Miller dropped his hand in a “whatever” move, then shrugged. He stepped aside but stayed close enough to get between them if things heated up again.

And Zane wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset by that realization. Because he wasn’t sure who needed protecting more right now—him or Eve.

Raking a hand through his hair, he worked to cool his temper. “Okay, assuming you really do work for CI, what were you doing in Seattle yesterday at the site of the bombing?”

Eve’s jaw clenched. “I was scheduled to meet a man by the name of Tyrone Smith. Recently, the CIA has seen an influx of opium and other drugs being imported from places like Afghanistan. The money exchange is going to fund terrorism. Case officers are constantly being bombarded with opportunities that didn’t exist ten or twelve years ago. Anyway, a contact with CSIS—the Canadian Security Intelligence Services—set up the meeting. Smith has connections all over the globe, and through those connections, he’d supposedly come into possession of a laundry list of compromised operatives collected by MI6. I was posing as the front person for a privately funded defense company interested in the information he’d obtained. He’d agreed to sell it to me.”

“Did you get the list?” Miller asked.

“No. Smith was being evasive. I got a bad feeling and decided it was time to turn tail and run. Just as I was about to leave, he pushed his phone across the table and showed me the image of my sister bound in the back of what I assumed was the van across the street. He led me to believe she was in there.”

“How can you be sure it was her?” Zane asked.

“Because Olivia has a unique purple butterfly tattoo on her ankle. I saw it clearly in the image. I didn’t doubt it was her. This kind of guy doesn’t play games. He also knew my real name.”

Eve finally met his gaze. And Zane’s chest stretched tight as a drum when he saw the fear in her eyes.

She looked back down and gripped the chair cushion. “I gave him the money, he called his goons off the van, then he left and I headed for the crosswalk to get to the van and get my sister out. But it blew before I could cross the street. And the next thing I remember is waking up”—she lifted her gaze once more—“with you.”

Zane’s heart beat hard against his ribs. First slow, then faster with every pounding blow. She lies. She lies for a living . . .

“What—” He cleared his throat because there was suddenly a huge lump blocking his words. “What about Guatemala? You knew my team was compromised.”

Eve sighed and looked back down at the floor. “I didn’t know your team had been set up until it was too late to warn you. Someone in the CIA has a personal vendetta against the CEO of Aegis Security. I don’t know why, and I don’t know who. I just know he wanted to see Aegis taken down.”

Miller looked Archer’s way. “Ryder told the State Department to go fuck itself when Aegis didn’t get that contract in Egypt.”

Yeah, Zane remembered. Ryder had been pissed when Aegis had been passed over for the Egypt job, even though his guys were the more qualified team. That had been a few months before the Guatemala raid. Aegis hadn’t originally been awarded the Humbolt contract in Guatemala. It had gone to a different defense contractor, but at the last minute they’d backed out and the government had come calling.

At the time, Archer had been psyched. Especially when Ryder had allowed him to use his CIA contacts to aid with the planning. Now it seemed like one major-ass setup.

“I was in Istanbul at the time,” Eve went on. “But when I caught wind of what was happening, I called to make sure you were still alive. Not to gloat like you thought.”

“It didn’t sound like you were just checking to see if I was alive.”

She frowned up at him. “We’re talking about a spy organization, Archer. We spy on others, but we sure the hell spy on each other. I’m living proof of that. I didn’t know who might be listening on some back channel, so I pretended not to care. I couldn’t care, because if I did, who knows how many others might have been compromised. I also couldn’t let them know—”

She closed her mouth, and Zane found himself waiting for more. “Know what?”

She clenched her jaw and looked away. Irritation, anger, and something else lingered in her gaze. Something he couldn’t read but that caused his pulse to beat even faster. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Know that I’m an idiot. That’s all.”

That wasn’t all, though. There was something else. Something she wasn’t saying.

Zane opened his mouth to ask, but the ping from Miller’s cell phone cut him off.

Eve’s wide-eyed gaze immediately shot to Miller, who was already pulling the phone from his pocket. “Is it about my sister?” She pushed out of the chair. “Did they find her?”

