by Mandy Harbin
It happened in a flurry. One second Blade was at the door, his hand on the knob, the next they’d stormed into the building, crashed though windows, and barked orders to everyone to get down. When Blade busted through, he watched as Anna hit the wall and came crashing down, busting the tape on her wrist in the process.
“Good fucking move,” one of the agents closest to her said, voice thick with appreciation. Blade did his best not to put that man on the ground as he shoved him out of the way to get to her.
“Baby,” he breathed as he reached for her, all the while she was struggling to get up.
“Brax,” she murmured on a sob.
It crushed him to see her tears. Jesus, he’d never seen her cry before. She was a tough as nails little spitfire, and seeing her emotions on display like this made him want to change his stance on not gutting the man who took her. Slowly, painfully.
He helped her tug on the tape to free her other hand and pulled her into his arms. He heard the commotion around him as they rounded up Mr. Ward and anybody else in the cabin.
“She’s dead,” Hunter said.
Blade’s head whipped around. The sunlight streaming in, landing on a blond woman, frail and bloody. The same size and hair color of his sister. Memories assaulted him of her lifeless body and he squeezed Anna in his embrace as he fought to maintain control.
“Don’t touch her!” someone yelled, the sound of the voice sending chills down his spine.
“Lauren?” Blade asked. “What the fuck?”
Lauren paid him no attention. He screamed some unintelligible words as he tried to rush the officer inspecting the poor woman’s head. Not that he got far. Two other agents were holding him down. Several of his guys had Mr. Ward on the ground.
“Your mom,” Anna said almost in a panic. “They’re planning on—”
“She’s fine. She was here when we showed up. Sent her away.”
“They talked about your aunt. I’m not sure if she’s on the level.”
Fear washed over him, knowing his mom could have gone to her house. Hell, if not, she’d have called her to tell her what was going on at the estate. Blade dug out his phone as he helped Anna stand. Then he rushed outside for better lighting. A helicopter flew overhead as he hit the button to call his mom.
“Hello?”
“Oh thank God. Where are you?”
“At Barbara’s. We were—”
“Get away from her,” he yelled.
“Why?” she asked slowly. “We’re in town and she drove.”
“Something’s going on. Not sure who all you can trust. Are you in a crowded area?”
“Yes. We’re at Boudreau’s, Barbara’s favorite restaurant.”
“Jesus Christ, don’t eat anything.”
“What’s going on?” Brody asked, coming up next to him.
Blade quickly explained to him that the younger guy in the shed was his cousin and his mom was currently out with his aunt. Brody rushed back in the building to tell one of the local feds, so they could get someone out there to protect her.
“Listen to me, Mom. Don’t eat anything. Don’t leave with her. Don’t do anything. They’re sending an officer to you.”
“Are you going to explain what’s going on?”
“Yeah. Just as soon as I figure this shit out myself.”
He stayed on the phone with his mom until a deputy arrived at the restaurant and took Barbara in for questioning, but while he waited not-so-patiently for help to arrive, Anna had come outside to tell him what all she knew.
And what she told him blew his quiet little family life wide open. Barbara and Mr. Ward. Lauren. All those deaths. Not that his life had been so strait-laced before, but Jesus Christ, his family was all kinds of fucked up! And knowing the truth, the enormous reality, it only exemplified all the reasons he wasn’t worthy of the woman sitting beside him.
The love of his life was safe.
His sweet momma was safe.
He didn’t need to push his luck anymore. He was better off living the closed off life he had before she’d ever walked into it. Not that she ever wanted to be a part of his life anyway. She’d played him, and he’d been the fool thinking she’d reciprocated his feelings. A part of him believed that she did care about him on some level, but she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did her. She’d proven she loved her job more than anything in this world.
“I owe you an apology,” Anna said. “For everything.”
He sighed and rubbed a dirt roughened hand over his face. “Me, too. But really, sweetheart, it doesn’t even matter anymore.” With that, he stood up, trying not to focus on her shocked expression because it would only test his resolve. “Take care of yourself. Please.”
Then he walked away. Away from happiness. Away from his heart.
Chapter Sixteen
Anna sat in the meeting room of her assigned field agency following the disciplinary meeting. It had been scheduled after her administrative leave had lapsed. Because of the work she’d done linking several unsolved mysteries to Lauren’s confession and the fact that she hadn’t been the one to leak information to Blade, the hearing had been more of a formality than anything else. She’d still hated the time away. She’d used that forced vacation to both recuperate and reflect since she couldn’t do much else. Seeing as she wasn’t that injured coming out of the kidnapping, one of those was much easier than the other. She mended quickly. She did physically, anyway.
The other thing she focused on wasn’t as successful. Reflecting on everything didn’t give her any answers. Blade never once reached out to her, and she’d been prohibited from making contact with him until after the administrative hearing…if then. Anna had considered ditching the tail the FBI put on her and making a quick trip to Arkansas, but she figured she didn’t need to push it. If she knew beyond the shadow of any doubt that she could get Blade to talk to her, she might have felt differently, but she realized he was coming to terms with a lot of betrayal. She just wished she didn’t have to be a part of all that.
