Harlequin Intrigue November 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2

by Carla Cassidy

  Deb willed her feet to stay planted on the ground. She still had her weapon pointed at Zendaris and she couldn’t lose that advantage. “What’s wrong with him?”

  The man holding him answered. “Just sleeping. He’s okay.”

  “Wake him up.”

  The man shook Bobby a little and said a few words. Bobby popped his head up and shifted his arms and legs.

  She blew out a breath. “Put him down and let him come to me.”

  “Wait.” Zendaris held up his hand. “I’m the one giving the orders. You’re still holding a gun on me and I don’t have the plans. You could grab your son and shoot me.”

  “Your men have guns on me.” She shrugged. “If I shot you, they’d shoot me or Bobby. I’m not going to risk that.”

  “Sort of a Mexican standoff here, eh?” He snapped his fingers at the man. “Put him down. I want my plans.”

  The man put Bobby on the ground, and Bobby blinked and rubbed his eyes. With her gun still on Zendaris, she called to her son. “Bobby, it’s Mommy. Come to me.”

  “Mommy!” His little feet slapped the ground as he ran toward her. He threw himself at her legs, wrapping his arms around them. She wanted nothing more than to pick him up in her arms, but this farce wasn’t over yet.

  Zendaris held out his hand. “The plans. Or I really will have my men shoot both you and your son before you can even get a shot off.”

  Something whizzed through the air and Zendaris’s mouth hung open.

  This is it. Deb took a step back.

  A form hurtled from behind the Dumpster. Beau yelled, “Get down, Deb.”

  In one motion, he swept Bobby from the ground and wrapped his arms around both of them as he tackled them. Deb heard more whizzing noises above them. A car started, and then stalled.

  Beau dragged her and Bobby a few more feet away from the chaos, his body still covering theirs.

  He looked over his shoulder from the ground. “How many? How many men does he have with him?”

  “Zendaris.”

  “Down.”

  “Driver.”

  “Down.” He spoke into the mic clipped to his jacket, and she realized he wasn’t talking just to her.

  “Man who had Bobby.”

  Deb overheard a voice coming through Beau’s earpiece. “He ran back into the warehouse. J.D., launch the smoke bombs.”

  Deb screamed over the new noise and tried to cover Bobby’s ears. “My escort.”

  “Down.”

  Cade—it must’ve been Cade—replied, “I got someone exiting the gate.”

  Someone else shouted, “All clear, all clear.”

  Beau spoke into his mic. “Verify. Verify the all-clear.”

  Nobody answered. The connections had been lost.

  Black smoke poured from the warehouse and Deb squeezed her eyes shut. It was over. The nightmare was finally over.

  “Zendaris not down, not out.”

  Gasping, Deb lifted her head and Beau sat up to face Zendaris’s weapon pointed at them.

  Zendaris was propped up against the car, the open door serving as a shield from any incoming bullets. But there wouldn’t be any incoming bullets because the other three had thought the drama was over and had left their posts.

  He pointed at Beau. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Just a curious bystander.”

  “Another Prospero robot, most likely. Do you really have those plans, Deb?”

  “Yes.” The gun Deb had been holding on Zendaris before all hell broke loose was gouging her hip. She shifted toward Beau to push it in his direction. “The plans are in the car, but you’ll never get away with them. My Prospero brothers will be here in seconds.”

  “Maybe they will, but I’m going to take a few of you down before I go, starting with you.”

  Her gun flashed before her as Beau swung it free while throwing himself in front of her and Bobby. Two shots echoed in the night and Bobby whimpered in her arms.

  Beau rolled from her body and crouched beside her. “Are you okay?”

  She struggled to a sitting position, pulling Bobby into her lap. Touching Beau’s face, she whispered, “Are you?”

  “I am now.” He pointed the gun at Zendaris’s body, coiled on the ground.

  “What the hell happened?” Gage ran toward Zendaris and kicked the gun from his hand. “How did he survive that shot to the heart?”

  Beau rose to his feet and extended his hand to Deb. “Bulletproof vest. Your shot knocked him down, maybe even knocked the wind out of him, but his vest saved him.”

  “Damn fedora. Couldn’t get a clean shot at his head.”

  J.D. and Cade had arrived, too, picking through the weapons and trying to ID the men. “That’s gotta be everybody.”

  Deb stroked Bobby’s face. “Are you okay, my love?”

  He nodded. “Where were you, Mommy?”

  “I was trying to get you home.”

  Beau touched a finger to Bobby’s nose. “Didn’t you know, Bobby? Your mom is Superwoman.”

  Epilogue

  The light breeze caused a ripple through the meadow of Colorado wildflowers, and the bride resembled another flower as she floated along the edge of the meadow, her white skirt billowing behind her.

  Deb sipped champagne, and the bubbles tickled her throat. “Let’s go congratulate the bride and groom.”

  She grabbed Bobby’s hand and rested her fingers on Beau’s arm. The crowed parted for him as he led her to J.D. and J.D.’s new wife, Noelle. Crowds would always part for Loki.

