goal? You know, after you unscrambled your wonderful code.”
“No,” she snapped at him. “That does n-not make me feel better!” It made her feel even worse.
“You’re alive.” Dex gestured to the lake. “Glad I’m not hauling your body out of the lake right now.”
Another hard shiver hit her.
Chase’s hold around Vivian was fierce. “You are such an emotionless prick.”
“Of course,” Dex instantly agreed. “Emotions would make it impossible for me to do my job. And, look, while this is a fun chat, we need to get Vivian to a new location ASAP. And, no offense, Eric…” He glanced over at a watchful and silent Eric. “But I have to say that I’m disappointed in your agents. Hardly living up to the hype.”
“She fucking wasn’t breathing. This isn’t a joke. It’s not a game.” Chase moved to stand in front of Vivian. He put his body toe-to-toe with Dex. “She was trapped in the vehicle. She couldn’t get out. She was telling me to leave her so that I’d survive.”
“Um…” She hugged her blanket—a wet and cold blanket now—tighter to her. “Could you go back to the part about me not breathing, please?”
Chase’s shoulders were stiff and his hands clenched as he snarled at Dex, “By the time I managed to pry open her door, she’d been without air for several moments.”
Oh, God. She didn’t remember him prying open any door. When they’d been trapped, he’d told her to take a breath. She had. Then…
Nothing.
“When we finally reached the surface,” Chase continued in a voice that promised hell, “she wasn’t breathing at all. I had to fucking breathe for her.”
Don’t ever leave me again.
“Did you revive her in the water or on land?” Dex wanted to know.
As if that part was the important piece of the story.
I wasn’t breathing? Her knees were all shaky. “Brain cells can begin dying after just one minute of no oxygen.”
Chase’s hands were clenching and releasing at his sides.
“After three minutes, that’s when the more serious brain damage is more likely. The neurons suffer more severe damage.” How far down had the vehicle been in the lake? How long had she been in the water? “After ten minutes, the victim—” I was the victim. Her breath panted out. “After ten minutes, permanent brain damage is—”
Chase spun toward her. “Damn well wasn’t ten minutes. I got you breathing as soon as we broke the surface.”
“So you did perform rescue breathing in the water,” Dex announced. “Interesting. You have to—”
Eric stepped forward. She saw the movement from the corner of her eye. Had to be from the corner, because she couldn’t take her stare from Chase.
“You know he was a SEAL,” Eric snapped. “One of the reasons you specifically requested him. Him and not the ‘best undercover operative’ BS you spouted before. Chase fights hard and dirty, but he can damn well handle things when they go to hell.”
Dex had specifically requested him? And…
Yes, yes, things had gone to hell.
“I want Vivian checked out,” Chase insisted as his stare burned over her. “She needs a doctor.”
“The EMT checked her out,” Dex said with a sigh. “He gave her the all clear.” He took a step around Chase and maneuvered for Vivian. “Now, let’s talk about getting you to a new—”
Chase slapped a hand on Dex’s chest. Fisted the fabric of Dex’s shirt. “That’s close enough.”
“What?” Dex looked down at his shirt front, then his head swiveled toward Chase. “Move the damn hand.”
Chase glared at him. “We’d barely been here any time at all when the enemy team converged. They got into the house, got into the room assigned to Vivian, without making a single sound. If she’d been asleep in there, they would have taken her. The bastard I took out came equipped with drugs, handcuffs, and a taser. If I hadn’t been in the bedroom, she might never have made a sound and then what—”
“Yes, well, obviously, you were going to be in her bedroom.” Dex sighed once more. “Come on, did you think I was leaving that shit to chance? You wanted her. Any fool could see that, and I knew that as soon as the two of you were alone, it would happen.”
“It?” Chase thundered.
“Sometimes that kind of attachment can be dangerous, but, other times—as I’ve recently learned on a previous case—it can be advantageous. Because if you get attached, and you will do anything to—”
Chase slugged him.
Dex took a step back. “Okay, that’s the second hit. That’s all you get. No more. I will hit back.”
“I was sleeping in Dex’s room,” Vivian said, voice soft and still shaky. “He was in my room. I don’t think you understand what he’s telling you.”
“What?” Dex shook his head. “But—”
“The alarms didn’t go off,” Chase spoke through clenched teeth. “The bad guys came right to us. They knew we’d be here at the lake. Hell, I think they may have just been waiting. It was a coordinated attack, not some last-minute BS. They even knew what damn room she was in, and they went straight in there. Luckily, Vivian was in my assigned room, and I was crashing in hers.” His head turned as his gaze swept the area, then landed on Eric’s helicopter. “We need a ride.”
They did?
Chase reached for her hand. His fingers twined with hers. “I’m getting you checked out.”
