Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

He lifted her into his arms.

She always would.

* * *

SUSAN WALKER WATCHED as the poor little rich girl stepped toward the microphone. Looking dutifully mournful but determined. Cry me a river.

“The allegations that you’ve all heard about my father are true.” Juliana’s voice was clear and pitched perfectly to carry to all the microphones that surrounded her. “Senator Aaron James was using his position to perpetrate criminal acts. He was working with an arms dealer, a man that the government has identified as Diego Guerrero, and selling weapons off to the highest bidder.”

There was an eruption of questions as the reporters attacked like sharks.

Juliana held up her hand. “My father took his life because he couldn’t face what he’d done, but he left evidence behind.” She glanced toward the men in black suits beside her. Men who screamed FBI or CIA. “That evidence has been recovered and is being turned over to the authorities.”

Susan fought to keep her expression cool as Juliana continued talking. The reporters were eating up her every word. The woman looked like a perfect victim, sad-little-me, having to be so brave and struggle on after daddy’s treachery.

The mob around Juliana would probably make her into a celebrity. Hell, there was no probably about it.

And there stood Logan. Just a few feet away from Juliana. The reporters hadn’t noticed him. They’d followed Juliana’s gaze to the other agents, not ever seeing the real threat right under their noses. Blind fools.

“The authorities have told me that Diego Guerrero is in the country, possibly operating under one of his aliases...” Now Juliana was staring straight into the cameras. “John Gonzales is a name he’s used before.”

One of the suits rushed forward. He held up a picture.

“This is a sketch of Diego as his Gonzales persona,” Juliana continued. “We’ll make sure you all get a...”

Susan spun away, took two furious steps forward and slammed into the man she now knew was called Gunner.

Gunner just stared down at her with a raised brow. “Going somewhere?”

She forced a smile. “I just... It’s too much, you know?” She waved her hand back to the crowd. “I don’t know why you insisted on escorting me here today. I told you

already—you and the other agents—I had no idea what—”

“Ben McLintock said he had no idea, too.” Gunner’s dark stare seemed to measure her, looking for secrets.

You won’t find them.

“But we still found his body this morning. Dumped on the senator’s grave.”

Susan staggered back. She hadn’t expected...

“I guess Guerrero thought he was holding back.” Gunner lifted one shoulder in a faint shrug. “By the looks of things, I’m thinking McLintock talked to Guerrero, told him everything he knew. Guerrero made him talk.”

Her heart beat faster. Her palms started to sweat. Damn Mississippi heat. Even in the spring, she was melting.

“So maybe you should be rethinking that offer of protection,” Gunner murmured with an assessing glance.

Rethinking it? Why? So they could get close and find out exactly what she’d done and lock her away? No dice. She’d gone that prison route before.

She’d lost two years of her life to a juvie jail. She wouldn’t ever be going behind bars again.

It had taken Susan too long to build her life again. Or rather, to steal the life that she had. Before she got in trouble, she’d been Becky Sue Morris. After juvie...

Hello, new me.

“I don’t know anything,” Susan said. Juliana was still talking, feeding her lines to the reporters. Why? “Guerrero wouldn’t learn anything from me.”

“No, but he’d still kill you. Slice you open just like he did your friend McLintock.”