Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(48)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Not such easy prey, am I? Not this time, she wasn’t.

Logan rushed past her and crashed into Guerrero. They both hit the ground, rolling in a ball of fists and fury.

The second guard…he was still moving, trying to crawl for the discarded knife.

Thunder echoed outside.

Juliana grabbed the chair that Logan had been tied to. She lifted it as high as she could and slammed it down onto the guard’s back.

He stopped moving then.

Juliana spun back around. Guerrero had a blade in his hand. A blade he was driving right at Logan’s throat.

Juliana screamed and ran forward.

Logan grabbed Guerrero’s hand, twisted it back and shoved the blade of the knife into Guerrero’s throat.

A choked gurgle broke from Guerrero’s lips.

“Told you,” Logan growled, “you never should have brought me in alive.”

Guerrero’s body shuddered. He tried to speak, couldn’t.

And as she watched, as Logan rose to his feet, El Diablo died. He was crying when he died. The tears leaked down his face even as the blood poured from his neck.

Her breath heaved out of her lungs. Juliana looked down and realized that she was dripping blood. She’d forgotten her wounds. She’d been too worried about Logan. But now…

Now she hurt.

He turned toward her. “Julie…”

Footsteps raced outside the room. Logan swore. He grabbed the knife and yanked it from Guerrero’s throat. Then he pushed Juliana against the wall, sheltering her beside his body as he waited for the next wave of guards to come into the room.

A man raced in, a gun in his hands.

Logan kicked the gun away and put his knife at the man’s throat in a lightning-fast move.

“Don’t!”

Not Juliana’s cry. Sydney’s. Juliana saw the woman rush through the door. Her eyes were wide and worried and locked on Logan—Logan and Jasper.

“Here to…save you…” Jasper wheezed.

Logan lowered his arm. “Little late, buddy. Little late…”

Sydney and Jasper glanced at the bodies on the floor. “Yes, it looks that way.”

Logan used the knife to cut away the last of the ropes that dangled from his wrists. She’d barely even noticed them during the fury of the fight. “Are we clear outside?” Logan demanded.

Sydney nodded. “I don’t think Guerrero was expecting us to come so soon.” Sydney edged closer to the body. “Only a handful of men waited outside.”

Juliana didn’t want to look at the body. Her hand lifted, and she touched the raised skin on the back of her neck. The tracker had come in handy, just like Logan had said it would. “It’s over,” she whispered, almost afraid to believe the words were true.

Logan’s head whipped toward her. His eyes—the wildness was still there. A beast running free. And there was fury in his blue stare.

Fury…and fear?

Juliana dropped her hand. He’d told her that he loved her. Sure, they’d both been about to die, but she wasn’t about to let him take those words back.

Sydney was talking into her phone, asking for more men. A cleanup crew. Boots on the ground.

Jasper had bent over the guards. He gave a low whistle. “Someone plays rough.” He looked back up at Logan.

Logan shook his head and jerked his thumb toward Juliana. “That one was hers.”

Jasper blinked and stared at her with admiration. “I think I’m in love.”

“Get in line,” Logan muttered.

Juliana wrapped her arms around her stomach. Maybe they were used to this kind of scene, but she wasn’t. The smell of blood and death was about to gag her, and her wounds ached and throbbed and—

Logan was there. “She needs medical attention.”

A choked laugh slipped from her, and she didn’t know where that had come from. Wait, she did. Shock. “You’re the one who was gutted.”

“Barely a scratch,” he dismissed as he lifted her arms to study the wounds, but his face was pale, and the faint lines near his eyes and mouth had deepened.

When he stumbled, it was her turn to grab him. “Jasper!”

The other Shadow Agent was there instantly. “Damn, man, you should have said…”

Logan gave a quick shake of his head and cut his eyes toward Juliana.

The flash of fear instantly vanished from Jasper’s face, but it was too late.

It’s bad.

“Let’s get out of here,” Logan muttered. “I want…Juliana safe.”

“I am safe,” she said quietly. “Whenever I’m with you, I know I’m safe.” A man who’d kill to protect her. How much more safety could a girl ask for?

His gaze held hers. I always loved you. The words were there, between them. Had he confessed out of desperation? Because he’d thought they were going to die?

And did the reason why even matter? No.

I always loved you.

They made their way outside. Juliana stayed close to Logan and she tried not to notice the trail of blood he left in his wake.

They were at the edge of the swamp. Insects chirped all around them. Armed federal agents were swarming the scene, and an ambulance was racing toward them along that broken dirt road.

“Maybe we’ll find evidence inside,” Sydney said as she rubbed the back of her neck and watched an EMT work on Logan. “Maybe we’ll be able to connect his network and shut down some of the—”

“Here.” Juliana reached into her pocket and pulled out the flash drive. Guerrero hadn’t bothered to search her. His mistake. He’d just tied her up. Started his torture. When all along, the one thing he needed was right in front of him.

Silence. Even the insects seemed to quiet down.

She glanced up. Logan had been put on a stretcher, but he was struggling to sit up and get to her. “What the hell?”

Jasper shook his head. “The evidence. You had it all along?”

“No. I found it when I was fighting with Susan.” A shiver slid over her as she remembered Susan’s scream when the woman had been shot. Juliana could still hear the shatter of the breaking glass as Susan had fallen. “My father…he hid the flash drive in one of my paintings, one that he kept in his bedroom.”

Syd took the drive. A grim smile curved her lips. “You just made my job a whole lot easier.”

Juliana glanced at the blood on Logan’s body. At the injured men on the ground. “If I’d found it sooner, it would have been easier for everyone.”

The EMTs were loading Logan into the back of the ambulance. Someone else—another EMT, a woman this time—was reaching for Juliana.