Glitter and Gunfire/Bulletproof (Shadow Agents 4)

So far.

She wasn’t about to give up. She’d expand the search parameters and she wouldn’t stop looking until she found a clue that the EOD could use.

“He’s dead.” Gunner’s head tilted to the right. “The Executioner is gone.”

“Ian Gagnon.” He’d been the man given the deadly moniker of the Executioner, and she’d been the one to determine his real identity. The Executioner had once been a young boy, tossed onto the streets of Paris. No family, no one to ever step forward and claim him, the five-year-old had eventually been adopted...and given the name Ian by his new parents.

When he’d turned eighteen, Ian had vanished from his adoptive parents’ home. They’d never seen him again.

Now that he was dead, they never would.

“His men—the few that survived—were taken into custody by the authorities in Rio,” Gunner continued. “The hostage he’d taken...Genevieve Chevalier... We got her out in time.”

They’d gotten Genevieve to safety, and they’d gotten Cassidy Sherridan back to the U.S. Cassidy Sherridan interested Sydney. Cassidy’s file was classified, but not by any normal standards. As far as Sydney could tell, only Mercer had clearance to view Cassidy’s records.

It would seem that the woman was a very important asset.

“The hit tonight...” She exhaled slowly. “Was it on Cassidy or Cale?” It wouldn’t be the first time that an EOD agent had been targeted.

Not the first time.

Not the last.

“The bullet was meant for her.” Gunner sounded absolutely certain. He should be. No one knew bullets and sniper attacks quite like her Gunner. “The trajectory, the angle...if Cale hadn’t gotten her out of the way, Cassidy Sherridan would be dead.”

But Cale had saved her, and, based on the video footage she’d seen, the man had been enraged as he’d turned back to search for the killer.

Not such a cool, calm response for an agent.

“We need to find out who’s after her,” Gunner said. “That woman has secrets, and I don’t want those secrets causing an agent to get killed.”

Gunner didn’t trust Cassidy. She wanted to help him, but, well, this was the tricky part.

“Her files have a block on them in the system.”

Gunner arched a brow. His lips twitched the faintest bit. “Like you can’t get past that block.”

She could—in her sleep. But blocks were usually put up for a reason. “Maybe there’s something we shouldn’t know about her.” The last thing she wanted to do was draw any additional risk or attention to Gunner or herself.

Her hand slid over her stomach. When she felt the kick, Sydney didn’t jerk.

She smiled.

Gunner leaned forward to kiss her once more. But when he pulled away, a furrow appeared between his brows. “Cassidy Sherridan is under EOD protection. How can we keep her safe if we don’t know her secrets?”

Secrets could be a very dangerous thing, as they’d both learned.

And no matter how hard you tried, some secrets just couldn’t stay buried. “Maybe I should talk to Mercer.” He needed to know that she’d be tapping around in his system.

Or, rather, blowing his little security blocks to hell and back.

“Cale took her to the safe house.”

There was a darker note in Gunner’s voice. She raised her brows. “What is it?”

His lips tightened. “I don’t like this setup.”

Because he didn’t trust Cassidy.