“I thought she might.” It almost sounded as if sympathy was in Mercer’s voice. Obviously, they had a bad connection. Mercer felt sympathy for no one. “And that’s why she’s paired up with you.”
“I’m not following you.”
“If anyone can help her to remember, it’s you. After all, you were there, right?”
He swallowed. “You put us together—because you thought she’d remember me?”
“Well, I’d hoped Noelle would remember you the first time she saw you at the EOD. Maybe get a flashback. Something. That didn’t happen, so I figured we needed to step up the game.”
Only Mercer thought playing with someone’s life constituted a game.
“She’s not a victim anymore, she’s an agent.” Mercer’s voice hardened. “Fifteen years ago, we had to protect your cover. You had to vanish from the scene.”
But he’d left her behind, and she’d been...shattered.
“Come now, Agent Anthony, I know you’ve seen her since then. You’ve watched over her all these years.”
Damn it. Mercer and his all-knowing intel. “What I do on my own time is none of your—”
“You should be thanking me. I mean, at least you don’t have to sneak off to check up on your profiler on your rare off days. Now you get to be up close with her, 24/7.”
This was insane. “She doesn’t remember me.”
“She will.” Flat. “I think it’s possible that Noelle will discover a whole lot while she’s in Alaska.” A pause. “I want her to rip apart Senator Lawrence Duncan’s life. She’s just the woman for this job.”
Thomas’s brows pulled together. “Have you told me everything about this mission?”
“Oh, son, I never tell anyone...everything.”
Hell.
“I know you’ll guard Dr. Evers. That’s your job right now. To make sure that nothing happens to her while she’s in Alaska. If I’m going to get to the bottom of this mystery, I need her.”
So, Noelle was the brains while Thomas was the killing power. He’d always been a weapon, of one kind or another. From the time he’d turned eighteen...
I have my memories, and sometimes, I hate them. “I’ll keep Noelle safe.”
“Of course, you will.” Now Mercer sounded certain. Almost smug. “It’s what you’ve been doing for the past fifteen years, isn’t it?”
Mercer had been watching. Far too much.
“Even when she became an FBI agent, you couldn’t let go. You thought she still needed you.”
No, Mercer had that part all wrong. It wasn’t about what Noelle needed.
I need her.
There was so much death in his life. Everywhere he turned. But Noelle, she was the one bright light in the d
arkness that always seemed to surrounded him.
“This time, she does need you,” Mercer’s voice held an edge. “So stay close, no matter what happens.”
Thomas ended the call. He took his time climbing those stairs. When he got to the top, he saw the door to Noelle’s room had been left ajar.
His fingers pressed against it, opening it just a few more inches. Noelle was on the bed. Her thick hair was a curtain, spilling down her back.
Would nightmares come to her again?