Glitter and Gunfire (8 page)

“You’re welcome,” Cassidy told him as a smile spread over her face.

Mercer blinked at her, looking confused.

Oh, yeah, she does that to people. Even to her own father.

“Helen can rest now,” Cassidy said. “And for once, I won’t dream and hear her begging me for help.” She glanced at Cale. “I was supposed to be with her that night. We were supposed to leave the pub together, but Helen had met a guy and she wanted to stay and dance and dance....” Cassidy swallowed. “I was tired. I took a cab home. I
left
her.”

And the guilt had eaten away at her ever since.

“I never saw Helen again after that. Not alive, anyway.”

So she’d made it her mission to get justice for her friend.

“It’s over now,” Cassidy said with a nod. “I can move on.”

Just what did that mean? Cale realized that he wasn’t ready for Cassidy to move past him. He wanted her to stay with him. He wanted
her.

So what if she was Mercer’s daughter? He wasn’t afraid of the director. No one was going to stand between him and Cassidy.

“You’re safe now,” Mercer told Cassidy.

But Cale wasn’t so sure about that. Would the EOD director’s daughter ever be truly safe? Mercer had plenty of dangerous enemies, and if one of them ever found out about Cassidy...

His eyes met Mercer’s.
That’s why you keep guards on her, isn’t it?
It was also the reason no one knew about her.

But now Cale realized the truth, and he was sure that Drew knew—or suspected.

“I made sure that your apartment in town was ready,” Mercer told Cassidy. “I’ll get an escort to take you over, and we can finish briefing in the morning.”

Briefing?
Was that honestly the way that the man talked to his daughter?

“I should have waited,” Mercer continued. “But I needed to see you with my own eyes. I had to make sure.” His lips twisted. “Well, I’m sure now. You’re all right. I’m starting to realize you’re a whole lot stronger than I believed.”

Yes, she is.

Cassidy turned for the door. So did Cale. But Mercer stopped him, calling out, “I’m going to need you to stay a few minutes longer, Agent Lane.”

Ah, so he wasn’t out of the woods just yet.

Cassidy stepped toward Cale. He caught her hand. “Wait for me. We need to...talk.”

The leather of Mercer’s chair squeaked.

Cassidy nodded; then she slipped soundlessly from the room.

As soon as she was gone, Cale knew that the gloves would be coming off.

“Agent Lane.” Now Mercer was back to his growling, fierce self. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter?”

Cale kept his hands at his sides. “You’re the one who sent me to down Rio. If you didn’t want me near her—”

“I wanted you close because you’re a damn good agent. I thought you’d do your job and keep her safe.”

“The case is over.” They should be clear on this. “But my involvement with Cassidy
isn’t.
”

Mercer rose. “An involvement isn’t going to happen.”

He hadn’t been asking for permission.

“The EOD is the most dangerous thing in Cassidy’s life. Being my daughter puts a target on her that you can’t imagine.”

He could imagine plenty.

“What the hell do you think would happen if our enemies found out that Cassidy was both my daughter
and
that she was involved with an EOD agent? They’d use her against us. They would hurt her. They’d—”

“No one hurts Cassidy on my watch.” The words were quiet, cold. Lethal.

Mercer stared at him with a measuring gaze. “That better be a promise, Lane.”

It was a guarantee.

* * *

“R
EADY
?”

Cassidy whirled at Cale’s warm voice. He strolled out of Mercer’s office looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Most people looked terrified after having closed-door meetings with her father.

But Cale almost seemed happy as he reached for her hand and led her into the elevator.

When the doors closed, when they had a precious minute of privacy, she had to know. “Just what happened in there?”

“Mercer and I got a few things straight.”

Oh, had they?

“The mission is over.”

Did that mean another agent would be coming to protect her? Always another agent lurking in the back of her life, skimming the shadows.

“I’ve got some time coming my way,” Cale continued. “And I...I want to spend that time with you.”

Hope—real happiness—began to unfurl within her. “You do?”

He nodded and closed in on her. His fingers slid around her, flattening on the walls of the elevator and caging her in.

She rather liked being caged in with him.

“This isn’t about a case. It’s about us.” His eyes searched hers. “I want you, Cassidy Sherridan.”

He knew who her father was—he knew her most closely guarded secret. He wasn’t running. He wasn’t intimidated.

He...

Wants me?

“I want you,” she whispered back.

He smiled at her. Her breath caught. The man had a killer smile.

She thought he would kiss her. He didn’t. He eased back right before the elevator glided to a stop. But his fingers laced with hers as he led her through the lobby.

She’d always been nervous, scared, when she’d been in that building before. But Cassidy didn’t feel scared then. She was with Cale.

He made her feel safe.

They brushed by the guards and headed out into the night.

