Chapter 10

The storm was still going strong two days later and Cal was going stir crazy. Or maybe it was just Evangeline who was driving him crazy. She hadn't been wrong about the endless sexual tension and unsatisfied desire. But their relationship was complicated. They had a history. Some good. Some not so good. But it was the future that was plaguing his dreams.

He was finding he very much wanted a future with Evie. The kind of future where they'd be lifelong partners—on the job and at home. They'd wasted too much time, though the years had given both of them the chance to grow up.

He was just now wrapping his own mind around the thought of marriage. It had been a disaster the first time, but it wasn't fair to even compare. He'd have given anything for Julie to listen to her parents and run the other direction from him. She'd still be alive if she'd listened. But Julie had been looking for a bad boy like in one of the romance novels she liked to read, and he'd been hell bent on destruction, looking for a way to keep the memories of Evangeline from creeping into his dreams. The marriage had been a disaster from the start.

He'd woken early and dressed for a workout. Sleeping next to Evangeline every night was unraveling his sanity and he needed to punch something. And just like the last three mornings, Evie had gotten out of bed and put her own workout gear on. And like clockwork she made her way to the kitchen because she didn't function without caffeine hitting her system.

By the time she was alert enough for them to make their way up to the gym, Cal was gritting his teeth and cursing himself for telling her that she was to stick to him like glue. The fumes from that glue were making him want to self-combust.

"Master of Puppets"blared from his phone, and he gave a sigh of relief, glad to have a distraction other than his own thoughts.

"Hold up a sec," he told Evie.

"Good," she said. "I'd rather have breakfast anyway. I didn't get enough sleep last night. You're a restless sleeper."

He refrained from rolling his eyes. "Cruz," he said into the phone.

"We tapped into the FBI hotline and a tip came in early this morning," Atticus said. "A witness recognized Taber at a gas station in Atlanta and called it in."

"Uh-huh," Cal said. "Last I checked the reward is twenty-five thousand dollars. Witnesses start coming out of the woodwork. Everyone's grandpa becomes an assassin for the right price."

"Family loyalty is hard to come by," Atticus said dryly. "The only difference is this witness took a picture with his phone. Guess what Taber was driving?"

"A silver Mercedes?"

"Close enough," Atticus said. "A silver BMW rental from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Rented under the name Victor Timms."

Evie got out eggs from the fridge and a loaf of bread from the box. And then she gathered everything she needed to make French toast. It didn't look like they were making it to the gym anytime soon, so he made himself comfortable on one of the sleek barstools that lined the white marble island.

"I'm assuming his trip to Atlanta was successful?" Cal asked.

"We're not sure yet," Atticus said.

"Why do you sound worried about that?" Cal asked.

"Because Taber has never been one to hide his light under a bushel. We were expecting him to come to Atlanta since it's where Boulder Corp. is located. The FBI has had agents on Jenson Walker. His security has been briefed and beefed up."

"I hear a but in there somewhere."

"But he's gone missing, and we haven't found a body. Or any parts of a body."

"That is unusual," Cal said. "Maybe Jenson got spooked and decided to take off on his own."

"He would have to be a hell of a magician," Atticus said. "Security outside his office saw him shortly before eight o'clock. He was due in a board meeting at eight fifteen but never showed. No one was logged coming in or out of his office in that fifteen-minute timespan."

Cal grunted. "So where's Taber now?"

"We've adjusted satellite imagery to try and track him along the highway. We've taken control of the cameras at intersections and toll areas. We know he's heading east, so chances are Evangeline is next on his list. Nate and Eden should be there in the next few hours. And Max will take the red-eye so he can be there by morning. You'll have the backup you need."

Cal felt some of the pressure in his chest dissipate. Nate and Max. Warlock and Zeus in a former life. He knew he could trust them with his life, but more importantly he could trust them with Evie's life.

"Good to know. I'm about to crack open Boulder and DyniCorp. I've been cracking their digital safe for almost two days, but I should be well entrenched in the next hour or so. Both companies should feel good about their security. It's some of the best I've seen."

"I'm sure that will warm their hearts once they discover the breach," Atticus said.

"They're not going to discover the breach. I know how to cover my tracks."

"Or maybe it's a good idea, as a courtesy, to alert them they've got weak defenses."

