The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents #6)(34)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Is it the killer? He’d been watching her before. Had he seen her leave the Inquisitor? Without Cooper at her side, the killer might think this was the perfect time for him to strike.

She fumbled and yanked out her phone. For an instant, she thought about calling Cooper.

But, instead, her index finger pushed the button to connect her to Lane. She held her breath. Another red light was up ahead. The light went green. Good. No stopping.

And Lane wasn’t answering. Where the heck was he when she needed him?

The green light had turned yellow. In a flash, it went red. She didn’t stop. She rushed forward and ran that light.

A horn blared as a truck came right at her. Screaming, she yanked the wheel to the side even as she slammed on the brakes.

The truck missed her by only inches.

Her breath heaved out. She’d dropped her phone. She fumbled, trying to find it.

Someone rapped on her window. “Ma’am?” A woman’s voice called. “Ma’am, are you are all right?”

Gabrielle rolled down her window. “Yes, sorry, I—”

The woman wasn’t alone. A man stood behind her. His posture was stiff, guarded, and when he shifted his stance a bit, she saw the holster under his arm.

“I’m afraid that you have to come with us, Ms. Harper.” The woman’s voice wasn’t so concerned any longer. It was authoritative and flat.

The truck that had nearly hit Gabrielle moments before had also come to a stop. Two more men were climbing from that vehicle. They headed toward her.

“You’re EOD,” she said, understanding as a chill seemed to settle over her body.

The woman stared back at her. “There are two ways to do this,” the woman said, voice soft.

“Let me guess,” Gabrielle muttered as she climbed from the car. “Easy and hard?”

A nod.

The armed man came closer to Gabrielle. The light from the streetlamp glinted off his dark hair. “No one’s going to hurt you, ma’am,” he assured her. “We’re here for your protection.” He smiled at her and offered his hand. “My name’s Deuce.”

Hesitant now, she reached for that hand. “No way is Deuce your real name…”

He yanked her forward. His left hand came up in an instant. Too late, she saw the handcuffs. Before she could jerk away from him, one cuff snapped over her wrist.

“No, it isn’t,” he agreed softly as he pulled her into his arms. “It’s a name for second chances. Maybe you’ll give old Cooper one of those chances when this mess is over.”

Then she was pretty much dragged into the waiting car. The doors slammed behind her, and the vehicle raced away.

Anger pulsed through her with every mile that passed.

Second chance? Hell, no.

* * *

COOPER SHOVED OPEN the door to Bruce Mercer’s office. “Where is she?” The door banged against the wall behind him. Judith Rogers, Mercer’s assistant, let out a screech as she tried to jerk him back.

“I told you, Marshall,” Judith snapped, sounding as furious as Cooper felt, “the boss is working! You can’t just barge in there!”

Yeah, he could. He had.

Mercer glanced up from his computer. “If you’re referring to Gabrielle Harper, she’s here, of course. Where else would she be? Especially since you’re the one who told us to pick her up.”

Cooper’s hands fisted. “I want to see her.” He ignored Judith’s attempts to pull him back. For a small woman, she was surprisingly strong. Just not strong enough.

Mercer glanced at his assistant. “It’s okay, Judith. I needed to talk with Cooper anyway.”

“Yes, well,” Judith stopped trying to drag Cooper out and she gave an annoyed sniff, “he needs to learn how to not barge into an office.”

She stomped away and slammed the door quite loudly on her way out.

Cooper didn’t move. “Gabrielle.” Ordering that containment on her had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. He knew she had to be furious, had to feel betrayed. He needed to get to her and try to explain what was happening.

“We have her on the fourth floor.”

His eyes widened. They had prisoner rooms on that floor. “Tell me that she’s not—”

“Easy.” Mercer lifted his hands. “She’s just in an interrogation room. Deuce is guarding the door.”

Guarding the door? Right. More like he was guarding her in order to make sure that Gabrielle didn’t try to escape.

“We don’t have a lot of options here,” Mercer said with a shake of his head. “I can’t have a reporter exposing the EOD.”

Cooper tried to keep his control in place. Hard, when he already knew it had fractured. Actually, his control had been weakening since the first moment he’d met Gabrielle. “Let me talk to her.”

Mercer’s brows rose. “Are you so sure she will want to talk with you? I think your charm might have run its course with the reporter.”

The fractures grew deeper. “I shouldn’t have made that a request,” Cooper threw back. “I should have said…I’m talking to her.”

Mercer stood then. He wasn’t quite as tall as Cooper, and even though Mercer had to be pushing his late fifties, he was still in top shape. “I think you’re forgetting a few things, Agent Marshall,” Mercer told him.

“I’m not forgetting anything.” He wasn’t going to let the EOD hurt Gabrielle.

“Yes, you are.” Mercer marched around the desk and came toward him. “It was the EOD who saved your hide in Afghanistan. My team who pulled you out. Otherwise, you really would have been dead. We went there to find you when you were being held captive. We got you out.”

“So now I owe you.” But what about Gabrielle? He owed her, so much.

She’s changed me.

Mercer’s eyes were narrowed as he studied Cooper. “You’re not the same agent anymore.”

He didn’t want to argue with Mercer. He just wanted to get down to the fourth floor.

Mercer sighed. “You can all fall so fast, and you don’t even see the danger until it’s too late.”

“She’s not a danger. I can convince her to keep the news about the EOD quiet. Let me talk to her, explain things—” She’d been running away before. He hadn’t known where she was going. He’d been worried that she might have other contacts in the press that she would talk with about her new discoveries.

He’d also been worried that the rogue would get her. Fear had burned like acid within him. Cooper hadn’t been able to stand the thought that Gabrielle was in the killer’s path, unprotected, vulnerable.