“Hey, hey, look who it is,” Carson said as he walked in, dragging her out of her thoughts of Blade and the next step she was going to take. He walked over and hugged her before taking a seat. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” Because that was the acceptable answer.
Viola gasped when she walked in. “There you are! How’d it go?” She rushed over and hugged Anna.
“Good.” Again, it was the answer she wanted to hear. Anna would get a chance to elaborate soon enough.
Rick walked in, gave her a nod, and sat. He already knew the outcome of the hearing. He’d been there with her. For all the growling around that man did, he knew how to have his teammates’ backs. She had a greater appreciation for him now more than ever.
Shelby and Darrell walked in next and stopped whatever they were chatting about when they saw Anna. Shelby smiled. Darrell made a sound that could either be interpreted as a greeting or disapproval. Either one was totally possible where he was concerned.
“As you all can see, we have a guest with us today,” Rick said, and eyed Anna.
This was the part she wasn’t looking forward to.
“Guest?” Carson said with a laugh that slowly died. “Oh, shit.”
“Indeed,” Rick said. “Anna Sue Fisher is being reassigned.”
“What? Viola said. “That’s not fair! She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“To Arkansas,” Rick said with a smile.
Everyone realized at different moments what that meant. Shelby was the first, and she flat out giggled.
“You wuuuv him.”
“Stop it,” Anna muttered through a smile. It didn’t matter how she felt about Blade. She knew she had her work cut out where he was concerned. But it wasn’t as if she could afford to change careers. Since the inquiry into Mason Showalter was still in full force, she’d posed the idea to Rick as sort of a peace offering. She’d be willing to transfer to another field office and he wouldn’t have to ri
sk Anna breaking his trust. She couldn’t tell Blade about the case if she wasn’t working on the team.
Although she was sad to be leaving the people she’d been working with for years.
“Anna will be tasked with closing what cases she can that can be definitively linked to Laurent Mahoney. As you all know, he confessed to thirteen murders. He admitted he and Jeremiah Ward committed the first two together. After Ward’s death, Mahoney continued the tradition in a psychotic tribute to his dead brother.”
“Jeez, that’s messed up,” Carson said.
“Yes. Apparently, the first one was an accident. Happened the night Laurent found out about his true parentage. Jeremiah told him, and he went into a rage. After, they did it again on the anniversary of their newly discovered brotherhood. He’s done it every year since.”
“Are we sure Brenna Young was one of those commemorative victims?” Viola asked.
“Yes. Though we don’t have a corroborating witness. Just his statement of the events.” Anna hadn’t been allowed to be there for the confession. What work she’d been allowed to do on those cases, she’d done remotely and technically off the record. Now that she was fully reinstated, she could officially work on closing those cases.
“Poor Blade. I couldn’t even imagine the pain he must be going through,” Shelby said.
“He’s still a mercenary,” Rick said. Nothing had really changed on his feelings regarding the Bang Shift. Not that the agency had been able to find anything on those men. Rick had to accept the fact that whatever Colonel had destroyed had disappeared forever. If he wanted to sever ties with them, he’d need to come up with something new. And he did want to destroy all connections. For some reason, he had a major dislike for those men. Didn’t seem to matter much anyway. The moment those guys learned the truth about the mission Anna and her team were on, they’d effectively stopped all communication. The breakup hadn’t been with just her, but she had a feeling she was the only one using the power of ice cream to deal.
“Jack Parsons doesn’t seem to care,” Carson said. Anna had heard about that. Jack had worked with the Bang Shift long before Rick’s team ever did, and he was furious of the mess Rick had made of that working relationship. If anyone could mend fences between the government and that contracted group, it would be him. She wasn’t holding her breath, though.
“You want to work RICO? I’ve already transferred one agent today. I can make it happen.”
“No,” Carson said quickly. “Jack’s a dick. I’ll keep my happy ass here.”
“Agreed,” Darrell said.
“So where does this leave us with the SEC?” Shelby asked.
Rick’s gaze flashed to Anna before answering. “We’ll discuss that later.”
“Don’t mean to be an ass,” Darrell said, “but you do know she’s going to make contact with Blade Young once she transfers.”
“She’s sitting right here,” Anna said, deadpan.
He lifted his hands and leaned back. “Just stating the obvious. He has an unidentified link to Mason Showalter, a key party to an ongoing investigation.
“A flimsy link at best,” Anna countered.
“Still.” Darrell shrugged.
“Anna is aware of the consequences if she were to discuss any classified intel with someone outside of the agency.”
Yes, she was. The committee had made it abundantly clear this morning that she’d be terminated if she breathed a word of anything to anyone. “And I plan on being around and making a difference in the lives of people for many years to come.”
Darrell stared at her for several seconds before finally nodding. She didn’t have to convince him, but she didn’t want her teammates—former teammates—to think she’d do anything to hinder their investigation.
She had no intention of doing that.
Then again, she also had no intention of keeping Blade in the dark either. She hadn’t figured out how to tell him the main reason behind the investigation, why he’d been the one they’d wanted Anna to work with. But one thing she’d decided when doing all of that reflecting while on leave was that there would not be any more secrets between them. There had to be a way Anna could be honest with Blade without breaking the trust of her colleagues.