"Eh," Cal said. "You're the one who has a moral compass about that kind of stuff. I'll leave it up to you."

Evie arched a brow at him and slid a plate in front of him. He winked at her and watched as she got fresh fruit, cream, and syrup and set it out neatly in front of their plates. She refilled her own coffee and took the seat next to his.

"What's your take on Boulder?" Cal asked. "Maybe I can track Walker once I breach the system."

"They're a billion-dollar company," Atticus said. "A competitive player in government contracts. Mostly aircraft for the military, but they dabble in a few other things. They've got restructuring problems. Charles Haywood was the CEO for more than twenty years, but he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year and has acted as CEO emeritus for the past six months so stockholders wouldn't get nervous at a change at the helm. Everyone loved Haywood. He's a good man."

"It's hard to be the guy that follows the guy," Cal said. "Is Haywood's diagnosis common knowledge?"

"They've kept a tight lid on it," Atticus said. "The board of directors hasn't even been officially notified, though most of them have to suspect. Haywood has always been good at making people feel at ease, even when things are about to hit the fan. He gave the standard speech about quality of life and wanting to slow down to spend time with his family, and that he fully supported Jenson Walker to take over as acting CEO. But that he'd see the transition through for the first year."

"I take it people don't love Walker like they loved Haywood?" Cal asked, digging into the food in front of him.

"That's an understatement. Especially with Senator Biddle. Biddle and Charles Haywood go way back and they're friends. But like most things when the government is involved, money talks and personal favors are granted with the expectation that they'll be paid back when called in. And Biddle owed Charles Haywood a favor. It turns out Charles had a sound enough mind to call in the favor by asking Biddle to meet with Walker and give the contract to Boulder."

"Would Biddle have honored the favor?" Cal asked.

"Possibly. If there was no other way to get out of it. Haywood does still have some very lucid days, but I've heard through the grapevine they're becoming few and far between. Biddle probably hoped if he delayed long enough that Haywood wouldn't have known one way or the other."

Cal looked down at his plate and realized he'd eaten everything, and then he looked over at Evangeline. Her laptop was set up and it looked like she was getting caught up on work. His eyes started to glaze over watching her. He didn't know how she'd stood doing such boring work all these years.

He took his plate to the sink and then walked over to the area where he'd set up his computers. Ferreting out information on three top clearance companies, pulling video from behind the walls of Langley, and infiltrating different areas of the Pentagon took time and patience. Thankfully he had both. Both Boulder and DyniCorp had safeguards in place to recognize patterns and anomalies that appeared when someone was trying to hack the system. The program he'd written edged in a little bit at a time, so it was a continuous job of moving in and out without being detected.

He was close. Numbers and symbols were scrolling rapidly across the screen and his adrenaline surged.

"If Senator Biddle was planning to give the contract to Boulder because of his deal with Hayward, and the competition is getting knocked off, first with John Amir at AeroNaut and now with Jenson Walker missing, it kind of leaves the smoking gun pointing at DyniCorp."

"Believe me," Atticus said. "I'm aware. I've been all over them like a rash. I've pulled all the financials for an audit and everyone associated is getting thoroughly investigated. Don't worry about DyniCorp. If they're involved in this in any way I'll light the match to burn them to the ground."

"I never doubted it for a second."

"Things will ramp up quick, Cal," Atticus said, his tone serious. "Taber doesn't like to delay his jobs. Don't let your guard down."

"No worries. And good call sending Nate. He owes me a hundred bucks. Convenient how he always happens to be out on assignment when I'm in town."

"He pays better bribes than you do," he said, and then hung up.

Evangeline had spent the past couple of days trying to figure out Cal's game. Which caused her to wonder why everything always had to be a game with them to begin with. Their time together had been pleasant—comfortable—and as familiar as their childhoods had been. It was making her nervous. Not to mention she was wondering when he was going to kiss her again.

She'd never stopped loving him. Even when she thought she'd hated him. And being forced together over the last couple of days had been an exercise in restraint. Especially when he looked at her the way he had been—those intense, longing looks that made her think he was going to swoop in and kiss her at any moment.

But he hadn't kissed her again. And God, how she'd wanted him to.

