Glitter and Gunfire (Shadow Agents #4)(35)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Sydney’s already got it on the way.”

He kept a tight grip on Cassidy’s wrist. “Move with me. Every step.”

She nodded.

Then they were off, rushing back through the dark woods, heading for the safety of the SUV that waited near the street and—

“Cassidy!”

Cassidy froze.

“No! Keep going!” Cale ordered.

She tried to pull away from him. “That’s Genevieve!”

It was another trap. One designed to bring her into the darkness, the same way that Lancaster had been lured in. Only…

“There’s no exchange planned. He’s not going to let her go. He’ll take you both.” She had to see that.

Cassidy stared back at him. “But we knew that was the plan all along, didn’t we? That’s why you’re here. Why I’m here. Why I’ve got the tracker.”

His jaw ached.

“So let’s do this.” She yanked her hand away from him. “Just follow me. She’s here.”

And Cassidy could be tracked anywhere.

Then a hail of bullets broke the night.

No! Cassidy could be tracked, but if a bullet took her out… More gunfire told him that this wasn’t about capturing Cassidy. Not about using her.

It was about killing her.

And Cassidy was running away from him. Running toward Genevieve’s fading scream.

“No!”

He had to go with her.

Cale lunged after Cassidy.

And that was the moment when the world exploded around him. They’d planned carefully, wearing bulletproof vests, putting Gunner up for surveillance… Even Mercer was staked out just a block away.

But they hadn’t counted on the bomb.

It lit the whole night.

The force from the blast lifted Cale up and tossed him back, away from Cassidy. He yelled her name, desperate, as he slammed back down into the earth.

But Cassidy didn’t answer him.

And as the flames flickered and spread, he shouted for her, again and again.

* * *

FOUR DEAD BODIES were recovered at the scene. Four men in black, men who’d been taken out by Cale and Gunner’s bullets.

Four bodies, but no sign of Genevieve or of Cassidy.

“You were supposed to protect her!” Mercer snarled, spittle flying from his mouth.

They were still at the scene. The heavy scents of ash and blood filled the air.

He’d expected Mercer’s fury. The same fury—and fear—were coiling dangerously within him. Where is Cassidy?

“Get Sydney to activate her tracking device.” That was the plan, right? He glared at Mercer. “This was your idea. You were the one who wanted—”

To use your own daughter.

But I was the fool who agreed to the plan. Because Cassidy had been so desperate to get her friend back.

Mercer glared at him. An ambulance’s swirling lights flashed. “You said you’d keep her with you every single minute.”

“Get the track going!”

He spun away from Mercer before he gave in to the urge to drive his fist right into the man’s face. When he turned, Cale saw Lancaster being loaded into the back of an ambulance.

“The track’s on.” Sydney’s quiet voice. Sydney’s here? He looked to the left and saw Gunner holding her within the protective circle of his arms.

“Cassidy is three miles over, heading east on Brookley.”

Hell, yes.

“We’ve got a link on her and—” Sydney broke off, frowning at the small monitor gripped in her hand.

“Sydney?”

She looked up at him, frowning. “We lost the signal.”

“Then get it back!”

She started typing quickly on the keypad. She tapped her transmitter, talking with her team back at the EOD office.

A heavy cold began to spread through his gut. “Sydney?”

She shook her head. “Her tracking device went off-line.”

Fear was driving his rage, breaking his control. Cassidy never should have been there. He’d told her and Mercer the plan was crap. “Why? Why isn’t it working?”

Sydney licked her lips. Her gaze darted over his shoulder. To Mercer? “I don’t know.”

* * *

CASSIDY SCREAMED WHEN the knife plunged into the curve of her shoulder. A man’s rough hands held her down, forcing her against the side of the van.

The van. The big, black van that had been waiting for her after the fire had erupted, separating her from Cale.

Cale!

“Let’s see them find you now,” the man muttered.

They’d taken out her tracking device. They’d known exactly where the device was located. How?

“We know your secrets, Cassidy Sherridan,” the man told her as he ran the bloody tip of his blade over her cheek. “And soon we’ll know your father’s secrets, too.”

This wasn’t about the Executioner. We were wrong. Genevieve had been taken…Cassidy had been taken—because of Mercer. Not because of the killer in Rio.

The van bumped and jostled, and Cassidy remembered another night. Another time.

It had been a van back then, too. A big white van. A delivery van. It had been broken down in the middle of the road. Her mother had stopped to see if she could help the driver.

Then the men with guns had jumped from that van.

Her mother had screamed for Cassidy to stay in the car.

The car hadn’t been any protection.

“What will the big man do in order to get you back?”

Her mother had fought. She’d been so desperate to protect Cassidy.

She’d fought and she’d died.

“Where’s Genevieve?” Because she’d heard her friend’s screams. They had pulled her away from Cale. Genevieve had been there in that park.

“She didn’t survive the little rendezvous with you.” Mocking laughter from him. From the man that she still couldn’t see. “But don’t worry, your Genny did her job just fine. She brought us you.”

Genevieve was dead? It felt as if he’d just shoved that bloody knife right in her chest.

No, Genevieve should have been saved. It had been a rescue mission.

The van bumped again. Her blood soaked her shirt. Her shoulder throbbed. Burned.

“You’ll tell us everything,” the man ordered, his voice low and sinister. “Everything you know about your father…and your lover. We know Cale Lane is EOD. You’ll tell us about him, about them both.”

And she’d still die.

Her mother had fought.

I am my mother’s daughter.

They should have checked her for weapons. They’d made the same mistake that Cale had made before. Story of her life—always being underestimated.