Undercover Captor (Shadow Agents #5)(31)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He knew exactly what Tina was doing. Because he knew her. Tina was smart, incredibly so. She always had been. Her father had kept smiling pictures of a young Tina—holding her slew of academic awards—all over his desk.

Mercer had never been able to show pictures of his own daughter. But he had one of Cassidy, one that he carefully hid from others.

Cassidy and her mother, Marguerite.

Tina was grateful to him. He knew that. She’d told him time and again. But he hadn’t done anything for her. She would have graduated college on her own. Gone to med school—on her own.

Sometimes, he felt as though all he’d done was put her in a cage. He’d offered her the position at the EOD because she was a damn good doctor.

But… Did I also offer her the job so that I could keep an eye on her? To protect her, the way her father would have done?

Only, Mercer’s protection had turned into a trap.

The same way I trapped Cassidy.

And if he’d known about Cooper Marshall sooner…

He shoved out a hard breath. “You’re on Dr. Jamison’s security detail. You watch her. You protect her. If you think she’s compromised, you move immediately to retrieve her.” He leveled his stare at Cooper to make sure the man got the point. “Your priority isn’t bringing down Devast. It’s keeping Dr. Jamison alive.” Because if a choice had to be made…

Cooper nodded.

Then Mercer wanted his agent to make the right choice.

Chapter Eight

“He wants a trade,” Drew said as he paced the small confines of the house.

A safe house, or so he’d said. The guy had hustled her out of that big hotel fast. Told her that their location had been compromised.

Then he and the other two agents had burned some serious rubber getting to this new spot.

A spot that was a lot less glamorous than their five-star hotel. The little neighborhood had looked abandoned at first glance. Houses in disrepair, roofs slumping, windows boarded up.

The streets were dark, and Tina sure hadn’t seen anyone walking in the area.

Tina glanced around the small, single-story house. There were burglar bars on the windows. Instead of making her feel safe, they just made her feel like a prisoner.

“Tina, did you hear me?” Drew paced toward her. A frown pulled his dark brows low. “The SOB called me. I don’t even know how the hell he got my number—”

“Sydney’s working on that,” Rachel murmured. There was a dark bruise on her temple. A cut on her cheek. Little mementos from the explosion that had nearly killed her and Tina. “She thinks someone hacked into the system because he called Mercer’s private line, too. She’ll find the link back to the hacker, just give her some time.”

“We don’t have time.” Dylan looked as grim as Drew. “What we have is a terrorist who’s locked on us. He’s killed to get to Tina already, and he’ll do it again. He won’t hesitate to take out anyone in his way.”

Was that why they were on that forgotten street? To minimize any collateral damage? The hotel had been full, right in the middle of the bustling city, but the houses on the street were pitch-black and empty.

“We have to be prepared for his attack,” Dylan said. “It could come at any moment.”

Tina found her gaze sliding back to Drew. He’d been quiet, too reserved, since they’d left the hotel. “What aren’t you telling me?” There was something else, she knew it.

“A killer is after you!” It was Rachel who answered a little too quickly. “Isn’t that enough, Tina?”

No, right then, it wasn’t. “What kind of trade did he offer?”

“One million dollars.” Drew’s gaze was guarded. “For you.”

One million— “Didn’t realize I was worth so much.” She had to ask because morbid curiosity compelled her. “Is that alive…or dead?”

His pupils widened, the dark spreading into the gold as he stared at her. “Alive.” The word seemed to drip ice. “I guess, after what happened before, he wants to kill you personally. To make sure the job gets done.”

The man who stood in front of her— I feel like I don’t know him. With his careful words, his dark gaze and his expressionless face…this wasn’t the man who’d made love to her so passionately. As if he couldn’t get enough of her.

This was the tough agent. The one with ice in his veins.

She hadn’t…expected to see this agent return. Not after what had happened between them. She hadn’t wanted to see him again.

Tina squared her shoulders. So much for not going back. He seemed to have flipped their relationship right back to the starting point on her. All thanks to one phone call. “Then I guess this is our chance.”

“Are you sure?” Dylan asked. “Before we go too far, we can—”

“We’ve already gone too far.” Every time she shut her eyes, she saw the plane exploding around her. I’m so sorry, Pierce. She kept thinking about the pilot. Was his family waiting for him to come home? Had they already learned of his death?

Her eyes stung, but Tina blinked quickly, refusing to let any tears fall. She could be strong now. She had to be. Tina lifted her hand and adjusted her glasses. Rachel had brought them to her. She’d even given Tina a backup pair in case these got smashed.

The backup glasses were in her bag. Right next to Tina’s inhaler. I won’t be going anywhere without it.

When the HAVOC group had taken her from the hotel, they sure hadn’t stopped long enough for her to get her medicine. But she would not be that vulnerable with them again.

Can’t be vulnerable. Won’t. “I need a gun.”

The breath expelled from Drew in a hard rush. “You need to think about this. We can get to Devast another way.”

“What way?” She rose from the chair and paced around the room. The familiar weight of her glasses strangely reassured her. “How long has the EOD been trying to get Devast?”

“Years,” was the mutter from Dylan. “We got lucky when Drew was able to infiltrate the group. Their main pilot was caught in an explosion a few months back—one of their own bombs—and they were desperate for another pilot.”

And in stepped Drew.

“You’re not going to get so ‘lucky’ again,” Tina said. “Devast will be even more suspicious of new faces now.” She wasn’t saying anything they didn’t already know. “If we want to take him down, I’m the ticket that you can use. I’m the one who will get up-close access to the man.” She forced a smile even as she wiped her damp palms on her jeans. “So how does this work? He calls Drew again—”