Exchange of Fire

by P. A. DePaul

  She opened her mouth, but Grady beat her defensive comeback by asking coolly, “What led you to Ridge Creek, North Carolina? There’s nothing here.”

  Finally, a question she could answer that would surely sway him back to her side. What man didn’t love to have his ego stroked or could refuse flattery? “It was, ah, you actually.”

  “Me?” Grady’s head snapped back. “And how did you choose me out of the millions?”

  To her confusion, every member of her team suddenly became fidgety and found the artwork or scenery outside more interesting.

  Okaaaay. Weird. The crease between her eyebrows deepened, causing her to rub the spot. “You were interviewed for an article in Civilian Life last year.”

  “That’s where I’ve heard his name before,” Talon muttered to the screen door. “From that damn dog-eared magazine you carried everywhere at the end.”

  The skin around Grady’s eyes tightened and he asked through clenched lips, “So you randomly chose me out of a magazine?”

  Cappy shuffled his feet, now inspecting the joint between the dining room wall and the ceiling.

  She frowned. Was she missing something? Why wasn’t Grady preening and lording it over her head how she thought him a supermodel or some crap like that? “Not randomly, no.”

  Romeo winced and made a soft sound as if in sympathy.

  “Once I flipped to the page with your article,” she continued hesitantly, embarrassed to have a room full of witnesses hear her confess something she considered personal, “something about the way you looked into the camera lens spoke to me. Seeing you smiling in the midst of all those happy kids in front of Gradwick touched me deeply. And your interview about your mission to provide a safe haven for children of all ages pulled me in.”

  She gazed at him. That should do it. He should understand about the connection since they’d had explosive chemistry from the second she walked into his office with her résumé. He also should now get why she felt the pull to be near the entertainment center.

  He stayed silent.

  Talon let out a low growl and twirled a pair of knives in his fists.

  “I guess I thought that if I could surround myself in your world,” she continued, driving home her reasons, hoping that if she laid it out plainly he’d get past whatever was making his face turn redder, “maybe I could make a difference to some kid’s life. You know, save him or her in some way.”

  The knuckles on his clenched fists popped. “Let me get this straight,” he replied in a measured, angry voice. “You experienced a horrible event, decided running away from it would be the solution, devised a way to ‘die’ that left no doubt in your team’s mind of your demise, and hotfooted it here.”

  What the hell—

  “But to figure out where you were going to hide out,” he continued before she could protest his spin on it, “you decided that any chump in a magazine would do.” He paused for a second. “Eureka!”

  Sandra jumped at Grady’s exclamation.

  “Civilian Life saves the day. Just such a dolt is that month’s feature and surrounded by the one resource you needed. So you figured you’d use me and my customers to find some sort of redemption.” The vein in his forehead sprouted forward. “And I guess with all those secret sources, it wasn’t hard to model yourself as the perfect employee I’d need to help run the center.” He stepped back and let out a derisive snort. “Hell, you get bonus points that I salivated after you like a dog in heat. Was seducing me a sacrifice you made in order to accomplish those goals?”

  If he’d actually slapped her it wouldn’t have hurt as badly as his twisted statement just did. “Grady—”

  He held up a hand. “I can’t believe what a sucker I am to fall for it. With all your spy training, I guess acting lessons are right there at the top of required courses. Bravo. You really had me believing you.”

  She winced and reached for his arm, but he stepped away.

  “I only want to hear the answer to this,” Grady bit out. “Do your goddamn assassin buddies have to check in with anyone?”

  Her heart shriveled and she could barely speak around the lump in her throat. “Yes. Why?”

  “Son of a bitch.” He exhaled sharply, causing every eye to overtly focus on him instead of sneaking their stares. “Y’all get that your boy killed Granger, right?”

  “He was going to kill you, asshole,” Talon retorted, expanding his chest and clenching his knives. “Did you want me to shake his hand instead?”

  “And you accused me of being slow-witted.” Grady sneered at Talon. “If he didn’t make any calls when he was chasing us, and you knifed him in the alley, then when would he have last checked in?”

  The bottom dropped out of Sandra’s stomach.

  Chapter 19

  Grady’s mind raced as he continued to make his point. “How long can he go without contact?”

  “A few hours, tops,” Romeo answered.

  “I’d say the company just got a really big red flag when Granger dropped off the grid over fourteen hours ago,” Cappy said.

  “And they’re sending someone else here to find out why, aren’t they?” Grady finished. Sonofabitch. He ignored the sheen of tears in Sandra’s eyes and the way her skin now appeared drawn. Fury pumped too hotly in his veins for him to even contemplate one iota of compassion.

  “Probably,” Romeo agreed.

  “This is why a Marine never runs. We stay and finish the fight. Everyone, out,” Grady announced, pointing to the front door.

  “So I should’ve just stuck around and allowed this Granger guy to find me in the entertainment center,” Sandra stated flatly, moving toe-to-toe with him to block his path.

  Damn, he hated how he noticed how hot she was when she got riled and that his dick just pulsed in reaction.

  “What you should have done was confide in me from the beginning. All this cloak-and-dagger bullshit has now put everything I’ve worked for at risk.”