She caught sight of Gunner and Logan. They were outside, probably returning to their own homes. A completed mission. They could all—

The crack of a gunshot broke the night. Even as the sound filled her ears, Cale was pushing Cassidy to the ground and covering her with his body. She hit the pavement with an impact that rattled her bones.

Again? Won’t it ever stop?

But, no, it wasn’t stopping. Because she heard more shots, blasting away.

She heard voices yelling. Heard Cale swearing softly above her. He’d pulled his weapon, but he wasn’t running to chase the shooter. He was staying with her.

Guarding her.

“Get him! Northwest corner!” Cale yelled. “Now!”

Someone had just taken a shot—several shots—at them. No, wait...had the shot been aimed at Cale?

Or me?

“We’re getting out of here.” Then he was pulling her up, shielding her as he seemed to do too many times. They didn’t run for a vehicle, though, not like before.

Instead, they raced back inside the EOD—back into the safety of that building with its bulletproof glass.

Mercer was running toward them in the lobby. “What the hell is happening?”

Cale’s fingers brushed over Cassidy’s arm. “Someone just took a shot at Cassidy.” Cale’s voice was grim.

And Cassidy realized that her illusion of safety had just been shattered.

The case might be over, but the threats to her—because of who she was—were always there.

* * *

C
ASSIDY
S
HERRIDAN
WAS
a dead woman.

Rage pumped through the shooter’s body, a killing fury that had to be unleashed.

Cassidy wasn’t in sight any longer. She’d rushed back inside that nondescript building.

I know about that place. The EOD’s headquarters.

Secrets had revealed that location. The right leverage, applied to the right people. With that kind of deadly leverage, anything and everything could be revealed.

Cassidy’s agent had rushed her inside. He’d moved too quickly, responding even as the bullet had whistled through the air on its way to Cassidy’s heart.

The bullet
should
have hit Cassidy’s heart.

But Cale had saved her. How had he known about the bullet?
How?

The shooter hurried away. A getaway vehicle was waiting. A retreat now, but another attack
would
come, soon enough.

The Executioner wasn’t gone. He had one last victim to claim.

Cassidy Sherridan wouldn’t get to walk away.

Instead, she would get to join her dear friend Helen in the ground.

Chapter Seven

If he’d moved slower, if he’d ignored the kick in his gut that had screamed of danger, then Cassidy would be dead.

Cassidy sat in Mercer’s office, looking dazed and lost in Mercer’s leather chair.

Did she realize that shot had been meant for her? He’d shoved her to the ground, and the bullet had sunk into the bricks in the wall—bricks that had been right behind Cassidy.

The shooter had aimed for her heart.

Now Mercer was out there, demanding answers, and Cale had no answers to give him.

“Thank you.” Cassidy’s quiet voice.

His head jerked up.

“You keep saving me.” A ghost of a smile curved her pale lips, but her dimple didn’t appear. “It’s a habit you seem to have.”

He stepped toward her, helpless.

“Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been in danger my whole life. I’ve never...never gotten to just walk down a street without a guard on me. Never gone to a football game and sat in a crowd. Never done so much...because I’m Bruce Mercer’s weakness.” Her lips compressed as the smile vanished. “I learned that fact when I was eight, you see. When I was taken.”

Every muscle in his body clenched. “Taken?”

Her fingers drummed on the desk. The move gave him pause—Mercer did the same drumming movement, in that exact position, when the man was in deep thought.

“I was with my mother. We were going on a trip to meet Mercer.” She licked her lips as her fingers stopped drumming. “We didn’t make it.”

He was by her side in an instant. The pain in her voice shattered him. “Cassidy...”

“Mercer has a lot of enemies,” she whispered. “You don’t get to his position by playing nice.”

No, you didn’t. And Mercer had been in the business of death for decades.

“I don’t...I don’t think they meant to kill my mother. Maybe just to take her, too, but she fought them, and one of the men had a gun.”

Her gaze was so far away.

“It was raining that day. Perhaps that’s why a gunshot still reminds me of thunder.”

He wanted her in his arms, but Cassidy looked so brittle then.

So breakable.

“I knew she was dead. With that much blood, even a child knew.” She swallowed. “They put me in their van, and they rushed away. I don’t... I don’t know what would have happened to me if Mercer’s men hadn’t rushed to the scene so quickly. They followed them. I knew they were there for me when I heard the sound of more thunder.”

This was the spoiled princess?
Hell, no.

“An agent pulled me from the van. Took me away, but I looked back. I saw the bodies left behind. In this business, there are always bodies, aren’t there?”

He’d left his share of bodies in Rio.

“I didn’t ask for this.” Now anger pulsed in her words. “You and Mercer, this is the world you chose, but I didn’t.” Cassidy pushed to her feet. “I don’t want this.”