She'd been surprised how easily they'd moved into a steady routine. She was a private person by nature and treasured her solitude. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in such close proximity to a person for multiple days.

But Cal somehow managed to stick close to her without invading her space. He just simply was in her space.

His conversation with Atticus had piqued her curiosity, but she'd learned from her father that if she looked like she wasn't paying attention than people tended to loosen their guard on what they said. So after she'd made breakfast she set up her laptop to get caught up on work. She'd been so far ahead on her projects that she could have taken a month off, and everything that was in her inbox she could've done with her eyes closed.

Cal hung up the phone and she could feel his eyes on her from behind.

"Thanks for breakfast," he said.

"We've all got to eat," she said dryly. "Though we're probably going to have to get groceries soon. I'd forgotten how much you eat. You were always a bottomless pit as a teenager. Looks like time hasn't changed much in that regard."

"At least Robert has a first-rate gym in this place," he said. "I normally just fuel to survive. But you're a good cook. Apparently all I needed to get my teenage appetite back was a good home-cooked meal."

"Hmm," she said as she swiveled on her barstool to face him.

"Looks like exciting work," he said, mouth twitching.

"Everyone needs a hobby," she said.

"Most people take up road cycling. Or knitting. Or read ridiculous amounts of romance novels."

She felt the warmth in her cheeks. If he'd wanted to come out and say that he'd been spying on her for the last ten years that was the easiest way to do it. One of the ways she stayed in shape was with road cycling. She loved the feel of the wind against her face as she soared downhill, and the way her thighs burned as she battled up a steep climb.

And knitting…well, she'd been bored and figured it was a good skill to learn. She hadn't mastered it and all she'd managed to create was a couple of lopsided blankets, but it had kept her hands occupied on nights when she'd been tempted to use them for other things, especially in those early months after everything had been taken from her.

As for the romance novels, it wasn't her fault that she was a fast reader. And what constituted a ridiculous amount? It's not like she lied about other plans to her co-workers whenever they invited her out for after-work drinks and instead went home to read a book in her bathtub and drink a glass of wine. At least…not always.

Instead of responding, she tightened her lips and cleared her dishes away, putting them in the dishwasher.

"That was Atticus on the phone," he said. "We're about to have some company."

"Atticus is coming here?" she asked, turning to face him, her embarrassment forgotten.

"Not Atticus," Cal said. "Nathan and Eden Locke. Nate was part of our CIA black ops team."

"I've heard Dad talk about him," she said. "I've never met him though."

"He met Eden when Atticus sent him on a mission to track down a recruit that had been Israeli Mossad."

"Did he find the recruit?" she asked.

"He married her," Cal said, grinning. "She's a hell of an agent. I'm glad she's on our side."

"So what you're saying is that Atticus is kind of a black ops matchmaker."

Cal burst out with laughter, doubling over to catch his breath. "Oh, Atticus is going to love that one."

"Oh, God. Don't tell him I said that."

"I'll take full credit for it," he assured her. "Atticus never did have much of a sense of humor. He's a very serious kind of guy. But that doesn't mean the rest of us don't give him a jab from time to time, just to see if we can crack that shell."

"I'm sure it must give him a lot of peace to know he's running an agency of teenagers."

"As long as we get the job done," Cal said. "I want to go change before Nate and Eden get here. We won't have time to work out. Atticus said Taber was spotted in Atlanta. They're using satellite imagery to try and track his route, but they know for sure he's headed east. You're the most likely target."

They headed back up the stairs to the bedroom they were sharing.

"Does that mean he found his target in Atlanta?" she asked.

"Don't know yet," Cal said, getting a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt from the closet. "No body has been found."

Evie looked down at her oversized shirt and leggings and wondered if she could get away with wearing them for the rest of the day, but she figured it was probably a good idea to make a good impression on the people sent to protect her with their lives.

So she grabbed her own jeans and debated over the folded clothes she'd rescued from her room down the hall. It had been a long time since she'd paid attention to her clothes. Hiding her body had seemed fitting with having to hide her true identity. But she'd felt something surge through her the day before when she'd sat behind Cal's console and felt the magic run through the tip of her fingers.

Now that she'd had the taste she knew she couldn't go back to the woman she'd pretended to be for the last decade. Even if Cal asked her to.

