***
Gary Warren stepped back into the shadows of the alley and watched Victor rush away. A faint smile curved his lips. The guy was so clueless. He thought he was a big fucking deal at the Bureau. But the guy was all flash. He didn’t look beneath the surface enough, never saw anything without Gary’s help.
And now, you don’t see me.
Gary hadn’t needed to look up Elizabeth’s past. He was already real familiar with it. Intimately so.
But he had needed Victor’s help for one thing…finding her. And Saxon.
Gary waited until Victor had left the lot, then he pulled out his phone again. He’d put a transmitter on Victor’s car, an easy enough placement while the guy had been in The Blade. Now all he had to do was stay within range and follow that guy all the way to Saxon’s hiding spot.
Then, Elizabeth…you die.
Over the years, he’d always prided himself on being a professional. If he took a job, then he got that job done. Period. He’d been hired to kill the Wards—all three of them. But Elizabeth had escaped…vanished for two years.
Until she’d shown up—quite literally—in Wesley Locke’s lap. Wesley had once been part of Luther’s payroll, and when the guy made the connection, he had run straight to the big boss, squealing about how he should get credit for her hit.
No one gets credit for my kills.
But then Wesley had changed his mind. Gone soft. Said that Elizabeth wasn’t hurting anyone, that she should go free.
By then, it had been too late for such foolish talk. And with Wesley waffling, well, he’d had to die, too.
You kill once, and then the dominoes start falling. It was a good thing he’d always been so good at dominoes.
When he’d taken out Elizabeth’s parents two years ago, she’d been at the house when he did his reconnaissance work. He’d gone there, spilled his usual BS about installing a security system, even as he really cased the house and got a good look at the cars while planning his hit.
Since Elizabeth hadn’t died—like she should have—he’d worried for years that she would remember him. That she’d put the puzzle pieces together, and then his secret double life would be exposed. That hell would be brought out into the open.
The hit on the Ward family had been a big one—worth one million dollars. That hit should have set him up for life, but Luther hadn’t paid him. Because I didn’t take out the daughter.
But when Elizabeth died, he’d finally get his big pay day. And he’d finally be able to sleep at night without wondering…
Does she remember me?
Unfortunately, Victor and Saxon would also have to die in the coming battle. Two FBI agents—gunned down while protecting an innocent woman. Ah, he was sure their funeral services would be just lovely.
If he tried hard enough, he figured that he’d even be able to muster up a tear or two. He’d always been such a fine actor.
Chapter Eight
Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes. She’d fallen asleep, just…sank into darkness after that last orgasm. And she had no idea how long she’d been out. She pushed up—the light coming through that window didn’t seem as strong. Was the sun getting ready to set? Frowning, she looked back down at the bed, and she saw that Saxon was by her side.
His hand was curved around her stomach. His body pressed closely to her own.
She caught herself staring at him. Great, now I’m pulling the stalker routine. Watching the guy while sleeps.
But he was rather cute when he slept.
Then she heard the unmistakable growl of an engine, one that was driving far too fast. Coming far too close.
Saxon’s eyes flew open. There was no sleepiness in his stare. His gaze was completely aware—and deadly. Before she could speak, he leapt from the bed. He yanked on his jeans and grabbed a gun from under the table.
Wait, under the table? The guy had actually taped a gun beneath his table?
“Saxon?” She rose, her own movements slow and jerky as she searched for her clothes. She put on her skirt, blood-stains and all, but she didn’t grab her shirt. She used his, instead. Then she hopped and put on the tennis shoes he’d brought her. “What’s going on?” That growling engine was getting louder and louder. Closer and closer.
He peered out the window. “I fell asleep.”
“Um, we both did.” After earth-shattering, mind-numbing sex. The first time in her life that she’d had the mind-numbing variety of sex.
“I never fall asleep with a lover.”
His words hurt her. Why, she wasn’t sure. Maybe because it sounds like I’m just one in a line.
“Missed my damn check-in with Vic. Now either he’s hauling ass out here…” His gaze slashed over to meet hers. “Or someone else has found us.”
Please let it just be Vic.
He whirled back toward the window. He searched the area outside. “I don’t have a visual on the vehicle, not yet.”
She inched closer to him. The floor creaked beneath her feet, and she saw Saxon’s shoulders stiffen. He had scars on his shoulders. On his back. She hadn’t even noticed those before. They were slashes. From a knife? Her hand reached out to touch him.
“Go in the bathroom and shut the door. Don’t come out unless you hear me call for you.”
He was still staring out the window.
“I won’t let them get you,” he promised.
But…what about him? He’d handled himself easily back at the motel, but the guy wasn’t immortal. The scars on his back were testimony to the pain he’d endured. “Let me help you.”
He shook his head. “Help me by getting to cover and—” His breath expelled in a rush. “Victor’s rental car.”
Relief made her a little dizzy. “Then we’re okay.” No bad guys had found her location. They were still safe.
“You’re okay,” he muttered. “Vic is probably about to rip me a new one.”
The engine died. She heard a car door slam.
“Yeah, it’s Vic,” Saxon said as he leaned closer to the window. “And he looks pissed.”
Wait, didn’t he always look that way? Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she’d seen other expressions cross his face.
“And he’s coming in armed.” Saxon swore and hurried to open the cabin’s door. “Vic, it’s all right, man! You don’t need to rush in, guns blazing!”
But Victor did rush right in. He shoved Saxon back over the threshold of that cabin, then he slammed the door shut. “What. The. Fuck?” Fury was stamped on his face. “You had a check-in. You never miss a check-in with me.”
Saxon slanted a look at Elizabeth. “I fell asleep.”
The fury on Victor’s face warred with shock. “You did what?”
Saxon shook his head. “I’m sorry, man. I made a mistake.”
Elizabeth inched back a bit. The floor decided to creak beneath her once more.
And that little creak had Victor’s gaze snapping toward her. “You.”
Oh, hell.
Victor took a menacing step toward her. As she stared at his face, she thought “pissed” might have been the wrong term to describe him. Enraged worked far better.
‘”I thought my brother was dead.”
“Your brother?” Her voice came out as a rasp. She was confused and growing more nervous by the moment. “Look, Agent Monroe, I don’t know your brother.”
He growled then. Growled. “I think you were fucking him…and that’s why my brother forgot to check the hell in. Not because of some bull about falling asleep.”
Saxon and Victor were brothers? She’d got that the two men were friends, but—brothers?
Before she could question him further—and tell the guy that any fucking was not his business, brothers or not—Victor whirled back toward Saxon. “You’re a federal agent. Protocol demands—”
“I’m not an agent, not anymore. I already told you that Taggert was my last job. Since he’s dead, I’m out.”
Only…he’d been staying there with her. Protecting her.