Glitter and Gunfire (6 page)

“But—but I heard it hit you.”

So he was lying. The bullet was in his side, burning him, and he was bleeding a little more than he’d like, but the wound wouldn’t kill him. He’d had much worse. “I’m fine,” he said again.

She was on her knees beside him. “I didn’t want you hurt.”

His blood wasn’t on her hands. “I chose to go after you.”

“You were following orders.” Her trembling fingers slid down his cheek.

He caught her fingers. Rose up toward her and ignored the pain. Their captors thought he was weak now. A mistake on their part. “We’re getting out of here, and we’re getting your friend out.” Because that guy had confirmed that he had Genevieve. It was doubtful that he had two separate prison locations for his victims. So Genevieve was probably somewhere in the building. They just had to find her.

He realized that his mouth was just inches from Cassidy’s. She hadn’t backed away when he’d risen. Her fingers curled around his shoulders. “You knew all this would happen, didn’t you?” There was a new understanding in her voice.

“You mean following you after you decked me...that it would lead us to the missing woman? To the killer?”

He heard the faint click of her swallow. “My hit didn’t knock you down, did it? It didn’t take you out any more than that bullet did.”

He smiled and wondered just how much she could see in that weak light. “I was always a pretty good actor.”

The sound she made was half laugh, half sob. Then her arms were tightening around him. “Thank you!”

Because he’d gone against orders?

Or “bent” those orders?

For her.

Her mouth was too close. She was too tempting, and the knife edge of adrenaline and fury weakened his control just enough that he had to—

Take.

His lips closed over hers. Not easy. Not soft. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and savored her taste. Cassidy’s taste—it was so sweet and hot. When he kissed her, he craved things that he shouldn’t.

He forgot the mission.

Forgot protocol.

Wanted.

Her. Naked. Beneath him, in bed.

And I will have her that way.

“So I guess your seduction worked,” he murmured against her lips.

He felt the ripple of surprise that trembled through her. She pulled her head back, shook it slightly. “I wasn’t...”

“When we’re out of here, you’ll owe me.” A sensual promise. He’d make sure she paid exactly what was owed.

Cassidy didn’t speak.

Cale forced himself to let her go. Their captors would be coming back soon. They needed to be ready. “Look for a weapon.” Something small they could use against their enemies. They just needed the element of surprise on their side.

They’d get it, especially with Gunner and Logan working nearby.

She eased away from him and began searching with the lantern’s light. “There’s nothing here.”

No, not a damn thing. Except...the lantern.

The bolt slid free upstairs. The door began to squeak open.

He took the lantern from her.

The door opened more, spilling light.

Cale lifted the lantern. He waited just a few more precious seconds. Then he threw down the lantern, shattering it. Even as a voice swore at the top of the stairs, Cale was picking up a chunk of broken glass. Not the knife he liked to use, but it would get the job done.

Because when it came to close-contact warfare, he was the best.

The men wouldn’t have a target down there now. There wasn’t enough light to see. They couldn’t shoot from above.

He wrapped his left hand around Cassidy’s arm, pulled her back.

Then he smiled up at the silhouette that waited on that staircase.

Come and get me.

* * *

“W
HAT
THE
HELL
do you mean?”
Mercer roared into the phone. “She’s taken? Cassidy? Damn it, Logan, I gave your team an order. Cassidy was to be watched, protected at all costs!” The EOD director’s furious voice blasted in Logan’s ear.

Logan kept his own voice calm as he replied, “She’s not alone, sir. Cale is with her.”

That didn’t seem to reassure him. “He better make sure that she’s not so much as bruised. Do you hear me?”

Actually, Logan was hearing a whole lot of emotion in the director’s voice—emotion that had never been there before, and he’d worked on plenty of cases with Mercer during his time at the EOD.

“Cassidy
is
the priority. She is the mission.” Mercer sounded like the words were being torn from him. “You do
whatever
is necessary to get her out alive. Do you understand? There are no restrictions on this case. If the enemy gets in your way, you take them out. All of them.”

Mercer’s words were too ragged. There was too much fury—and fear—in his orders.

This wasn’t just about some asset.

What are we involved in? What is Cassidy to him?

The director had always told him that cases weren’t supposed to get personal, but right now Mercer was crossing all the lines that he’d drawn himself.

“If anything happens to Cassidy Sherridan, I will destroy your team.”

Logan stiffened at that guttural vow. “Don’t threaten me.” He didn’t care who he was talking to.

“Then don’t screw up! You had an order—bring her in. You think I don’t know what this is? Your team is too good to let this happen unless you
wanted
it to happen.”

