Grady’s eyes narrowed. That did it. He was confused now.
“Maybe you could change my mind. I don’t care that you’re some rich man’s bastard.”
Shiloh decided at that moment that before she took him out, she wanted to learn who her biological father was––if it wasn’t a lie.
“Rich, huh? How rich?” She batted her eyes at him, hoping to coerce him into telling her.
He started to laugh. “Damned rich and powerful.”
“Do I know him?” she asked casually.
“Hell yes. You know him.” He held a gleam of triumph in his eyes.
Who did she know that was both wealthy and powerful? In Washington there were a lot of rich, influential men. Her boss was one of them. Oh my God. Drake Danfield. No way. He couldn’t be her father. Her mind replayed the day in her office. His concern. His eyes… They were green.
Shiloh swallowed hard.
“You’re looking a little pale there, Shiloh. Did you finally figure it out?”
“Is Drake Danfield my biological father?” she asked then brought her knee up into his crotch, sending him sprawling to the floor in agony.
Shiloh leaped over his crumpled body and raced for the door. She heard him curse behind her, but wasn’t about to look back to check. She continued to run. She reached the door and flung it open. Her heel hit a sheet of paper on the marble and she slipped, going down on one knee.
Quickly, she regained her footing and ran down a long, deserted hallway, praying the exit was near.
A gunshot pierced the silence, then a bullet bounced off a metal locker directly in front of her, penetrating the opposite wall.
Shiloh dove to the floor, determined to get away. He wasn’t going to kill her. She refused to die. She had a bright future with Nick, and she wasn’t going to allow some lunatic to take it all away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nick stomach twisted like he’d been kicked hard. If they didn’t locate Shiloh soon, they’d probably find her dead. Emotion tightened his throat. He thought about losing the one woman who’d become integral to his every waking breath. His heart refused to think of her ‘not’ being there. Hell, it was difficult to think at all with this crushing headache.
He had to remember that Shiloh was smart. She’d find a way to escape Sheppard.
“Nick, a black Town Car was spotted outside an old elementary school slated for demolition.” Gary handed him a slip of paper with an address on it.
“This guy’s not stupid,” Nick admitted. “What a great way to hide a body, allowing explosives to get rid of the evidence. Let’s get over there, pronto.”
Gary pointed to his head. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“I’m fine. ” So it was a lie but he had more serious things to worry about now.
On the ride over, Nick replayed their night together. Their intimate shower. The sudden change in her when his mother was brought up. Then the ride down in the elevator.
Maybe if he hadn’t been so distracted by her strange behavior, he would have sensed trouble. But once they stepped off the elevator platform, the world went black.
He woke up in an ambulance on the way to hospital, asking for Shiloh. No one could tell him anything, but he’d managed to get a call out to Gary.
When he arrived at the hospital, he was quickly assessed and scheduled for a CAT scan.
He couldn’t waste precious time. He had to find Shiloh right away, and insisted they slap a bandage on his head. Then he signed himself out, against the advice of the physician on duty. He took a taxi directly to DNS, his head pounding an intricate drum solo.
Now they were on their way to save Shiloh and he didn’t want to think about the ‘what if’ scenario. He prayed she’d be alive. She had to be.
Nick thrummed his fingers on the car dash. There was no way he was going to give up on her or her ability as a well-trained agent. Not when they had so much to lose.
Shiloh dodged another bullet and dived inside a classroom. On her knees, she scooted behind a teacher’s old wooden desk. Darkness blanketed the room and she hoped it would be enough to hide her from Sheppard. She held her breath when she heard shuffling just outside the door.
“You’re not going to get out of here alive, Shiloh. You might as well give up.” His eerie, unemotional statement of intent echoed inside the room.
“Shiloh.” His voice sounded closer this time.
She remained still and watched his feet under the desk as they inched nearer to her. With luck, she’d catch him off guard and then knock the gun from his hand.
Her heart pounded as she slid to the edge of the desk. When he got close enough, she’d strike. She saw the tip of gun-barrel and knew it was time.
She brought her fists up, striking the bottom of his hand. The gun flew up and landed with a loud clang out of sight.
Shiloh scrambled on hands and knees from under the desk, kicking Grady in the stomach when he tried to pull her back.
Frantic, she felt around on the floor for the gun. Relief flooded her when her fingers made contact with cold steel.
She quickly rolled onto her back and pointed the revolver into the darkness. All she could make out was Sheppard’s silhouette nearby. Every muscle in her body was tense.
What are you going to do, Shiloh? If he moves you’re going to have to shoot him. You know that. Time to use all that training and experience.
She aimed at the darkened outline and fought to keep her hand steady.
The shadow started toward her and Shiloh had no choice but to fire.
Grady went down. The impact when he hit the floor stirred up a cloud of dust that made her cough. Wasting no time she darted for the door, afraid he might get back up.
A knot of apprehension settled in the pit of her stomach as she raced down the hall… and ran straight into a solid object. She looked up to find Nick standing there, a look of relief and sheer joy on his face.
He raised his gun. “I heard a shot. Are you okay? Where’s Sheppard?”
Shiloh pointed to the room she’d just exited.
