by Cynthia Eden
Saxon’s eyes flew open. There was no sleepiness in his stare. His gaze was completely aware—and deadly. Before she could speak, he leapt from the bed. He yanked on his jeans and grabbed a gun from under the table.
Wait, under the table? The guy had actually taped a gun beneath his table?
“Saxon?” She rose, her own movements slow and jerky as she searched for her clothes. She put on her skirt, blood-stains and all, but she didn’t grab her shirt. She used his, instead. Then she hopped and put on the tennis shoes he’d brought her. “What’s going on?” That growling engine was getting louder and louder. Closer and closer.
He peered out the window. “I fell asleep.”
“Um, we both did.” After earth-shattering, mind-numbing sex. The first time in her life that she’d had the mind-numbing variety of sex.
“I never fall asleep with a lover.”
His words hurt her. Why, she wasn’t sure. Maybe because it sounds like I’m just one in a line.
“Missed my damn check-in with Vic. Now either he’s hauling ass out here…” His gaze slashed over to meet hers. “Or someone else has found us.”
Please let it just be Vic.
He whirled back toward the window. He searched the area outside. “I don’t have a visual on the vehicle, not yet.”
She inched closer to him. The floor creaked beneath her feet, and she saw Saxon’s shoulders stiffen. He had scars on his shoulders. On his back. She hadn’t even noticed those before. They were slashes. From a knife? Her hand reached out to touch him.
“Go in the bathroom and shut the door. Don’t come out unless you hear me call for you.”
He was still staring out the window.
“I won’t let them get you,” he promised.
But…what about him? He’d handled himself easily back at the motel, but the guy wasn’t immortal. The scars on his back were testimony to the pain he’d endured. “Let me help you.”
He shook his head. “Help me by getting to cover and—” His breath expelled in a rush. “Victor’s rental car.”
Relief made her a little dizzy. “Then we’re okay.” No bad guys had found her location. They were still safe.
“You’re okay,” he muttered. “Vic is probably about to rip me a new one.”
The engine died. She heard a car door slam.
“Yeah, it’s Vic,” Saxon said as he leaned closer to the window. “And he looks pissed.”
Wait, didn’t he always look that way? Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she’d seen other expressions cross his face.
“And he’s coming in armed.” Saxon swore and hurried to open the cabin’s door. “Vic, it’s all right, man! You don’t need to rush in, guns blazing!”
But Victor did rush right in. He shoved Saxon back over the threshold of that cabin, then he slammed the door shut. “What. The. Fuck?” Fury was stamped on his face. “You had a check-in. You never miss a check-in with me.”
Saxon slanted a look at Elizabeth. “I fell asleep.”
The fury on Victor’s face warred with shock. “You did what?”
Saxon shook his head. “I’m sorry, man. I made a mistake.”
Elizabeth inched back a bit. The floor decided to creak beneath her once more.
And that little creak had Victor’s gaze snapping toward her. “You.”
Oh, hell.
Victor took a menacing step toward her. As she stared at his face, she thought “pissed” might have been the wrong term to describe him. Enraged worked far better.
‘”I thought my brother was dead.”
“Your brother?” Her voice came out as a rasp. She was confused and growing more nervous by the moment. “Look, Agent Monroe, I don’t know your brother.”
He growled then. Growled. “I think you were fucking him…and that’s why my brother forgot to check the hell in. Not because of some bull about falling asleep.”
Saxon and Victor were brothers? She’d got that the two men were friends, but—brothers?
Before she could question him further—and tell the guy that any fucking was not his business, brothers or not—Victor whirled back toward Saxon. “You’re a federal agent. Protocol demands—”
“I’m not an agent, not anymore. I already told you that Taggert was my last job. Since he’s dead, I’m out.”
Only…he’d been staying there with her. Protecting her.
“Sorry I didn’t check in, but mistakes happen.” Saxon shrugged, not looking the least bit intimidated in the face of Victor’s glare. “Elizabeth and I are alive, so you need to calm the hell down.” And some anger—hot and heavy—entered his voice as he said, “And I don’t like the way you just talked to her, either.”
