Don’t Look Back

by Dawn Ryder

  * * *

  “Who in the hell leaked the footage?” Vitus Hale demanded.

  “You know the answer,” Kagan replied to his man. The section lead was his normal controlled self, and yet, there was a look in his eyes Vitus and Saxon recognized. Both agents snapped their mouths shut, waiting for Kagan to take the lead in the conversation.

  “I knew who Sinclair was when I recruited her,” Kagan began. “She was a killer but not a murderer. You two understand the difference. She took out a monster. One no one else could get close to.”

  Vitus was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He cocked his head to one side in agreement while his brother, Saxon, nodded.

  “Carl is going for our throats, gentlemen,” Kagan said, laying down the facts. “The way I see it, he’s just waiting for us to protect our own, so he can whip the media up into backing his decision to end our teams.”

  “It will be a shitstorm,” Saxon said, nailing it in six words. “Abuse of federal powers, trying to keep Miranda out of office…”

  Kagan nodded.

  “So what’s the plan to stop Carl in his tracks?” Vitus cut to the point. “We know that bastard has been trying to destroy us for over two years. Personally, I’m ready to get down to the final battle.”

  “Carl isn’t going to fight that honorably,” Kagan told Vitus. “You know it, have tasted it. That’s why he had that footage leaked. It’s also why Agent Sinclair is being held by inexperienced agents over at Homeland instead of ones who know bullshit when they see it.”

  “We’ll start by finding the other nurse,” Saxon said.

  “I can’t free Sinclair,” Kagan said, stating aloud what all three of them knew. “Carl is just waiting for me to make a move to prove I sanctioned the hit on Miranda.”

  None of them liked the facts. Shadow Ops teams were tighter than most families. Kagan could see his two agents bristling at the concept of leaving one of their own without resources.

  “Carl had a target killed in interrogation a few months ago, one of Dare Servant’s cases,” Vitus said. “You leave Sinclair in lockup and she’ll end up dead.”

  “I’m betting Sinclair will put up a little better fight than anyone anticipates,” Kagan answered. “And before you argue, let me clarify that I’m wagering all our futures on her being able to survive an attack and live to provide some evidence in our favor. I don’t like it any more than you two do. But the fact is, if someone makes a try for her, it will be the evidence we need to prove she is innocent and needs to be silenced. It’s the only move we have to make.”

  * * *

  It was taking Kagan a long time to free her.

  Thais twisted against the handcuffs still locking her wrists behind her back and had to force herself to relax. Her wrists were already bruised because she was slowly going insane sitting in the interrogation room, just listening to the air-conditioning coming through the vent.

  She needed her wits. Composure was key to survival. A fact she’d learned long before Kagan had shown up and offered her a Shadow Ops badge. The other prisoners had called it a lucky break. Thais knew it for what it was, her due. Fate had finally delivered a measure of fairness to her.

  Was she a killer?

  Yes.

  Her husband and brother-in-law were scum. The sort that made street criminals look like Boy Scouts. She’d killed them because she just couldn’t stomach knowing what they’d planned to do and she’d been the only one who could get close enough to pull it off. Oh, it had never been her intention. No, she’d been swept off her feet, romanced and trusting when she’d taken her wedding vows. Her husband had enjoyed plucking her while she was so tender and innocent.

  But she’d just been another conquest. He’d married her because of who her father was, for the business connection, and she had been expected to stay in the place she’d been put. The virgin bride, installed in the hilltop mansion, where she’d keep house and produce children and never, ever step outside her role. Or do anything such as question her husband’s word.

  They’d both misjudged her. The innocence her husband had been drawn to was something rooted so deeply inside her, even long after her virginity was gone, and her dreams of happy ever after smashed. Thais still believed in justice and honor. Being labeled a possession hadn’t pushed her over the edge … no, that had happened when she’d discovered how cheaply her husband held the lives of those who worked for him. How he’d kill to increase profits and that her father had known it. She simply hadn’t been able to lie in her huge bed and enjoy her mansion while knowing blood was being spilled to keep the money flowing.

  Her husband had never thought she’d pose any threat to him. Oh, no. He’d planned murder in the place he expected her to make into a home and told her to go to bed when he’d caught her listening.

  Business was between men …

  She’d hear his final words to her forever but not in the way he’d intended. Thais heard victory in them. Her personal achievement in not bending in front of greed as her husband expected. He’d told her it was just the way the world was. But she hadn’t been willing to turn a blind eye to it.

  So she’d killed him and her brother-in-law right there in that mansion.

  She didn’t see it as murder. More of a service to humanity, or maybe it was a little more precise to say she’d been desperately trying to make sure she hung on to her soul.

  Kagan had agreed.

  Unbeknown to her, her husband had been under surveillance by a Shadow Ops team. They’d been waiting for enough evidence. She’d prevented them from getting it but had done the world a favor.

  So Kagan had done her a favor in return. Offered her something other than a double murder with special circumstance charge. Offered her an opportunity to become something more than a victim of fate.

  She loved her badge.

  Enough to make it her identity.

  Even her fascination with Dunn wasn’t enough to make her change her direction in life.

