“She’s alive. Okay is another matter.” Eve grabbed her gun off the floor. “Stay here with them.” She nodded toward Natalie. “She’s out, but she’ll be awake soon.”

“I’ve got it. And, Wolfe.” When Eve looked back, he nodded once. “Thank you.”

Eve didn’t want thanks right now. She wanted Zane.

Gun in both hands, she moved out into the foyer. Her heart pounded, and sweat slicked her skin. She rounded the corner and scanned the empty kitchen and family room.

“On your right.”

She swiveled and nearly swallowed her tongue. “Ryder,” she breathed.

From his spot near the stairs, Jake Ryder scowled over his own gun and whispered, “Just don’t fucking shoot me. I’m not in the mood for a hospital right now. Is the redhead down?”

“Contained,” Eve said quietly, lifting her gun again and scanning the room for any kind of movement. “Was that you outside?”

He nodded.

“Nice shot.”

“Be thankful for big, tall windows.”

Eve was. They passed through the dining room and kitchen. “My sister?”

“With Marley and Miller. Don’t worry. She’s safe.”

Eve nodded, one tiny part of her relieved. “Archer?”

He shook his head.

Eve’s worry shot up. They circled back to the entry hall. Eve nodded up toward the second floor, then pointed down to the basement. Ryder nodded. Gun held in both hands, he moved slowly up the stairs.

Eve did the same, moving slowly down the steps into the daylight basement. A wide bonus room complete with big-screen TV, wet bar, and pool table filled the space. But it was the open slider door that sent her heart rate up.

Shadows from tall trees surrounding the backyard fell over the pool and lawn chairs. The fading light of dusk made it hard to see as she stepped out onto the patio, but in the distance, she heard a commotion.

She took off running, heading for the dock. A groan met her ears. The crack of fist against bone. The splintering of wood. The thunk of a body hitting something hard. Panic closed in.

“Enough!” That was Zane’s voice. Her feet hit the end of the dock. “It’s over, Carter.”

The growing darkness made it hard to see, but she could just make out Carter pushing himself up to his feet at the far end of the dock. Beyond, city lights flickered over the dark waters of the Potomac.

“You couldn’t just die like we wanted.” Carter swiped at his mouth. “Always had to be the hero. Well, you’re not going to be the hero this time, Sawyer.”

He lunged for Zane. Zane grunted and went down. Arms and legs flailed as they wrestled across the dock. Both had lost their weapons in the struggle somewhere. Heart in her throat, Eve stopped fifteen feet away and lifted her gun. But there was no good shot. “Freeze, Carter.”

Zane’s head came up, and Carter used the opportunity to slam his fist into Zane’s jaw and take the upper hand. He whipped behind Zane and dragged him to his feet, using Zane as a shield. Zane’s hands gripped Carter’s forearm, but Carter had Zane in a headlock. From his ankle, Carter pulled a Guardian semiautomatic pistol and held it up against Zane’s temple.

“Stay back, Juliet!” Carter yelled.

Sweat broke out along Eve’s nape. She took a step closer on the dock. “Let him go. You’ve got no out here, James. You kill him, I kill you. If you do the smart thing, we all walk away from this.”

Sweaty blond hair fell into Carter’s eyes. He shook it back. “Walk away in cuffs, you mean. I’m not going to prison.” He took a step back, toward the end of the dock, dragging Zane with him. “I’m not going down for this. It was Natalie’s idea.”

“It doesn’t matter whose idea it was anymore.” Eve inched closer, keeping her voice calm and her weapon trained on Carter’s forehead, trying not to look at Zane. If she did, she might not be able to hold it together.

“No.” Carter shook his head. Sweat and blood ran down his temple. He shifted to the left, closer to the docked sailboat. “He’s coming with me. Back off, Eve. Back off before you make me do something I don’t want to do. I’ll kill him. I swear to God I’ll kill him. Then I’ll kill you.”

From the corner of her vision, she saw Zane shake his head. Saw his eyes widen. Saw him mouth the words, Shoot me.

Disbelief and panic spread beneath Eve’s ribs. She’d read that wrong. He couldn’t have meant . . .

Shoot me.

He did it again, and her fingers grew wet around the handle of her gun.

“I’ll fucking kill you all,” Carter screamed, inching closer to the boat. “Back! Off!”

They were out of time.

Zane’s eyes grew even wider. Shoot me!

