Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(22)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Logan opened the door. I never saw that damn line. The kills had come too easily for him.

Monster.

He knew what he was, even if Juliana didn’t.

A weapon. A killer. An assassin. Senator James had been right about him after all.

Now Juliana had just seen up close and personal how dangerous he could be. Her left hand reached up and curled around his arm. “Are we safe?”

He glanced back to the outer room. Gunner was checking the men. No point in that. They sure weren’t moving.

His nod was grim.

Then Logan opened the door, making sure to keep his body in front of Juliana’s, just in case. “What the hell,” he began, voice lethal, “just happened?”

No way should those guards have gotten this close. Guerrero’s men weren’t even supposed to know about the location, not until they’d set up a more secure perimeter, but…

“We got slammed,” Gunner said, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Explosives, artillery…they came prepared, but we still managed to take them all out.”

So they had. His feet crunched over the broken glass. The cabin was shredded, windows busted. The front door was ripped from its hinges and bullet holes lined the walls.

He’d loved this place once. It had been a sanctuary, courtesy of his stepfather. A place to lick his wounds.

A place to share with Juliana.

Not any longer.

Logan bent next to one of the fallen men. With Juliana so close, he hadn’t been able to take any chances. Kill shots. If the men had survived, they would have just kept shooting at him.

“Tell me you have someone alive outside,” Logan said, not glancing up. If they had one of Guerrero’s men in custody, they could try to make him talk. The problem in Mexico was that too many there were too afraid to talk to authorities—really, to those who hadn’t already been paid off by Guerrero. The guy wasn’t called El Diablo for nothing. People feared him because he could bring hell to their lives.

“The ones still breathing turned tail and ran.”

Figured.

Logan’s hold tightened on his gun. This was just—

He heard the whisper of cloth almost too late. A rustle of sound that shouldn’t have been there. He glanced up at the broken window and saw the barrel of the gun pointing toward him.

Logan started to lunge to the side even as he brought up his own weapon, but then something—someone—slammed into him, knocking Logan to the floor.

His bullet blasted out, still heading for its target. A man screamed even as Logan grabbed for…

Juliana?

She’d been the one to knock into him. He twisted her, shoving her body behind his.

Gunner had already made his way to the window. He flew out with his hands, breaking the gunman’s wrist and sending the weapon tumbling through the ground.

Logan’s gaze swept over Juliana. Okay. She’s okay.

He pushed her back and rushed to his feet. In the next instant, Logan was at Gunner’s side. Logan grabbed the now-moaning man and dragged his sorry hide through the window.

Gunner kicked the man’s discarded weapon a good five feet away.

Juliana had risen to her feet now. She still had her gun out—and aimed right at the moaning man.

Blood streaked down his face. He glanced up at her, and his lips twisted in a sneer. “You’re…the one…”

Logan put his own weapon under the man’s chin. “Where is he?”

The man’s gaze, a dark brown, turned back to Logan. His sneer stretched. “The lover…think you’re keeping her safe?” A shake of his head. “You’re the one killing her…leading us…right to…her.” The man’s voice was raspy. As Logan stared at him, he could see the jagged scars from an old injury that crossed the man’s neck.

“No one’s killing her,” Logan growled. “You can be sure of that.” He shoved the man back. He had to. The temptation to attack was much too strong.

Logan positioned his body near Juliana. He didn’t want her to see what was coming, but he couldn’t let her leave. Not with the chaos outside. What if Gunner was wrong? What if there were more men? Gunner hadn’t known about this one….

Gunner had shoved the man down to the floor, got him on his knees, and Gunner’s weapon rested at the back of the man’s head. “Who sent you?” They already knew, yet the question still had to be asked. They needed the man to confess.

But the bleeding man just laughed.

“Tell us,” Logan snarled.

The man’s laughter slowly faded. He tried to tilt his head to see Juliana, ignoring the gun pressed so close to him as if it truly weren’t there. “Ah…little señorita…he’ll keep coming for you.”

Logan felt Juliana’s hand tighten on his arm. “Your voice… I remember you.”

Then she lunged forward, trying to get to the man. Logan caught her around the waist and hauled her back.

“You were there!” Juliana yelled at the kneeling man. “That first night in Mexico, you were the one who took me…. You kept saying…little señorita! I didn’t see your face, but your voice—I’ll never forget it!”

He didn’t move. Juliana sure did. She twisted and fought like a wildcat in Logan’s arms. He snatched the gun from her hand and held her as tightly as he could.

If Juliana really could tie this man to her kidnapping, and they could link him to Guerrero, make him talk…

“I know your voice….” she snarled.

The voice was distinctive.

“I know you,” Juliana said. She had stopped fighting, for the moment. Logan wasn’t about to make the mistake of letting her go. The woman could just be trying to trick him.

Their captive’s head had lowered. His shoulders sagged inward a bit.

“You work for Diego Guerrero,” Gunner charged. He’d never once relaxed his stance. “And you’re going to tell us everything we want to know about your boss, unless you want to wind up like your friends.”

“Who are you?” Logan wanted to know. They’d start with a name and tear the guy’s life apart, link him to Guerrero. Find the man and then—

Their captive’s head tilted. He actually lifted his chin and shoved the back of his head against Gunner’s gun, as if daring the other man to shoot. “Mi nombre es Luis Sanches.”

Logan nodded. Okay, now they were—

“Muerte no me asusta.”

Logan’s body tensed. Death doesn’t scare me.

The man’s head shoved against Gunner’s weapon again. “Do it! Kill me!”