I don’t want you.

He stiffened. Cassidy hadn’t said those words. She’d told him less than thirty minutes ago that she did want him, but right then the woman was sure putting off get-away-from-me vibes.

He didn’t blame her.

The door opened behind him. Cale glanced over his shoulder. Gunner stood there. With his sniper expertise, Gunner had been the first to rush toward that northwest strike zone.

“Tell me you found him,” Cale demanded.

Gunner shook his head. “No. The guy had cleared out before I got up there.”

“Sydney’s ordering a scan on all the security cameras in the area—she’s going to pull in traffic cams, too. She might be able to spot him out there.”

“Who’s Sydney?” Cassidy asked from her position behind Mercer’s desk.

“My wife.” Gunner’s voice was quiet.

Surprise flickered over Cassidy’s face.

Before Gunner could say anything else, Mercer pushed into the room. His face was set in determined lines, and he moved with a hard, nervous energy. “They think that they’re going to come to my door, take a shot at my—” He broke off, sending a hard glance toward Gunner. “At my asset? No, no, this does not happen.” He pointed at Cale. “Get Cassidy to the safe house on Donaghey—”

“But I want to go home,” Cassidy interrupted, voice sharp. “You said my apartment was ready.”

“And the shooter might already know all about your home.” Mercer shook his head. “No, it’s not safe. You have to—”

“I’m never safe. Haven’t we learned that?”

The bitterness from Cassidy just seemed wrong.

Mercer flinched.

“I won’t ever be safe, not totally.” She walked from behind the desk. “And I’m so tired of living in the prison that you make for me.”

A prison made of agents, always watching her movements.

“You might not like it, but you’re going to have to stay under guard.” Mercer had locked his jaw. “Until we can find out who we are up against, you have to keep up with your protection.”

Cale could see the fury staining Cassidy’s cheeks. “Fine. But I’ll choose my agent.” She turned, looked straight at Cale and said, “I choose him.”

Mercer didn’t look particularly surprised by that choice. Gunner did.

Mercer began, “I don’t know about continuing your protection with Cale. Drew Lancaster is—”

“Not my choice,” Cassidy finished. “Cale is the one who just saved my life. Cale is the one that I want.”

Her words made his heart beat faster. Harder.

Mercer crossed to his side, paused in front of him so that they stood toe-to-toe. “You guard her with your life. Got me, son?”

He didn’t need Mercer to tell him that.

“I’ve got
her.
” And that was all that mattered.

“Go out through the parking garage. I’ve arranged for transportation there.” Mercer stepped back. He looked at Cassidy and paused as if he wanted to say more.

But he didn’t.

How long had the wall been there, blocking the man from actually talking to his daughter?

Cassidy headed for the door.

Cale made sure he was with her every step of the way.

“Cassidy!” Mercer’s voice.

She looked back at him.

“I’ll find the shooter,” he promised her.

Cassidy nodded. “But what happens next time?” Her smile was brittle. “Isn’t there always a next time?”

Cale was realizing that for Cassidy, the threats might not ever end.

And that made fury boil within him.

* * *

A
S
FAR
AS
safe houses went, Cassidy had stayed in spots a lot worse than the old converted brownstone.

So when Cale led her inside, when he double-checked the security system and secured the facility, she just stood to the side, waiting.

After all, she knew the drill. Once he’d secured the area, then she’d be able to go and find her designated room—and crash.

How many safe houses had there been for her over the years?

After college, she’d thought that she might finally enjoy some freedom.

That dream had died quickly.

“We’re clear,” Cale said.

They were clear, and they were alone. Why did that make her uncomfortable? She’d longed to be alone with him
before
the bullets had come blasting toward her.

She’d been terrified.

But Cale... Had his heart rate even increased? He’d seemed so controlled and composed to her. Like the threat of death didn’t matter.

Probably because it didn’t.

“Why did you choose me?”

She realized that she’d been staring at the floor, lost in thought, but his question made her gaze rise to him. He was studying her, standing less than two feet away.

“You seem comfortable with Lancaster.” The words had a hollow feel. “Why not go with him?”

Why, indeed?
She shifted nervously. “Look, if you don’t want the assignment—”

He eliminated that two feet of distance in less than a second. “Let’s get one thing clear. I don’t think of you as an assignment.”

Oh.
That was good. It sounded good, anyway. Her heartbeat had sure picked up plenty at that news as it raced in her chest. “How do you think of me?”

She and Cale were finally away from the other agents and any prying eyes. The rest of the world was locked out. The stillness of the night surrounded them.

Cale’s gaze darkened as he stood before her. “I’m starting to think of you as...mine.”

The words were rough, possessive. And they were the last things that she’d expected him to say.

Her drumming heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment.

