Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

They were moving faster now. His truck waited just a few steps away. There was no sign of Gunner. “Because I want to be with you.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “But— What?”

An engine cranked. The limo. It would be pulling away soon, then they could—

The explosion threw Logan right off his feet. The heat of the fire lanced his skin and lifted him up into the air. He clutched Juliana, holding her as best he could. They flew through the air and slammed against the same magnolia tree he’d stood under moments before.

Son of a bitch.

“Juliana!” Fear nearly froze his heart.

But she was fine. She pushed against him, and he raised up to see a gash bleeding on her forehead. Her eyes were wide and horrified with understanding. “Oh, my God,” she whispered and her head turned toward the burning remains of the limo. “The driver...”

There wasn’t anything they could do for the poor guy now. Logan didn’t waste time speaking. He grabbed Juliana, lifted her into his arms and raced for his pickup.

Gunner was out there. He’d seen what happened—he’d be radioing for backup and making sure EMT personnel were called. There were injured people on the ground, folks who’d been burned and blasted. Law enforcement who’d been at the funeral were swarming as they tried to figure out what was happening.

Chaos. That was happening.

Logan kept running. Right then, Juliana was his only priority. The others would have to attend to the injured. He had to get her out of there.

“Logan, put me down! We’ve got to help them! Stop it, just stop!” Fury thundered in her words as she fought wildly against his hold.

That fury didn’t slow him a bit. With one arm, he yanked open the truck’s passenger-side door, and with the other, he pushed her inside.

She immediately tried to jump out.

“Don’t.” A lethal warning. Fury rode him, too. She’d come too close to death. He could have stood there and watched her die. “Who do you think that bomb was meant for? The driver...or you?”

Juliana paled even more and shook her head. “But...the people... They’re hurt...”

She’d always had that soft spot. A weakness that just might get her killed one day.

But not today. “Stay in the truck.” He slammed the door and raced around to the driver’s side. Two seconds later, he was in the truck, and they were roaring away from the scene.

The limo was supposed to have been swept for bombs. Every vehicle linked to her should have been swept. Someone had screwed up, and Juliana had almost paid for that mistake with her life.

The driver had.

“That was...an accident, right?”

The woman was trying to lie to herself. “I don’t think so.”

Sirens wailed behind them. Logan glanced in his rearview mirror and saw the dark clouds of smoke billowing up into the air. His gaze turned toward the road as he shoved the gas pedal down to the floorboard. The truck’s motor roared.

His hands tightened on the wheel. A deadly mistake.

“But...it’s safe now.” She just sounded lost. “It’s supposed to be safe.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her hands clench in her lap. Her voice came, soft, confused. “You said...you said once I got back to the U.S., I’d be safe.”

“I was wrong.”

* * *

LOGAN TOOK HER to a cheap hotel on the outskirts of Jackson. She didn’t talk any more during the drive. She couldn’t. Every time she opened her mouth to speak, Juliana could taste ash on her tongue.