Logan didn’t reply. His gaze was on the darkened building that waited less than a hundred feet away. The building that he’d soon be storming.

“You wanted to take out the Executioner, didn’t you? And you thought you’d use my—use Cassidy to do it.” The slipup had been brief, but Logan had heard it. “When Cassidy is back, there’s going to be a full accounting. Do you hear me? Your whole team will be up for review with me. Now do your job—
get her out of there.
” Mercer swore. “I’m sending the others who’ve been on standby. I
won’t
risk her.”

The line went dead.

The others?

Mercer has more agents down here. They’ve been watching us.
So that meant that backup would be coming their way. Even if those agents didn’t have eyes on them, Mercer could track Logan—the same way that Logan and Gunner had tracked Cale.

Logan shoved his phone aside, picked up his weapon and got ready for the battle that was waiting.

* * *

S
HE
HADN
’
T
PLANNED
to pull Cale into this mess. He wasn’t supposed to be a hostage.

If anything happened to him because of her, Cassidy knew she’d feel the aching guilt every day for the rest of her life.

No, Cale is strong. He’s probably been in and out of every hellhole on earth.

But he’d been shot moments before. He was weak. He couldn’t handle these men while he was hurt.

Despite what he might think, the man was only human.

“Stay behind me.” Cale’s words were the barest whisper.

He had a weapon, of sorts, clutched in his hand. A broken shard of glass. She’d grabbed a chunk of the glass, too. She wasn’t going to be defenseless, no matter what was coming her way.

She should have told Cale the full truth about herself—that there had been no need for him to be captured.

Not when the cavalry always had a direct linkup to her...and her location.

She’d had a plan in place. The minute she’d vanished from Cale’s sight, Mercer should have been alerted.

Her hand rose to her shoulder. The smallest spot of raised flesh was there, hiding her tracking device. Mercer had made sure she had the device implanted. When she’d vanished, he would have been notified immediately. He would have gotten a GPS lock on her—he would have sent in his men....

And then the Executioner could have been taken down.

The plan had seemed so perfect, mostly because the only threat had been to her.

But now Cale was a hostage with her. He was wounded, and he was about to launch himself at the men coming down the stairs.

Four men were rushing toward them. Cale just had that broken glass. He couldn’t defeat them all.

He doesn’t have to defeat them. Mercer will have learned about my abduction by now—the other agents who’d worked with Cale would have reported to him.
So Mercer had probably already started tracking her.

Cale didn’t have to risk his life.

All they had to do was keep their captors distracted.

I have to keep Cale alive.

Because while the Executioner might be planning to use her, Cale would be disposable to him.

And if Cale came out of that darkness fighting...

His body was tense. Ready to spring out and attack.

Cassidy couldn’t let him do it. She couldn’t let him risk himself that way.

She ran away from him, racing toward the stairs.

“Cassidy!” Cale shouted.

But he hadn’t been prepared for her move. So he couldn’t stop her.

She nearly collided with a man in a black ski mask.

His hands flew out and locked around her.

The chunk of glass fell from her fingers. “Please don’t hurt him!”

The man’s fingers tightened around her, and he yanked her against him, spinning her so that her back pressed against his chest. “Why ever not?” His voice was deep, rumbling, terrifying. “I enjoy hurting people.”

But the Executioner had never taken a man hostage. In all the time that she’d been following him, he’d never picked a male for his prey.

Until now.

“It was a mistake. You wanted me, not him.” Her breath was ragged, and the trembling in her voice wasn’t an act. The fear was real. “You’ve got me. Let him go.”

Cale had lunged forward. He waited now, at the foot of the stairs, his hands clenched into fists. The light from the top of the stairs barely illuminated him.

“I’m not letting him go. Your hero nearly ruined everything for me.” Her captor’s breath blew over her ear. “So I’m going to make sure he suffers.”

“No!” Cale suffering
wasn’t
part of the plan. “You have me—let him go!”

“Get him,” the man said to the others as he climbed back up the stairs, pulling Cassidy with him.

The bodies of the other men shoved against her as they ran for Cale.

“No!” Cassidy yelled.

Only...

There was the thud of fists connecting with flesh. Three men had closed in on Cale. Three against one.

One of the Executioner’s guards fell down, groaning. A second joined him moments later.

Cassidy saw the flash of Cale’s weapon as he sliced out at the third attacker.

Vicious. Fast. Deadly. The fight happened in a matter of seconds, and all three of Cale’s attackers wound up on the floor, groaning and immobile.

“Now I’m coming for you,” Cale said as he started to make his way up the stairs. “So you need to get your hands
off
her.”

