Page 11 of It's Always Been You

A scuffle by the door drew her attention. She stood up in alarm when she heard the familiar muffled sound of suppressed gunfire.

She tensed when the door opened, and a man she had never seen before came in with a gun pointed at her, dragging an unconscious, hopefully-not-dead Marine into the room.

“Time to go, sweetheart.”

She was screwed.

The man,who Caitlin suspected was Lewis Adler, led her up a flight of steps back into the main floor where she had originally waited to be interviewed. But instead of heading for the front entrance, he guided her to the back—the southwest wing where there was some street parking. Caitlin knew thisbecause she had scoped out the embassy last Sunday in case she had to make an unexpected exit. Adler was doing exactly what she would have done.

He had the gun in his coat as he held her arm firmly. He whispered in her ears, “I have no problem blowing your brains out. They’d pay me whether you’re dead or alive, but you’re worth more to me alive. And if you make your deal right, you may just come out of this alive as well. Don’t try anything, or you’ll have more than the guard’s death on your hands.”

“You’re the one who shot him. Don’t try your killer’s psychology on me.”

That earned her a painful squeeze on her upper arm.

“I thought your employer was the CIA?”

The man had the gall to laugh. “Sweetheart, you can’t blame a man for wanting to make a little dough on the side.”

There were few people milling around in this area of the embassy, and no one paid attention to the pair of them. Finally, they reached the rear exit. Caitlin made pleading eye contact with the guard, but the Marine only looked at Adler and inclined his head.

“God, do you have everyone on your payroll?” Caitlin groused as she was dragged toward a street corner.

“There’s a CIA station at the embassy. I work here, girl.”

Great. She just walked into a trap. She dug in her heels and stopped walking. Maybe she could make a run for it. Adler showed her the imprint of the gun’s muzzle through the thin fabric of his trench coat.

“Listen, Ms. Kincaid. Do you see that mother with her kid across the street?”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Do you really want to test that theory right now?” Adler looked at her cruelly. “Get fuckin’ moving.”

He jerked her to start walking again as they headed down the street that ran parallel to the length of the embassy. They stopped; she heard Adler curse. It appeared his contacts werelate. He started getting agitated as the minutes ticked by. Caitlin bit back her tongue before she could make a smart-ass remark that might successfully put a bullet through her head. Jase always did say her mouth got them into trouble.

“Where the fuck are they?” Adler muttered as he looked at his watch and craned his neck to look up the street. Caitlin was figuring out how to make her getaway. There were too many people, which would have been great for getting herself lost in the crowd. But if Adler was as sadistic as he sounded, she couldn’t risk innocent bystanders getting hurt, even if it were to save herself.

A familiar sensation crept up her spine. Oh no. Not now. She tried to control the surge of adrenalin that would release the ugliness within her. A late model Audi sped down the street and screeched to a halt in front of them.

“You guys are late.”

“Komarov had some last minute change of plans. He wants the girl alive.” A bald man with a Russian accent stepped out of the car and opened the back door. He grabbed Caitlin from Adler and whispered in her ear. “But if you give us a problem, you’ll be ending up like your boyfriend. And we’ll make it look like an accident.”

These men killed Jase. She was so tired of people threatening to kill her.

Fury joined the adrenalin surge to form the worst nightmare her enemies could ever imagine. She resisted the push inside the car, which solicited a quick punch to her gut. Pain was the final stimuli. Her veins popped as power coursed through her sinewy flesh, and before a mindless rage took over her entire being, her last thought was:They have no idea what they have unleashed.

Her mind blanked.

Travis burstout of the southwest entrance of the embassy with Nate. A guard had reported seeing Lewis Adler leave with a blonde woman about five minutes ago. He had ignored Ms. Lopez’s warning to let them handle the abduction because he would be damned if he wasted another minute. He had no weapon on him, but that didn’t mean he was any less deadly. He had taken men down with his bare hands before.

There was a commotion down the street that had drawn a couple of spectators.

No!His mind screamed. He couldn’t be too late. Travis ran in that direction.

“Nate,” he yelled. “You’re on stealth.”

Nate nodded as he dematerialized into the crowd.

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