She grabbed a black tank top from the pile and her jeans. It was still warm and they were in Florida and the humidity was thick. But she was her father's daughter. Be prepared in all things. So she chose jeans instead of shorts, grabbed sneakers and socks, and went into the bathroom to change. She rolled her eyes at Cal, who didn't seem to have any problem with stripping down in front of her.

He was dressed when she came back out, his gun in the holster at his waist and an extra magazine in his pocket. He wore a lightweight Gore-Tex jacket with pockets that probably had any number of weapons hidden inside.

His brow arched when he noticed she wore a tank top instead of an oversized ugly shirt, and she felt a tingle of excitement as his eyes darkened. She went to the nightstand and grabbed her .9mm to keep on hand. She could tell something had shifted in Cal, and it put her own senses on high alert.

Cal's phone rang just as they were coming back downstairs.

"This is Cruz," he said. And then, "Send them to the house."

"They're here?" she asked. "That was fast."

"They were scheduled to come in today no matter what," Cal told her. "They just got back from a mission a couple of days ago and had time to debrief and decompress."

Cal opened the large glass front door and they watched a gray SUV come through the gate and down the long drive of palms, circling the fountain before coming to a stop.

One of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen got out of the passenger side. Her dark hair was pulled back from a strikingly exotic face, and though she was slender, the muscles in her shoulders and arms were clearly defined in the spaghetti strap tank she wore. Evie's brows knitted together when the woman came close enough for her to see the three puckered scars high up on her chest.

Evie knew by looking at them they were gunshot wounds, and by the placement of them, she was lucky to be alive at all.

"Eden," Cal said, pulling her into a hug. "Beautiful as ever. I can't believe you married this dunderhead. Did you know he once went an entire mission only eating Vienna sausages? He kept trying to convince the rest of us it was why he had so much energy."

"They say love is blind," she said, laughing. And then she looked at Evie. "You must be Evangeline. I've heard so much about you."

"Call me Evie," she said, liking the woman instantly.

"Don't y'all stand there and act like I'm the hired help," Nate said, opening the trunk to grab their bags.

"Oh, didn't see you there, Warlock," Cal said. "You look different. I think you might be putting on some weight around the middle. I hear married life does that to a man."

Eden and Evie laughed, and Evie thought Nate looked like he was in the best shape of his life. There wasn't an ounce of fat on him anywhere. She'd grown up around men who had certain skill sets, and she'd learned to recognize them at an early age. They all moved the same, and there was something in their eyes that brought an initial wariness to anyone they came in contact with. Though Nate was a more presentable first impression than Cal could ever hope to be. Most people walked in the opposite direction whenever they saw Cal coming. Maybe it was the tattoos.

But Nathan Locke was Cal's complete opposite. She'd never seen anyone whose description fit California better than his. He was a couple of inches taller than Cal, and his white-blond hair was long enough to be casually tousled around his angular face. A short beard a shade darker than what was on his head covered his cheeks. She'd expected to see blue or green eyes with his coloring, but when he took off his sunglasses she could see they were so dark they were almost black.

"I will kill you, Cyph," Nate said, hanging his sunglasses in the front of his shirt. "Now come get some of these bags. We brought an arsenal. Eden doesn't like to leave home without them. I guess some women don't like to leave home without their purses. For Eden it's guns."

"My kind of woman," Cal said.

"So you're Lockwood's daughter," Nate said, looking back and forth between her and Cal.

"That's what they tell me," Evie said. "I can't prove it though."

"You certainly don't look like him. Thank God for small blessings. Now I see why Cal has been so protective of you all these years."

Evie arched a brow. "Oh really? In what way?"

Nate cleared his throat and grinned. "You know, like telling anyone he came in contact with that he'd kill them if they so much as looked in your direction. That kind of stuff."

Cal growled low in his throat and Nate laughed. Thunder rumbled overhead as clouds moved in.

"I thought Florida was supposed to be sunny," Nate said. "It's done nothing but rain since we got here. Next time you witness a murder let's rendezvous in Italy."

Evie grinned, liking him immediately.

"I see you met my wife," Nate said. "Don't play poker with her. She counts cards."

"Don't worry," Evie said. "So do I. It makes things more interesting."