Miller frowned as he stared down at the screen. “She didn’t show up for work two days ago. She’s been listed as officially missing. No signs of foul play at her house, though.”

“Oh God.” Eve closed her eyes and turned away.

Zane’s stomach churned, and contradicting thoughts raced through his mind.

“There’s more,” Miller said, shoving the phone back in his pocket.

“More what?” Eve swiveled back to face him.

Miller crossed the room, picked up the remote from the coffee table, and flipped on the TV. A young female reporter’s face filled the screen. Followed by a not-too-recent picture of Zane.

In the photo, his hair was short and neatly trimmed, and he was wearing a white button-down and black blazer. An ID badge hung off his jacket pocket.

“Oh shit,” Eve whispered.

“While no group has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday’s bombing in Seattle, sources confirm this man, Zane Archer, also wanted in connection with the tragedy, is a former case officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Archer left the State Department a year and a half ago under questionable circumstances.”

Eve whipped toward Miller. “Give me your phone.” When he only stared at her, she said in a frantic voice, “I need your phone now.”

“Who are you planning to call?” he asked skeptically, reaching for his cell.

“My supervisor. Someone leaked Archer’s CIA photo to the press.”

Zane’s mind was a swirl of contradicting information, but Eve’s anxiety got through. “Wolfe,” he said, more for himself than her. “Take a breath.”

She yanked the cell from Miller’s hand and started dialing. “I’ll take a breath when I figure out what the fuck is going on.” Into the phone she said, “Yes, I need you to patch me through to 1-5-7-8-4.” She hesitated, then muttered, “My security clearance is . . .”

She wandered into the kitchen with Miller’s phone, and Zane let her go, knowing she couldn’t get far, too rattled to think straight. At some point, Miller had hit mute on the TV, but all Zane could do was stare at the younger image of himself on the screen, a stupid rookie who thought he’d been making things better in the world when he’d only been making them worse.

Now it felt like the world had just been blown to shit and he was in the center of the fallout. With Eve’s words from the warehouse continuing to ring in his ears.

I loved you, you son of a bitch. I loved you . . .

“Dude. You okay?”

Miller’s hand slapping against Zane’s shoulder shocked him out of his trance. “What?”

“I asked if you were okay. You look like shit.”

Zane felt like shit. He rubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah.” Dropping his hand, he looked toward the kitchen. He could hear Eve’s low voice but couldn’t make out any of her words. “Do you believe her?”

Miller shrugged and dropped into a chair. “I don’t not believe her, if that helps. She could totally be telling the truth. I mean, her story makes sense.”

Perspiration dotted the back of Zane’s neck. Yeah, it made sense to him too. What didn’t make sense was why he was being tagged in this mess and not her.

“Why don’t you tell me how you found her yesterday and what you’ve been up to since,” Miller said. “Maybe then I can figure out how to help you. Because the Feds aren’t the only ones who have a hard-on for you, buddy. Ryder’s got one too, and that’s not exactly a good thing.”

Zane rested his hands on his hips. Yeah, he bet Ryder had it in for him. Before Eve could come back into the room, he launched into how he’d tracked her to Seattle and caught up with her just before that bomb went off. Then he relayed what had happened since.

Miller crossed his hands over his chest, kicked out his legs, and shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling. “God Almighty, but you know how to screw up a wet dream, don’t you? What the fuck were you planning on doing with her, man?”

Frustration welled in Zane’s stomach. He punched the Off button on the TV and began pacing. “I don’t know. I wanted to find out what she’d been up to. And I guess I wanted to scare her a little.”

Miller chuckled. “Looks to me like you all you did is piss her off. That woman does not like you. And if what she told us is true, then with good reason.”

Zane stopped in the middle of the floor and looked toward the kitchen. Eve was quiet now, but he knew she was still in there. How, he wasn’t sure. He just . . . felt her.

His heart beat faster, and a tingling spread across his neck and down his spine, then wrapped itself around his abdomen until it tightened every muscle in his torso.

“Life is tough,” Miller muttered. “But it’s tougher when you’re stupid.”

Zane’s gaze snapped Miller’s way, and Miller grinned. “John Wayne. Smart man. You could learn a thing or two from the Duke.”