Glitter and Gunfire/Bulletproof (Shadow Agents 4)

The shooter had aimed for her heart.

Now Mercer was out there, demanding answers, and Cale had no answers to give him.

“Thank you.” Cassidy’s quiet voice.

His head jerked up.

“You keep saving me.” A ghost of a smile curved her pale lips, but her dimple didn’t appear. “It’s a habit you seem to have.”

He stepped toward her, helpless.

“Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been in danger my whole life. I’ve never...never gotten to just walk down a street without a guard on me. Never gone to a football game and sat in a crowd. Never done so much...because I’m Bruce Mercer’s weakness.” Her lips compressed as the smile vanished. “I learned that fact when I was eight, you see. When I was taken.”

Every muscle in his body clenched. “Taken?”

Her fingers drummed on the desk. The move gave him pause—Mercer did the same drumming movement, in that exact position, when the man was in deep thought.

“I was with my mother. We were going on a trip to meet Mercer.” She licked her lips as her fingers stopped drumming. “We didn’t make it.”

He was by her side in an instant. The pain in her voice shattered him. “Cassidy...”

“Mercer has a lot of enemies,” she whispered. “You don’t get to his position by playing nice.”

No, you didn’t. And Mercer had been in the business of death for decades.

“I don’t...I don’t think they meant to kill my mother. Maybe just to take her, too, but she fought them, and one of the men had a gun.”

Her gaze was so far away.

“It was raining that day. Perhaps that’s why a gunshot still reminds me of thunder.”

He wanted her in his arms, but Cassidy looked so brittle then.

So breakable.

“I knew she was dead. With that much blood, even a child knew.” She swallowed. “They put me in their van, and they rushed away. I don’t... I don’t know what would have happened to me if Mercer’s men hadn’t rushed to the scene so quickly. They followed them. I knew they were there for me when I heard the sound of more thunder.”

This was the spoiled princess? Hell, no.

“An agent pulled me from the van. Took me away, but I looked back. I saw the bodies left behind. In this business, there are always bodies, aren’t there?”

He’d left his share of bodies in Rio.

“I didn’t ask for this.” Now anger pulsed in her words. “You and Mercer, this is the world you chose, but I didn’t.” Cassidy pushed to her feet. “I don’t want this.”

I don’t want you.

He stiffened. Cassidy hadn’t said those words. She’d told him less than thirty minutes ago that she did want him, but right then the woman was sure putting off get-away-from-me vibes.

He didn’t blame her.

The door opened behind him. Cale glanced over his shoulder. Gunner stood there. With his sniper expertise, Gunner had been the first to rush toward that northwest strike zone.

“Tell me you found him,” Cale demanded.

Gunner shook his head. “No. The guy had cleared out before I got up there.”

“Sydney’s ordering a scan on all the security cameras in the area—she’s going to pull in traffic cams, too. She might be able to spot him out there.”