Glitter and Gunfire/Bulletproof (Shadow Agents 4)

The other agents weren’t helping her. Cale wasn’t helping. So it was up to her to get the job done.

Maybe the fact that they were all underestimating her... Maybe that would be her trump card. She just had to wait for the perfect moment....

Cassidy let her shoulders sag a little more as if she truly were defeated. “When do we leave?” Her voice came out soft, sad. She was being careful not to let that telling hitch—as Cale called it—slip out.

“Now.”

What? She’d sure have to act fast.

“We’ll head to the airport right now,” Cale continued in his getting-it-done voice. She decided she hated that voice as he added, “You’ll be back in D.C. by nightfall.”

Her thoughts raced. “I don’t have my passport. We’ll have to go back to my room and get it.”

The Executioner’s men might still be watching her hotel. They’d better be watching.

Because she needed them to find her.

And take her.

Chapter Four

She had to hurt Cale in order for her escape to work. She didn’t want to hurt him, but there was no choice. Sometimes, you had to play dirty in this world.

The SUV—Cale’s ride, which had been waiting outside the safe house—pulled to a stop near the side of her hotel. Not the main entrance, because they didn’t exactly want the valet staff there advertising their presence, but the staff entrance. A quick in-and-out trip. The other two EOD agents were about twenty feet behind them, waiting across the street. Watching them carefully.

Cassidy’s fingers flattened against her jean-clad thighs. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?” She had to try one more time.

Cale turned off the engine and gave a slow shake of his head.

Her breath expelled in a rush. Right. Just what she’d thought.

I’m sorry, Cale. And she was. Hurting people wasn’t her normal style.

Then Cale was exiting the vehicle and coming around to her side so very quickly. When she climbed out, he kept his body close to hers, shadowing her every step.

Protecting her.

While she prepared to hurt him.

Cale had never searched her. He probably should have done that. If he’d searched her when he’d first found her in that alley, he would have found the small knife that she’d strapped to her ankle.

She stumbled against him, bending low. His arms curled around her sides as he steadied her.

She grabbed for the knife, moving as fast as she could. When she straightened, Cassidy had that knife at his side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

His eyes—that unforgettable blue—held hers as his body seemed to turn to stone. “You shouldn’t do this.”

She didn’t want to do this to him. “I don’t have a choice.” They were so close, probably appearing like embracing lovers to any who might glance their way. But one lover wouldn’t threaten another with a knife. “You’re going to let me go.”

He shook his head.

Fine. That had been the response that she had anticipated. And the knife—well, that had just been a distraction...

Because Cale was moving even now with a ripple of motion, an attack designed to knock away the knife.

Again, just what I expected.

But the knife wasn’t the threat. She struck out with her left hand—her dominant hand—and caught him in the jaw.