She hadn’t quite figured that part out yet, and with just a week to pack and move before she had to report to her new boss, she was quickly running out of time.
He knew it was a dream.
Only, this time, the sweet smell of rose petals wafting through his nostrils overpowered the phantom scent of lavender. He used to never understand why a seventeen-year-old girl wanted to smell like flowers as his sister had once loved, but then he met Anna and her love of rose-scented lotion give him a whole new appreciation to floral scents. Unlike Brenna’s love of purple, Anna didn’t have a preference for all things red. She just loved the smell of roses. Maybe it was a teenage thing to associate the color with the flower. He didn’t know, but there was no mistaking Anna’s love for the aroma.
It was why he’d kept a fresh bouquet by his bed. When it was the last thing he smelled before falling asleep, the nightmares of lavender and blood stayed away, and images of Anna Sue Fisher engulfed him.
It was a completely different type of nightmare than what he’d had all those years. That woman haunted his dreams, and like a damn fool, he craved it, fed it. Of course, he still dreamed about his sister. Not all the time. But when he did, it was different than before.
The scent of lavender tickled his nose right before the young girl appeared. Peaceful. So completely unlike the recurring dream he’d had for all those years.
“Where’s Jeremiah?”
He knew his sister was going to ask that, because she always did. That was the one part that never changed.
And his answer never deviated still. “In Hell.”
“Was it you?” she asked as tears welled in her lifeless eyes.
“Yes.”
It was then she looked at him, and the dull emptiness of her gaze shifted, warmed. “Thank you.”
He awoke, the last images of his smiling sister fading into the early morning light.
Followed by an ache in his head he wished he’d get used to.
“Damn tequila,” he muttered as he tossed the sheets off him and sighed. Drowning his sorrows in liquor wasn’t the answer. Hell, it didn’t even dull the pain anymore. Not that he was still hurting over the loss of his sister. He’d always love her, and since Mr. Ward had been put behind bars and Lauren’s role discovered, it was as if he’d attained a certain amount of peace where his sister’s death was concerned. And on some level, she did too. It had been a log fifteen years in the making, but he felt she was finally at rest. It was somehow closure for them both.
So, yeah, the ache he tried to kill had nothing to with her. It had been created by Anna Sue Fisher.
It was always Anna. The woman gutted him, and the worst part was he knew why. He’d always known, even when he’d told himself he didn’t understand the spell she’d put him under.
He loved her.
Blade wasn’t sure when it happened. Probably shortly after meeting her when she’d first come to town working undercover as extra protection for Xan. He wouldn’t be surprised if it had been love at first sight, but he’d been so wrapped up in his own nonexistent life to notice.
Groaning, he got up, downed some Ibuprofen, brushed his teeth, and got in the shower. He needed to get to the shop and finish working on the El Camino that had been neglected since Shelby left. Jeez, they sure could use her help. The woman was a wiz under the hood. She knew her shit better than some of the mechanics they’d hired over the years. He hated how things went down with the feds. Not only were the guys not ever planning on working with them again, they couldn’t risk continuing any friendships either. They’d severed ties with Shelby…with everyone.
Including Anna.
Making quick work of getting clean, he got rinsed off and got out, thoughts still focused on her. He toweled himself
off as he walked down the hall, so focused on her that the phantom scent of roses grew stronger with every passing second. When he walked into his bedroom, he froze.
“Good morning,” Anna said. She lay on his bed, propped up on her elbows, legs crossed in front of her.
He momentarily wondered if he’d gone completely crazy and was now seeing things in addition to smelling them. But he knew if he’d been imagining her on his bed, she wouldn’t be wearing clothes.
“What are you doing here?”
She smiled. “What? Not ‘How did you get in here?’ You might want to cover up.” Her gaze traveled down his body, zeroing in on his exposed manhood.
He cussed and quickly wrapped the towel around his waist.
She pouted, and it was the cutest little face. He almost smiled…until he felt blood stirring in his groin at the sight of her on top of his sheets.
“What are you doing here?” he asked again, almost angry. He definitely wasn’t happy about his body’s reaction to her.
She sat up a little, leaning toward him, although he was still across the room.
“I wanted to tell you in person that I’m being transferred.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
He blinked, letting her words sink in. Many words and questions flew in his mind, but he’d only let his mouth utter one. “Why?”
“Several reasons. One being that I can’t be trusted to work on an ongoing investigation.”
“Why the hell not?” he asked, pissed that anybody would question her ability as an agent. Fuck, she was so good at it that she’d fooled him into thinking she cared about him beyond an assignment. She had drive. That was one thing nobody, not even himself, could question.
She sighed as she stood. “If I tell you, I could get into a lot of trouble. Like, seriously, if the powers that be find out I even mentioned a tiny bit of this to you, I’d be out of a job. Maybe even thrown in jail.”
“What?” he asked, moving forward for the first time since entering the room.
She took a deep breath, glancing up from the corner of her eye. “I was tasked with working directly with you.”