  Sandra snorted. “Like you would have believed me.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. But you never gave me a chance.” The word target kept scrolling through his head, and he narrowed his gaze on her face. “Do you even know what you’ve done?” Why was he bothering to reason with her? She obviously only looked out for herself.

  “Yes,” she retorted, her chin lifting a notch. “I tried protecting you by keeping you out of this. You insisted on following me, remember?”

  “Damn, you have a selective memory. You forgot the part where I pointed out that your cryptic warning didn’t matter. ‘They’”—he air-quoted the word—“were going to find me anyway.” He swiped his hands through his hair. “You brought a goddamn spy war into this sleepy community. Into the sanctuary I built for those kids.”

  She jerked like he’d hit her, her eyes widening further.

  “Some of those children have nowhere else to safely play. How can I keep the center open, knowing there are assassins descending on Ridge Creek and ultimately landing in Gradwick when they retrace your footsteps?”

  “You don’t have to close,” Cappy’s chain saw voice rumbled as he moved behind Sandra. “We can help provide extra security.”

  Grady scanned the rest of the faces crowded closer to where he faced off with Sandra, all of them with varying levels of pity . . . or outright aggression. Talon, the asshole, was probably enjoying this.

  “Thank you, but no.” Grady met the CO’s eyes. “As much as I’m going to take a hit financially since Labor Day weekend is one of my busiest times, I can’t risk the safety of those kids because of Sandra . . .” He paused, impaling his gaze into hers. “Is that even your real name?”

  She opened her mouth, but he swiped a hand. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to know.” Grady forced himself to maneuver through the group toward the living room to give himself some distance. It was either that or redecorate his buddy’s walls with some fist-size holes. “I don’t have time to chat anymore.”

  “Grady—”

  �
�Now’s not the time I can listen to a word you say, Wraith.”

  She flinched.

  “You can keep the polo shirt in the dryer, but I need you to hand over the keys to the center. You’re no longer employed or welcome in Gradwick.”

  Sandra sucked in a breath and paled.

  “I understand you’re pissed,” Cappy said, his tone placating. “But don’t make any drastic decisions now.”

  “Drastic?” Grady laughed hollowly. “Despite my stupidity in falling for her, you think my choosing the center and this community over a woman who I’ve just learned I don’t even know is drastic? We have very different definitions, you and I.”

  Grady thrust out his hand. “I’ve got to go. I can still make it to the center before it opens for the day; it’ll cut down on the amount of lies I’m going to have to tell to get my employees to go home.”

  Sandra’s shoulders snapped back, and she marched past him to the other side of the couch. Memories of her straddling his lap while he sucked on her nipple roared through his mind. If he only knew then what seducing the information out of her was going to lead to.

  “—your staff?” Romeo asked, ripping him out of his X-rated thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “What’s the reason you’re giving your staff and customers for closing?”

  Grady snorted. “The only one I can that won’t raise too many red flags: maintenance problems. Multiple sections’ worth of problems to justify closing the whole place.”

  Metallic jingling sounded to his left. Sandra dangled a set of keys, then dropped them into his outstretched palm. Her eyes snapped with fury and pain. I know the feeling. The serrated edges bit into his hand from the clenched fist he formed over them.

  He turned away, unable to look at her beautiful, lying face any more. It only took him a minute to pack his laptop back into the computer bag; the hardest part was fighting the memories of her crowing about how she’d won the right to use it and him kissing her, then ultimately fucking her against the wall.

  “At least let us help with something,” Cappy said as Grady strode past to grab his clothes out of the dryer.

  Grady paused. “You want to help? Put an end to this battle before too many innocent civilians get hurt.” He turned, then a thought hit him. “I’m sure on your secret missions you’ve had to develop covers. Why don’t you put that to good use and see if you can come up with some vans or trucks with company logos for mechanics. I’ve got to figure out some way to make this charade plausible.”

  “We’ll work on it.”

  No one else spoke a word as they watched him grab his seabag out of the back bedroom—fighting more memories—and gathering the rest of his stuff.

  “Lock up when you leave” was the only thing he had left to say. Too many emotions coursed through him to come up with anything better.

  Cappy met him just as he opened the front door. The grizzly warrior slapped his Beretta into his hand, then held out the ejected cartridge.

  Adding insult to injury. Grady finally knew what that fucking phrase meant.

  Chapter 20

  Sandra winced at the slamming of the door. Sonofabitch!

  A sob caught in her throat as she listened to Grady’s footsteps pound across the wooden porch and down the front steps. He had twisted her words so thoroughly, she still couldn’t process it all. She dropped her purse strap across her shoulder and slumped against the back of the couch. The same goddamn couch where he had brought her to the brink of orgasm as he seduced secrets out of her with his wicked tongue.

  Clasping her mouth, she couldn’t stop the phrases from running through her mind. Was seducing me a sacrifice you made in order to accomplish those goals? I guess acting lessons are right there at the top of required courses. An actress? He thought she’d enchanted him as part of some sinister plot? That she could possibly fake that kind of ecstasy last night? Or this kind of pain? Hardly.

