Cale shook his head.
“Maybe he lied to me.” Killers lied, right? That was what they did. Lied, killed.
Cale’s fingers caressed her arm. “Maybe he did. Agents will keep searching for her. They won’t give up.”
Maybe they wouldn’t, but... “But I’m giving up. If I’m just running away with you, I’m giving up on her.” She couldn’t do that. It wasn’t right.
“No, you’re staying alive.” His voice had hardened. They were in the back of the vehicle. Gunner and Logan were up front. The other agents would be able to easily hear every word that they said. “That’s what you have to do.”
“What if she’s in this city?”
Cale shook his head. “What are you going to do? Search every street? Every house? Every building?”
If she had to, maybe. “I can’t...I can’t do it, Cale.” She wanted to, so much, but running—enough.
“What can’t you do?” He’d leaned toward her.
She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I want to go with you. I want to get on that plane and go home with you. I want to pretend that we’re starting some kind of life together, far away from Mercer and everyone else.” She licked her lips. “But I can’t.” Then, voice louder, she focused on the men in the front. “Take us to the EOD headquarters.”
Logan didn’t even slow down. And he didn’t turn around.
“Logan.” She snapped out his name. “Take us back.”
They eased under a row of bright streetlights—still on because the light of the day wasn’t heavy or clear yet—and, in the rearview mirror, she saw Logan’s gaze shift toward Cale.
“It’s not his choice,” Cassidy said, lifting her chin. “It’s mine. And I’m not running.”
“Are you dying?” Gunner wanted to know as he glanced back at her. “Because that’s what almost happened to you.”
Yes, she had almost died, and Cale—no, all of those men—had risked their lives for her.
For her secret.
She opened her mouth and said, “I’m Mercer’s daughter.”
Wait, had she meant to say that?
Yes.
The silence in the car was heavy. She could feel Cale’s gaze boring into her.
“Thank you for all that you’ve done to protect me,” she said, her voice sounding too calm even to her own ears. “But the threats to me won’t ever end. They can’t. And as much as I want to just run away, to be with Cale...” Her chest was aching. “I can’t. I can’t leave Genevieve.” If there was a chance that her friend was alive, then she had to keep searching for her.
And if Genevieve was dead... I need to find her body. I can’t leave her out there, all alone.
Gunner was still staring at her. “I know who you are.”
“Me, too,” came from Logan as the car accelerated.
Cassidy blinked. Well. So much for her big reveal.
“Syd can uncover anything with her computers.” Gunner shrugged. “She didn’t want me walking in blind in that park, so she made sure I knew.”
Cassidy had laid out the puzzle pieces for her. Because I wanted her to tell him.
“And you told Logan,” Cale muttered to Gunner.
A slow nod from the sniper. “We figured you already knew, seeing how...close...you’d gotten with Cassidy here.”
She was grateful for the dark because it hid the heat that stained her cheeks. She and Cale had definitely gotten close.
“I don’t see how you being Mercer’s daughter changes anything. You and Cale have a plane waiting on you.”
They weren’t listening to her. “Genevieve could be alive.”
Cale’s hold tightened on her. “You didn’t see her in that alley.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Logan said contemplatively.
“What?” Cale’s head jerked toward him.
“A few minutes after we left the safe house, a car started tailing us. Someone was outside of that place, watching us.” His fingers drummed lightly on the steering wheel. “They’re staying back, keeping their headlights off, but I still made them.”
She immediately spun around, but Cassidy couldn’t see anyone following. “Are you sure?”
A rough laugh. “Trust me. I know when I’m being followed.”
He would.
“And I know when— Hell!” Logan slammed on the brakes, but it did no good because another car barreled right toward them. A big dark SUV that slammed straight into their vehicle. They collided with a crush of metal and the sickening crunch of glass. Cassidy didn’t even have the breath to scream as she was thrown forward.
Chapter Eleven
The seat belt cut into Cale’s shoulder. Swearing, he yanked it away and reached for Cassidy. “Sweetheart?”
She was pulling on her own seat belt—the belt had jerked her back against her seat. “I’m okay.”
“Logan? Gunner?” He snapped out their names.
“My legs are pinned,” Gunner growled. “And Logan—”
“Has a gun to his head.” A cold, deadly voice floated through the car. A man’s voice. A voice Cale had never heard before. He pushed forward to see if the man was bluffing. When he moved, he caught sight of a gun pressed right to Logan’s temple. The window on Logan’s side had shattered during the crash—or else the guy with the gun had shattered it—and now the man had easy access to the interior of the vehicle.
“Unlock the back doors,” that cold voice ordered Logan. “Or I’ll put a hole in your head right now and unlock them myself.”
Cale pulled his own weapon. When those doors were unlocked, he knew exactly what would happen.
He also knew that Logan wouldn’t unlock them. Logan was the team leader. He would never sacrifice his team. Even if he had to risk his own life in order to protect them.
“Why don’t you get the hell away from me?” Logan invited roughly.
Cale dived for Cassidy, covering her with his body because he could already see Logan moving. Logan’s hand whipped up, and the crunch of bones—no doubt the gunman’s wrist shattering—filled the car even as a bullet erupted from the weapon.
The bullet flew over the driver’s seat, narrowly missing Cale.
The sounds of a struggle came from the front of the vehicle. Cale couldn’t help from his current position, so he jumped away from Cassidy, heaved open the back door and—