But her captor’s hands had tightened, and Cassidy felt the sharp slice of a blade on her neck.

“Can you see the knife in my right hand?” the man holding her demanded. “Because it’s at her throat. You take one more step,
hero,
and I’ll slice her from ear to ear.”

Cassidy wasn’t breathing.

She knew the man meant exactly what he said.

Cale stopped advancing. “You’re bluffing. If she’s dead, then you can’t use her. You can’t ransom her.”

“No, but there are others like her. Rich, useless women who can be taken and controlled. There are always more, just waiting to be taken.”

Waiting to be killed?

She heard the thud of footsteps behind them. More of the Executioner’s men, coming to help him.

Coming to hurt Cale? To kill him?

How much more time needed to pass before help came for her and Cale?

Cassidy licked her lips. “Was...Helen McDonough...so useless? So easy to control?”

She felt his start of surprise against her.

Cale advanced a step.

“Helen?” the man repeated. “I remember her so well. She was my first. You never forget your first.”

She wanted to sink that knife into
his
throat. “She was my friend!”

Cale crept up another step.

“She was a spoiled princess who begged while I sliced her....
Begged
...” He jerked Cassidy back, yanking her up the stairs and away from Cale. They crossed the threshold and stumbled into another room. “Just like you’ll beg before I’m done with you.”

Chapter Five

And, with his cold, brutal words, Cassidy let the mask that she’d worn for so long fall away. Her fear was real—but so was her rage.

“No. I won’t beg.” She shoved back with her elbow as hard as she could. He grunted, and his hold loosened. That little bit of slack was all she needed. Cassidy ducked, dropping right from under his arm. The knife sliced over her, but she didn’t care.

“Cassidy!”
Cale’s bellow. His footsteps thundered up the stairs.

She swiped out with her hand and yanked the ski mask off the man who’d held her. The man who spoke of Helen’s death so callously.

The Executioner.

His men were crowding in behind him. Some held guns. Some had no weapons at all.

She ignored them.

Hurry, Mercer, hurry.

Cassidy stared up at the monster who’d haunted so many of her dreams. Only he didn’t look like a monster.

Under the bright light, his blond hair gleamed. His face was handsome, cut in smooth, clean lines. He could have been any man that she’d met at a dozen parties.

He should have looked as evil as he was.

He offered her a smile. “Not what you expected, am I?” He lifted his knife, a knife red from her blood. “Don’t worry. By the time I’m finished, you’ll have changed your mind.”

“No!” Cale’s voice. He burst from the basement. “You won’t be—”

An alarm sounded, then, the shrill cry echoing through the building, and that jarring sound was a relief to Cassidy. The most beautiful sound that she’d ever heard.

If the alarm was sounding, then that meant...

“He was followed!” the Executioner cried. “Damn it, we have to—”

Gunfire exploded. Only the gunfire didn’t come from the weapons that the Executioner’s men held. The bullets hit the Executioner’s men, taking them out.

The Executioner reached for Cassidy, but Cale was there, shoving him back, driving his weapon at the blond man even as the Executioner sliced with his own blade.

The scent of blood deepened.

And the gunshots kept blasting.

The Executioner stumbled back. He stared down at his blood-covered chest in shock. “No, not to me...” He lifted his weapon once more. “You don’t stop—”

Bullets slammed into his exposed chest. One hit. Two. Three. He jerked back with each impact, as if he were a puppet being yanked on a string. Blood dripped from his mouth. His eyes went wide, then he fell back, slamming into the floor.

His men—those still alive, anyway—began firing back at their assailants. A bullet blazed just past Cassidy’s arm, so close that she felt the burn on her skin.

Then Cale was there, shielding her, rushing her toward the door on the right. He made sure his body covered hers for every step that they took.

He ripped open the door.

Over his shoulder, she saw men coming from the shadows. Men who moved with a lethal precision that marked them as hunters. She counted four—no, five of them.

“Cassidy?”

The voice came from inside the room that she and Cale had just entered. It was weak and scared...and the whispery voice belonged to Genevieve.

Cassidy rushed toward her. Genevieve was tied to a chair. Her friend was sobbing, shaking. She’d nearly managed to break free from her bonds; the rope was barely clinging to her wrists.

Cale cut through the remaining rope with the glass he still held. Just a piece of glass, but it was a weapon he’d used with brutal efficiency time and again.

“What’s happening?” Genevieve demanded as she reached for Cassidy. “Those shots...” Tears leaked down her cheeks. “Are we going to die?”

“No.” Cale’s voice was certain. “I’m getting you both out of here.”