“Neither did I!” Elizabeth snapped.
Victor glared over at her. She glared right back. “Don’t yell at me, and don’t talk about my sex life!” Her chin notched up. “You don’t know me well enough for crap like that.”
Victor shook his head. Then he shook it again, as if he just couldn’t make sense out of what was happening around him. “People are dying,” he said, “while you two are out here playing house.”
They weren’t playing house. A faint sound reached Elizabeth’s ears. She glanced over at the window. But…then she didn’t hear the sound again.
“We’re damn aware there is a target on her,” Saxon said as he took a step toward Victor. “And I’m doing you a favor by keeping Elizabeth alive.”
Wait. Hold the freaking phone. “Did you just say I was a favor?” Hurt was there, splintering across her chest. Because she’d thought…never mind.
Saxon’s head jerked toward her. “Elizabeth…” He looked lost for a moment. Confused. “No, that’s not what I meant.” His hand raked through his hair. “Look—”
Victor holstered his gun and shoved Saxon in the chest with his hand. “No, you look. Those three bastards who came after you at the motel? The ones you wanted me to find? I already found them. It was real easy, considering their bodies were left in room number thirteen.”
No, that wasn’t possible. Elizabeth shivered even as she said, “You’re lying. They were alive when we left.”
“No, Ms. Ward, I’m not lying.” He didn’t glance over at her, but kept his attention on Saxon. “Those men are dead. They were all shot, and their bodies were dumped in your motel room. Someone killed all three of them and took out the kid who was working at the check-in desk.”
This was horrible. “Why?” Elizabeth demanded as a fist seemed to squeeze her heart. So many people…dead.
Victor didn’t answer her. Just kept right on glaring at Saxon. So she marched across the room, grabbed his arm, and whirled the guy around to face her. “Why were they killed?”
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “At first, I thought someone might be protecting you. Eliminating anyone who might threaten you.”
“The check-in clerk wasn’t any threat.” She’d never even seen him.
“If he could identify the killer, he was a threat.”
This was out of control. Six people were dead now—six! Taggert, Locke, the three men at the motel and…a desk clerk—some poor soul that I never even met!
“That’s what I thought, at first,” Victor continued. “That maybe someone was out there, eliminating any danger to you.”
“By killing?”
His head tilted as he studied her. “Then I learned about your parents.”
It was her turn to shake her head.
Saxon surged forward. “What do Elizabeth’s parents have to do with anything?”
“Luther Bates took out a hit on them.”
Those goosebumps on her arms turned into a full-on chill. “What? Luther Bates?” Yes, she knew the name. Who didn’t? The guy had made serious national headlines when he’d been arrested. It wasn’t every day that a drug kingpin like him went down.
“Drop the act,” Victor ordered. “You had to know he was the one who went after your mom. She tipped off the DA about him, and he sent out the hit on your whole
family.”
She thought about slugging him because there was so much fury and pain twisting inside of her. “My parents died in a car accident!” And this guy was going to try and tell her that some drug kingpin had killed them? No way. No. Car accidents happened. They were sad and tragic but they just happened.
“Their brake line was cut. It was no damn accident, and you know that. The cops said—”
“They said nothing to me about a hit being placed on my parents!” Elizabeth was yelling. She had to stop that. She had to get her control back. Her hands clenched into fists at her side. “They told me it was an accident. That’s all. Accidents…they happen.”
“Then maybe they didn’t say anything to you because they didn’t have proof…maybe they thought you’d be safer if you didn’t know that Luther Bates had been gunning for you. Hell, ignorance can be bliss, right?” His face hardened. “But if it was just an accident, then why did you run out of town? You ran fast and you ran hard and you didn’t go back.”
Saxon was watching her, his gaze carefully guarded now. He was staring at her almost as if…as if she were a suspect or a criminal. Not the woman that he’d just made love with.
