Carol Ericson - Catch, Release

“He wants the plans to the anti-drone.”

“The anti-drone? Is that what I think it is?”

“A team of scientists and engineers worked on a weapon to neutralize our fleet of drones. They came up with a set of plans for a prototype and one of our agents stole them. Within a few days, they were stolen from him—from someone inside our organization. Nobody knows where they are now, but Zendaris must think I do or at least he thinks he can use me to find them.”

“Then we’d better start thinking of a plan that’s going to make him believe you can do it while we work on finding Bobby.”

“We?” She spun around with her arms outstretched. “You’re going to help me, Loki?”

“Only if you stop calling me that ridiculous code name.”

“I’d love to, except that night we didn’t get around to proper introductions.”

His mouth quirked. “There was nothing proper about that night at all.”

Her blood stirred. Did he still think about it the way she did? Did he lie awake some nights and relive every sensation?

Of course, she’d had a living reminder of their night together in the form of Bobby. And she didn’t regret one minute of it, then or now.

She thrust out her hand. “I’m Deb Sinclair. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He took her hand. She’d expected a firm handshake, but his long fingers almost caressed her wrist as he brushed his palm against hers.

“Beau Slater, and the pleasure is all mine.”

“Beau.” The name puffed from her lips. Bobby Slater. It worked. “Why are you helping me, Beau Slater? What’s in it for you?”

She had to admit to herself that when she’d first heard his voice, she’d immediately thought she could get him to help her by revealing the truth about Bobby’s parentage. A cheap shot, but she wasn’t above cheap shots to save Bobby. But he’d offered to help without even knowing.

Why?

“If I haul you back to Prospero, that’s not going to get anyone any closer to Zendaris. If you’re in contact with him, that’s a big step.”

She narrowed her eyes. Self-interest—she could believe that. “Has anyone ever sent you on Zendaris’s trail?”

“Yes—” he tossed the phone onto the bed “—but I’m not at liberty to reveal the identity of my employer, even now.”

“It wasn’t the U.S. government, was it?”

He drew a line across his lips. “Not telling. Of course, if you went to Prospero and told Jack Coburn everything you just told me, he’d believe you and probably want to use you as bait.”

“No!”

“What about your team members? I know how Prospero works—teams of four agents. Let them in on it. They could help you.”

“Are you afraid you’re not up to the job?”

His gaze wandered lazily down her body, from her face to the tips of her toes. “Oh, I’m up for the job. I’m just curious why you wouldn’t bring your team in on this. Makes me wonder if everything you’ve told me is the truth.”

How could she explain to him her inability to trust her teammates? She had such high regard for them and would help them in a second, but she couldn’t dismiss the fact that they were all highly trained professionals—men who wanted nothing more than to get their hands on Zendaris and those plans.

Would they really let a little boy stand between them and those goals? Because if it came down to it, she’d turn over those plans and let Zendaris escape if it meant keeping Bobby safe.

“Everything I told you is the truth.” Except for the fact that he was Bobby’s father.

“It seems strange, like something’s off. I probably should just do my job and deliver you to Prospero.”

She straightened her spine and widened her stance. “I’m not going in without a fight.”

A fierce light exploded in his blue eyes. Then he lunged at her and tackled her to the floor.

Chapter Four

He was insane. Bobby’s father had gone over the edge. But then, what had she ever really known about him?

For the second time since he’d bulldozed back into her life, he had her pinned with his body—and it wasn’t as pleasurable as the first time he’d done it three years ago.

“Get off me.” She shoved at his chest, which might as well have been crafted from stone. “Are you going to hog-tie me and carry me back? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

His heart pounded against her chest, his breath ragged in her hair. His voice rasped. “Stay here.”

He rolled from her body and began an army crawl toward the window.

He didn’t plan to kill her after all, or haul her back to Prospero—at least not right this minute. She dragged a few breaths of air into her lungs and brought her knees to her chest, rocking forward.

He stopped his crawl and whipped his head around. “Stay down.”

“Why? What are you doing?”

“Someone just tried to shoot you.”

“What?” She wrapped her arms around her legs, curling into a fetal position.

Beau shimmied to the drapes and yanked them across the windows from the bottom. “Crawl to the bathroom.”

Her mouth so dry she couldn’t peel her tongue from the roof, Deb mimicked Beau’s army crawl until she hit the cold tile of the bathroom floor. Grasping the edge of the tub, she pulled herself onto its edge.

A few seconds later, Beau joined her. He wedged his backside against the vanity and crossed his arms. “What the hell is going on?”

“You’re asking me?” The squeak in her voice echoed in the small space. “How do you know someone was trying to shoot me?”

“You had a red laser beam right here.” He planted the tip of his index finger in the middle of his forehead.

She gasped and her body sagged. She clutched the edge of the tub to stop her slide into it. “Someone had a scope on me?”

“Well, I don’t think it was a light show.”

“Did you see anything out the window?”

“I wasn’t looking, but there’s a building across the way. It must’ve come from there.”

She hoisted herself from the tub and flattened her hands on the vanity, leaning toward the mirror. “It couldn’t be Zendaris. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he kill me before putting me to work?”

“My question exactly.” Beau turned to face the mirror and caught the eye of her reflection. “Unless he knows I’m here and he’s putting the brakes on his plan.”

“God, I hope not. If he thinks I called someone in to help me, he’ll kill Bobby—before he kills me.”

Beau ran a hand up her spine and clasped the back of her neck. “Let’s not think the worst. Do you have any way to contact him? The phone?”

“That’s a one-way phone. I can’t call out on it.”

“Who would be after you?”

She met his blue gaze in the mirror and swallowed hard. “Prospero.”

“Prospero hired me.”

She shrugged away from him and returned to the tub, gripping the plastic shower curtain with one hand. “Maybe Prospero hired two Lokis—one to reel in the catch and one to gut her.”

He raised an eyebrow. “If that were the plan, I would’ve left you in range of the little red dot on your forehead instead of pushing you down.”

“Maybe Prospero is using you.” She shoved the shower curtain away from her and the silver rings clattered on the rod. “Do you really think Jack Coburn isn’t aware that we slept together? He knew all along. That’s why he hired you. He figured you were the best person to find me. Figured I might just trust you instead of running away...or killing you.”

“I hope he’s right.” He hooked a thumb in his pocket and a crooked grin played across his face.

“I fail to see the humor.” She shoved her hands in her hair, letting it run through her fingers and fall about her shoulders.