Glitter and Gunfire (Shadow Agents #4)(37)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“She was my f-friend,” Cassidy whispered as tears tracked down her cheeks. “The only one I had, for so long.”

Her tears were ripping him apart. “You’re not alone, Cassidy. I won’t ever let you be alone.” No matter what he had to do. No matter what he had to sacrifice.

His life—everything—had changed for him.

“How bad is it?” Mercer asked quietly.

Bad enough. There was too much blood. Cassidy was too pale under the ambulance’s lights.

“Blood pressure’s too low,” one of the attendants said. “We need to get her to the E.R.”

“I’m going,” Cale said instantly. And he was. When that stretcher was loaded into the ambulance, he was right there.

At her side.

Where he knew he was supposed to be.

He brushed the hair back from her cheek, wiped away her tears.

When Cale looked up, he saw Mercer standing just past the open doors of the ambulance. “Stay with her, Agent Lane,” Mercer ordered, his voice gruff.

No emotion there. Emotion should have been there. The guy was her father. He should be trying to get in that ambulance, too.

But Mercer was stepping back.

“I’ll want to talk to her when she’s clear,” Mercer added with a firm nod.

The guy was acting as if Cassidy was any other asset.

She’s not.

Cale glared at him. This guy held most of the power reins in D.C., but folks didn’t realize it. Cale realized it. He wasn’t intimidated.

He was furious.

“Get your damn priorities in order,” he snarled at him.

Then the doors closed.

He couldn’t see Mercer anymore. Good. He didn’t want to deal with Mercer then.

Only Cassidy mattered.

“C-Cale?” Cassidy was shaking.

No, seizing.

When he heard the EMTs say that her blood pressure was dropping too much, Cale felt his own heart start to sputter with fear.

He held her even tighter. As the medics worked on her, as they tried to stabilize Cassidy, he held her tight.

Because she wasn’t just an asset to him.

* * *

MERCER WATCHED THE ambulance rush from the scene. He swallowed the lump that wanted to choke him. When he’d first seen Cassidy, cradled in Cale’s arms, with all that blood…

I thought I’d lost her, too.

“Mercer?” Gunner’s quiet voice. “I saw a video camera on that last red light that we passed. I’ve already called Sydney—she’s gonna pull up the feed.”

And Sydney would be able to show them all just what had gone down on that dark road. Just how his daughter had wound up bloody and broken.

He tried to control the rage growing in him. With his job, he wasn’t supposed to let emotion rule him.

He wasn’t supposed to—

Marguerite had looked as broken as Cassidy. With blood on her body. So pale. Just left in the street.

Like his Cassidy.

His fingers were shaking. Mercer balled them into fists.

“Sir?”

Had he spoken? He must have, because Gunner was frowning at him.

“We find them. We take them out.” His words were brittle. “I want every tech we’ve got going over that video. We’ll put an all-points bulletin up for the vehicle, and we will have that van.” He wanted that van found within the hour. The video would show them the make and model of the vehicle Cassidy had described. “Cassidy shot one of the assailants, so he’ll need medical help. Get men at the hospitals. Anyone comes in with a gunshot wound, I want to know about it.”

He paused, sucking in a sharp breath as he realized that his words had fired out too hard and fast.

Not controlled.

Not any longer.

Cassidy’s blood stained the street.

Gunner stepped closer to him. “Mercer…”

“Cale can’t be trusted to keep her safe.” Flat. He believed those words with every fiber of his being. Because he’d seen the way the man looked at Cassidy when she was loaded onto that stretcher. That look wasn’t just about attraction.

It was much more.

Once, Mercer had looked at Marguerite that way.

When emotions got involved, the cases became even more dangerous.

He didn’t let Gunner and Sydney work in the field together any longer—he couldn’t. It was too much of a risk. But Sydney had been promoted to oversee their tech ops, and Gunner…well, Gunner had already shown signs of wanting to pull away from the EOD.

Few agents stayed with the EOD for life.

“I think you’re wrong.” Gunner’s voice was quiet. Intense. The way the guy always seemed to be.

Mercer glared at him.

“I think Cale is actually your best bet for keeping her safe right now.”

Bull. He was a liability. Despite any of Mercer’s original plans, the situation had changed. “Why would you—”

“Because I’ve got eyes, too, Mercer. If someone tried to hurt Syd, what do you think I’d do?”

He knew exactly what Gunner Ortez would do. Kill. Because Sydney and the twins were Gunner’s life.

But Cale had only just met Cassidy. His feelings for her couldn’t be trusted. They’d make him weak. They’d—

“He won’t leave her. You can kick him out of the EOD, you can try to force him from her side, but the man is one of the most dangerous I’ve ever met. We’ll waste more time trying to stop him from being with her than doing anything else.”

Gunner was trying to be reasonable.

Mercer was tired of reason.

“He’ll destroy her.” Said with certainty. Because Cale was too much like—

Me. And I destroyed my Marguerite.

“Sometimes people can surprise you.”

Mercer marched away from him. Techs had arrived on scene. They were studying the skid marks left on the road. They’d already flagged an area of blood on the cement.

Cassidy’s blood. He hated the sight of her blood.

“People don’t surprise me anymore,” Mercer muttered. He knew all about the darkness inside them. There were no surprises. In the beginning, he’d actually thought that Cale might—

He stopped the thought. No, Cale wasn’t good for Cassidy. Cale was too much of a threat. Steps would be taken to separate them.

Cassidy would be safe.

Cale would be sent on another mission.

Life would go on.

It always did.

Except for my Marguerite…

Her life had ended far too soon.

“Find them,” Mercer ordered the men and women who stared at him with wary eyes. Kill them. Because if her attackers knew Cassidy’s true identity, then he couldn’t allow those men to live.