For like the fourth time, she told him, “I have been checked out.” The man was worried, obviously. He—
“You were fucking not breathing in my arms, Viv. When I ripped open that car door, your body was floating in the vehicle. Your hair was drifting around you, and you were limp against me. I will never forget that moment. I almost lost you. I am damn well going to do everything in my power to make sure that you never, ever slip away again.”
Her heart squeezed and she couldn’t look away from him as the flashing lights sent his face into dark and dangerous shadows.
“My chopper can take her to the hospital faster than any ambulance can,” Eric’s voice was low. “After the docs see her, then we’ll get her to a new location.”
A new safe house? One that wouldn’t be compromised?
“Not sure I trust your team,” Dex said, seeming to echo Vivian’s fears. “And, hey, don’t you have an agent to find? Are you guys forgetting that little matter?”
Eric stalked toward him.
“I’ve already got a dozen team members hunting for Merik. You think I would just let one of my own vanish?” Anger vibrated in his voice. “We will find him, and we will figure out how this location was compromised.”
“Good to know,” Dex murmured. His attention flickered back to Chase and Vivian.
There was something about the way he focused on them. I don’t trust him. She sidled closer to Chase. She did trust Chase. With every fiber of her being. Yes, their start had been rocky, to say the least but…
When danger was around her, when the darkness closed in, Chase kept proving that she could count on him. For the first time, she had someone who wouldn’t leave her alone to face the dark.
Don’t ever leave me again.
She shivered once more. Chase scooped her into his arms and began hurrying toward the chopper.
“I can walk,” she told him even as she slipped one arm around his neck.
“I know, but I need to hold you.” There was something about his voice. A rough, ragged note that had her pressing even tighter to him.
Chase had saved her. He’d risked his life for her. Vivian’s voice was soft as she asked, “Just how long did you stay in the water in order to get me out?”
His head turned. He paused right next to the chopper. But he didn’t answer her.
“Thirty seconds is usually how long most people can hold their breath.” A general number. A random fact stuck in her head.
“I’m not most people.” He put her in the chopper. Secured her in the seat.
“Two minutes is the high end for others,” Vivian noted. Normally, her facts helped to calm her. Not this time. How long did you stay in the water for me?
He slid into the seat near her. Eric had just jumped into the front seat, next to the waiting pilot. He barked orders to the guy even as Chase handed her a headset.
Their fingers brushed. Tangled. “Was it longer than two minutes?” Vivian pushed.
“I wasn’t counting. I just wanted you out.”
Her stomach was in knots. “How long did you stay in the water with me?”
His head turned toward her. “Baby, don’t you get it? I would have stayed in that damn water as long as it took. I was not leaving you.”
The chopper’s blades began to whirl.
Chapter Fifteen
“The doc said Vivian is good to go.” Eric stood outside of the private hospital room. He nodded toward Chase. “You saved her. She owes you.”
“She doesn’t owe me a damn thing.” He couldn’t get the image of Vivian—so still, so pale—out of his mind. He was still wearing the fucking wet clothes, though they’d gone from soaking to being mostly damp. His freaking shoes squeaked when he walked. The occasional shiver would work over his body. And…
And I am barely holding onto my control.
He’d lost control back at the lake. His fists had flown at Dex, and he had the bruised knuckles to prove it. Or hell, maybe the bruises had come from when he’d knocked out the intruder in the cabin’s bedroom.
I knocked him out. I didn’t kill him. Someone else had taken care of that part. While Chase had been fighting to save Vivian, some bastard had gone back to the cabin and killed the man Chase had left behind.
The killer had probably been the same bastard who’d taken Merik. “What’s the status on Merik?”
“No news yet. His phone was found abandoned. The two injured Wilde agents we recovered at the scene told me that they never saw who attacked them. They were hit from behind. Like you, they had no warning. No alarms blared. None of the motion sensors on the scene were activated.” Eric yanked a hand over his face. “Someone disabled my tech, and it’s not easy to do that.”
No, it wasn’t. “Inside job,” Chase said. It had to be.
Eric’s hand fell to his side. “We both know that is what Dex suspected all along. That it was someone within the CIA.”
“Dex is holding back on us. He has been, from the very beginning.”
“Oh, did someone mention my name?” Dex called as he marched down the empty hospital corridor.
Chase had seen the bastard coming. Eric had made sure the floor was cleared. After all, that was what shitloads of money could do. Get you an entire hospital wing at your beck and call. The Wilde agents who’d been hurt were getting top-of-the-line care. Eric looked after his people, and he damn well didn’t like it when they were hurt—or used.
So, this time, it wasn’t Chase who lunged for Dex.
It was Eric. Eric caught the guy and slammed him up against the nearest wall.
“Easy…” Dex warned.