  She did feel a little twinge of lament for it though. Dunn Bateson was the sort of man she’d often longed for her husband to be. Dunn might be arrogant, but it could also be argued that it was confidence. Something earned versus something produced by pride. Before becoming a Shadow Ops agent, she might have let the feeling grow.

  Now, relationships and her badge were two conflicting forces. A fork in the road and she knew without a doubt which one she was choosing. It was a kindness, really, because she was taking risks, large ones, and didn’t have the right to inflict the consequences on a romantic partner.

  * * *

  “I’m not sitting this one out.”

  Saxon Hale didn’t like being surprised, and it didn’t happen very often. He jerked his head around, catching Dunn sitting in the far corner of the room.

  “I own this hotel chain,” Dunn began. “Made a deal years ago with your acquisitions team.”

  “A deal that included no names,” Saxon responded, turning so he was facing Dunn all the way. “Where did you get mine?”

  His tone was deadly, but Dunn didn’t take it personally. He stood, now that Saxon knew he was there, and faced off with him.

  “A back door no one else can find, much less activate,” Dunn said in answer to Saxon’s question. “Miranda is my mother. The only blood I have left. There is no line I won’t cross to find the name of the man who hired that hitman. Where’s Thais?”

  Saxon stiffened. It was just a fraction of a reaction, but coming from someone Dunn knew to be a seasoned operator, it was beyond telling.

  “I’ve been there … for you and your brother, when family was on the line,” Dunn said, pressing.

  “You’re a civilian,” Saxon offered in a tone that made it clear he was less than happy with having to deny Dunn the information. “And you’re not an American.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Dunn said, letting his Scottish accent out just a bit. “But then again, Thais is an American and it looks like you’re letting her ris
k her neck.”

  Saxon drew up tighter, crossing his arms over his chest as Dunn perched himself on the edge of the wet bar in the suite.

  “I’ve done my homework on her,” Dunn growled. “What bothers me is how much the press is able to dig up on her. Are your superiors really going to let her take the blame?”

  “You seem sure she’s not guilty.”

  Dunn took a moment to think. His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “You’re dangling her like bait.” He shook his head and pointed at Saxon. “Fuck you and your section leader.”

  Dunn headed for the door, his stride long and powerful.

  “Wait.” Saxon raised his voice as Dunn closed his fingers around the door handle.

  Dunn turned to look at Saxon.

  “When you helped my brother and me get Damascus off the grid, the man we were running from was Tyler Martin,” Saxon said softly.

  “Chief security head to Carl Davis?” Dunn asked as he released the handle.

  Saxon tilted his head to one side. “He was working for Jeb Ryland at the time and made the jump to Carl after Ryland was killed. Tyler was my former team lead. He sold out and sold us out to secure a place for himself.”

  “Miranda…” Saxon let out a grunt, making it clear he was fighting back the urge to refuse to give Dunn the classified information. “She recorded a conversation between Carl and Kirkland Grog. She turned it over to Vitus.”

  Dunn held still. His temper was raging but he’d learned a long time ago to funnel his energy into action. Particularly, action that could meet with success.

  “So my mother got a hit put out on her.” Dunn put his thoughts into words. “And it would be a double victory for Carl if he could let a Shadow Ops agent go down for the hit since your brother, Vitus, stole Miranda’s daughter, Damascus, from him.”

  Saxon nodded. “My section leader tried to make it clear to Carl Davis that we’re more useful to him alive than dead…”

  Dunn let out a chuckle. “Davis is too much of a power junkie to listen to reason. He thinks of the men surrounding him as disposable.”

  Saxon nodded again. “We know Thais isn’t guilty, but right now, we need something to go on.”

  “So your plan is to leave her out as bait?” Dunn asked, as he closed the distance between them. “Is that really the best you can come up with?”

  “Thais is a proven agent,” Saxon insisted.

  Dunn maintained his position for a long moment, one foot from Saxon, both men unwilling to bend.

  “Like I said … fuck you.” Dunn was moving back toward the door.

  “Thais would agree with the plan,” Saxon called after him.

  “I imagine she would, not that it changes my opinion,” Dunn said before pulling the door open and leaving.

  Thais Sinclair would agree to let her life be at risk. It was one of the things he was going to have to have a very long conversation with her about once he got his hands on her.

  The woman took too many foolish risks.

  Dunn didn’t check himself as he took the stairs instead of the elevator and crossed through the lobby too fast for his staff to realize he was there before he was gone.

  That suited him perfectly. He didn’t like being anticipated. A ghost of a grin lifted the corners of his lips as Kent emerged from behind one of the pillars at the main entrance.

  Kent was an exception.

  And Dunn liked the guy’s style. A four-wheel-drive vehicle slid up the moment Dunn came through the double-wide entry doors of the hotel. The man driving it was a stranger, but Kent climbed right in, making it clear he was performing his duties as seamlessly as he always did.

  “Are we going ahead with becoming federal criminals?” Kent asked as they pulled away.

  “I’m not leaving her in there, just waiting on an assassin,” Dunn assured his men.

  Kent’s lips twitched, rising up into a grin. Dunn enjoyed the sight as he nodded.

