Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents 8)

A fatal one.

The senator hesitated. “Just...don’t leave obvious wounds on their bodies.”

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any bodies to find.”

The words should have chilled Lawrence, but he’d lost his conscience long ago. The first time he’d seen a kill, his life had changed.

And the blood had stained his hands ever since.

* * *

THEY’D BEEN DRIVING for about twenty minutes when the bright flash of headlights illuminated their rental vehicle. Thomas narrowed his eyes as he glanced in the rearview mirror. He could hear the growl of a fast-approaching vehicle behind him.

Even as the snow continued to fall in heavier waves.

“Where’d he come from?” Noelle asked as she turned in her seat to glance back.

Thomas’s hands tightened around the wheel. Adrenaline spiked in his blood as the other vehicle’s engine growled again and seemed to come even closer.

“What is he doing?” Alarm sharpened Noelle’s voice. “Maybe we should slow down, in case he wants to pass.”

The road was narrow and surrounded by trees. Up ahead, an old bridge crossed over what looked like an ice-filled lake.

“We’re not slowing down,” Thomas said because his instincts were screaming at him. A dark road. A driver who was—

The other vehicle slammed into the back of Thomas’s SUV. The impact was jarring, and he had to fight to keep the SUV from swerving off the road. “Hold on,” he growled to Noelle. “Just hold—”

The other driver came at them again, hitting even harder this time. The SUV’s wheels slipped on the icy road as the bridge loomed before them.

“It’s a truck,” Noelle gasped out. “I can see its outline. It’s big and—”

It hit them again. Noelle’s words ended in a scream because the SUV flew across the slick road. They were heading for the bridge. The SUV started to spin as the tires slid right over the ice.

“Thomas!”

The SUV slammed into the side of the bridge. The impact was on Noelle’s side, and Thomas’s gaze immediately jerked toward her as fear clawed through him.

Her hair had fallen over her face, and the echo of her scream seemed to shudder through his whole body. “Noelle?”

Thomas could hear the other vehicle’s motor growling again. The SOB was going to come at him again. And if the truck hit them, they could easily plunge into the frigid water.

They had to get out of there, fast. “Come on, baby,” he said, the endearment sliding from his mouth without thought because it was her. “We have to move.”

The bright headlights were on them again. Coming fast, too fast.

Noelle’s head lifted. She blinked at him. “Thomas?”

He yanked her free from the seat belt. He was already out of his, too. He shoved open his door.

The vehicle slammed right into Thomas’s open door. Metal crunched, groaned—and the door ripped away as the truck drove their SUV harder into the side of the bridge and its old railing.

“Climb out the back!” Thomas yelled. “Hurry!” He pushed her into the rear seat. He had his weapon in his hands, and he turned back, aiming toward the other driver.

Who are you? What in the hell is happening?

His bullets blasted through the other vehicle’s windshield. The truck stopped its advance. Noelle had made it into the backseat. She forced open the rear door, and Thomas followed her, barely fitting in the small escape space because the vehicle was wedged so closely to the railing.

He’d just cleared the vehicle when—