No, we didn’t make love. We had sex. We fucked. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Nothing more…
“There wasn’t anything for me there. Why would I stay? They were gone, and being there without them hurt.” She’d felt haunted in that old house. So she’d gone away, trying to run from the pain. Too late, she'd learned the pain followed her wherever she went.
“You had a hit on you, and you ran to stay safe,” Victor charged. “Only the bounty stayed on your head, and when you turned up here in Miami, someone made the connection and decided to collect. I’m betting Locke is the one who put the pieces of the puzzle together. He was a junior man in Luther’s organization a few years ago.”
It felt as if her head were about to split open. “A-a bounty has been on my head? For two years?” Impossible.
His lips thinned. His stare met Saxon’s in some kind of silent, suspicious communication, then Victor glanced back at her.
“Say something!” Elizabeth yelled.
And that was when it happened. Gunfire. The sound was familiar to her now, thanks to that horrible experience at the motel. Like fireworks exploding right outside the cabin. No, tearing into the cabin.
The window shattered. Victor spun to pull out his weapon and Saxon—Saxon grabbed Elizabeth and threw her to the floor. Then he covered her with his body as the bullets kept hitting into the side of the cabin.
“You led them to her!” Saxon accused Victor. “You brought them here!”
Victor fired a shot through the window. “The hell I did! No one followed me.”
More gunfire erupted. Elizabeth stared up at Saxon, her heart racing. “Do we run?” Where were they supposed to run? To the swamp?
And then…the gunfire stopped. There was an absolute silence that was chilling. Elizabeth caught her breath as she waited. What would happen next?
The silence stretched. She felt like her nerves were about to shatter.
“Saxon…” His name was a whisper from her.
But his hand lifted and pressed to her mouth. He gave a slow shake of his head even as he moved a few inches and looked over at Victor.
She craned her head, too, and saw Victor give a fast hand motion to Saxon. She had no idea what that move meant, but Saxon leaned closer to her. His mouth brushed against the shell of her ear as he said, “Don’t move. Stay in here and stay silent, and you’ll stay alive.”
Then he was…gone. He checked his weapon and went toward what she figured had to be the cabin’s back door. Even as Saxon opened that door, Victor was firing his weapon through the now-broken window. Providing cover fire for Saxon?
She stayed on the floor as the gunfire seemed to echo around her. Saxon had headed out to catch the man—or men—shooting at them. Once more, he was risking his life, for her.
But what if I’m not worth the risk?
***
Saxon tried to move as quickly but as carefully as he could. Victor was shooting, providing him cover while Saxon went to take out the bastard firing at them. It was a routine they’d run plenty of times before.
His gaze scanned the area. No one was returning Victor’s fire. The guy out there was biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
He wouldn’t get that moment. There was no way Saxon would give the fellow a chance to hurt Elizabeth. She was his priority right then, and if he had to kill in order to protect her, then so be it.
He used the twisting grasses and gnarled trees as cover. If he’d been planning to shoot at the cabin, he would have done it from the area up ahead and to the left. That spot would provide the most cover while also making sure that—
Gunfire thundered once more.
The gunshots had come from up ahead and to the left, but the shooter hadn’t been aiming for the cabin. Saxon edged closer just as a man burst from the tall grass.
“I got him!” Gary cried out. His breath was heaving out, his body shuddering “He’s down. Everything is safe.” He had a gun in his shaking hand.
And Saxon had his own gun aimed at the other FBI agent.
Gary bent low, sucking in a deep breath. “I was…” Another gulping breath. “With Victor…told me to stay out…here…while he…made sure you were safe.” Another breath. He looked up, sweat pooling on his forehead. “When I heard the-the shooting…” He exhaled. “I went after him.”
Victor hadn’t mentioned that Gary was with him. Hell, Vic really had come in with guns blazing. He’d exposed Saxon’s sanctuary, revealed it to the other agent. But what does it matter? I’ll be leaving this place soon enough.
But leaving Miami meant leaving Elizabeth.
