Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents 2)

The door flew open. Jasper whirled around. Sydney stood in the doorway, her cheeks flushed, her breath heaving. “Jasper, I need you.” Gunner was right behind her.

Casting one last, hard look at Cale, Jasper hurried from the room. Gunner slipped inside, resuming his guard duty.

“What is it?” Jasper asked her.

“We’ve got a problem.” She marched down the hallway, passed the small lobby area, then headed upstairs. This was her workspace. He knew that Sydney always liked privacy when she worked with her computers and—

A whistle slipped from him when he saw the destruction. “What the hell happened?”

She headed toward the laptop—Reed Montgomery’s laptop. The machine had been smashed, again and again, broken into sharp, hard pieces. Keyboard buttons were on the floor. It looked as if the machine’s hard drive had been hit repeatedly with a hammer.

“Someone didn’t want me seeing evidence,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if it was luck or whoever did this knew just what he was doing, but he smashed the platters inside the hard drive.” She looked back at Jasper. “It’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to recover any information from this machine.”

“When?” A snarl from him.

“I was up here less than two hours ago. Logan wanted that intel on the shrink, so I had to leave before I could start processing the computer.”

Every muscle in his body was on high alert. “Only the EOD agents had access to this building.”

“The agents...” She nodded, but said, “The sheriff. The deputy...and Veronica Lane.”

He was already shaking his head. “It wasn’t her.”

“Maybe she was trying to help her brother, by hiding his guilt.”

“It wasn’t her.” And there it was...blind trust. The same kind of trust Veronica had for Cale. The same kind of trust she’d given to Jasper just twenty-four hours ago. He spun for the door. “Where’s the sheriff?”

“Gone.” Her footsteps rushed after him. “Both Wyatt and the deputy went out to do some patrols. Logan is looking for them now but...”

He glanced back over his shoulder.

“I think you should be the one who brings Veronica in for questioning,” Sydney said, eyes wide.

“It’s not her.” He knew it with every fiber of his being. But if it wasn’t Veronica, and Cale couldn’t have smashed the machine because he’d been in custody, then someone else out there was trying to make sure that Cale Lane wasn’t cleared.

“Someone is setting me up.” Yeah, Jasper was starting to believe Cale’s words.

“As soon as Logan finds the sheriff and deputy, I want to know.” He hurried down the stairs.

“Jasper! What about Veronica—”

“I’ll take care of her.” Sydney could interpret that any way she wanted.

Jasper grabbed his keys and raced out into the night.

* * *

VERONICA’S SHOULDERS HUNCHED as she walked. She was soaked through, and the wind and rain seemed to slap at her face with every step that she took.

She didn’t have a cell phone. It hadn’t been recovered after the crash at the ranch. And no one was on this road to help her.

People were too smart to be out in the storm.

The flash drive was still in her pocket. She’d been too afraid to leave it behind in the car. It was her only evidence. She had to hold on to it.

She heard the growl of a motor behind her. Yes. Finally someone! Veronica hurried back onto the road. The car was a good distance away now. She waved her arms as soon as the headlights hit her.

The headlights were so bright.