She didn’t know what to think.
“You changed Thomas on that mission. He was still young, a new agent, but he was focused totally on the job. Until you. He tried to go back for you—twice—even though we told him that you’d been taken in by the local cops.”
Her lashes lowered to shield her eyes.
“He was undercover. He saved your life, but by staying on his mission, he saved the lives of hundreds of other people, too.”
Noelle swallowed.
“Don’t blame him. If you’re furious, and you’ve got a right to be, blame me.”
Her lashes lifted. “I do.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
She didn’t see where a whole lot was fair right then. “I don’t have time for this now. Sarah Finway is out there, and she needs help.” She pushed past him and grabbed for the doorknob.
“That’s why you’re an EOD agent. Because you put others first. It’s what our job is about. We have to give up the things that we want most, in order to get the mission accomplished.”
There was a note of pain in his voice, which pulled at her. She glanced back.
“You didn’t have the clearance to know about Thomas’s actions. Not until you joined the EOD.”
“That’s why you pushed for me to join the division.”
He inclined his head.
“And this particular mission? Did you know about the link to my past?” The guy seemed to know everything, while Noelle felt as if she were floundering around in the dark.
“I knew that Senator Duncan was connected to the destruction of the EOD office. I’d been recently looking into his past, and I was noticing connections that alarmed me. Enemies who were vanishing... I was putting all of those dots together and getting a picture of a man who was a national-security threat.” His eyes narrowed. “I sent you on this mission because I knew you could figure him out. I paired you with Thomas...because I knew it was time for you to understand the past.”
“You should have told me.”
His eyes glinted. “Every day I make decisions that impact thousands of lives. The jobs my agents do... They’re dangerous. They’re deadly. They are jobs most people will never even know about.” He heaved out a hard breath. “I have to make judgments. I do the best that I can.” He backed away from her. “You’re alive, Agent Evers, because one of my operatives saved your life. Now it’s your job to save the lives of others.”
Mercer had never seemed quite so human to her as he did in that moment. There was pain in his voice, and she’d caught the faint tremble of his hands.
“This case is personal to you,” Noelle noted quietly.
“Senator Duncan almost took out dozens of agents who were in the EOD building. Damn straight it’s personal.” He pinned her with his stare. “So we’re closing this case. We’re bringing down this Patrick Porter. We’re going to learn everything about him and his connection to Duncan. No one messes with my agents.” His eyes sharpened on her. “Not any of them.”
* * *
“LET ME GO,” Sarah whispered as she sat in the old, wooden chair, her hands bound behind her back. “Please...I won’t tell anyone about you.”
They always said the same thing. Always made promises they couldn’t keep.
It was the lies that got to him.
She’d lied to him. She’d started this whole chain of events.
“I helped you,” Sarah said, the tears making her voice husky. Tears were so useless. He wished she’d stop shedding them. “I dug out the bullet. I sewed you up.”
A twisted, tangled mess of stitches.
“Please,” she said again. “Just let me go...I am begging you...”
Well, if she was going to beg...
“You aren’t my usual type.” These days, he went for a much bigger challenge. He used his knife to cut through her ropes. She rose to her feet, stumbling a bit. He motioned to the door. “Go.”
She didn’t move.
He rolled his eyes, then roared, “Go!”
She rushed for the door.
His hold tightened on the knife. “I’ll give you a five-minute head start. Since you did help me...it’s the least you deserve.”
Her head jerked back toward him. Her eyes widened in horror.
He smiled. “You’re wasting precious time.”
Because after the hell he’d been through, he needed a hunt. Sarah wasn’t his first choice, but she’d do. And she’d send a message to Noelle Evers.
I can kill whenever I want. He was the perfect killing machine. No one could stop him. No one would stop him.
Sarah screamed as she ran into the wilderness. She wouldn’t be screaming for long. He’d make sure of that.
He looked down at the blade. And he remembered another girl. A knife had sliced against her throat. She’d begged, too. Asked him to believe her. To trust her.
He’d also given her a chance to survive. But she hadn’t run fast enough. They never did.
He waited, counting, then... “Time’s up.”
The thrill of the hunt heated his veins.
Chapter Nine
The sheriff’s men had fanned out to search the area around the Burrows cabin. Thomas watched as those men made heavy paths in the snow. Aaron was behind him, and Noelle was at his side.
“It’s too easy.”
Noelle glanced over at his words. “You know he’s not here,” Thomas told her flatly. “He took her someplace else.”
She started heading toward the cabin just as the sheriff appeared in the doorway. “Place is clear!” Hodges called out. “It looks like no one’s been here all season!”
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Thomas heard Noelle murmur as she kept walking toward the cabin.
“I’m betting the guy has half a dozen places he uses for hiding up here,” Aaron said. His gun was holstered at his hip. “If the sheriff is right about him coming up for big game, then he’d have to know the area.”
That was their problem. The man knew the area better than they did, and that was why he kept getting away. “He’s not going to stay up here forever,” Thomas said. “If we don’t find him soon, he could slip away.”
And take the answers they needed with him.
Noelle disappeared into the cabin.
The sheriff joined his men on the search.
Thomas had just taken a step forward when he heard the cry. Sharp and high. At first, he thought it was an animal. One that was hurt.