“Yeah, I noticed you,” he continued, his voice seeming to deepen with memories. “But I knew that you were afraid of me, so I stood back.”
She didn’t deny her fear. What would have been the point? He was a dangerous man. A man who could kill as easily as most men could kiss. There were shadows that clung to him—and always would.
“You’re still afraid,” he charged, “but I’m done with stepping back. You’re not going to get away from me now.”
She hadn’t been the one stepping back a few moments ago. She’d been the one digging her nails into him. Drew had put the brakes on things. Before she could speak, someone was rapping at the door.
Tina’s gaze jumped to the door. It swung open and Dylan, looking at little singed and blistered, came striding inside.
“That perfect timing again,” Drew muttered. “Work on it, man. Work. On. It.”
Tina frowned at him.
Dylan lifted a plastic bag and seemed to focus just on Tina. “I’ve got new clothes for you. The doctors here said they’d give you medicine to take with us. They wanted you to stay but—”
“It’s too dangerous,” Tina finished. She understood. The longer she stayed, the easier it would be for her location to be compromised. It was too hard to keep secrets in a place as public as a hospital. “Does that man—Anton Devast—think I’m dead?”
If he thought she’d died in the explosion, then she’d be free. Wouldn’t she? His men wouldn’t look for her any longer, and she wouldn’t have to be worried about waking up in the night to discover a gun pressed to her head.
But Dylan’s tense expression shot down those hopes. “He’s not going to believe that, not if he had a man on the scene. And a guy like Devast...he doesn’t take chances. He would have wanted to see you die.”
Great. She snatched the bag from him. So much for being safe again. Safety wasn’t going to come easily.
“Mercer received a call.” This detail came from a watchful Drew. “Right before the explosion, Devast called his private line and told Mercer that you were about to die.”
Her cheeks felt a little numb. Even she didn’t know Mercer’s private line, and she’d worked for the guy ever since she’d finished her residency. “That’s how you knew what was happening. Why you ran to me—”
Drew nodded. “Devast’s man must have told him that you were on the plane. He knew we were at that airport and that you were getting ready to take off.”
“In order to place the bomb,” Dylan said with a roll of his shoulders, “they had to know before our team got on scene. They tapped into the EOD system, and they figured out your most likely departure spot.”
Then they’d placed the bomb and waited for her to board the plane.
She would have been on board when the bomb detonated, if she hadn’t stopped to talk to Drew once more. If she hadn’t tried to tell him thank-you before she left.
And if he hadn’t promised her—
Naked bodies.
So much for delivering on that promise. She was still waiting.
Tina cleared her throat. She was feeling a draft in the back of her gown, and she needed to get dressed ASAP. First, though, she demanded, “What happens now? Am I still headed back for D.C.?” This was her life, and she needed to pick up the pieces and keep going.
Dylan slanted a fast glance toward Drew.
She didn’t like that secretive glance. “What happens now?” Tina repeated, the words a little sharper.
“Devast got his start by making bombs, dirty devices that he’d place for the highest bidder.” Dylan spoke slowly. “He loves to use his fire to destroy anyone or anything in his path.”
So she’d figured out with that up-close brush with death. She’d felt the scorch of fire all along her skin as she was propelled through the air.
“He burned down the ranch his group was using out in Texas.”
“HAVOC,” Drew said.
Dylan’s head jerked in a nod.
Tina frowned as she tried to understand. “So he creates havoc, that’s his big thing?”
“No.” Drew exhaled slowly. “He is HAVOC. It’s a terrorist group. They’re global, and their main goal is destruction. Devast started the group. He used his bombs to create it from fire and destruction and fear. He’s a threat that needs to be eliminated.”
“You’re giving me this intel because he keeps coming after me...” Mercer must have finally given them the all-clear to reveal this information. All it had taken was—what?—a few attempts on her life. One attempt that had nearly been too successful. In return for nearly dying, she got HAVOC clearance. Thanks, Mercer. Her boss could be a real jerk.
“That’s not why we’re telling you.” The intensity in Drew’s voice worried her.
Her bare feet curved over the cold floor. She waited.
“We’re telling you because we need your help,” Dylan said. “The EOD needs you.”
“What?” Sure, if they needed her to patch up the wounded, then Tina was their girl. But if they were talking about a mission in the field... “No, no, you’ve got the wrong woman—”
“That was the problem,” Dylan continued roughly. “You weren’t the woman who was supposed to be picked up as bait. Another EOD agent was. Rachel was the bait who should have been taken, but Devast followed the wrong trail of breadcrumbs.”
Drew’s lips were a thin, grim line. “You weren’t ever supposed to be brought into this mess. Hell, you didn’t even have a tracker on you! There was no way we thought that HAVOC would ever come after you.”
A tracker. She stiffened. Tina had placed trackers in plenty of agents. The small devices were inserted right under the skin, a precaution in case of capture. The EOD could follow the signal sent from the tracker and locate the agent almost any place.
“Once we realized Drew had left the ranch, we activated his tracker. That’s how we got to you both so fast in Lightning. Before Drew and Sarah checked in, we were already en route.” Dylan’s face tightened. “I’m sorry you were brought into this mess. It wasn’t supposed to be you.”
“But now it is.” She was tangled up in HAVOC without any chance of escape.
Dylan nodded. “And now we need your help.”
“Dylan...” A warning edge entered Drew’s voice.
Dylan’s gaze flashed. “The orders came from Mercer. As long as Devast is out there, she’s not going to be safe.” He jaw hardened as he stared at Drew. “Do you want that? Do you truly want her to be constantly at risk, always looking over her shoulder, always wondering when another attack might come?”