Countermeasures

by Janie Crouch

  Megan pulled up to where Fred McNeil stood, along with a bunch of his gang, or whatever they were called, and got out of the car.

  Stall.

  “Dr. Fuller, so nice to see you again,” McNeil said.

  “Sorry, I can’t say the same thing, Mr. McNeil.” Megan looked around. “Where’s Sawyer?”

  Fred McNeil laughed curtly. “Always so abrupt. He’s coming. Where is the countermeasure?”

  “Right here.” Megan held up the fake device. “But you should know that unless I enter a certain code, this device will transmit its blueprints to every law-enforcement agency in the state. New countermeasures can be made within a day.”

  Megan almost scoffed at the size of her own lie, but managed to refrain.

  “She’s lying. There’s no way it could do that.”

  Megan’s head spun around at the sound. She could not believe what she was hearing. “Jonathan? You’re the one working for them? Why?”

  Jonathan rolled his eyes. “I actually found some people who appreciated my abilities. You certainly never did.”

  Megan shook her head. “I don’t understand. I always appreciated your work.”

  “Yeah, I could tell that by how you always wanted to work alone. Always thought you were better than everyone else.”

  “Enough,” McNeil called out. “Look, here’s Agent Branson joining us right now. A little worse for wear. Sorry about that.”

  Megan’s throat dried up at the sight of Sawyer. His arm—obviously the broken one—was held at a terrible angle against his chest. His face was battered and swollen. Megan couldn’t believe he was even able to walk on his own—not that he really was walking; he was almost being dragged by the man with him. The man Megan recognized from the attack at her house.

  McNeil grabbed Sawyer and threw him toward Megan. Megan cried out and caught Sawyer the best she could as he stumbled, moaning. He seemed barely conscious. “See? Sawyer is alive. Now give us the countermeasure.”

  Megan couldn’t even figure out how to possibly stall any longer. Evan Karcz better make his move soon.

  “Here.” Megan held up the fake countermeasure, her other arm around Sawyer. But she knew it wouldn’t fool Jonathan, not even for a moment.

  “Bushman, check it out.”

  Jonathan took the drive from Megan, but didn’t even make it over to his laptop resting on a car hood. “This isn’t it, Mr. McNeil.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I worked on the countermeasure long enough to know this isn’t it. She’s trying to pass off a fake.”

  McNeil pulled out a gun and pointed it right at Sawyer. “I sure hope you have something more than that to offer us, Megan. Or a broken bone isn’t going to be the worst of Agent Branson’s problems today.”

  “Wait, wait! I have the real one. It’s in the car.”

  She heard Sawyer’s curse from his hunched-over form. But Sawyer was already hurt enough; she couldn’t let him be shot if there was any way she could stop it. Megan backed up toward the car, her arm still protectively around Sawyer as if she could ward off the gun McNeil was pointing at him.

  Megan opened the door of her car and reached under the seat to get the countermeasure. She then held it out to Jonathan. “Here. You know this is it, but you can test it anyway.”

  “See, now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?” McNeil asked. He put his gun back into his holster and gave his attention to Jonathan.

  Megan noticed Sawyer was now standing right in front of her and was pushing her back toward the car, since the door was open.

  “Get in and stay down,” Sawyer whispered to her.

  “What?” Megan said to him just as softly. Had she heard him right? How was Sawyer even capable of talking at all?

  “Just do it, baby. Now!”

  Megan dived into the car and Sawyer shut the door. She watched as Sawyer straightened and pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans. None of McNeil’s men were expecting such an abrupt, strong move from the man who had been barely conscious just a few moments before.

  Especially not McNeil. Sawyer was able to get a shot off at McNeil first, who died with a surprised look on his face without even getting his gun back out.

  Sawyer emptied the entire clip of his weapon, trying to clear out anybody who might fire in their direction. He got help from somewhere up in the mountains of junk. Megan couldn’t see them, but Evan and his men were covering Sawyer.

  It didn’t take long. In less than a minute all of McNeil’s men were either dead or wounded. Nobody had suspected Sawyer capable of the move he had made.

  Heck, Megan had been standing right next to him and hadn’t expected him to be capable of that. She opened the car door and scrambled out and over to Sawyer. She wanted to put her arms around him, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere on his body that wasn’t injured.

  “Sawyer, oh my gosh, are you okay? I thought you were nearly dead.”

  Sawyer crumpled down onto his knees. Megan looked down at his shoulder and realized blood was pouring from a wound.

  Sawyer had been shot.

  Megan grabbed Sawyer in her arms and helped him lie down on the ground, putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Sawyer was unconscious and losing blood fast.

  Evan and his men came down from their vantage points at the top of the junk heaps. They checked the status of the DS-13 men. Most of them were dead; they secured any who weren’t. Jonathan Bushman, who had hidden by a car when the bullets started flying, was led away in handcuffs by one of Evan’s men, an unbelieving look on his face. Megan barely spared him a glance. He deserved whatever he had coming to him.