  He never even gave her a chance or opportunity to explain. She had trusted him. Opened up and confessed a part of her past that no one beyond SBG was ever allowed to know. And he’d walked out.

  Talon moved through the milling members of her former team and slouched beside her, wrapping his arms around her. She dropped her head onto his shoulder. It was an awkward position, and the guy really didn’t have the warm, fuzzy personality to show comfort, but she welcomed the effort.

  Her gaze traveled across the seams in the hardwood floor. Stupefied didn’t even begin to cover the maelstrom inside. She’d defied her closest friends’ requests to stay quiet just so Grady could stare at her with cold incredulity and make her out to be this horrible, wicked person.

  An unladylike snort escaped as the turmoil settled into pain. How could she finally allow herself to give in to the fantasy of having a normal life? To make love to her dream man, only to have him abandon her a few hours later?

  A sense of foreboding pumped into her system, competing with her shattered heart. She’d save everyone the trouble and leave town. Not only could it possibly protect Grady, but it would also allow him to move on with his life and forget her. Her stomach lurched and she swallowed back a lump. Without him, there was nothing left to keep her here.

  She untangled herself from Talon’s embrace and accepted the napkin Magician dangled in front of her.

  “Thanks.” She gave her friend a watery smile and blew her nose.

  Wallowing in grief was not going to help anyone and her team was now in jeopardy. She needed to disappear to protect them all.

  Romeo crossed his arms, the speculative look he roved over her made her squirm. “I take it this is the first time you’ve been truly honest with him?”

  What kind of question is that? Of course she couldn’t have told him anything before today. “What do you think?”

  “I think you just hit him with two barrels filled with shrapnel,” Romeo stated bluntly. “Damn, woman, that was painful to watch. I feel sorry for the guy.”

  “I don’t understan—”

  “What about us?” Talon asked, cutting her off.

  Every eye focused on her. She straightened to at least even some of the height discrepancy, not that it helped her feel empowered. She really needed to see if her jeans were dry.

  “Talon—”

  “No, Wraith. My turn.” He palmed a Ka-Bar and fiddled with the blade. “I killed a man earlier this evening. For you. To keep you alive, though you were content to have me grieve your death.”

  Tears crowded the corners of her eyes again.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic you’re breathing and among us again, but what the fuck?” Talon’s jaw ticked as he gazed at her with his beautiful icy emerald eyes, then he yanked a leather cord from beneath his T-shirt and held it out as far as it would reach. “You’re wearing our emblem like a goddamn accessory instead of what it represents. The bond between us all it symbolizes.” The dragons winked in the light as the pendant spun on the end. “Strength, courage, and wisdom. We barely had any of that while dealing with your death on top of Magician’s injuries . . .”

  Romeo shifted, his jaw now ticking. He looked away, but not before she caught the haunted expression.

  Magician didn’t move a muscle. Her head remained cocked to the side, but she wasn’t showing whatever thoughts whirled inside her beautiful mind.

  Sandra couldn’t meet their accusatory stares anymore. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, studying the floor. Away from their rightfully condemning expressions.

  She marched toward the laundry room. “I need some air.”

  ***

  Targeted. A goddamn mark. Grady gripped the steering wheel and slowed for another turn. Luckily, the sun was high enough that he could see without his headlights. Hitting a deer or whatever would be all he needed to end these past twenty-four hours.

  She had picked him out of a magazine, for Christsake. Like he was some fucking sweater or pair of pants. No wonder her résumé read like his wish list; it was. She had resear
ched him so well, she knew everything she needed to say in order to score her position with his company. God, he was such a fool. He played right into her hands like a sucker.

  His mind flashed up the memory of her confidently striding into his office in a pair of sexy red heels with her résumé in hand. His heart had stopped beating, then thumped double-time, singing “She’s the One.” Every day since, he found himself falling a little more in love with her and fantasizing about their future once he convinced her to take a chance on him.

  What a joke.

  How she must have laughed at his attempts to get close to her. And last night? While he was thanking God at finally getting the chance to live out a fantasy by making love to her and hopefully jump-starting their new life together, she was congratulating herself for winding him deeper into her web. His tattered heart flipped. No wonder she had kept him shut out all the time. She hadn’t felt anything at all.

  She deserved an Emmy. Not once did he suspect a thing. Even when she ran out of the center last night and they were getting shot at, it never occurred to him that she had purposely sought him out to use him as a way to complete an item on her agenda before moving on.

  He pushed the gas pedal to the floor and passed a trucker who had pulled off onto a side lane built on this stretch for just that purpose.

  So she was in hiding. From whom? A private military company? Special ops? CIA? The crazy thing was, he believed her; not about the urban myth—that stretched a little far for him—but about working for a secret agency. The whole team had the same vibe he’d once had with his old unit. The kind you only get through experiencing hell together and living to tell about it. He’d even spied the same dragon pendant that Sandra never took off hanging around more than one neck. As if by all of them wearing one, they showed their cohesiveness and bond. The symbol was so unique, it couldn’t be a coincidence.

  And the look on her face when she’d admitted to the reason she left—a fourteen-year-old girl dying by your bullet? He couldn’t imagine what abyss that had to have plunged her into. But she brought that shit here.