Sharpshooter (Shadow Agents #3)(51)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“P-please…” the man begged.

She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear his fear. The tension in the room weighed down on them all. She heard the shuffle of footsteps. Slade and his hostage, backing up a bit.

Backing up…and that retreat would put them right in front of her broken picture window.

Was Cale still positioned on the other side of the house? Or had he moved? She hadn’t been hooked in to their transmissions, and she didn’t know if he’d been repositioned when Gunner rushed inside.

Her palms were sweating, her heart racing too fast.

“I’m not going to…jail…” Slade said. “And sorry, brother, but you’re not getting…the girl….”

Her hands grabbed for Gunner because she knew Slade was about to take the shot. “No!” Sydney screamed.

The blast of gunfire shook the room.

But Gunner didn’t fall.

“Syd…ney…”

Slade’s voice.

Gunner rushed forward, and she saw that Slade had been hit again, only this time, this time she knew the wound was fatal. Slade’s skin was ashen, his eyes barely staying open. The EMT had lurched away from him, and Gunner had caught his brother’s body just as Slade fell.

Sydney glanced toward the window. Another bullet hole had broken the glass.

Cale.

Protecting his team.

“Slade?”

She glanced back at Gunner’s voice. He was curled over Slade’s body holding his brother’s hand.

Slade seemed to be trying to stare up at him.

Two brothers.

“Can we…go in the woods…?” Slade’s voice. Weak with pain, sounding lost. “I want to go…with you…Gun…”

She saw Gunner’s throat move as he swallowed.

“Is…Grandpa comin’?”

Slade didn’t sound like a man anymore. More like a lost child. Maybe in those last moments, he was.

“Grandfather’s already waiting for you,” Gunner said, his own voice rumbling. “Go on to the woods. Stay with him. I’ll join you later.”

“P-promise…?” Slade’s breath rushed out. His chest stilled.

Gunner’s hand clenched around his. “I promise.”

Sydney wrapped her arms around Gunner and held him as tightly as she could.

* * *

THE GRAVE WOULDN’T be empty this time. Gunner stood, silent, during the service as his brother was put to rest. Sydney was by his side, her small hand cradled in his. Logan was on his right. The friend who’d never doubted him. The friend who’d always be there.

Jasper Adams had come to the service, too. The ex-EOD agent waited across from Gunner. Jasper’s wife, Veronica—Cale’s sister—had her arm curled around his waist.

And Cale…he watched the proceedings just as silently as Gunner.

When Gunner had taken his shots, he’d tried to keep his brother alive.

When Cale had fired, there had been no choice. To save Gunner, he’d had to take the kill shot.

But Cale still looked at him with guilt in his eyes. He shouldn’t do that. Gunner would have to talk to him soon, have to make the other man realize—

I understand.

The service ended. The small group walked away, all but Gunner and Sydney. They lingered for a moment. He looked at the flowers. Thought about his brother. “I want to remember him the way he was, back when we were kids.”

Going for hikes in the woods.

Once, Slade had loved those hikes as much as Gunner had.

Once.

“Then remember him that way,” Sydney whispered. “Remember him happy. Remember the good parts.”

He glanced over at her. Sweet Sydney. His saving grace.

“Remember the love, and push everything else away.”

He bent toward her and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.” He’d told her before, but he needed to say the words again. He wanted to say them, over and over.

Her soft hand slid over his jaw. “And I love you.”

A gift. One he’d always treasure, just the way he treasured her.

His head lifted. He cast one last look toward his brother’s casket.

Remember the love. Push everything else away.

“Enjoy your walk in the woods, brother. One day, maybe I’ll see you again.”

Until then, he’d be walking with Sydney. With the children they had on the way. He’d remember the love, he’d show those children so much love…

And with Sydney, he knew they’d be happy. He’d prove that he could be a good father. A father his children would be proud to have.

They turned away from the grave. The sunlight was so bright. It chased away the shadows, and it showed him the hope that waited. With Sydney. With his friends.

With the life that would be. All he had to do was just reach out and take that life. Just reach out…

He turned Sydney in his arms, held tight to her and kissed her.

And he knew he’d found his perfect home.

Epilogue

Getting called into the big boss’s office couldn’t be a good thing. Cale squared his shoulders and swung open the door that would take him into Mercer’s inner sanctum.

Mercer glanced up, no expression on his face, and waved Cale toward him. “Have a seat.”

Right. Nodding quickly, Cale took the offered seat.

Mercer’s fingers drummed on his desk. “It seems that you’re working out quite well as a member of the Shadow Agents.”

“Sir, they’re a good team.” Good people. But taking that shot, taking out Gunner’s brother…that shot was going to haunt him.

Every death did.

“And you’re a good asset to that team. Cool under fire, determined and willing to do whatever’s necessary for the mission.”

Cale stiffened. He didn’t like that “whatever’s necessary” part.

“So I think you’re going to be the perfect man for a very special assignment.”

Cale leaned forward.

“It’s an assignment that has the highest priority at the EOD.” Intensity deepened Mercer’s voice. “I want a man on this case, a guy I can trust one hundred percent.” He stopped drumming his fingers and pointed at Cale. “Are you that man?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’d better be,” Mercer muttered. “Son, you’d damn well better be…because if you fail on this mission, if anything goes wrong, I will make you regret it the rest of your life.”

Cale managed to keep his expression neutral, with a whole lot of effort.

“Are we clear?”

Cale nodded.