  “Evan, we need an ambulance here. Right now!” Megan held Sawyer’s head in one hand and kept pressure on the bleeding wound with the other. Sawyer wasn’t stirring at all now and his color was a sickly gray.

  An ambulance, this far out of town, would be too late.

  Evan scrambled over to them, looking at the damage to Sawyer’s body. “Damn it,” Evan muttered. “Sawyer, you stay with us,” he yelled down at Sawyer’s unconscious form.

  “An ambulance is not going to get here in time, Evan.” Tears rolled down Megan’s cheeks.

  “We don’t have to wait for an ambulance. We have something better coming—thanks to Juliet. Listen, there it is.”

  At first Megan couldn’t hear anything over the panic roaring in her own ears. But then she did: a helicopter.

  Megan’s terror subsided just the tiniest bit. “Hang in there, sweetheart,” she whispered in Sawyer’s ear. “I’ve still got a lot more yelling to do before you go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  It was a tough climb out of the hospital for Sawyer. Even with the helicopter transferring him to the trauma center as fast as possible, he was in critical condition for days. It was not just because of the bullet wound, but the internal injuries and bleeding he’d suffered at the hands of McNeil’s men.

  Much of the early hospital stay was a blur for Sawyer. He could remember his family being there—his brothers and sister, even his parents. But all he had wanted was Megan. Once he knew she was there with him, he had felt as if he could rest. She was safe, she was next to him, it would all be okay.

  When Sawyer had become more coherent, Evan had assured him that both copies of Ghost Shell and the countermeasure were safely in Omega’s keeping. All of McNeil’s men were either arrested, including Jonathan Bushman, or dead. They’d taken another huge chunk out of DS-13 and didn’t expect to be having to deal with that crime syndicate group again anytime soon.

  Sawyer was glad, but he was more concerned about the situation with Megan. Every time he had awakened those first few days, she had been right beside him. Sometimes holding his hand, sometimes asleep on the chair, but always there.

  Surely that meant that she cared, right? That she had forgiven him for his ridiculous words? That she was willing to give their relationship a try?

  Because one thing was absolutely clear to Sawyer
after what had happened at the junkyard: he could not live without Megan. That tiny little scientist with her giant brain had lodged herself permanently in his heart.

  All he needed was a chance to do the same to her heart. Turnabout was fair play.

  But the past couple of days in the hospital, Megan hadn’t been around. Sawyer had been up, walking, recovering nicely, surrounded by all his loved ones offering their support and encouragement.

  All his loved ones except the most important one.

  By the end of the third day without Megan, Sawyer was such a bear that his own family had threatened to disown him. The medical staff stayed as far from him as possible, only entering his room when it was necessary and leaving as quickly as possible.

  It was Evan who finally addressed the issue.

  “Dude, you’re starting to make us all wish that bullet had hit you a few inches to the left.”

  “Where the hell is Megan, Evan?”

  “You heard Juliet tell you she’d gotten a new job somewhere outside this area. So my guess is she’s busy packing. Getting ready to leave.”

  If Sawyer could’ve reached Evan, he would’ve slugged him for his nonchalant attitude about Megan walking out of Sawyer’s life. But Evan had known Sawyer too long and made sure he stayed out of arm’s reach.

  “Damn it, Evan, she can’t leave me, go take another job, meet other people. I love her.” Sawyer sounded like a crazy person, even to his own ears.

  “Have you let her know that?”

  “No. She hasn’t been here in three days!”

  “Well, I guess you better get to her, then, moron.”

  So here Sawyer was at Megan’s house. Sawyer still wasn’t at full speed, and the doctors had some concerns about the possibility of continued internal bleeding. But Sawyer had turned on all the charm, promised extended rest at home and had gotten released from the hospital.

  And promptly drove to Megan’s house.

  Megan was in the process of cleaning up the mess that had been made by DS-13 and packing anything salvageable. To his surprise, Sawyer found his mother and Juliet helping her. When they saw him, his mom and Juliet discreetly made their way outside, giving Sawyer and Megan privacy.

  “Hi.”

  Megan stopped packing the box she was working on at his greeting. “Are you supposed to be out of the hospital?”

  “Well, you disappeared, so I got them to release me.”

  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to abandon you. You had your entire family there, and I have so much to do with the packing...” Megan gestured around the room with her arm.

  Sawyer, known for keeping a cool head no matter what the circumstances, felt panic bubble up inside him. “No.”

  “No, what?” Megan’s expression seemed genuinely puzzled.

  “No, you can’t take a new job wherever it is and leave me, and we never see each other again.”

  Megan looked a little concerned. “Sawyer, are you on medication that makes you loopy? Do you need to sit down or something? You’re acting a little strange.”

  “No, I’m not on any damned medication like that, and I don’t need to sit down!” Sawyer fought a losing battle with the panic. She was leaving him, for God’s sake. How could she be so calm and collected? Didn’t he mean anything to her at all?