She believed him. After the way she’d seen him take down those men—just with that shard of glass—she was ready to believe that Cale could do anything.

The door flew open behind them.

Cale spun, body tensing, as he faced the new threat.

Cassidy recognized the man in the doorway. Logan—Cale’s teammate.

“Figured you could use some backup about now.” Logan’s gaze slid to Cassidy, narrowed. “Apparently Mercer figured the same thing. He sent in a full detail with guns blazing.”

She could still hear those blazing guns.

Logan inclined his head when he noticed Genevieve’s huddled form. “You saved the girl.”

“And stopped the killer,” Cassidy said, straightening. The gunfire—it had just ended.

Genevieve’s cries deepened behind her.

“The Executioner is dead,” Cassidy told Logan.

“He’d be the blond out there,” Cale added. “The one with three bullets in his chest and his right shoulder carved open.”

“You do like to play rough,” Logan muttered.

“The bullets came from someone else. I’m guessing that full detail you mentioned, because I know Gunner would have only needed one shot.”

Genevieve grabbed for Cassidy’s arm. “Get me out of here!”

Cassidy nodded.

Logan checked behind him. Then he tapped a small, black headset at his ear. “Are we clear?” A pause. “Then I’m bringing them out.”

Cale reached for Cassidy’s left hand.

Did he stumble?

She studied his face. He was pale, far paler than she’d ever seen him before. “Cale needs help! He was shot.”

His fingers tightened on hers. “Baby, I got this.”

How could he sound so calm? So...certain?

But then they were being led back out of the room, and Genevieve’s cries grew worse at the sight that confronted her.

Blood. Death.

“I don’t know how he got these guys here so fast,” Logan mused as he surveyed the team that was making quick work of cleaning up the bloody scene. “I figured when I gave him the news that Mercer would track your unit, Cale, but then he already had these men just mere miles out as Gunner and I were getting into launch position.”

His unit? Oh, Cale had a tracker, too.

They didn’t know about her own device.

Because they didn’t know about her.

“Ma’am?”

Cassidy glanced up and saw a man standing before her. He had close-cropped, black hair and golden eyes. A long scar cut across his right cheek. He wore all black, and he had a gun holstered at his side. He offered his hand to her. “You’re supposed to come with me, Ms. Sherridan.”

Ms. Sherridan?
That guy knew her better than that.

Cale immediately shoved that offered hand to the side. “The hell she is, Lancaster.”

So Cale knew him, too. Not surprising. Agent Lancaster had been with the EOD for a few years now.

Lancaster slanted his gaze toward Cale. “You’ll need that wound tended to.”

Cale’s body all but vibrated with rage. “What I need is for you—”

“Russell, Owens...you two make sure that Ms. Chevalier is checked out and returned home.” Two more men in black moved toward Genevieve at Lancaster’s order.

Genevieve inched closer to Cassidy. “What’s going on? Who are these men, Cassidy?”

“It’s okay.” Cassidy gave her a hug. “They’re the good guys.”
Mostly.
“They’ll keep you safe.”

After a moment, Genevieve nodded and slowly walked away with the men.

Lancaster still stood in front of Cassidy. “I’ve got my orders. Mercer wants me to bring her in.” He was staring at Cassidy, but his words were for Cale.

“She stays with me. I’m the one who—”

“You’re the one who used her so that he could play hero and take down the Executioner.” Lancaster’s voice was flat. “Mercer knows
exactly
who you are.”

No, he had that wrong. Cale hadn’t used her. She was the one who’d put him in jeopardy.

“You don’t seriously think he just...let you go, do you, Ms. Sherridan?” Lancaster shook his dark head. “Mercer was very clear on what Cale was to do on the extraction...and he didn’t follow orders.”

“So now you’re taking over?” Cale gritted out.

“Yes, I am.”

But Cassidy didn’t want to go with him. She...she trusted Cale. She wanted to be with him.

So she twined her fingers with his. “Where I go, he goes.”

Lancaster’s dark brows climbed.

“So unless you have orders to physically pry me away from him—” doubtful, though she wouldn’t put that past Mercer “—then you can escort us both out of here. You
aren’t
taking me away from Cale.”

A muscle jerked in Lancaster’s jaw. “Figured you’d be as stubborn as Mercer.”

Her breath caught.
He knew.
But then, Lancaster had worked with her longer than most agents had.

A faint smile lifted Lancaster’s lips. There were secrets in his eyes. Plenty of them.

Cassidy knew she would have to deal very, very carefully with Agent Lancaster.

