Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(17)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Striker is the code name that your brother used.”

And her heart was right back in her throat. Her gaze flew to the screen. “His last job was… It was just three weeks ago. In…Phoenix?” That didn’t make any sense. “What kind of job would he be doing there?”

“You really don’t know him that well,” Jasper murmured.

Goose bumps rose on her arms. She stood, shaking. “Do you know what kind of job took him there?” She rubbed her forehead. “He saved people. That’s what he told me. He took rescue missions. When tourists were kidnapped and held for ransom, their parents couldn’t always pay, so he went in.” She didn’t like what Jasper was implying. “Cale is a hero,” she said again.

Jasper didn’t speak then. In that stark silence, Veronica wasn’t sure…was she trying to convince him that her brother was a good man or was she trying to convince herself?

“I’ve seen names like these before,” she whispered. Not those exact names, but similar ones. She rubbed a hand over her forehead. “They were scribbled on the backs of some old photos that Cale had at the house and—” She broke off, her eyes widening. “I’d seen him before.”

Jasper frowned at her.

“The tattoo on Reed’s arm.” She barely breathed the words. “That’s why it caught my eye at Last Chance. I—I’d seen it…in one of the pictures at the ranch.” She thought about Reed’s face, took ten years away from it, gave him hair… “He served with my brother.”

“That’s how they connected. How Reed knew that Cale could get the jobs done for him.”

Jasper had recognized Reed, too. He’d remembered the man from the military, and Jasper had known just what sort of business Cale had been involved with at the bar.

Before she could figure out what to say next, she heard the growl of a car’s engine. Jasper tensed, and his hand went to his waist—and to the gun tucked in his waistband.

Then he was moving silently toward the door. Pushing aside the shade and peering outside. After a brief moment, the tension left his shoulders. “It’s the good guys.”

For some reason, it was getting harder for her to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.

Jasper glanced back at her. “Gunner’s team is in town. When I found the body, I called them.” He paused a beat, then said, “You can trust them.”

She shook her head. “You’re the only one I trust.”

He gazed back at her. A faint furrow appeared between his brows.

“Why didn’t you just call the sheriff?” she asked. “Wyatt would—”

“This case is a little over his head. And the station blew up last night. He’s already got enough to deal with.” He tucked the gun back in his waistband. “If the agents need his help, they’ll say so.”

She pushed her hands against the tops of her thighs. She was sweating, far too nervous and far too aware of the dead body down the hallway.

Then the front door opened. A tall, dark man with short black hair and a faint scar under his chin marched inside. He seemed to fill the small room, dominating the space. Between him and Jasper, she suddenly felt very, very overwhelmed.

Then the stranger’s gaze turned toward her. “You’re Veronica Lane.”

She nodded.

“I’m Agent Logan Quinn.” He offered his hand.

She took it slowly and immediately had her fingers clasped in a warm, strong grip.

Then she was free. Logan glanced at Jasper. “Glad you were on this one, man. If she’d wandered in alone…”

Her spine straightened. “I would have managed to call the authorities just fine on my own.”

Logan’s eyelids flickered. “Of course, my apologies, you would have, but if the body’s as fresh as Jasper says, then the killer may still be close by.”

Just what she didn’t need to hear.

“Let’s ease out of here until the techs arrive.” Logan waved toward the door.

Unable to help herself, Veronica cast a longing look toward the laptop.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that,” Logan told her.

Yes, that was what she was afraid of.

Veronica nodded even as she curled her hand over the small flash drive that had been attached to the laptop. The flash drive that she’d taken the liberty of “borrowing”—right after she’d copied those recovered files. The files had been saved to the flash drive just seconds before Jasper had appeared in the den.

The sunlight hit her the minute she stepped outside the apartment. Spring, but it was still already uncomfortably warm. Veronica was surprised to see a few other cars there. Her gaze scanned the lot. She recognized Gunner. Beside him stood a woman with short blond hair and fierce eyes. A few people in suits were scattered around the area.

“We’ll let the crime techs take over while we do a little…hunting in the area.”

Logan’s voice was mild, but his use of the word hunting seemed strange to her. She looked over at him, frowning.

“You need some help with that?” Jasper asked, his own voice just as mild.

Logan hesitated, then glanced her way. “We got this covered. Why don’t you just finish your business with Ms. Lane.”

She didn’t think that she liked Logan Quinn. His gaze was too guarded. His words were too careful. She had the impression that he was a man who carried secrets, a lot of them.

Veronica took a few steps toward Jasper’s truck; then she hesitated. Her instincts were screaming at her. She looked over her shoulder at the agent. “Logan, do you know my brother?” She wasn’t going to “Mr. Quinn” him.

She caught the flicker of surprise on his face. “Yes, I do.”

Her heart iced. Suddenly, everything was making a whole lot of sense to her.

The agents’ presence in town. At least two agents from the FBI…both in little Whiskey Ridge. All of those guys in suits. The fast response to Jasper’s call.

When they’d been at the police station, Gunner had insisted on questioning her kidnappers—questioning them alone.

He hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of me.

And now Cale’s code name had been the last one listed in Reed’s deleted files.

She had to face the facts, even if those facts scared her to death. It wasn’t just a coincidence that the federal agents were in town. The agents were in Whiskey Ridge because they were hunting Cale.

She reached for Jasper’s hand, pulled him close. “W-we’ll stay out of your way. Don’t worry.” Because she and Jasper were going to hunt and find Cale long before the agents could.