Evidence of Passion (Shadow Agents #7)(44)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Rachel ran from the room. Mercer met her outside. He was already on his phone. She heard him say, “Get out of the pub, out of the damn building. Get everyone out!”

But would they be able to get them all out fast enough? Or had the agents just walked right into the killer’s trap?

Chapter Ten

Dylan walked around the narrow table. He and Kenneth Cross were alone.

And Dylan wanted to kill the man.

Kenneth lifted his brows. “Wishing you’d left me in the water, aren’t you?”

Hell, yes.

“But then…if you had, all of the agents in the pub would be dead.” A pause. “If they aren’t already. And that’s just the first little surprise that I have planned. Surely you didn’t think I’d be unprepared for a—a containment, did you?”

“I think you’re insane. I think you’re not going to tell us the names of anyone who hired you. I think you just want to jerk Rachel around.”

Kenneth lowered his gaze as he stared at the tabletop. “I want many things from Rachel.”

“Yeah? Too bad. You’re getting nothing from her.”

“Because you think she’s yours?” Kenneth didn’t sound concerned. He should’ve. “Shannon was supposed to be yours, too, wasn’t she?”

“Rachel isn’t like Shannon.”

“No, and that’s the fun part. At her core, I knew that Shannon was weak. I could predict her behavior. But Rachel? Ah, now I never can tell what she’ll do. In a world of few surprises, she is one.”

He wanted to drive his fist into the man’s face. Would that be enough of a surprise for this nut?

“Going through the window? Perfect.” And he sounded like he meant it. “I never saw it coming, not until it was too late.”

The door opened. Rachel was back. Mercer was right behind her. “They barely got out,” Rachel whispered.

Mercer pushed past her. “Two of my men are on the way to the hospital. You son of a bitch—are there more bombs?”

“Now,” Kenneth said, nodding, “I think we all might be on the same page.” His gaze swept over Mercer. “So you’re the man in charge?”

Control. Noelle had told them that the killer wouldn’t give it up. She’d been right.

“I have a very large target in this city. One that I will take out…my bombs are already set. But I can be persuaded to show you their locations. I’ll take Rachel with me. I’ll disarm the bombs and, in return, you will let me just walk away.”

“Hell, no,” Dylan snapped. The EOD had a standing rule—we don’t negotiate with terrorists.

Kenneth slumped back in his chair. “Then I guess it’s just a matter of us waiting and seeing…who will die next?”

* * *

“YOU AREN’T GOING with him,” Dylan said as he pulled Rachel into his office and slammed the door shut. “I don’t care what Mercer decides—you can’t.”

Rachel stared up at him. “You’re not my team leader anymore.”

“You’re not even EOD anymore!” he shouted. Then Dylan took a deep breath. He paced the confines of the office, looking very much like a caged tiger. “It’s a trap. We all know it. He’ll take you to some secluded place, and he’ll kill you. If he’s got bombs out there, the guy isn’t going to disarm them. Hell, he probably just wants to go and watch them blow.”

The way the pub had blown? She’d been told there was nothing left of the building but rubble now. “He didn’t kill any civilians in the explosion today. He—he could have set the bomb to go off last night, but he waited…”

Dylan stopped his pacing. “You think if we hadn’t brought him in, then the guy would have gone back and disarmed the bomb there?”

She nodded and the guilt was on her. “I should have come and talked to him sooner. Then no one would be hurt and—”

Dylan lunged toward her and grabbed her arms. “He’s insane. He wanted to cover his tracks. That’s what he was doing. He set the bomb to blow at O’Sullivan’s because he thought he’d be taking you away with him today. He probably planned to kill me then take you away in one of the boats at the harbor. He set the bomb at the pub so all the evidence that he’d left behind would be destroyed. That’s not on you.”

“But it will be on me if his next bomb kills someone.” Her words were soft. Sad.

His grip tightened on her. “Rachel…”

“He’s not lying, Dylan. There is another bomb.” She’d never been more certain of anything. “He’s in D.C. because he has a big target, and he’s going to take out that target.” He’d moved to take her last night… Why?

The answer came to her immediately. Because he’d planned to take out his real target today. And Dylan was right—Kenneth planned to take me with him when he left D.C.

“We have to act fast,” she said, voice wooden. She knew the risk she was taking. Kenneth could lead her straight to the bomb site and the place could explode around them.

“A bomb squad can go with him,” Dylan argued. “We’ve got plenty of demolitions experts right here in the EOD.”

“You know Kenneth won’t take them there. He’ll only cooperate if I go…or he’ll just sit in that little room, and he’ll wait for the explosion to come.”

The mask fell from Dylan’s face. And the first thing that she saw? Fear. “I don’t want to lose you, Rachel.”

She tried to smile for him even though the same fear chilled her veins. “And here I thought you were trying to ship me off to Atlanta.”

He flinched. “I’m so sorry…so damn sorry.” His mouth crashed down on hers. He kissed her with a wild desperation, holding her tightly. “I wanted you safe. That’s all I wanted…”

She kissed him back. Held him just as tightly. She wanted him safe, too, and that was why she’d take any risk. Even falling three floors and nearly drowning. To protect him.

His mouth lifted from hers, the barest of spaces. “I want to leave with you. Walk out the door and just be with you.”

Tears stung her eyes. “That’s not who you are.” She pushed against his chest. He stepped back.

“No,” Dylan agreed. “It’s not.”

“I’m going to do this.” She stared into his eyes. “And you’re not going to stop me.”