“I don’t know how it happened, I just know it did.” His hand rose, and his warm fingers curled under her chin. “I see you, and I want.”

She licked lips gone dry. He was voicing her own thoughts. “Cale...”

His head bent, and he kissed her. Adrenaline had held her body tight. Adrenaline, fear, anger... But with the press of his mouth to her, all of her feelings seemed to erupt in an instant.

Her hands rose, curled around his shoulders. She pulled him closer as her nails dug into his shirt. The shirt was in the way. She needed him—

Closer.

He wanted her.

She was desperate for him.

And, for however short of a time it might be, she had him. No interruptions. No distractions. Just Cale and her.

His mouth seduced. It caressed, it tempted. His fingers slid down her body, coming to rest right over the curve of her hips, and she could feel the heat of his touch scorching her right through her clothing.

Cassidy wanted all of their clothing gone. She wanted him.

Two lovers. In twenty-seven years, she’d had two lovers. One had been in college, when she’d enjoyed her brief taste of freedom. She’d thought she loved him.

She’d been wrong.

Lover number two had been another EOD agent. She’d thought the strength he offered was what she wanted.

She’d been wrong.

This need...
Cale
... Wanting him had nothing to do with strength. It had everything do with passion. With a consuming desire that grew stronger and stronger in her with his every touch.

And he was touching her. Pushing up her shirt and tossing it away. Then his fingers—those rough, calloused fingers—were sliding over her flesh, and Cassidy arched into his touch.

The killer after her—the fear—faded away.

Only Cale remained.

Only Cale.

He yanked off his own shirt. When she saw his bandage, a gasp broke from her. They had to be careful...they—

He lifted her into his arms, acting like he didn’t even feel the wound.

Okay, so maybe they didn’t need to be so careful.

Tough guy.

She loved that about him.

They kept kissing. He carried her, moving down the darkened hallway and entering the first bedroom on the right.

It was dark in there, too. But she liked the darkness. You could hide in the dark. Almost pretend that you were someone else.

She wanted to keep hiding and pretend that her reality wasn’t a lifetime of guards and secrets.

His fingers were at the snap of her jeans.

But he was hesitating.

Why?

“If you don’t want this,” Cale growled, his voice rough and wonderful in the dark, “tell me now.”

She smiled, but she knew he couldn’t see the movement in the darkness. Her hands rose again. Slid over the muscled expanse of his chest. The man’s abs...
Wow.
“I want you.”

He jerked open that snap. Slid down the zipper. She’d already kicked her shoes away while he was carrying her.

Cool air whispered over skin. No, that wasn’t just air. That was his breath. He’d bent, pressing his mouth over the curve of her stomach. And he was kissing her flesh. Caressing her so carefully.

Like she was something fragile to him, delicate.

She didn’t want delicacy. She wanted his passion. Every bit of it.

So her hands wrapped around his arms. She arched her hips against him. “Cale!”

His head lifted.

His eyes glittered in the darkness, blazing with need and lust. Then his hands were rising over her. He unhooked her bra and tossed it—heck, she didn’t even care where, right then.

She only cared about—

His mouth was on her breast. He licked, kissed, sucked, and her legs rose and locked around his hips. His arousal pressed against her. Long and hard and straining, and she didn’t want to wait. It had never been like this, the need a fire in her blood. She couldn’t catch her breath. She could only feel him. All along her body. She wanted him inside her. Was desperate to feel the thrust of his body into hers.

“Easy...” His whisper.

Forget easy. She wanted hard and fast and she wanted
pleasure.
Him.
Now.

He reached around her, sliding his hand into the wallet he’d yanked from his pocket and pulling out—wait, what? Protection? Had to be. The guy was always so prepared.

Maybe too prepared.
But the thought was fleeting. Vanishing quickly in the haze of need that surrounded her.

Then he was coming back to her, pulling down her panties. Ripping open that foil packet and, after just a moment, pushing his aroused flesh right against her.

His fingers threaded through hers. His hands pushed hers back against the mattress. His gaze held hers.

And he thrust into her.

One long, hard thrust that sent him deep into her core.

She cried out, lost in the intensity of the moment. Then he withdrew and thrust again, pushing his flesh right over the sensitive button of her desire.

Her legs tightened around his hips. She met him eagerly, thrust for thrust, and the bed rocked beneath them.

Every fear that she’d had vanished. There was no room for fear. There was no room for anything but the passion between them. The fierce movements of his body, the thrust and withdrawal of his flesh, again and again.

Harder.

Deeper.

Making her lose her mind.

Her body tightened. The pleasure was so close, just out of her reach, but every glide of his body, every thrust of his hips, and that pleasure seemed—

Cassidy cried out as the release hit her. Pleasure rocked through her body and she shuddered, caught up in the maelstrom of release as she’d never been before.