Glitter and Gunfire/Bulletproof (Shadow Agents 4)

The ambulance attendants ran toward them. Gunner and Mercer jumped out of the SUV.

“Never saw his face...”

“Cassidy!” Mercer was there, shoving back the ambulance attendants.

Cale growled at him. “Let them through! She’s hurt!” He had her blood on his hands.

“S-someone else was driving...the v-van...d-dark van...” Cassidy told him, voice roughening. “Two people...two...”

After the way things had gone down at the park, he’d realized they were dealing with a group, not just one attacker.

A sob burst from Cassidy. Mercer had moved back, finally, and he stood watching them, with his hands clenched into fists. “G-Genevieve...” Her name seemed torn from Cassidy. “She’s dead.”

Cale’s breath was cold in his lungs. He’d been afraid that she was.

The captors had gotten Cassidy, and once they had her—well, Genevieve was no longer an asset. She was another body to carry around—a liability.

Deadweight.

He helped the attendants load Cassidy onto the stretcher. She held tightly to his hand, her grip fierce and desperate.

His hold on her was even stronger.

Mercer stood to the side, watching, with shoulders slumped.

“She was my f-friend,” Cassidy whispered as tears tracked down her cheeks. “The only one I had, for so long.”

Her tears were ripping him apart. “You’re not alone, Cassidy. I won’t ever let you be alone.” No matter what he had to do. No matter what he had to sacrifice.

His life—everything—had changed for him.

“How bad is it?” Mercer asked quietly.

Bad enough. There was too much blood. Cassidy was too pale under the ambulance’s lights.

“Blood pressure’s too low,” one of the attendants said. “We need to get her to the E.R.”

“I’m going,” Cale said instantly. And he was. When that stretcher was loaded into the ambulance, he was right there.

At her side.

Where he knew he was supposed to be.

He brushed the hair back from her cheek, wiped away her tears.

When Cale looked up, he saw Mercer standing just past the open doors of the ambulance. “Stay with her, Agent Lane,” Mercer ordered, his voice gruff.

No emotion there. Emotion should have been there. The guy was her father. He should be trying to get in that ambulance, too.

But Mercer was stepping back.

“I’ll want to talk to her when she’s clear,” Mercer added with a firm nod.

The guy was acting as if Cassidy was any other asset.

She’s not.

Cale glared at him. This guy held most of the power reins in D.C., but folks didn’t realize it. Cale realized it. He wasn’t intimidated.