“Yes.”
“How long have you been on this case?” A case that had obviously been designed to bring down Taggert.
“Long enough.”
That wasn’t an answer. “Is your name really Saxon?”
“My legal name? Hell, no, but legal doesn’t matter, does it? I’ve been undercover for so long, I’m not even sure I can remember who the hell I really am. Or what I really look like. My hair changes, my eyes change—everything changes with each case. Some days, I almost forget who is staring back at me from the mirror.”
She had the urge to touch him again. What was up with that? Elizabeth kept wanting to soothe him but the guy was definitely not the soothing type. “How am I supposed to repay you?” she whispered.
“You could fuck me.”
Her jaw dropped.
And he laughed. “I wish I could see your face right now.”
Her cheeks were burning again. “I’m not having sex with you as payment!”
“Good…because I don’t pay for sex.”
But he’d just said—
“Teasing you is so much fun.”
Her eyes squeezed closed. “Good night, Saxon.” Her words held an edge of their own.
“Good night, Elizabeth.”
She shivered. It was the first time he’d actually called her by name. Such a low, rough voice. A voice that seemed to perfectly fit the darkness.
“And if you get scared, just remember, I’m here.”
She kept her eyes closed and slowly, so slowly, she slipped into sleep.
***
“Victor?”
He turned at the voice and saw the two best agents on his team walking toward him. Tracy Adams and Gary Warren. Tracy had gotten out of the Academy just two years ago, but the redhead had more than proven herself on the cases she’d been given. Smart, dedicated, and not afraid to get her hands bloody, Tracy always got the job done.
In many ways, Gary was Tracy’s opposite. He’d been working for the Bureau over fifteen years, but he’d just joined Victor’s team a little less than two years ago. And field work, well, it wasn’t exactly his specialty. The guy preferred to work in the wings, hunched over a computer as he called the shots from a safe distance. He was Victor’s eyes and ears on so many of the undercover cases, thanks to all of his gadgets.
And those eyes and ears should have been watching Taggert. Victor glared at Gary. “How the hell did this happen?”
Tracy slanted a fast glance at her partner.
“All you had to do was keep the guy alive,” Victor said as his hands waved toward the stiff on the floor. “I mean, you were wired to this place. Why the hell didn’t I know he was dead?” He’d busted in the place, ready to take down Taggert, and the guy had been in a pool of his own blood.
Gary’s chin lifted and his face paled, but he held Victor’s stare. “Because someone cut my feeds. I was trying to get them back up and running, but then you pulled in and—you found him.”
Victor’s fury surged. “If someone cut the feeds, why didn’t you storm inside?” Right damn away?
Now Gary looked at Tracy.
She swallowed. “I did, sir. I did a visual sweep. The area looked secure, so I went back out and told Gary he had more time for the repair work. We were watching the front door and the back door, so the guy wasn’t going to get out—”
Victor’s hands dropped. “He was dead. There was no point in him going out.” But the killer had gotten out. Just waltzed right past them all. “Tell me you saw the man who did this.”
Tracy and Gary were silent.
“Not fucking good,” Victor snarled at them.
Gary backed up a step. Tracy’s chin lifted. She didn’t retreat, not ever. That was one of the things Victor liked about her.
“Saxon has Elizabeth Ward in protective custody now,” Victor said. Tracy and Gary hadn’t even realized that Saxon had been working the big Taggert case until about twenty-four hours ago. Saxon had been in deep cover, and his status had been on a need-to-know basis. But when it came time for Saxon to get wired up, Victor had informed the other two agents about Saxon’s role. When Victor had wired up Saxon, he’d needed to bring them into the loop.
Then things went to shit when we saw Taggert dragging Elizabeth Ward into The Blade.
But, hell, at least they’d managed to save the girl. “He got her out, and I set them up in the Moontree Motel.” He knew they’d both know the place. His team had used the location before because it was so very good at being an off-the-radar spot. “But we need to help Saxon. We need to find out why the hell someone is after Ms. Ward.” They had to find out and stop the SOB.
Gary nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m on it,” Tracy said.
They rushed away, and Victor turned back as Taggert was hauled out in a body bag.
***
Saxon stretched out on the floor. His hands were behind his head, the only cushion that he had. He’d spent the night in much worse places. Much better ones, too.
Elizabeth was asleep. Her breathing had finally evened out, and she’d escaped her fears as she sank into her dreams. He wondered if she’d have good dreams or if nightmares would come to haunt her.
Saxon had one dream. The same dream he’d had for years.
Yeah, I do…I want to get the hell out of undercover work. I want to stop looking over my shoulder every moment and wondering if I’m going to blow my cover. I want something good. Something not tainted by evil…something that is mine.
The flash of headlights illuminated the motel room, and he tensed. A car door slammed a few moments later, and he heard the thud of approaching footsteps. But those steps didn’t stop at room number thirteen. They kept walking, and some of the battle-ready tension eased from his body.
He shifted his position a bit, and Saxon closed his eyes. He should try to get a little sleep, too. Victor would be checking in soon, and then their time at the no-tell-motel would be at an end. It would be—
The floor squeaked, the faintest sound that could have just been the building settling. It could have been nothing, but Saxon knew the squeak for the threat it was. His eyes shot open and, in the dark, he could just make out the shadowy form that had slipped through what should have been a locked connecting door to the room. That figure was rushing toward the bed.
>
You don’t even see me on the floor, do you, asshole? That was the guy’s mistake. Saxon yanked out the knife from his boot, and he threw it. The blade sank into the fellow’s shoulder and he let out a pain-filled yell.
The sound immediately woke Elizabeth and she jerked up-right with her own scream.
But Saxon was already moving. The knife hadn’t taken out their unwelcome visitor, and the guy was lifting his weapon. Saxon launched his body at Elizabeth and they rolled right off the bed even as the blast of gunfire filled the room.
When they hit the floor, he was on top of Elizabeth, their bodies pressed intimately close. “Don’t move,” he ordered, but he didn’t have time to make sure she obeyed. Keeping low, he rushed back toward the jerk who’d snuck into the room—the jerk who was way too damn trigger happy. Saxon moved fast and used his strong night vision to his advantage. When the guy tried to swing his weapon toward Saxon, it was too late. He grabbed the guy’s wrist, twisted until he heard the snap, and the gun fell to the floor. Then Saxon yanked the knife from the guy’s shoulder and put it at the fellow’s throat.
That move stopped the idiot from fighting him.
“Who the hell are you?” Saxon demanded.
The lights flashed on around him. What the hell?
He glanced back over his shoulder. Elizabeth had moved. She was standing up, and she’d been the one to turn on the lights.
The guy in his grasp started laughing. “Doesn’t matter who I am. You’re the dead one. Dead, dead—”
Saxon yelled, “Get down!” to Elizabeth at the exact same moment he yanked the laughing bastard in front of him, using the guy as a human shield. A second later, gunfire erupted, littering the motel room. The man’s body jerked against Saxon when the bullets hit him. Bullets that had been intended to kill Saxon…and Elizabeth.
When the gunfire stopped, he dropped the guy. The man was still alive, but Saxon wasn’t sure how long that would be the case without medical intervention. Saxon crawled for Elizabeth as fast as he could. Be alive. Be alive! Once the gunfire had erupted, he’d heard no sound from her.
The lights were still on. Too bright. Giving whoever was outside too much of an advantage. The thin shade would be no help—any watchers outside would be able to see right through it with those lights blazing.