* * *

M
OST
FOLKS
WOULD
have never noticed the small clinic. It wasn’t in the heart of Rio, wasn’t close to the Carnival celebration. It was near the jungle, barely clinging to the edge of civilization. The doctor there knew how to keep quiet—and he also knew how to hurriedly patch an ex-soldier’s wounds.

No anesthesia was given. Cale didn’t want anything to dull his senses. The bullet was pulled from him; the stitches sank into his skin. Cassidy stayed by his side every moment, her worried gaze on him.

Blood streaked her clothes. Blood and dirt. She had to be exhausted after all that she’d been through, but the woman remained on her feet, stubbornly holding his hand like it was a lifeline for her.

Or for him.

This...
this
was the spoiled debutante that he’d scoffed at before?

Hell, no.
This woman was completely different. She was strong, and brave, and...

He wanted her so badly that he ached. The newest bullet wound he had didn’t matter. The bruises and aches in his body were all but forgotten.

Cassidy—and the growing need that he felt for her—consumed him.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her face. So lovely. So perfect. When the Executioner had put his knife to her throat, when Cale had thought that Cassidy might die...

I went a little mad.

He’d raced up those stairs and had been ready to beat the man to death in an instant. Been ready to do anything for her.

“Finished.” The doctor’s English was rough, but his fingers were fast enough as they snapped up the money that Logan offered for services rendered.

“Obrigado.”
Cale thanked him in Portuguese.

The doctor nodded, then hurried from the small room. Logan followed him.

Cale was left alone with Cassidy.

Finally.

He eased up, feeling the stretch of those new stitches as he sat on the edge of the metal exam table. Cassidy’s leg brushed against his.

“Take it easy,” she said, eyes worried. “You don’t want to undo the man’s work so soon.”

He pulled her closer, positioning her so that she stood between his spread knees. “You were wearing a mask.” He could see that now. No, see
her.

She blinked at him. “Uh, Cale, did you hit your head at any time during that fight? Maybe it’s too much blood loss....”

His fingers rose and curled around her chin. “Stop, Cassidy. I see you now.”

For an instant, fear flashed in her eyes, but she blinked and the emotion was gone.

Just like that.

She was very good at wearing her mask.

A much better actor than he was.

“What do you think it is that you see?” Her lips twisted. “A woman who almost got you killed?”

“A woman who was willing to risk her life to stop a killer.”

Her lashes lowered. “I didn’t want you hurt. You can’t keep taking bullets for me.”

His hand went to hers once more. He brought her fingers to his bare chest.

She flinched at the contact.

He had to bite back a groan. Her hand was so soft, and she was—caressing him. Almost as if she didn’t even realize what she was doing.

Swallowing, he moved her fingers, making sure that she felt all of the scars that marked him. Old bullet wounds. Knife wounds. Too many battles over too many years.

“I’m used to risk,” he told her.

Her lips parted as a soft sigh slipped from her. “But this risk should have been mine, not yours.”

She was tracing the scar on his left side, just a few inches above his nipple.

His pants were too tight, and Cale knew she had to see his arousal. There was no hiding some things.

But Cassidy didn’t back away from him.

She eased even closer.

His heartbeat kicked up.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight the way you did.”

When it came to up-close kills, he knew he had a brutal talent. But that wasn’t something he would have chosen for her to see.

I guess we’re both seeing things we shouldn’t.
“Why do you do it?” Cale asked, voice deep and rough because the arousal he felt for her pulsed through him. “Why do you pretend to be the party girl, flitting from one ballroom to another?”

“Maybe that is who I am.” Where his voice had been rough, hers was soft. Husky. “No pretending needed.”

He didn’t buy it anymore. “No. You’re the woman who didn’t flinch when the Executioner had his knife at her throat.” Even though she’d flinched when she’d touched Cale’s chest.

So many contradictions.

So much mystery.

That was Cassidy.

“You’re strong and you’re smart, and you
don’t
let fear control you.”

Her gaze met his. She didn’t stop touching him. “That’s because I can’t let it control me. I won’t.”

She was so much stronger than he’d realized.
I was a fool.

“They’re going to try to take me away from you.” Cassidy’s soft words made him furious—because he knew they were true.

He’d screwed up. He hadn’t protected her as he should have, and now Mercer already had other EOD agents there to take over her case.

One agent in particular...

Drew Lancaster. The guy was good—cold but good. Former Delta Force, Lancaster had a reputation for emotionless hunts. Some said he had ice that pumped through his veins, not blood.

“I guess that’s the way it works, right? Agents come, agents go.” Her smile was bittersweet. “But I’m not going to forget you as easily as I have the others.”