Eve shifted the gun and fired.

25

Zane grunted as the bullet pierced his leg, and Eve’s heart shot into her throat as she watched.

The force of the shot knocked off his center of balance, and Carter couldn’t hold on. Zane’s body hit the deck with a thunk. Trying not to focus too much on what she’d just done, Eve shifted her gun back up. Before Carter could dive for the boat, she fired once, twice, three times.

Carter’s gun went flying. His body sailed backward. A splash echoed when he hit the Potomac. Sprinting forward, Eve looked over the end of the dock into the dark river, but she couldn’t see Carter’s body in the fast-moving water.

“Holy hell, you shot me.”

She rushed back to Zane, dropped to her knees, and rolled him to his back. His pants were ripped at the right thigh, and blood was already seeping from the wound. Heart in her throat, she set her gun down on the dock and ripped the denim wider so she could see the damage.

Air filled her lungs. “I grazed you. The bullet didn’t go in.” She whipped off her jacket and pressed it against the blood. “You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

He cringed and pressed his palms back against the dock so he was partially sitting up. “You fucking shot me.”

Relief warmed the icy-cold space that had formed in her chest when she’d seen Carter holding a gun to Zane’s head. “You told me to.”

“I know, but . . .” He frowned up at her. “You don’t have to look like you enjoyed it so damn much.”

Eve couldn’t help it. She smiled. He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t mad at her. He was here. He was . . . hers.

“Where’s Carter?” he asked.

“In the water somewhere. I can’t see him. I hit him three times in the chest. No way he survived that.”

“Dumb dead bastard,” Zane muttered. “It didn’t have to end like that.”

Eve didn’t care about Carter anymore. She only cared about the man currently beside her.

Holding the jacket against his wound, she caught his face with her other hand and kissed him. Hard.

“Don’t ever make me do that again.” Breathing fast, she rested her forehead against his. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her throat. In the distance, the faint sound of sirens echoed on the breeze.

“Don’t run from me ever again,” Zane said quietly.

Easing back, she stared into his dark eyes, knowing she had so much to make up for. “I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. I knew as soon as I got here that I needed your help, but by then it was too late. I just . . . I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“And look how well that worked out.”

He was making jokes. God . . . She closed her eyes and just tried to breath. “I wasn’t running from you, Zane. Not like before. So much of what I’ve done, I did to try to keep you safe, and it turns out that all along you were the target. Not me. I was a stupid idiot.” Tearing her eyes open, she looked deep into his. “I’ve done things on my own so long, I . . . I don’t know how to rely on someone else.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to learn. I’m not going through this again, Eve. No more running.”

“No more running,” she whispered. Her heart filled, and tears burned the backs of her eyes. “You followed me.”

“Like a pathetic puppy dog.” He frowned. “I’ll never hear the end of it from Miller and Ryder.”

She smiled, leaned in, and rested her forehead against his once more, her heart growing with every second. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“Sexual favors,” he mumbled when she kissed him again. “Lots of them.” Voices echoed from the direction of the house, and footsteps sounded on the dock. “I’ll make you a list.”

She laughed, for the first time in months—years, really—feeling nothing but happiness. “I have no doubt you will.”


Zane leaned back against the bench outside CIA headquarters in Langley and crossed his arms over his chest in the midafternoon sunlight.

People passed along the pathway as they entered and exited the building, and above, the leaves of a giant maple swayed in the breeze.

He shifted, feeling the scratch of the bandage on his leg beneath his jeans. Luckily, Eve had shot him in his bad leg, and a lot of the tissue there was already numb. He had to hand it to her. She could have done big-time damage to his already-fucked-up leg, but she’d made sure he wasn’t seriously injured.

A slow smile spread across his lips. The throb in his leg would always be there, but he hadn’t needed pain meds in days. And, he realized, a lot of that need had been a crutch, trying to deal with the loss of losing her, not true physical pain. Since she’d come back into his life, he’d been stronger, more agile, and though he still wanted to shake her sometimes, happier than he’d ever been.

His smile faded as he looked toward the entrance again, wondering when she was coming out. Wondering what the hell she was going to say when she did. They’d both been questioned separately, but the Agency was doing an in-depth debriefing with Eve, and he hadn’t seen her since federal agents had shown up at Roberts’s house. A tiny place inside couldn’t help but worry what two days’ separation had done to her.