Page 52 of The Agent
He couldn’t let Grier hurt Marley.
Swallowing hard, he ignored the sharp metallic taste and walked faster. When he marched into Marley’s living room, she was still on the couch, her hands clasped in her lap. Officer Thompson stood by the window, watching the scene outside.
“Is the old lady all right?” the young officer inquired.
“She’ll be fine. Thompson, do me a favor and excuse us for a moment.”
With a nod, the officer left the room. Caleb heard the front door open and shut, then Thompson’s footsteps as he descended the porch steps to help out the others.
“You have to listen to me right now,” he began, his throat tight as he looked into her gorgeous eyes. “I know you’re angry with me, and I don’t blame you for that, but please, Marley, just hear me out.”
“Okay,” she said softly.
“I need you to understand how much danger you’re in.” An eddy of fear swirled in his stomach but he ignored it, trying to remain calm as he laid it all out in front of her. “When I first moved in next door, I suspected Patrick would come back for you. Not to hurt you, but to convince you to leave town with him, or maybe just to say goodbye. I suspected he was obsessed with you, and when he sent that email, I knew it was a matter of time before love, or infatuation—whatever you want to call it—pushed him to see you.”
Marley unclasped her hands and pressed them on her knees. “And now?”
“Now he wants to hurt you.” He sank into the armchair Hernandez had occupied earlier. “He was across the street for who knows how long, and he must have seen us together. Healso has to know I’m with the DEA, because he saw me there during the warehouse raid.”
“So he thinks I’m working with the cops.”
“Or at the very least, sleeping with one.” He flinched when he saw her eyes darken. “What he did to your locker was an act of violence, and it’s an indication of what he wants to do to you.”
“I know.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I know the danger, Caleb. I can feel it. Where are you going with this?”
“Someone needs to stay here in the house with you,” he said. “And I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t object. You need protection.”
“Okay,” she said without any argument.
“Though I’d prefer it if you’d agree to stay in a safe house,” he added.
Bitterness flickered across her face. “I’m not leaving my house, Caleb. Patrick has already turned my entire life upside down. I won’t let him chase me from my home.”
He’d known she’d say something like that. “Then an agent will stay here. Grier is going to find out what happened tonight. We might get lucky and he’ll waltz back to White’s house, unaware that we found his hideout, but I’m not holding my breath. He was probably in the area, saw the police activity and took off.”
“So search the neighborhood,” Marley burst out, sounding frustrated.
“We are. Units are combing the area as we speak, though my gut tells me Grier will be long gone by now.”
“But he’ll be back.”
“He’ll be back,” Caleb echoed. “He might consider it too risky to come to this house, but he’ll find a way to get to you, Marley. I’m certain of that.”
She released a shaky breath and turned her head away, but not before he saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Hewanted so badly to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he knew she wouldn’t allow it.
“You probably shouldn’t go into work for a while,” he continued. “It’ll be too hard to protect you there, and today Grier showed us that he can find a way into the hospital without getting caught.”
Marley’s jaw tightened. “So I’m just supposed to sit around and wait for him to kill me?”
“He won’t kill you.” Caleb’s pulse sped up at the mere thought. “I won’t let him.”
She fell quiet for a few long moments, then cleared her throat. “It can’t be you, Caleb.”
“What can’t be me?”
“The agent who stays here. I don’t want it to be you. Or your partner for that matter.”
Something shifted in his chest. There, his heart had officially cracked in two. He wanted nothing more than to stay here with her, to protect this beautiful, generous woman who had once trusted him so willingly—and so misguidedly. It killed him that she didn’t want him around, though he understood perfectly why that was.
