Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

She nodded, exhaling.

“But we’re not hiding. Guerrero’s power is fear. He wants you afraid. Pulling you away from everything you know. He wants to isolate you. That’s key for him.” The man knew how to intimidate and control his enemies.

And his friends. Luis Sanchez...hell, he still couldn’t believe the guy had chosen to shove a knife into his heart instead of talking.

“Marie...”

He pushed the memory away, just like he did all the bloodstained memories that wanted to haunt him.

As far as the EOD was concerned, it was time for a new tactic with Juliana. “My boss—Mercer—he wants you seen in public. We want to make Guerrero become the one who’s afraid. We want him to think that we’ve found the evidence. That we’re secure. The idea is that he’ll get desperate when he thinks we’re closing in, and desperate men make mistakes.” He’d seen it happen over and over again.

“Do I have a choice in this?”

Her words stopped him cold, and in that instant...

Logan realized that some things were more important than following orders.

“Yes.” He kept his voice calm with an effort. “You do. If you want me to take you out of Mississippi, to get you as far from Guerrero and his goons as I can, you say the word.”

Her lips parted.

“If you want to stay here, to stand off against him and make him become the hunted, then we’ll do that. It’s your life. You make the choice.” He’d back her up, even if he had to go alone, without the other EOD agents riding shotgun.

So Logan waited.

Her hand rose. Touched the small bandage on the back of her neck. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life running.”

Logan knew people who had spent years running. That life—it stunk. Always looking over your shoulder, never letting your guard down.

But there was something else she needed to understand before she made her choice. “Mercer’s worried we have a leak at the EOD. That if we tried to take you to another secret location...” It wouldn’t be secret. “Guerrero shouldn’t have found us so quickly. Shouldn’t have known the things he did.”

So Mercer was saying that hiding wasn’t an option. No, that hiding with the EOD wasn’t an option.

Logan was pretty sure he could make Juliana disappear just fine on his own.

He could see the struggle on Juliana’s face. Safety...where did it lie?

With me. If she’d just trust him again.

“No hiding.” Juliana gave a slow nod. “That’s not...that’s not the way I want to live. I don’t want to be afraid, every day, that he’s coming after me.”

Did she even realize how strong she truly was?

“I want to go after him. I want Guerrero to fear. He took away so much.” She swallowed and exhaled slowly. “It’s time for me to take away from him.”

Damn straight.

“Let him think I have the evidence. Let him think we’re tearing his life apart.” Her words came stronger now. “And then let’s destroy him.”

“We will.” A vow.

* * *

DIEGO STARED AT THE MAN before him. A man who sat, bound, with his arms and legs tied to a chair. A black bag covered his head and the fool was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Did he actually think help would come?

Diego sighed. “Why were you getting ready to leave town, Mr. McLintock?” Because he had been. Diego had sent a man to follow McLintock months ago. Back when he’d first realized that the senator was holding back.