She really did have a good left hook.
He stumbled back, slipped on the broken pavement and fell hard.
And Cassidy didn’t stay around to see what would happen next.
Genevieve needed her. Cassidy spun away from Cale and ran for the mouth of the alley that waited just a few feet away.
She heard car doors open. Then slam. She knew that sound meant that the other agents would be coming after her.
Hurry, hurry... She had to get away from the EOD agents.
There wasn’t any time to lose. She had a lead of only seconds. But it just might be long enough.
If the Executioner’s men were watching...if they saw her... Come and get me.
Because this was her last chance to save Genevieve.
* * *
CALE SMILED AS he rubbed his jaw. She’d landed a good punch. Not hard enough to take him down, well, not unless he’d wanted to go down.
And he had. The scene had to look believable, after all.
Logan and Gunner’s footsteps thundered toward him.
“She did it,” Logan sounded a bit impressed. “I wasn’t sure that she’d really carry through, but that woman wasn’t giving up.”
Cale had to admit that part of him was impressed with Cassidy, too.
“Now let’s stick to the plan,” Cale said to the men. The plan that Cale had made up back at the safe house right before he’d gone out and given Cassidy the news about her imminent departure from Rio. “You two keep your eyes on us, and if you lose visual at any time...”
Logan nodded. “We know exactly what to do.”
A risky plan, but it was all that Cale had to work with on short notice.
He rose to his feet and took off running toward the alley. He could only allow Cassidy a few moments’ head start. Otherwise, the watchers might realize they were walking into a trap.
A trap that used Cassidy as the bait.
Maybe he should have told her his plan, but he didn’t trust her. Didn’t know her well enough to trust her. So he’d done exactly what he had to do.
Cassidy wanted her friend back alive. He wanted to stop a killer.
He turned the corner, running faster now. He saw Cassidy up ahead, trying to scale a chain-link fence. The lady was doing a good job of shimmying up. She’d just reached the top when he caught her ankle.
“Going somewhere?” Cale demanded, making sur
e the words carried a bite.
Cassidy didn’t yell. Didn’t scream. She did kick him, a sharp hit that surprised him enough to let her go.
Then the woman heaved herself right over the fence and took off running.
Hell, she was better than he’d thought.
He leaped over the fence. Ran forward—and collided with the Carnival crowd that was already spilling into the street. So what if it was early? During these days in Rio, Cale knew that the party could be on the streets anytime. Music, voices, madness—everywhere.
Cassidy had probably been planning on the crowd. She probably thought it would help her to disappear.