Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents #8)(13)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“I’m not following you.”

“If anyone can help her to remember, it’s you. After all, you were there, right?”

He swallowed. “You put us together—because you thought she’d remember me?”

“Well, I’d hoped Noelle would remember you the first time she saw you at the EOD. Maybe get a flashback. Something. That didn’t happen, so I figured we needed to step up the game.”

Only Mercer thought playing with someone’s life constituted a game.

“She’s not a victim anymore, she’s an agent.” Mercer’s voice hardened. “Fifteen years ago, we had to protect your cover. You had to vanish from the scene.”

But he’d left her behind, and she’d been…shattered.

“Come now, Agent Anthony, I know you’ve seen her since then. You’ve watched over her all these years.”

Damn it. Mercer and his all-knowing intel. “What I do on my own time is none of your—”

“You should be thanking me. I mean, at least you don’t have to sneak off to check up on your profiler on your rare off days. Now you get to be up close with her, 24/7.”

This was insane. “She doesn’t remember me.”

“She will.” Flat. “I think it’s possible that Noelle will discover a whole lot while she’s in Alaska.” A pause. “I want her to rip apart Senator Lawrence Duncan’s life. She’s just the woman for this job.”

Thomas’s brows pulled together. “Have you told me everything about this mission?”

“Oh, son, I never tell anyone…everything.”

Hell.

“I know you’ll guard Dr. Evers. That’s your job right now. To make sure that nothing happens to her while she’s in Alaska. If I’m going to get to the bottom of this mystery, I need her.”

So, Noelle was the brains while Thomas was the killing power. He’d always been a weapon, of one kind or another. From the time he’d turned eighteen…

I have my memories, and sometimes, I hate them. “I’ll keep Noelle safe.”

“Of course, you will.” Now Mercer sounded certain. Almost smug. “It’s what you’ve been doing for the past fifteen years, isn’t it?”

Mercer had been watching. Far too much.

“Even when she became an FBI agent, you couldn’t let go. You thought she still needed you.”

No, Mercer had that part all wrong. It wasn’t about what Noelle needed.

I need her.

There was so much death in his life. Everywhere he turned. But Noelle, she was the one bright light in the darkness that always seemed to surrounded him.

“This time, she does need you,” Mercer’s voice held an edge. “So stay close, no matter what happens.”

Thomas ended the call. He took his time climbing those stairs. When he got to the top, he saw the door to Noelle’s room had been left ajar.

His fingers pressed against it, opening it just a few more inches. Noelle was on the bed. Her thick hair was a curtain, spilling down her back.

Would nightmares come to her again?

If they did, Thomas hoped she would come to him.

Chapter Four

Senator Lawrence Duncan had believed in surrounding himself with the finer things in life.

Noelle put her hands on her h*ps as she studied the senator’s closet. The massive closet was easily the size of her D.C. bedroom and living room and filled with designer clothing.

“He was ex-navy,” Thomas said. “This place sure is a long way from his life on the ship.”

She knew all about Lawrence Duncan’s background. He’d grown up poor in Camden, Alaska. He joined the navy when he was eighteen. He’d been an enlisted man for eight years, and when he’d gotten out of the service, the guy had seemed to skyrocket to power overnight. He’d come out of the military with some incredible connections, or else he’d obtained some very deadly secrets during his time in the service.

“He was married twice,” Noelle murmured as she studied the closet. Each item was perfectly in place. “Both women left him citing irreconcilable differences.” But she’d interviewed those ladies before coming to Camden. Fear had flashed in their eyes when they spoke of their husband.

Dominating. Controlling. Their voices had become whispers when they talked about the senator.

“He was sleeping with his assistant.” Thomas propped his shoulder against the bedroom wall.

“Her and plenty of other aides.” She turned away from the closet. She’d searched in there, twice, and found nothing of any real value. But…something had to be in the house. This place was Lawrence’s sanctuary. After he’d left the navy, he could have started over any place. But he’d returned to Camden. He’d torn down his old house and had this mansion built right in the same spot.

She and Thomas had already confiscated all of the senator’s computer equipment. An initial search of the material hadn’t shed any additional light on the attack in D.C.—or on the senator’s death—but they had specialists back at the EOD who’d tear that equipment apart. If there was intel to find there, they would.

She went toward the window on the left. Looking down, she saw the slumping roof of what looked like an old shed behind the main house. About fifty yards back, right at the tree line.

The shed made her curious. “He replaced everything else.” No, not just replaced. He’d destroyed everything else on that property. “Why not that shed? Why is it still out there?”

Before Thomas could answer her, Noelle turned and hurried from the room. Sheriff Hodges glanced up when she rushed down the stairs. His hand was on Paula’s shoulder, as if he’d been comforting the woman. Paula’s eyes were watering, and her nose was red.

“I should have heard him. I should have helped him!”

Noelle didn’t slow to help console the other woman. She figured Hodges had things covered. She made her way to the back of the house and threw open the rear door. The icy air hit her, seeming to chill straight to her bones.

Thomas was behind her. Not speaking but following closely. When they got to the old shed, she saw a big wooden board had been positioned to block the entrance. She grabbed for the board, but Thomas was there, and he heaved it aside.

She pushed open the shed’s door. But it really wasn’t so much a shed. It reminded her more of an old barn.

The roof was high, there was no floor, just what looked like dirt and straw and—

A trunk sat, half-hidden beneath some old blankets, positioned against the far back wall. Her steps quickened as she approached it.