Glitter and Gunfire/Bulletproof (Shadow Agents 4)

Doesn’t matter. I’ll keep looking until I find you.

Cassidy might have thought that she’d gotten away clean, that she could just disappear with her agent lover, but she was wrong.

An eye for an eye.

Cassidy was going to find out that there was no escaping from death.

* * *

SHE’D WANTED OUT of the hospital, but that wasn’t happening. Cale had agreed to take Cassidy away, but he had to make sure she was recovered enough first for the travel that he had in mind.

The staff gave her a private room. Mercer sent guards for her, and Cale didn’t leave her for even a moment.

She slept. He stood watch.

Against those white sheets, she looked too pale and fragile. So very breakable.

He wasn’t going to let her break.

The door squeaked open behind him. He turned instantly, moving for the weapon that was still holstered beneath his shoulder. An instinctive response.

But it was Dr. Tina Jamison who stood in the doorway. He frowned at her.

Tina didn’t usually leave the EOD headquarters for a case. He’d actually only seen her in the field twice, both times to help wounded agents. She’d been scared each time, her hands trembling, but she’d gotten the job done.

“Mercer. He wanted me to come in and make sure that Cassidy was all right.” She pushed the door closed behind her. “He also wanted me to check on you.”

He was barely aware of his own wounds, some scratches and contusions from the blast. The docs at the hospital had patched him up, too, despite his protests.

Tina headed toward the monitors on the right side of the bed.

“The docs gave her a sedative to help her sleep.”

Tina paused, then glanced back at him. “Is that what they told you?”

He didn’t like her tone, not a bit. Suspicious now, he kept a wary eye on her.

Tina reached for the clipboard. “It looks like she’ll be just fine.” She put the clipboard down and turned to face him. “Now let me check on you.”

Cale grabbed the hand that lifted toward him. “What’s going on, Tina?”

She glanced down at his hand. He felt the tremble that shook her. No, Tina didn’t like leaving the safety of her labs at the EOD. But she’d come there tonight, on Mercer’s order?

Is that what they told you? Her words rang in his head again.

“What’s going on?” He wanted to know. He and Tina hadn’t exactly gotten close during his time at the EOD. Tina and Sydney were tight, though, best friends from what he could tell.

“I’m following orders,” Tina said. “We all have to follow orders, don’t we?”

He was getting tired of the orders. Before he’d joined the EOD, he’d been a free agent working to help those who needed him. A mercenary? Maybe he hadn’t liked that title. Maybe he’d wanted to see what it would be like to be part of a team.

And being a Shadow Agent did have its moments.

But it could also—

“If Cassidy was awake, she’d fight.”

He almost missed Tina’s whispered words.