  Sawyer stormed over and grabbed her by one shoulder with his good hand. “I’m sorry, okay. I’m so sorry I said all that stupid stuff. I never thought you were the traitor, really. Don’t leave me, Megan. Please. I love you.”

  “Sawyer—”

  No, he couldn’t let her continue. He had to make her give him a chance. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, and that saying I love you is crazy. But it’s true. I don’t want you to move far away. I want us to be where we can see each other.” A brilliant idea occurred to Sawyer. “We should get married.”

  Megan shook her head. “What? Sawyer, stop.”

  “It’s okay. You can take the new job far away. I’ll quit Omega and move with you and work at an FBI field office somewhere.” The idea seemed brilliant to Sawyer. “Just as long as we can be together.”

  “Sawyer. Just listen to me—”

  Sawyer didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want to hear all the reasons why Megan thought their relationship wouldn’t work. How he had ruined it by not trusting her completely. So Sawyer did the only thing he could think of.

  He kissed her.

  He expected Megan to pull away, but she didn’t. She stepped closer so their bodies were pressed together. Her lips were as hungry for the kiss as his were.

  Eventually, Megan eased back from their kiss. Sawyer didn’t want to let her go, but knew it had to happen.

  “Sawyer—”

  Sawyer put his forehead against hers. “Whatever you’re about to say, I just want you to know I love you.”

  “Man, let the woman talk,” Juliet said it from the doorway. “If you would shut up for just one minute, I think you might get your happily-ever-after.” She grabbed a box and walked with his mom into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

  “What the hell is she talking about?”

  Megan smiled. “Well, if you’d stop acting like such a crazy person and listen I would tell you that yes, I took a new job.”

  “I know. You’re moving.”

  “I took a job at Omega, Sawyer. At the main headquarters, in the cyberterrorism department. I believe that’s just a few floors from your office, if I’m not mistaken. I might be asking you to bring me coffee.” Megan’s smile was the most beautiful thing Sawyer had ever seen.

  Sawyer wrapped his arm around Megan, pulling her against him, relief almost taking his breath away. She wasn’t leaving him. He had all the time he needed to convince her how perfect they were for each other.

  “And just so you know,” Megan said, peeking up at him from where she was tucked against his chest, “I love you, too, Agent Branson.”

  Looked as if she didn’t need to be convinced, after all. He always knew she had a giant brain.

  * * * * *

  Look for more books in Janie Crouch’s

  OMEGA SECTOR miniseries later in 2015.

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  Prologue

  “You’re...leaving?” Scarlett Stone stared up at the man before her, aware that her heart was aching. Not aching...breaking.

  “I have a new mission,” Grant McGuire told her, his deep voice strangely devoid of its usual warmth. “I head out tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll be back.” The setting sun glinted off his blond hair. Grant... Tall, handsome, perfect Grant.

  She’d graduated high school a few months ago. College awaited her. These days were supposed to be the start of a great new life. A new life she’d wanted to spend with him.

  Grant was four years older than she was. Popular, confident, strong. He’d been in the army for the past few years, but he’d come to see her. Every time that he came home, he made certain he spent his days with her.

  But he’s leaving again now.

  His hand lifted and his calloused fingertips slid over her cheek. His touch chased some of the chill from her skin. Strange. An August evening in
Texas shouldn’t have been cold...so why did she have goose bumps on her arms?

  “You’ll enjoy college,” Grant told her in that low, rumbling voice that always made her stomach twist. “You’ll have the time of your life there.” His hand fell away from her. “But I need to head out again.”

  He was always leaving. “Why?”

  “The ranch...this place isn’t for me, Scarlett. I need more.”

  The place wasn’t for him, but what about her? “Am I for you?” They’d started dating when she’d been a freshman in high school.

  She’d been in love with him from the first moment she glanced up and saw him walking down the hallway. The senior...the quarterback...who’d shown interest in her.

  When no one else ever had.

  She was the nerd, the girl with her head always shoved in a book, too nervous to talk to boys. Someone most boys didn’t notice.

  But Grant had been different. Grant was always...different.

  He was also not answering her.

  “Grant?” Her hands lifted and pressed against his chest. “You know...I love you.” It was the first time she’d ever confessed her true feelings to him, but surely he knew how she felt.

  His muscles were hard beneath her palms. His green eyes stared down at her, but his gaze was shadowed, his emotions carefully hidden.

  “I can wait for you to come back,” she told him, and she knew her voice sounded desperate. “I don’t mind waiting. I mean, my college break might happen right at the same time you get back, and I can wait—”

  “Scarlett...”

  Forever.

  “I don’t know when I’ll be back.” He brushed back her hair, strands that the light breeze had shifted against her cheek. “And I don’t want you to wait for me.”

  Pain knifed through her. “Grant?”

  He leaned over her. His head bent, and his lips brushed against hers. She loved Grant’s kiss. Loved the way he tasted. The way he made her feel.

  Desired. Special.

  A low moan built in her throat as he kissed her.