  Deb kissed Noelle on the cheek and hugged J.D. “This is it, cowboy. You’re a married man. Are you going to put down roots in Colorado?”

  “We’ll probably go back to D.C. at first. This is Noelle’s brother’s place. We’ve just been helping him out.” He kissed his wife’s hand.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Like a magnet, their little group drew the others. Gage, looking like a GQ model, approached with a dark-haired beauty—Zendaris’s former nanny.

  Cade, with his beachy-blonde wife by his side and their little boy skipping in front of them, joined them as well.

  Deb studied each of their faces. Even though Robert was gone, she still had a family. These men were her brothers, and she knew now she could trust them with her life and her son’s life. She should’ve realized that before.

  They stood silent for a moment, consciously aware for a split second that they shared a special bond—not just the Prospero Team Three agents, but the people they loved. The people Zendaris had targeted. They stood frozen, as if drinking in the beauty and inhaling the freedom of the moment.

  Then they all began to talk at once.

  Cade clinked his glass with Deb’s. “I guess we owe Zendaris for leading Deb straight to the anti-drone plans. Dr. Herndon was probably ready to put them back on the market.”

  “Now the Defense Department has them.” J.D. draped his arm around his bride’s shoulder.

  Gage snorted. “Better the DOD than the CIA. You should’ve seen that compound the Agency had down in Panama.”

  “This is a wedding. Enough shop talk.” Cade’s wife, Jenna, ruffled Bobby’s hair and smiled at Deb. “He’s so cute. Is he better now?”

  “He’s getting stronger every day, thanks to his dad.” Deb brushed her hand across Beau’s back.

  He caught her hand and kissed her fingers before going back to his conversation with Gage’s girlfriend, Randi, about Colombia.

  Jenna’s son, Gavin, pulled on his mom’s arm. “I wanna run over there, Mommy. We can see horses.”

  Jenna put her finger to her lips. “Just a minute, Gavin. Deb, is it okay if I take Bobby with us? I don’t know about your little guy, but mine’s just itching to get his f
ancy clothes dirty.”

  Deb crouched next to Bobby. “Do you want to go with Gavin and his mommy to see the horses?”

  “Can Daddy come?”

  “He’ll come in a minute. Go play with Gavin.”

  Jenna took both boys by the hand and called after Cade to join them.

  J.D. and Noelle peeled away from the group to dance with their new in-laws, and Gage pulled Randi into the wildflowers where they disappeared from view.

  Beau jerked his chin toward Bobby with the Starks. “He looks good, huh?”

  “Looks good, feels good. The transfusions worked like a charm.” She hitched her arms around Beau’s neck and kissed his chin. “He’s so happy to have his daddy in his life—we both are.”

  “And his daddy is happy to be there. He fit right in with the cousins, didn’t he?”

  “Your family is completely turning his head. He’s already clamoring for ten brothers and sisters.”

  He dragged her close and whispered in her ear in a way that still gave her shivers, “Should we get started on that request?”

  “We can work on it, but let’s wait a few years before actually creating another perfect child. You’re seriously considering Jack’s offer to join Prospero, aren’t you?”

  “I am if he’ll have me.”

  She kissed him. “I’m giving you a very good recommendation.”

  “Thanks, babe. That’ll go far because you know about all of Loki’s exploits, don’t you?”

  “I don’t want to know about all of them.” She put a finger on his yummy lips that she couldn’t stop kissing.

  “Really? Because I have one I don’t think I told you about before.”

  “Watch yourself.”

  “Did I ever tell you about the one where I was in this bar in Zurich?”

  She tilted her head to one side. “Hmm, I don’t think so.”

  “So, I was in this bar in Zurich, relaxing after a particularly perilous assignment.”

  “Fascinating.”

  “I looked across the room and my eyes locked onto the most intriguing woman I’d ever seen in my life.”

  “She sounds dangerous.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “What happened? Did she turn out to be a double agent? Lead you on a high-speed chase through the mountains?”

  “Something much scarier than that.” He traced her lips with his fingertip. “She made me fall in love with her.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from RENEGADE GUARDIAN by Delores Fossen.

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  Chapter One

  Maya Ellison spotted the man the moment she stepped out of the grocery store.

  He would have been darn hard to miss, especially since he was leaning against her car. Except he wasn’t just leaning. It was more as if he was lounging while he took in the scenery. Arms folded over his chest. Jeans-clad legs, outstretched and crossed at the ankles.

  Waiting.

  Maya had no idea who he was. Or what he wanted. But he appeared to be waiting for her.

  She walked closer, her steps slow and cautious while she kept her attention nailed to him. Even with the lounging pose, she could tell he was well over six feet tall. Solid build. Dark brown hair that fell slightly long against his neck. Even though he was wearing a black Stetson, the cool October breeze had rifled through what she could see of his hair and had left it rumpled.

  He reminded her of an Old West outlaw. And that was the reason she tightened her grip on the infant carrier that held her son, Evan.

