Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents 8)

No, no, he hadn’t been.

Noelle dropped toward the fire. She sat on the floor and pulled her knees up toward her. She was still shivering, and the tips of her fingers and toes were starting to ache.

A few moments later, Thomas eased down next to her. He reached for her.

The flinch was instinctive. She’d been withdrawing from people ever since—well, ever since she’d been seventeen years old and she’d woken, terrified, in a cabin that had actually looked a whole lot like the one they were currently in.

Her shoulders hunched.

“We need to share body warmth,” he said again. “Don’t worry I think I can control myself here.”

Okay, now he was just mocking her.

But his hands gently curled around her, and he eased her fully down on the wooden floor next to him. Then he curled his body around hers. His left arm slid under her head, almost like a pillow, while his right curled around her stomach and pulled her back against the warm, hard cradle of his body.

“I think that I can,” he added roughly, his breath blowing over the shell of her ear.

The fire crackled in front of her.

Noelle swallowed and tried to figure out what she was supposed to do in this situation. Being naked and trapped in a one-room cabin with Agent Thomas Anthony certainly hadn’t been on her to-do list.

“I think we have confirmation of the senator’s guilt.”

His rumbling voice seemed to roll right through her.

“We visit the senator,” Thomas continued grimly, “then less than half an hour later, some maniac tries to kill us. Connecting those dots sure isn’t hard.”

No, it wasn’t, and Noelle had never been the type to believe in coincidences. She tried to put a little more space between their bodies.

Thomas just pulled her right back against him. “He left the scene because he thinks we’re dead.”

“If we hadn’t cleared the SUV right then, we would be dead.” Her own words were quiet and they gave no hint to the terror that had rocked through her as she fought to get out of the vehicle. As cold as it was outside...if they’d plunged beneath the ice in that lake, survival would have been only a dim hope. “But I don’t know if the senator did this himself. He strikes me as more of a guy who hires out his dirty work.” After all, that was exactly what they thought he’d done in D.C.—hired Jack to take out the EOD.

And as far as getting rid of her and Thomas, well, she was sure that counted as dirty work.

“He just tried to kill two federal agents,” Thomas’s lips brushed against her neck. Had he meant to do that? Surely not. “Whether he did it himself or he hired someone, we’re getting the guy. At first light, we’re finding a way out of this place, and we’re going after him.”

First light. That certainly seemed very far away.

“He panicked.” That was the only explanation she had. “Something set him off during our meeting.” Something they’d said or done.

“He got set off because the FBI was at his door. The guy’s probably trying to run as fast and as far as he can right now.”

Noelle wasn’t so sure. If he thought they were dead, why would he bother to run?

“But I’ll find him,” Thomas vowed. “I won’t stop until I do.”

The fire surged a bit higher then, sending sparks into the air.

“We should get some sleep.” His voice softened a bit. “Who the hell knows what we’ll face tomorrow.”

Since they’d just survived one attempt on their lives, Noelle knew he was right.

Her gaze drifted away from the fire. She glanced at the flickering shadows lining the walls. This place... It was just like the cabin that haunted her nightmares. Those nightmares chased her wherever she went, no matter what she did.

“You’re too tense,” he said. “Look, I get that you don’t like me, but—”

“I like you just fine.” How awkward was this conversation? But he had a right to know... “It’s not you that I’m afraid of, okay? It’s...this place.”