“Screw easy. You lied to me,” Eric charged.
Dex looked up at the ceiling. Seemed to ponder things. “I neglected to tell you the full truth. That’s not technically lying. It’s omission, and you didn’t have clearance to discover—”
“Screw clearance. My agents are hurt. One is missing. Chase almost died tonight. If he hadn’t gotten out of that SUV—”
Dex’s gaze angled toward Chase. “He chose not to leave Vivian. Admirable choice, by the way. All stand-up and heroic.”
“Screw you.” Chase hated that SOB.
“It’s truly what I expected you to do. I mean, why else would I allow you to stay with her? Like I said, I saw the personal bond—”
What was this BS? “You said the bond was a weakness that would get us in trouble!”
“I was just pushing your buttons. I knew that if you cared enough, you’d go to any lengths to protect Vivian. That’s the kind of dedication that money can’t buy.”
“You are fucking using me.” Another crack in Chase’s control. “You manipulated me from the beginning. All along, did you know that Vivian was innocent?”
Eric maintained his fierce hold on Dex. “Answer the question.”
“I hoped she was innocent,” Dex allowed. “But the evidence was pointing against that.”
And Chase knew why. “Because she’d been set up.”
“It seemed that way. I mean, she was the perfect fall person, wasn’t she? Especially with her past.”
Yeah, about that… “With Vivian’s past—with the ties that she has—how the hell did she get a job working for the CIA?”
“Contract work,” Dex clarified with a sniff. “It’s a probationary position. Someone pulled strings for her.” He looked back at Eric. “I’ve played nicely for the last few moments because—deep down, way, way deep down—I like you. So, how about you stop being all handsy with me, and let’s discuss this thing like gentlemen?”
“You aren’t a damn gentleman,” Eric snarled back.
Hell, no, he wasn’t.
“Are any of us?” Dex wanted to know. “I said like gentlemen. We’re all wanna-bes.”
Disgusted, Eric stepped back and let Dex go. “Who pulled the strings to get Vivian the job?”
Dex made a show of straightening his t-shirt.
“Who, Dex?” Chase demanded.
“Someone with a lot of pull. Someone who believed in her potential. Someone who thought she was more than her past. I mean, not like you can pick your family…” His stare lingered on Chase. “Am I right?”
The sonofabitch knows all about my family. “Just how deeply did you dig into my past before you requested that I be the Wilde agent assigned to this case?”
Dex gave him an innocent smile. “How deeply do you think?”
The hospital door opened to the right. Vivian stood there, wearing green scrubs and with her hair curling lightly around her shoulders. Shadows lined her eyes, and she still looked far too pale.
“You guys were getting loud,” she noted softly. “So I thought I’d come join the party. Especially since you were probably talking about me.”
“You and Chase’s past,” Dex agreed with an inclination of his head. “Has he told you all about it yet? About just why he is so good at adopting personas and becoming someone new?”
“I was listening through the door.” Vivian moved to stand beside Chase, but her gaze r
emained focused on Dex. “You are the one who got me the job at the agency.”
“Did I say that?” Dex tapped his chin. “Did I say it was me, specifically?”
“Stop your games! I was trapped in that vehicle! And Chase—” Her head turned toward him. “You should have left me,” she finished with pain and fear slipping into her voice.
Left her? The hell he should have.
“Promise you won’t ever do that again.”
His hand lifted, and he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Here’s another one of my thirteen secrets,” he told her. “I don’t make promises that I don’t intend to keep.”
Her eyes glistened.
“This is so friggin’ sweet, but we have some very dangerous perpetrators out there, so how about we move this bit along?”
Chase’s gaze swung back to Dex. Dex actually rolled his hand in the air. Such a dick.
“The cabin’s location was leaked. We all know that.” Dex nodded. His face hardened and all the sly humor vanished as if it had never been there. “I know when I have a traitor working against me. I have one in the CIA right now. It wasn’t Vivian, so it had to be someone else at her branch. Or, hell, it could have been multiple agents coordinating together. I just finished another case where an agent’s identity was leaked, and, let me just tell you, I don’t like this shit. The timeline with that leak and what’s happening now worried me.”
“Because you were worried, you turned to me,” Eric concluded.
“Yeah. I went to an old friend I thought I could trust.”
Eric narrowed his gaze. “You’re throwing that f-word around again like it’s a thing.”
“Yes, friend, I am. And news flash, the location leak had to come from your people. I didn’t tell anyone. We were at your office when we discussed plans. Someone on your end spilled her location and maybe even the details about the coding scramble.”
Chase waited for Eric to deny the charge.
But Eric didn’t.
Eric’s gaze did swing to Chase. There were so many emotions raging in Eric’s eyes. For once, he didn’t look so controlled, either.