Drew’s hands fisted.
Tina clutched the bag of clothes a bit tighter. “What is it that you want me to do?”
Dylan focused back on Tina. “We don’t want you to run. We don’t want to hide you.”
Drew swore. “I told you already. I don’t like this plan. We have other options that can work.”
“Nothing that we can do now. Nothing that will be as effective as—”
“As what?” Tina demanded.
Dylan hesitated a moment, then said, “We want you to help us catch Devast.”
* * *
“SHE’S STILL ALIVE.”
Anton didn’t let his expression alter when he heard this news. “That is disappointing. You’d...assured me that she was on the plane.”
“That agent—he stopped her. I thought she’d already gotten on board, but the guy stopped her for some damn sweet talk.” Disgust thickened the words as they drifted over the phone line. “Those two must be involved. I don’t know how the hell I missed that.”
“Apparently, Agent Lancaster is a man who is very good at keeping secrets.” Drew Lancaster...not Stone Creed. That had just been an alias the agent used when he got close to HAVOC. Now Devast understood who the fellow truly was. And it was time to unearth every secret Drew Lancaster possessed.
Know your enemy. When you knew your enemy, it was easy to attack his weak spots.
“They took Tina Jamison to a local hospital then they cleared out of the place. But don’t worry, I’ll find them. Just give me a little time.”
Anton sighed. Why did everyone always think that he would tolerate failure? “Time isn’t on your side. You’d better find them, fast.” But he was already talking to a dead man. Whether this man delivered Tina Jamison or not, he was dead.
Anton had no use for traitors. Men like the agent on the phone...they’d sell out anyone.
He stared down at the photo on the desk in front of him.
Drew Lancaster.
He’d already managed to pull up some records on the man. Born in a small Mississippi town, abandoned by his father. The guy had been trouble as a kid, thrown in and out of juvenile halls. He was always running from the law.
Lancaster’s mother had worked herself to death.
And Drew Lancaster...he’d fought his way out of that life and joined the army.
Became very, very good at killing.
Anton hung up the phone and kept staring at Drew Lancaster’s image. A man who’d come from nothing. Who existed only to kill.
Right now, Drew Lancaster was one of Mercer’s attack dogs, but, as Anton had already discovered, some of Mercer’s men could be bought...if the price was right.
Anton was good at making the price right.
He smiled as he stared down at Lancaster. Another dead man, one who just didn’t know it yet.
But, before Drew Lancaster died, Anton planned to use him.
Use him, then dispose of him.
Chapter Seven
The Dallas skyline stretched in front of Drew. He stared at the buildings, noting the sweep of architecture as it bled into the red evening sky.
He and Tina were in a plush hotel room. Five star all the way. No dusty sheets or wobbly chairs would be found in this place. For security, Drew had requested two adjoining rooms. Dylan and Rachel were stationed right down the hall in another set of adjoining rooms.
Dylan was determined to go through with Mercer’s ridiculous plan. They wanted Tina to continue with the deception of being Mercer’s daughter. Wanted her to play that part—and to keep Anton’s focus on her—until their team could bring down HAVOC and its leader.
He hated that plan. Tina wasn’t trained for a situation such as this one. Putting her into the middle of this fight could very well get her killed.
I won’t have her death on my hands.
The door squeaked open behind him.
Soft footsteps came toward him.
He kept staring out at the setting sun. Its light reflected off the high-rise towers.
The scent of strawberries drifted in the air.
His fingers curled into fists. “Why did you say yes?” Because she had, and with that one word, Tina had changed everything.
She’d agreed to Dylan’s too-dangerous plan, and she’d made saving her even harder.
“I agreed because Devast is determined to kill me, and no matter what you do or say, he isn’t going to believe I’m not Mercer’s daughter.”
My fault. That burned like acid in his gut. He and his team had thought they were being so smart.
Mercer’s real daughter, Cassidy Sherridan, had needed to vanish. Intel had leaked out about her—not her specific name, but the fact that Mercer had a daughter he’d hidden for years—and the sharks had started to circle. They’d needed to get the sharks off their blood scent.
We needed bait.
But the bait was supposed to be Rachel. Not Tina.
They’d left a trail of evidence including phone calls and a log of private meetings connecting Rachel and Mercer. They’d wanted all those circling sharks to think that Rachel was the one connected so intimately to Mercer.
When the sharks came in to attack, Rachel and the team would have been ready.
But the main shark had gone after the wrong prey in New Orleans. Tina had been down there—why?—and Devast had connected her to Mercer.
“I’m sorry,” he told Tina, and he meant the words. Drew was sorry that he’d screwed up her life, and that his team had brought her into this twisted mess. He turned toward her.
She stood just a few feet away, her eyes wide, her cheeks a soft pink.
She’s so beautiful. Does she even realize what she does to me?
He cleared his throat. “Why were you in New Orleans? You weren’t supposed to be there.”
“The call came down that an EOD doctor might be needed on scene.” Her smile was wry. “Considering some of the locations the agents travel to, visiting New Orleans sounded like a really good option for me. I can’t... I can’t always go into the field. It was—”
“Safe,” he finished as he edged toward her.
She nodded. Her hair brushed across her cheeks with that slight movement. “I thought that would be the perfect trip for me. I needed a break from D.C.” A rough laugh eased from her. “I guess I got my break.”
“A break is one thing.” He tried to keep his anger and fear leashed. “Signing on to finish this mission? That’s something altogether different. You’re risking your life.” The anger spiked, sharp and hard, within him. “You don’t belong in the field, Doc. You need to get back in an office. Go back to—”