Killer Countdown (Man on a Mission 6)

What else could he do, though? What the hell else could he do except set her free?

At least she was safe...for now. Marsh Anderson, who’d pled guilty, was in jail and would stay there for a good long while. And Bobby Vernon wasn’t a threat to Carly, even though his trial was months if not a year or more away, and he was out on bail in the meantime.

Thinking of Bobby reminded Shane of how he’d finally accepted the betrayal. He’d made sure to be in the courtroom when his deputy chief of staff was arraigned. He’d tried to give Bobby the benefit of the doubt—Shane really believed in the “innocent until proven guilty” concept—even though the evidence was piling up against him. But Bobby had refused to meet Shane’s eyes at the arraignment, and in that moment he’d known his onetime friend was guilty as hell.

He still didn’t know for sure why Bobby had done it—you couldn’t ask a man who’d yet to be convicted that question—but the extensive investigation had revealed the answer most likely was...money. The Agenda Men, as Marsh Anderson referred to them, had had too much at stake with the pipeline bill, and they’d offered too much money for Bobby to resist.

Betrayed for money, Shane thought sadly. He didn’t know how he would have gotten through these past weeks without Carly’s support and understanding. Without her quiet comfort in the still of the night when memories of the Bobby he’d known in high school kept Shane from sleeping.

But all that was at an end. There would be no more Carly to call him “Marine” in that teasing way she had. No more Carly to grumble and groan when he woke her in the predawn hours—until he convinced her sleepy, early-morning sex was the best way to start the day. No more Carly to keep all the demons in his life at bay.

No. More. Carly. Period.

The pealing of the doorbell and a rapping on the front door jerked Shane out of his bleak contemplation of the sacrifice he was being forced to make. Before he could answer it, he heard the unmistakable sound of a key in the lock. He reached for his Beretta...which wasn’t there. He’d stopped wearing it after Marsh Anderson had been caught.

He jerked the door open, ready to physically confront whoever it was, then stared in surprise at the sight of Carly on his doorstep, her hand reaching for the doorknob. “What the hell are you doing here?” They weren’t the words he’d intended to say the next time he saw her. But then, he hadn’t been prepared for her, either.

Then he realized she was steaming angry.

“You...you...man!” she blazed, pushing him backward with the flat of her hand as she forced her way into his home. She slammed the door shut behind her, then confronted him again. “What is wrong with you?”

Despite himself he laughed. Carly could always make him laugh, even if laughter was the furthest thing from his mind. “You mean, other than being a man?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Then she shook her head. “No, not just that. That’s part of it, of course, you stupid, stubborn man.” She poked him in the chest. “Don’t pretend you’re trying to find a graceful way out of a relationship you no longer want. Don’t pretend you’re trying to let me down gently.”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

She ignored his question and poked him again with her pointer finger, sharper this time. “Don’t pretend you don’t love me to distraction, either, because I’m not buying it.”

He steeled himself, knowing he’d never have a better opportunity. “I don’t love you.”

“You liar,” she hissed. “You coward.”

No one had ever accused him of cowardice, and the word stung. “Coward?” he demanded. “I saved your—”

“Don’t wave your hero credentials in front of me,” she threw at him. “You are a coward. An emotional coward. The same way I was for all of about one day.”

That froze him in his tracks for a moment, but he made a quick recovery. “Just because I don’t love—”

She cut him off. “Don’t even go there,” she insisted. “You love me, but you’re afraid. And that makes you stupid enough to try to protect me.” She used protect as if it were an insult. She suddenly stopped, closed her eyes and held up her hands, palms out. Telling him to wait. Just wait. From the varied expressions flitting over her face, Shane could tell she was trying to get control of her emotions.