  The man lifted his head, snagging her gaze, but he said nothing as he pushed himself away from her car. The simple gesture nearly caused her to turn and run back into the store, but Maya reminded herself she was on Main Street, in broad daylight, no less. Plus, this was Spring Hill, a sleepy Texas town that was as close to crime-free as a town could get.

  Bad things don’t happen in Spring Hill.

  It was the reason she’d moved here. A safe haven to raise her child. She hoped she hadn’t been wrong about that.

  “May I help you?” Maya asked, and silently cursed the polite tone. She added a glare for his leaning on her car.

  “I’m Slade Becker,” he said, not answering her question. He reached into the pocket of his black jacket and pulled something out. Before Maya could react to the possibility that it might be a gun, he produced a wallet and held it up for her to see.

  Not a wallet.

  A badge.

  She eased a few steps closer so she could get a better look at him and that star shield. It wasn’t a cop’s badge, but now that she had a better look at him, his steel-blue eyes seemed as if they did indeed belong to a cop. He didn’t just look at her. He studied her from the top of her head to her sensible leather walking shoes. Then that gaze went to the carrier.

  To Evan.

  Because of the way she was holding the carrier and the single plastic bag of groceries, the man could likely only see the top of Evan’s head, which was covered by a blue knit cap. Still, even that seemed intrusive, so she turned, hoping that would shift his gaze off Evan and back to her.

  It didn’t.

  Maya decided to do something about that. She gave the carrier another adjustment so that it was as far behind her as she could position it. The shift caused her arm to ache, and she wouldn’t be able to stand there long. Not that she intended to do that anyway.

  “You’re a U.S. marshal,” she said, making sure she sounded impatient, which she was. Even though it was a beautiful autumn day, she suddenly wanted nothing more than to get home.

  And away from this lawman with the haunting blue eyes.

  There was something downright unsettling about him, and it didn’t have anything to do with the car-leaning or memorable eye color. Maybe it was his looks. Edgy, along with being drop-dead gorgeous. He was the kind of man she usually avoided but found herself attracted to anyway.

  Maya choked back a huff. No way, no how would she feel anything but wariness when it came to this man. She wasn’t at a point in her life where she was looking for a relationship, especially one with a man like this.

  “Yeah, I’m a marshal,” Slade confirmed, and the wind had another go at his hair. “You didn’t know I was coming.” It wasn’t a question, nor did he wait for her to answer. “I was on my way out to your house, but I spotted your car in the parking lot and stopped.”

  “But why?”

  He opened his mouth, maybe to explain why she would have known he was coming or why he was indeed there, but her phone rang. The sweet lullaby ringtone didn’t mesh with the syrupy tension in the air.

  Even though she was on an extended leave of absence from her job as a victims’ rights advocate, Maya couldn’t risk not checking the caller-ID screen to see if this was someone from the office. She set down the carrier and grocery bag and snatched the phone from the diaper bag she had looped over her shoulder. She then picked up Evan again as quickly as she could, making sure she didn’t let the stranger get a good look at her baby.

  “Saul Warne
r,” she mumbled, reading what had appeared on the screen of her phone. It wasn’t a name she recognized.

  “That’ll be my boss,” Slade provided, his rusty growl of a voice slicing through the lullaby notes. He leaned against her car again to resume his waiting.

  Yet another piece to this puzzle. Why would his boss want to speak to her? “Maya Ellison,” she answered.

  “Marshal Warner,” the man greeted. “I’m sorry I’m just now getting around to calling you, but I got tied up with something. It’s possible that Slade Becker is already there in Spring Hill.”

  “He’s with me in the parking lot of Hawthorne’s Grocery Store on Main Street.” Maya met his gaze again. Frowned. “But why is he here?”

  Marshal Warner made a slight sound in his throat, as if the answer were obvious. “Because you need someone there with you, and when the FBI put out the request, Slade volunteered.”

  Okay. “Uh, why would I need a marshal, and why would the FBI request anything that had to do with me?”

  No obvious throat sound that time, and Slade’s left eyebrow slid up. It was a question. But Maya didn’t know what exactly he was asking.

  “You’ve heard about the kidnappings, of course,” Warner continued.

  Kidnappings? That kicked up her heart rate. She had seen something in the headlines of a newspaper in the grocery store, but she hadn’t read the article.

  “I haven’t heard much news in the past several days. I just adopted a five-week-old baby, and—” Maya stopped herself from gushing about the joys and challenges of being a new mom and remembered she was talking to a federal marshal.

  “Who are you?” Maya asked flat out. “Not your name. I got that. But why are you calling me?”

  “The FBI asked us to help and Slade volunteered his services. Actually, he insisted on personally taking this case. Like the rest of us, he doesn’t want another baby to go missing.”

  Her chest was suddenly so tight that Maya was afraid she wouldn’t be able to speak, or breathe. “Why would you think anyone would want to take my baby? His birth mother willingly gave him up for adoption. And everything’s in order with the paperwork. I should know because I’m an attorney.”