Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(12)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Or anyone.

“I don’t have a death wish,” Gunner told her quietly because it was obvious she wasn’t going to let this drop. “So don’t go running to Logan telling him I’m dangerous.”

“That’s not what I meant—”

He knew that. Sydney cared—that was the problem for them both. He tried to distract her, saying, “I didn’t even realize you had surveillance set up last night.” Now he felt as though he could glance back at her. “Tell me you caught sight of our killer.” An image of Cale would cement the case against him.

She shook her head. “I’d just installed one camera. Thought it might be good to keep eyes on the station. I’d made it back to base and was testing the equipment when I saw—well, the flames were pretty hard to miss.” Her voice dropped. “I saw the men fall, then I saw you take off. I knew I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”

“I can handle myself.” She should know that.

“Can you?”

Before he could respond to what Gunner was sure had to be a deliberate taunt, the sheriff glanced his way. Then Wyatt began to march toward him.

“Wyatt Halliday,” Sydney murmured. “Divorced, age thirty-four. Did a brief tour in the army, got a BA in criminal justice from Texas A&M. Got shot in Dallas, almost died tracking a perp, and then the guy came out here. Guess he was looking for some peace and quiet.”

Peace and quiet weren’t on the day’s agenda.

Wyatt huffed as he approached. “You.” He jabbed a finger at Gunner. “We need to talk.”

Gunner shrugged. Then he inclined his head toward Sydney. “This is Special Agent Sydney Sloan.” That was her title at the EOD. He hadn’t exactly lied to the sheriff just now. He was just letting him believe Sydney was a special agent with the FBI.

Wyatt hesitated. His gaze darted to Sydney. Lingered just a little too long for Gunner’s comfort.

“You wanted to talk?” Gunner snapped, trying to draw Wyatt’s attention away from Sydney.

Wyatt jerked his gaze back to Gunner. “I want to know what’s going on. I got a friend at the bureau. I called him. He said there weren’t any missing persons’ cases that fit this attack profile, that he didn’t know of a suspected perp who—”

Gunner raised his hand. “I’m not in town to investigate kidnappings. That was a cover I needed to give until we could get my team better established in Whiskey Ridge.” Just like his cover with the FBI. But Sydney would have put safeguards in place for the FBI bit. If anyone investigated, if the sheriff got too curious, he’d find that there was a record for a Special Agent Gunner Ortez and a record for Special Agent Sydney Sloan.

Sydney was always good at creating the covers.

“Then just why are you in town?” Wyatt pushed. “And why is my station destroyed?”

How much should he reveal? How much did the sheriff already know? It was hard to get a good read on the man.

“It’s about Cale Lane, isn’t it?” Wyatt dropped his voice and edged closer. “Veronica was right. Something has happened to him.”

Not to him so much. With the sheriff’s question, Gunner knew how to play the case now. “We are in town following up on Cale’s disappearance.”

Wyatt grunted. “I knew Veronica wouldn’t give up. She called you in, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Sydney said. “She got our attention.”

Well, Gunner knew that the lady had certainly gotten Jasper’s attention.

Wyatt glanced over his shoulder at the charred remains of his station. “What Cale does, it’s dangerous. He knows the risks that he takes, but I don’t think Veronica ever really understood just how deadly his job could be.”

Gunner frowned as he got what Wyatt was saying and what he wasn’t saying. “He asked you to cover for him.” A hunch.

Wyatt gave a grim nod and cut his eyes back to Gunner. “Said he’d be gone longer this time. That the money—it was enough for him to get out of the business.”

The sheriff hadn’t cared that Cale was a hired gun?

“Don’t look that way,” Wyatt said, voice fierce. “He was working for Uncle Sam. Same as you. Same as me…back before the shooting.”

Wyatt had done mercenary work, too?

“Cale said he’d be gone longer, that the case was big. I thought he was just still working the job. I didn’t realize—” He broke off and shook his head. “Cale Lane is my best friend. Do you really think I’d turn my back on him if I thought he was in trouble?”

It didn’t matter what he thought. It only mattered what the evidence showed. All of their evidence was currently showing that Cale was the killer who’d taken out three EOD agents—and that he was quite possibly the man who’d shot the two suspects last night.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about Cale Lane,” Gunner said. “Every. Single. Thing.”

Because if they were going to catch Cale before the man killed again, then they had to get inside his mind.

To catch a killer, you had to think like one.

Chapter Four

“Why isn’t anyone else here?”

Veronica jumped and spun around, her heart racing. Jasper stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing a pair of faded jeans that clung low on his waist.

And nothing else.

His chest rippled with muscles. His shoulders filled that doorway, and Veronica had to yank her jaw off the floor.

“Veronica? Why’s the ranch deserted?”

“B-because it’s not a working ranch.” Not yet. But Cale had talked about changing that. “Cale and I—we bought it for the privacy.” The isolation. “We have a few horses, and someone comes in to tend to them, but…”

But it was just her.

Alone with Jasper.

“Where do you work?” he asked as his gaze swept over her.

Like him, she was dressed in old jeans, but she also had on a T-shirt. He needed a shirt. Her gaze kept falling to his chest. “My office is down the hallway. Third door.”

“You do all your work from the ranch?”

She nodded. “I’ve got a satellite connection for the internet—that connection is all I need.” She built websites for doctors, lawyers, schools, writers. Anyone who needed the sites designed and maintained.

And she did it without having to rush to the city or having to face off with clients.

She had a partner in Dallas who took care of the PR and marketing end of things. Kelly booked the clients, found out just what they needed, and Veronica did the building and website coding part of the business.