The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)

Better than you.

Yes, she did. Jaw locking, he followed Gabrielle inside his apartment, and he wondered just what he’d have to do in order to stop her from telling the world about the EOD.

* * *

BRUCE MERCER SAT in his office. His fingers tapped on his desk, a slow, steady rhythm as he listened to Dylan Foxx’s update.

The agent was rambling, unusual for him. That rambling meant—

“You found nothing in the reporter’s place,” Bruce said.

Finally, Dylan stopped his ramble about fingerprint dusting and DNA analysis. Dylan gave a quick nod. “The fact that they didn’t find anything is significant, sir.”

No, it wasn’t. “We already knew one of ours was behind the kills. It only stands to reason that if he didn’t leave a trace at the other scenes then he’d be just as careful at Gabrielle Harper’s place.” The EOD agents were the deadliest and the most covert in the U.S.

Some in his unit were even called Shadow Agents—men and women who were so good at infiltrating enemy camps and carrying out their dangerous missions that they more closely resembled shadows than humans.

You didn’t hear a shadow, didn’t feel it. Didn’t even realize it was there—until it was too late.

“Cooper stopped the cops from seeing that Van had written EOD as an identifier for his killer,” Dylan said. “But he was too late to prevent Gabrielle from seeing the message. She told us that she was going to print that info in the Inquisitor.”

“No, she isn’t.” Even if he had to shut that place down, he’d make sure her report never saw the light of day. He wasn’t going to risk the lives of innocent agents. Not that it wouldn come to that point. He had faith in one man. “Cooper will stop her. He’ll find a way to convince her that isn’t the right tactic to use.”

“You sound awful certain...”

“I am.” Bruce’s attention turned to the fat stack of manila folders in front of him. “I’ve called in a profiler.” One that he’d handpicked from the FBI. He didn’t usually let the Bureau nose around his cases, but this was a different situation.

Right then, the EOD could actually use someone from the outside. A fresh pair of eyes, an unbiased observer, was exactly what he needed.

He had high hopes for Noelle Evers.

She’d better not disappoint him.

“Do you know,” Mercer asked the other man, curious, “how many agents we’ve had at the EOD in the past fifteen years?”

Dylan shook his head.

Of course, he didn’t know. That intel was classified.

“When agents leave, we do our best to keep tabs on them, but the truth of the matter is this...they leave because they want to vanish. They want to start new lives and not be hunted by their enemies.”

They tried to make their pasts disappear.

“But these men and women aren’t like everyone else. They’re the deadliest foes you could ever cross. I trained them. I brought them into this life.” His fisted hand slammed down on the files. “So that means I’m the one responsible for this killer—a man who started on this dark path because he wanted to hurt me.”

They’d first become aware of the rogue months back, when inside information on Mercer had been leaked to one of his oldest and most powerful enemies. Anton Devast had learned about Mercer’s daughter. He’d tried to kill her in order to get revenge on Mercer.

A life for a life.

In the end, Devast had been the one to die.

With Devast’s death, the rogue had spiraled even more out of control. The deaths had started then. More than just what the press knew about. More than just what the intrepid Gabrielle Harper had discovered.

With Van’s death, they’d now lost four agents.

Four.

All within the past six months.