Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents #5)(30)
Author: Cynthia Eden

The floor gave another low squeak. Tina would be close enough to hear every word that Drew said. “I’m surprised you don’t just want me to kill her right now.”

He heard the sharp, indrawn breath behind him.

“I won’t have another mistake on my hands. I want to see Mercer’s daughter die.”

Drew turned his head. He could look straight into Tina’s eyes then.

“Make the trade, Agent Lancaster.”

The line went dead in his ear.

Fear flashed in her eyes. “Drew, what’s happening?”

He glanced down at his phone. Had Devast traced them? And if the EOD traitor had hacked into the system already… There could be no safe place for her.

No safe place, but with him. Drew rushed toward her and locked his fingers with hers. “We need to leave now.”

* * *

ANTON DEVAST SMILED as he put down the phone. The seed had been planted. Now, it was just about letting it take root.

Drew Lancaster could trade the woman. Or he could die.

A simple enough offer.

Anton looked to the right. Dallas waited. So did his prize.

When I’m done, I’ll send you a piece of her, Mercer.

Then his old friend would know that they’d finally come full circle.

A child for a child.

Payback.

* * *

MERCER STARED DOWN at the faded headstone. Weeds were trying to grow over it, so he bent and jerked them back.

The stone was cold to the touch.

No flowers. No mementos marked the grave.

The man buried there had been gone for nearly twenty years. No one but Mercer ever came to visit the grave. He knew—he’d had eyes on this cemetery for years.

“Who is he?”

He didn’t glance back at the agent’s curious voice. He was bringing Cooper Marshall on to the case because he needed backup. The mission was going to get tough, Anton wouldn’t hesitate to kill—and Cooper Marshall, well, he was an agent who never hesitated.

He was also a guy who didn’t seem to understand fear. Sometimes that lack of fear was a weakness.

Sometimes it was an advantage.

“He was a man who got caught in the cross fire.” A cross fire that had come from Mercer. “And his death started a war that I need to end.”

He backed away from the grave. His gaze slid around the area. The spot hadn’t changed much in twenty years. The trees were still heavy, lush. A pretty spot.

Jon might have liked it.

Grief pulled at him, but Mercer pushed the memories away. “You’ve been briefed on the situation with Dr. Jamison?”

He couldn’t bring in a full force of agents on this case. The more people who knew, the more potential for word to spread about his “daughter”—and that couldn’t happen.

He’d already sent a message to Cale Lane, his real daughter’s husband. The agent was on high alert, and he had strict orders to keep Cassidy out of the U.S. until this nightmare was over. Cale also had orders not to tell Cassidy what was happening. If she thought that someone else was being risked in her place…

Cassidy would be back here in an instant.

He didn’t want her in that kind of danger. He’d begun the whole ruse with Rachel Mancini to protect Cassidy.

The plan had been for Rachel to draw out his enemies—in particular, Devast. The agents would have taken Devast down, and Mercer’s “daughter” would have died in the cross fire. They’d arranged to stage Rachel’s death so perfectly.

With that fake death, the hunt for his daughter would have ended. Cassidy would have been safe to live a normal life. A life she’d never had before.

But now that perfect plan was in ashes.

“I have been briefed, sir,” Cooper replied.

Mercer’s gaze slid to him. “Dr. Jamison has volunteered to assist in the rest of the investigation. She wants to help us catch the man behind her abduction.”

“Anton Devast,” Cooper said. His blue stare drifted to the grave—and to the name on the headstone.

Jonathan Devast.

“Devast is a very dangerous, unpredictable man.” Mercer cocked his head as he studied Cooper. “You’re rather unpredictable, too.” A point that had almost kept the man out of the EOD.

Cooper Marshall was an ex-U.S. Air Force Pararescueman. He jumped into danger any chance he could get. Literally.

A faint smile lifted Cooper’s lips. “Yes, sir, I’ve been told that I am.”

They were alone in the graveyard. No eyes. No ears. “You’ve been on a mission in Afghanistan for the past seven months.” Mercer exhaled a slow breath. “And I have someone who has been in my agency, someone who has been selling secrets, straight to Devast. Since I personally sent the plane to pick you up on your mission—”

“You think I’m not the traitor.”

“I know you’re not.” He knew every single secret that Cooper Marshall possessed. He should. The man was family.

Some secrets, Cooper didn’t even know.

“So you want me to go in and join the others who are already on point,” Cooper began.

Mercer shook his head. “No, I don’t want you making any contact with the other agents.”

Cooper’s blond brows rose. The sunlight glinted off his hair. Not as golden as my Cassidy’s. Much darker.

Cooper cleared his throat. “Sorry. I’m a little confused. If I’m not to join the team, then just what is my assignment?”

“To make sure you’re not seen. To follow Tina Jamison. To keep your eyes on her and to report to me anything or anyone that threatens her.”

“And the agents with her— What, you don’t trust them? You think one of them could be the traitor?”

He wanted to trust them. On paper, Drew Lancaster, Rachel Mancini and Dylan Foxx were all good agents.

But somewhere in the EOD, there was an agent who was selling him out.

So, yes, he wanted to trust them, but he’d learned long ago that he didn’t always get what he wanted. And he wouldn’t put Tina’s life in jeopardy. “Money can tempt a man to do just about anything in this world.” The right offer, to the right man… “This isn’t the first time that one of the EOD’s own has turned.” Not the first time and, unfortunately, not the last. When you moved in the circles that he did, betrayal was a fact of life.

It was a fact that had killed his wife.

It had taken time, but Mercer had traced that brutal attack back to the man who’d been his friend.

His gaze returned to the grave.

“I want extra protection on Tina Jamison. She’s not an agent, and I’m not going to have her sacrifice her life because she’s trying—” He stopped because Cooper had no reason to know the rest. Tina is trying to repay a debt to me.