“He’s down,” Gary huffed, “but not dead. Come on, let’s get Victor and we’ll question the bastard together.” With his gun lowered, he turned toward the cabin. His steps were fast, clumsy.
Saxon followed him, moving much slower.
***
Gunfire blasted. Elizabeth’s already tense muscles locked down even more when she heard the sound of those shots from outside. The shots didn’t hit the cabin, so…
Had they hit Saxon? Or had he been the one firing?
She kept staring at Victor’s profile and Elizabeth didn’t say a word. But she sure wished she had a weapon. A gun would be real handy right then. Or even a knife. Something.
Victor was staring straight outside, and his features were hard and angry. Only—shock flew across his face. “What the hell?” he whispered, then he was running for the door. Yanking it open.
His movement sparked her own, and Elizabeth jumped to her feet. Through that open doorway, she could see two men walking toward the cabin. One was Saxon and he’d just pulled up to the side of the other guy, a man with slightly stooped shoulders and a balding head. Who was that man? Saxon was so close to him and—
“Get away from him, Saxon!” Victor yelled as he aimed his gun.
His warning came too late. Gunfire thundered once more.
She was staring at Saxon when the gun fired. She saw the bullet hit Saxon in the side. He stumbled, fell to his knees, but he still tried to bring up his weapon. And that was when the other man—a man who seemed oddly familiar to her—put his gun to Saxon’s head.
“Drop your weapons!” The guy yelled.
Saxon still had his weapon in his hand—and he was bleeding, so much.
“Drop them!” The man screamed. Sweat had formed long, dark lines on his white shirt. “Throw down all your weapons or I will kill him right now.”
Victor kept his gun up. “You kill him, and you’ll be dead one second later, Gary.”
Gary? Even the name was normal. Ordinary. Not the name of a-a killer. A killer that Victor apparently knew.
“Send out the girl!” Gary ordered. “Or you can watch me put a bullet in your brother’s head.”
“He’s b
een fucking listening to my phone conversations,” Victor muttered. “Asshole.” He went right on with pointing his gun at Gary.
Hadn’t Victor heard the guy? He was going to shoot Saxon! That can’t happen. Elizabeth raced forward. “I’m coming out!” she shouted. “Please, don’t hurt him—”
She’d barely taken more than a few steps when Victor grabbed her and pushed her back into the cabin. He slammed back against the nearest wall, taking her out of Gary’s sight.
“Are you insane?” Victor demanded. “He is here to kill you.”
She got that but… “I’m not going to let Saxon die in my place!”
“Saxon is an agent! He’s trained for shit like this—”
His words were drowned out by the thunder of gunfire.
Saxon!
Then she heard laughter. “I just put a bullet in Saxon’s shoulder,” Gary said, voice carrying easily. “Since he wasn’t dropping his gun, I had to convince him. The next shot will be in his head.”
Victor’s forearm pressed over her chest. She saw the fury burning in his eyes.
“Send her out!” Gary’s voice was close to a shriek now.
She strained against Victor’s hold, but he wasn’t letting her go. Please, she mouthed the word to Victor.
His eyes were slits of fury. “I guess there was a rat in the FBI all along,” he shouted to Gary. “Fuck, you were the one with all the technical intelligence—and you were just, what? Selling it off to the highest bidder?”
“That’s what I do…now. But two years ago, before I was transferred to your team, I worked a slightly different beat.”
A muscle flexed along Victor’s jaw. “What beat was that?”
More laughter. “Come on out, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Victor still didn’t move.
“Victor!” Gary shouted.
“You fed me bullshit about that police report on her parents’ car crash, didn’t you?” Victor yelled back. “They didn’t think Luther Bates had set up that hit—”
“They should have thought that,” Gary blasted back. “Who do you think hired me to kill them?”
Her heart seemed to splinter. That man out there…he’d killed her parents? An image of their mangled bodies flashed in her mind. Nausea twisted her stomach, and, for a moment, Elizabeth thought she’d vomit.