"My kind of woman," Eden said.

It was obvious the couple loved each other very much. They almost looked like normal people, but they were highly trained agents and never to be underestimated.

She wondered what it would be like to have a partner like that in every sense of the word—in marriage and in work. It obviously suited them both because their thoughts and actions were in sync as they all walked around the perimeter of the house before the rain started again, cataloguing entrance and exit points and looking for signs of weakness.

"We'll try not to invade your privacy too much," Eden said. "We're just here to be an extra set of eyes. Which is going to be interesting if the rain comes in hard again. It provides an excellent cover for someone wanting to get close to the house. How's the security system?"

"It's crap," Cal said.

"Geez, tell us how you really feel, Cal," Evie said.

"Just telling the truth, sugar. Your dad didn't have the kind of security in mind that we need when he bought the place for your mom, and he never upgraded after she died since he's rarely here. It has a standard alarm system and exterior cameras. But they've been spotty at best since the rain started. The wind knocks them out of alignment, and it's a pain in the ass to go out and move them back into place. Basically, we're working blind except for the lookout agents.

"Ahh, to be a peon again and get all the exciting assignments," Nate said with a grin. "Those were the days."

"I wouldn't know," Cal said, his mouth quirked in good humor. "I was never a peon."

The storm intensified over the next several hours, and the sky had darkened. Cal was getting antsy, and he kept getting up from the table where he'd been working to check the windows and doors.

"You're driving me crazy, Cyph," Nate said, playing cards with Eden and Evie at the table. "You never did learn patience."

"He's close," Cal said. "I can feel it."

Cal's cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number, but that wasn't uncommon. Agents used burner cells most of the time.

"Cruz," he said.

"Sir, this is Agent James. My partner and I are at a little restaurant called Rosa's. We've been staked out here to watch cars as they cross the bridge. We were about to call in a silver BMW when the car turned into the lot and Taber walked into the restaurant. He's got a corner table with his back to the wall. Do you want us to detain him?"

"You and your partner hang tight," Cal said. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't take your eyes off him."

"Yes, sir."

Cal disconnected and looked at Nate. "Taber is at a restaurant called Rosa's. It's about a ten-minute drive from here."

Nate looked hesitant. "Do you think it's legitimate?"

"I think it's worth checking out," Cal said. "Atticus said this island is crawling with agents. I have no idea where they're stationed or who they are. But he mentioned the BMW. That's fairly new information that Atticus would have relayed to the rest of the team so they could keep an eye out."

Eden looked at Nate and said, "You and Cal go. I'll stay here with Evie. If something's wrong give us a heads-up and we'll go to plan B and get her moved to safety until you get back."

"I'll alert the agents next door to move in closer." Nate opened his duffle bag and pulled out an extra magazine to stick in his pocket and then he grabbed a sheathed knife and strapped it to his ankle.

Evie didn't know why the separation made her so anxious. She'd gotten used to having Cal as her primary protector. And it wasn't that she didn't think Eden could do a good job. She was just…different.

Eden had walked Nate to the door and they were saying their goodbyes, and Cal felt a pang of envy for what they had.

He held out his hand to Evie and she put her hand in his tentatively. And then he pulled her to her feet.

"You going to be okay?" he asked. "You look nervous."

"I'm fine," she said. "I'll just be glad when this is over."

"Evie," he said. He couldn't seem to look away. She was so beautiful. "When this is over…"

"Yes?" she asked.

"I think we have some things to talk about when this is over."

"Cal," she whispered.

Before he could help himself he leaned in and kissed her, pulling her into his arms and wishing he didn't have to let her go. He pulled away and then gave her another kiss on her forehead.

"Don't take any chances," he said, warning her. "I know you can protect yourself. But let Eden do her job."

"We'll be fine," she said. "Just get him and finish the job so you can get back and we can have that conversation. I was thinking maybe we could have it at a place where Atticus or my father can't interrupt us. I wouldn't mind disappearing for a while."

"I think I can manage that," he said, and kissed her again.

He went to meet Nate at the door and pulled up the center cushion of the couch along the way, grabbing the extra weapon hidden there along with another magazine.

"Hit the panic button on your phone if you need us," Cal said.

And then they were gone.