Glitter and Gunfire (Shadow Agents #4)(23)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Cale kept his hands at his sides. “You’re the one who sent me to down Rio. If you didn’t want me near her—”

“I wanted you close because you’re a damn good agent. I thought you’d do your job and keep her safe.”

“The case is over.” They should be clear on this. “But my involvement with Cassidy isn’t.”

Mercer rose. “An involvement isn’t going to happen.”

He hadn’t been asking for permission.

“The EOD is the most dangerous thing in Cassidy’s life. Being my daughter puts a target on her that you can’t imagine.”

He could imagine plenty.

“What the hell do you think would happen if our enemies found out that Cassidy was both my daughter and that she was involved with an EOD agent? They’d use her against us. They would hurt her. They’d—”

“No one hurts Cassidy on my watch.” The words were quiet, cold. Lethal.

Mercer stared at him with a measuring gaze. “That better be a promise, Lane.”

It was a guarantee.

* * *

“READY?”

Cassidy whirled at Cale’s warm voice. He strolled out of Mercer’s office looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Most people looked terrified after having closed-door meetings with her father.

But Cale almost seemed happy as he reached for her hand and led her into the elevator.

When the doors closed, when they had a precious minute of privacy, she had to know. “Just what happened in there?”

“Mercer and I got a few things straight.”

Oh, had they?

“The mission is over.”

Did that mean another agent would be coming to protect her? Always another agent lurking in the back of her life, skimming the shadows.

“I’ve got some time coming my way,” Cale continued. “And I…I want to spend that time with you.”

Hope—real happiness—began to unfurl within her. “You do?”

He nodded and closed in on her. His fingers slid around her, flattening on the walls of the elevator and caging her in.

She rather liked being caged in with him.

“This isn’t about a case. It’s about us.” His eyes searched hers. “I want you, Cassidy Sherridan.”

He knew who her father was—he knew her most closely guarded secret. He wasn’t running. He wasn’t intimidated.

He…

Wants me?

“I want you,” she whispered back.

He smiled at her. Her breath caught. The man had a killer smile.

She thought he would kiss her. He didn’t. He eased back right before the elevator glided to a stop. But his fingers laced with hers as he led her through the lobby.

She’d always been nervous, scared, when she’d been in that building before. But Cassidy didn’t feel scared then. She was with Cale.

He made her feel safe.

They brushed by the guards and headed out into the night.

She caught sight of Gunner and Logan. They were outside, probably returning to their own homes. A completed mission. They could all—

The crack of a gunshot broke the night. Even as the sound filled her ears, Cale was pushing Cassidy to the ground and covering her with his body. She hit the pavement with an impact that rattled her bones.

Again? Won’t it ever stop?

But, no, it wasn’t stopping. Because she heard more shots, blasting away.

She heard voices yelling. Heard Cale swearing softly above her. He’d pulled his weapon, but he wasn’t running to chase the shooter. He was staying with her.

Guarding her.

“Get him! Northwest corner!” Cale yelled. “Now!”

Someone had just taken a shot—several shots—at them. No, wait…had the shot been aimed at Cale?

Or me?

“We’re getting out of here.” Then he was pulling her up, shielding her as he seemed to do too many times. They didn’t run for a vehicle, though, not like before.

Instead, they raced back inside the EOD—back into the safety of that building with its bulletproof glass.

Mercer was running toward them in the lobby. “What the hell is happening?”

Cale’s fingers brushed over Cassidy’s arm. “Someone just took a shot at Cassidy.” Cale’s voice was grim.

And Cassidy realized that her illusion of safety had just been shattered.

The case might be over, but the threats to her—because of who she was—were always there.

* * *

CASSIDY SHERRIDAN WAS a dead woman.

Rage pumped through the shooter’s body, a killing fury that had to be unleashed.

Cassidy wasn’t in sight any longer. She’d rushed back inside that nondescript building.

I know about that place. The EOD’s headquarters.

Secrets had revealed that location. The right leverage, applied to the right people. With that kind of deadly leverage, anything and everything could be revealed.

Cassidy’s agent had rushed her inside. He’d moved too quickly, responding even as the bullet had whistled through the air on its way to Cassidy’s heart.

The bullet should have hit Cassidy’s heart.

But Cale had saved her. How had he known about the bullet? How?

The shooter hurried away. A getaway vehicle was waiting. A retreat now, but another attack would come, soon enough.

The Executioner wasn’t gone. He had one last victim to claim.

Cassidy Sherridan wouldn’t get to walk away.

Instead, she would get to join her dear friend Helen in the ground.

Chapter Seven

If he’d moved slower, if he’d ignored the kick in his gut that had screamed of danger, then Cassidy would be dead.

Cassidy sat in Mercer’s office, looking dazed and lost in Mercer’s leather chair.

Did she realize that shot had been meant for her? He’d shoved her to the ground, and the bullet had sunk into the bricks in the wall—bricks that had been right behind Cassidy.

The shooter had aimed for her heart.

Now Mercer was out there, demanding answers, and Cale had no answers to give him.

“Thank you.” Cassidy’s quiet voice.

His head jerked up.

“You keep saving me.” A ghost of a smile curved her pale lips, but her dimple didn’t appear. “It’s a habit you seem to have.”

He stepped toward her, helpless.

“Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been in danger my whole life. I’ve never…never gotten to just walk down a street without a guard on me. Never gone to a football game and sat in a crowd. Never done so much…because I’m Bruce Mercer’s weakness.” Her lips compressed as the smile vanished. “I learned that fact when I was eight, you see. When I was taken.”