Chapter 4

Trevor excused himself,hoping he wasn’t losing the opportunity to stay close to Sadie. Who knew if he would be allowed back in that room? Another nurse could come on shift and refuse to let him in.

But if Larchmont truly was outside, he couldn’t avoid the man.

Trevor stepped into the hallway and spotted someone standing against the wall directly across from him.

His stomach sank.

Alan Larchmont.

The sixty-something man had a shock of white hair and a tall, thin, muscular frame. His distinguished features masked the fact he was a trained assassin. He relied on logic, not emotion, in nearly every situation.

Those facts had served him well in his career. But it didn’t make him any easier to deal with.

“Trevor.” Larchmont’s voice sounded as gruff as always. “Let’s take a walk.”

“I prefer not to get too far away.” Trevor bristled, preparing himself for an argument. “Someone made an attempt on Sadie’s life. Who’s to say they won’t try again?”

Larchmont didn’t deny that Sadie could still be in danger, but irritation flickered in his gaze as if he didn’t appreciate the insubordination. “Fine. Let’s walk to the end of the hall. You can still see her room, but we’ll have more privacy.”

Trevor agreed, and they paced toward the exit door. As they paused, Trevor kept himself angled to see Sadie’s room.

“This is my time off. How did you find me?” He glanced back at Larchmont, not able to hide his anger at the fact he’d been tracked.

Larchmont remained unapologetic. “I make it my business to keep tabs on all my guys.”

Alan Larchmont ran the Shadow Agency, a top-secret organization staffed by former members of a clandestine government military experiment. Larchmont had been their fearless leader while they were enlisted. When he retired, he’d recruited each of them to join him.

They did work no one else wanted to do. Work where they needed to remain nameless and faceless. Work where their ability to slip in and later disappear was essential.

“This is a private matter.” Trevor was unwilling to concede.

He’d given everything to the government and then to the Shadow Agency. He’d given so much that he’d nearly forgotten who he was. What kinds of food he liked. He had no idea what kind of vacations he’d like to go on one day. Had no dreams of ever having a life outside the job.

Then he’d realized how meaningless that felt, and he’d decided to make some changes.

Meeting Sadie had sealed the deal.

That evening, he’d been at the beach watching the sunset. No one else was there—just the way he liked it.

Then Sadie arrived, looking equally disappointed to have to share the shore.

When a sudden wind had sent her hat flying across the beach, Trevor had retrieved it. They’d struck up a conversation, and one thing led to another.

Trevor had asked her out to dinner that evening, and she’d said yes.

“In this line of work, nothing is private.” Larchmont scowled. “Private matters are liabilities.”

“I deserve a life outside the Shadow Agency.”

Larchmont’s expression remained hard. “You knew what you were signing up for.”

Each of his colleagues officially knew what they were getting into when they joined. But after years of living unconnected, almost nomadic lives, many of them were becoming restless. Many were wanting more than what they’d found after giving their lives to an agency that may or may not care about them.

“So you found out I bought a burner phone and was seeing Sadie Carrington.” Trevor’s jaw tightened as he said the words, but he tried to set his emotions aside.

Larchmont had come here for a reason. Otherwise, they could have simply had this conversation when he got back into the office in Detroit. “That’s correct.”

“I thought you were still in Wyoming.” That was the last Trevor had heard.

“I’m wherever I need to be.”

Trevor didn’t like the sound of that. He’d had reservations about the man for a while, but after his last case, he had even more.

Larchmont was hiding something. Trevor was sure of it.

Recently, one of their suspects had been on the verge of sharing a secret when Larchmont had pulled the trigger and silenced the woman. Larchmont had said it was to protect his agents because their suspect was about to kill them all.

But Trevor wasn’t so sure.

“So why are you here?” Trevor crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for his boss to respond.

“I need you to stay close to Sadie.”

Trevor blinked. That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.

“You mean I can tell her who I really am?” he clarified.

Larchmont grimaced. “No.”

Trevor shook his head, trying to make sense of what his boss was telling him. “Then what are you talking about?”

“Sadie Carrington may have been sent by one of our enemies to befriend you.”

* * *

Sadie glanced at her arm and squinted.

She held it closer and observed a faint outline of red.

What was that?

It almost looked like . . . blood.

But her IV was in the opposite arm. From all appearances, she hadn’t cut herself.

So why . . . ?

What had she been doing at the beach? Had she been about to meet someone?

Was there some type of trouble brewing in her life that had suddenly disappeared from her memory?

Her thoughts raced but went nowhere. Unless a friend or a coworker or a family member came forward with information, she was going to flounder in a sea of the unknown right now.

Her gaze drifted to the window beside her bed. She had a view of the front of the hospital and everyone coming and going.

A man walking toward the hospital entrance caught her eye.

Her lungs tightened at the sight of him.

Why? What was it about that man wearing the black leather jacket and dark jeans that caused her to feel such sudden panic?

Did she know him?

“Everything okay?” Nurse Kate peered at her. “Your heart rate just kicked up a notch.”

She continued to watch the man as he disappeared into the hospital.

Was he coming to see her?

Her heart continued to pump harder, faster.

“Sadie?”

With the man now gone and out of sight, she jerked her head back toward the nurse.

The woman repeated her question. “Is everything okay?”

What should she say? Sadie wasn’t sure. Yet something internal told her not to mention that man.

But why? It didn’t make sense.

“I think I’m just tired,” Sadie finally murmured. “This is . . . a lot.”

“I can only imagine. I’m going to let you get your rest in a second.”

Sadie nodded. “The man that was in here—the one who found me? Trevor. Is he outside the room or did he leave?”

“Let me look for you.”

The nurse cracked the door open just slightly before stepping back toward Sadie. “He’s still there. Did you want to see him?”

“No, I am okay. But would you stay in here with me for a few more minutes? I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Sadie held her breath, fearing that the nurse would refuse her. Certainly, the woman had other patients she needed to see.

Instead, the nurse smiled kindly and nodded. “Yes, I’d be happy to stay a little while longer.”

Sadie wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about that man outside and why he might be here at the hospital. Why did seeing him cause her anxiety to ratchet? Why did her fear—her fight-or-flight instincts—kick in? And why did she have an impending feeling that he was headed to her room and that her life could be on the line?

It made no sense.

Yet somehow, it felt like the truth.