Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(39)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Cale shook his head. “Veronica is too good for you.”

He knew that.

“You’ll break her heart. Head out on another mission and never look back.”

He wanted to punch the wood, shatter the table. “This isn’t about Veronica.” A lie. If it weren’t for her, would he even be having this conversation? “You say you’re innocent, then help me. Give me a witness, give me something.”

“Reed Montgomery was my witness. He’s the one who sent me to the Caribbean. He’s the one who knows I wasn’t in the country when the first agent was killed.”

“Then why did his log have you in West Virginia when Julian Forrest was killed? In Phoenix at the time of the hit on Ben King?” Because when he’d been back at Reed Montgomery’s apartment, Jasper had looked over Veronica’s shoulder and seen those clear notations. Striker Two…West Virginia. Striker Two…Phoenix. When Sydney got to digging into the machine, Jasper figured she’d find even more evidence.

Cale shook his head. “Not. Me.”

“Then someone’s sure doing a good job of pretending to be you.” Maybe that was it. Damn it, maybe… Because Cale’s code name was Striker. So why had Reed tacked on the “Two” handle? Because someone else was taking those missions? Someone who could be just as deadly as Striker? “Who is it? Who knows you well enough to trap you like this?”

Cale’s lashes lowered. “You mean a man who knows how I kill? How I hunt? Who knows where to find evidence that can incriminate me, even as he leaves no evidence behind that would ever link him to the crimes?” Cale looked up at Jasper. “Well, old buddy, your name is the first one that springs to mind.”

Hell.

“It’s not—” Jasper began.

The door flew open. Jasper whirled around. Sydney stood in the doorway, her cheeks flushed, her breath heaving. “Jasper, I need you.” Gunner was right behind her.

Casting one last, hard look at Cale, Jasper hurried from the room. Gunner slipped inside, resuming his guard duty.

“What is it?” Jasper asked her.

“We’ve got a problem.” She marched down the hallway, passed the small lobby area, then headed upstairs. This was her workspace. He knew that Sydney always liked privacy when she worked with her computers and—

A whistle slipped from him when he saw the destruction. “What the hell happened?”

She headed toward the laptop—Reed Montgomery’s laptop. The machine had been smashed, again and again, broken into sharp, hard pieces. Keyboard buttons were on the floor. It looked as if the machine’s hard drive had been hit repeatedly with a hammer.

“Someone didn’t want me seeing evidence,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if it was luck or whoever did this knew just what he was doing, but he smashed the platters inside the hard drive.” She looked back at Jasper. “It’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to recover any information from this machine.”

“When?” A snarl from him.

“I was up here less than two hours ago. Logan wanted that intel on the shrink, so I had to leave before I could start processing the computer.”

Every muscle in his body was on high alert. “Only the EOD agents had access to this building.”

“The agents…” She nodded, but said, “The sheriff. The deputy…and Veronica Lane.”

He was already shaking his head. “It wasn’t her.”

“Maybe she was trying to help her brother, by hiding his guilt.”

“It wasn’t her.” And there it was…blind trust. The same kind of trust Veronica had for Cale. The same kind of trust she’d given to Jasper just twenty-four hours ago. He spun for the door. “Where’s the sheriff?”

“Gone.” Her footsteps rushed after him. “Both Wyatt and the deputy went out to do some patrols. Logan is looking for them now but…”

He glanced back over his shoulder.

“I think you should be the one who brings Veronica in for questioning,” Sydney said, eyes wide.

“It’s not her.” He knew it with every fiber of his being. But if it wasn’t Veronica, and Cale couldn’t have smashed the machine because he’d been in custody, then someone else out there was trying to make sure that Cale Lane wasn’t cleared.

“Someone is setting me up.” Yeah, Jasper was starting to believe Cale’s words.

“As soon as Logan finds the sheriff and deputy, I want to know.” He hurried down the stairs.

“Jasper! What about Veronica—”

“I’ll take care of her.” Sydney could interpret that any way she wanted.

Jasper grabbed his keys and raced out into the night.

* * *

VERONICA’S SHOULDERS HUNCHED as she walked. She was soaked through, and the wind and rain seemed to slap at her face with every step that she took.

She didn’t have a cell phone. It hadn’t been recovered after the crash at the ranch. And no one was on this road to help her.

People were too smart to be out in the storm.

The flash drive was still in her pocket. She’d been too afraid to leave it behind in the car. It was her only evidence. She had to hold on to it.

She heard the growl of a motor behind her. Yes. Finally someone! Veronica hurried back onto the road. The car was a good distance away now. She waved her arms as soon as the headlights hit her.

The headlights were so bright.

As bright as they’d been before, when the car had come rushing at her.

She froze, with her arms still over her head. The car wasn’t slowing. The driver had to see her, even through the rain, but he wasn’t slowing.

Veronica ran back toward the side of the road. Just as she left the pavement, she slipped in the mud and fell down hard. Mud soaked her clothes, and it felt as if her shoulder slammed into a rock, but she dragged herself forward to the row of trees near the edge of the road.

Behind her, brakes squealed as the car stopped. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. Maybe the driver had seen her. Maybe he was coming to help her and she was panicking over nothing.

Maybe.

Cautiously, she turned back around. Because of the darkness, she could see very little about the car. The vehicle seemed low to the ground, with a long hood and a stretching trunk, but she couldn’t determine the car’s color or make. Veronica inched a bit closer. “Hello?” she called out. The driver’s door had opened. She’d heard it creak.