“Stay here.” He and Gary eased their way down the hall and entered the room. Seconds later, Nick came back.
“He’s dead.”
“I thought so, but I wasn’t sure.” Emotion clogged her throat. Grady Sheppard was the first person she’d ever killed.
Nick pulled her into his arms. “You okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Shiloh shook her head. “No, I’m all right. But he told me you were dead, and some other things I need to look into.”
“As you can see, I’m fine. A major headache, but I’ll live. I was so worried about you, Shiloh.” He smiled reassuringly at her. “What else did he tell you?”
Freemen exited the room, saying, “I’ll wait for the police outside.” He took off down the hall.
Nick turned back to her. “What did Sheppard say?”
“He read me a letter. Said my father wrote it before he became so ill. In the note, he confessed that I wasn’t his biological daughter.”
Nick nodded. “Now I understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know he wasn’t your father, but I’d found out the other night you were born six months after your parents were married,” Nick said.
Her temper flared. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Calm down.” He pulled her close and rubbed her back. “I was going to tell you. I just wanted to get a little more information first.”
His words instantly dispelled her anger.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve just got a lot to take in right now. How do you feel about marrying a bastard?”
“Well, I’m no saint either,” he said, grinning. “Don’t you know I’d marry you if you had a third eye? I love you no matter who your biological father is.”
“Even if it’s someone you know?”
He frowned. “As long as it wasn’t my father. It wasn’t, was it?”
&nb
sp; “No!”
Nick wiped his brow in mock relief. “Good, you had me worried there for a second. So who is it, then?”
“Drake Danfield,” she admitted, watching his reaction. “At least, according to Grady.”
Nick’s grin grew wider. “Man, the big guy upstairs. Isn’t that something? That explains his concern for you when we spoke on the elevator.” He shook his head. “You know, I believe that makes us both second-generation DNS.”
“Yes, I guess it does. Maybe we could work on a third.” She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him to her.
His eyes darkened. “You’re on. How about we get right on that?”
“Your place or mine?” she asked, then drew his head down for a quick kiss.
“Let’s go to mine. I have a bathtub.” His devilish grin made her laugh.
“Okay, but I’m afraid we’ll be here half the day dealing with this mess.”
“That’s all right.” He tightened his hold around her waist. “We have the rest of our lives to be together. You will marry me, won’t you?”
“Only if you promise to be my under-the-covers agent, forever.”
Nick kissed her and said, “Under the covers—in the shower—on the sofa. You name it babe. I’ll be there for you—forever.”
EPILOGUE
Nick and Hank sat next to each other, waiting for yet another DNS briefing to begin. They would be naming the new director today.
Nick smiled as he remembered the last time a director was announced. Who would have thought that day would have been the beginning of his new life? It certainly hadn’t seemed so at the time.
Shiloh was now his wife and they were expecting their first child, a son, in twelve weeks. A boy. Nick hoped his son would someday follow in his footsteps. They planned to name him after their fathers. Benjamin Phillip Trent.
Shiloh and Drake Danfield had been building a tentative relationship since shortly after Ben had passed away, though Drake could never take the place of Ben Templar in Shiloh’s heart.
Hank nudged his shoulder. “Do you think the director will be someone from DNS?”
“I have no clue. Shiloh refused to tell me a thing. And believe me,” Nick cocked an eyebrow, “I tried everything to get her to talk.”
Hank laughed. “Yeah, Sandy was closed-mouthed, too. I’m sure she knows something. What’s with that? I always thought women couldn’t keep a secret.”
“Right. And you should hear Shiloh and Mom on the phone. The baby this and the baby that,” Nick said in a high-pitched voice, trying to sound like them.
“Well, they’re excited about the baby. What’s wrong with that?”
Nick smirked. “They were talking about me,” he said, then turned when a group of agents filtered into the room.
Hank leaned toward him. “Here we go. Do you think it’ll be another woman?”
“Sssh. I’m not saying a word this time.”
Frank Adams walked up to the microphone and waited until the room quieted. “Good morning. We all know why we’re here today. The new director is going to be named. Does anyone have any questions before I reveal our new top man?”
“It’s a he,” Nick whispered, poking Hank in the ribs with his elbow.
“No? Okay then.” Frank grinned. “Our new director is a fellow agent. He’s been at DNS for twelve years and most of you know him quite well.”
Nick’s mind raced. Twelve years. Who’d been with DNS that long? Flint? Or… No! Please don’t let it be—
“Director, Bryce Vale,” Frank announced.
Bryce walked up to the podium. Nick watched in a daze as Vale turned directly to him and grinned—a grin that Nick knew could mean big trouble.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerri Drennen was raised on a farm in a tiny town in Minnesota where the winters were long and being stuck inside awarded her the opportunity to read and tell stories. Years later, after moving away from family, marrying her husband (now of twenty-five years) and having their four children, she started writing when her youngest was three. Eleven years and many manuscripts later, she has one contemporary romance and three romantic suspense novellas with Samhain Publishing, a category romantic suspense at The Wild Rose Press and two action-adventure romances at Liquid Silver Books. Now, she’s trying her hand at self-publishing.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Agent in Training Page 15