  * * *

  “You realize Kagan could have your badge for all the information you just spilled.” Vitus Hale emerged from the bedroom of the suite where he’d taken up a position hours earlier.

  Saxon took a moment to pull his gun from his chest harness and check it while they were still in the suite. “I wish the only concern we had was losing our badges.”

  Vitus offered his brother a nod. They’d always been good at sharing each other’s thoughts, a trait that made them good operators in the field. Today, however, it meant Saxon knew his brother was thinking about his family and just how much danger their Shadow Ops involvement placed the ones they loved in.

  “Dunn’s a good choice,” Vitus offered. “As far as civilians go, he’s got more resources than most and actually has a head on his shoulders I find myself respecting.”

  “He’s emotionally invested.” Saxon replaced the gun and shrugged on his jacket before heading toward the door.

  “The only thing I’m worried about is that he actually thought you were going to sleep here,” Vitus confessed as they made it into the hallway.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Saxon answered as he jabbed a call button for the elevator. “Dunn hasn’t earned a reputation as a recluse by making the mistake of being out in the open.”

  “Let’s hope for Thais’s sake your instincts are on the mark.”

  It wasn’t a new experience for either of them.

  Having someone’s life hanging in the balance of an operation.

  More than one person would argue the point about Thais knowing the risks of the badge she carried.

  That didn’t mean shit to either of them.

  She was one of them, a member of the family. There was no way they were going to let her go down without a fight.

  Even if the odds seemed stacked against them.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Solitary confinement messed with a person’s internal clock.

  Thais wasn’t a stranger to the way a prisoner was broken down. She smiled ruefully though, as she admitted she’d sampled the experience from both sides.

  Maybe that made her more effective. At the moment, however, she was trying to keep her brain from undermining her composure with a flood of facts.

  The tiny room she was in was hot. A thin film of perspiration coated her skin as she crouched in the corner where she could see the door. Just about the time the air felt like it was too thick to breathe, the vent would suddenly deliver a cooling reprieve that kept up until she was shivering.

  Stress.

  Applied ever so precisely as the constant level of light kept her unaware of the passing of time, or maybe it was more correct to say, kept her aware of every moment as it crawled by. Her belly was groaning, making her glance at the sandwich sitting on the floor just inside the door. Without water, the food would only make her more miserable. It was a battle to not eat it for the quick relief she’d gain but there was at least a satisfaction in seeing it there after so long.

  She’d claimed victory in tougher situations.

  Although, looking over to the wall where the door was, Thais admitted this was going to be a hard one.

  Assignment …

  She repeated the word a few times, allowing her brain to shift into work mode. It downgraded the immediate level of threat.

  She heard someone on the other side of the door. Just the first little hints of a palm print scanner being used. There was a soft chirp and then the door was opening.

  “Stand and face the wall.”

  The guy was clothed in black. All black from his recently shined boots to the mask covering his face and hair. There was a slit for his eyes, which gave away the fact that he had dark brown ones. She watched those narrow as she took longer than he liked in complying.

  “Sure thing,” she muttered as his hands were clenching into fists. Thais pushed up from her seat on the floor, enjoying the way the guy tensed up.

  He’d read her file …

  She’d earned every bit of respect and his tensing up was a sign of it. Sh
e heard him step toward her the moment she crossed her wrists in back of her.

  Thais felt her muscles drawing tight as he slipped a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists.

  There was another little fact of solitary confinement. The entire body became hypersensitive, making something as impersonal as having her wrists touched feel ultra extreme.

  Thais focused on this fact. Letting her brain process took the edge off the hold on her bicep as the guy turned her toward the door and guided her out. The hallway was nondescript, unless she counted the rather dismal sight of small doors just like the one she’d been locked behind.

  Thais didn’t dwell on it though, since hopelessness lurked in places like the hallway. In order to escape depression, she had to keep her thoughts on a tight leash.

  The elevator doors had the Homeland Security seal on them. Thais enjoyed the sight before they slid open and her escort took her inside. He released her for a moment as he pressed his hand to the surface of a scanner and the red light of a laser flashed over it. The control panel turned green and he punched a button. There was a jerk and hum as the elevator went into motion.

  Maybe now he’d try to kill her.

  The thought didn’t alarm Thais. No, she was expecting an attack because it was the only reason she was still in the holding facility.

  As bait.

  She knew the game, had witnessed it being played out before, and truthfully, it wasn’t her first time playing the part of the prize.

  Carl Davis had been working hard to kill them off for the better part of two years. The Shadow Ops had uncovered too many of his links to organized crime. Of course, there had also been Carl’s determination to marry Damascus Ryland, at her father’s bidding. A plan Carl had hatched to unite himself with Miranda’s very established and old political family. She was a Delacroix by birth, a fact Carl had deemed important enough to give Jeb Ryland a spot as his running mate in exchange for his daughter.

  Thais felt her lips twitch. Vitus Hale had spoiled that plan. Love was finicky and unpredictable and fate had very different plans for Damascus. Of course, it helped a great deal that Damascus wasn’t like her father. No, she might have been born into the Washington elite, but she was Miranda’s daughter at heart.