Page 61 of The Agent
She stared into Caleb’s blue eyes, floored by the agony she saw in them. He was scared. Scared for her.
“I’m scared, too,” she murmured as if he’d vocalized his fear. “But you’ll be right outside to protect me.”
He nodded. “Always,” he said softly.
Something inside her chest dislodged. It took her a moment to figure out what it was—the jagged little pieces of anger and bitterness that had clung to her heart after Caleb had told her the truth. The shards had disappeared, as an important realization dawned on her. This man would do anything to protect her. She mattered to him.
Acceptance settled over her like a warm blanket. Caleb wasn’t a sick voyeur who’d decided to prey on her. He was a cop on a stakeout, a man trying to avenge his friend’s death. Could she really hold that against him? He might have lied to her, but now he was doing everything in his power to keep her safe.
“I can do this, Caleb,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Trust me to do this.”
His shoulders tightened at the wordtrust.She knew what he was thinking. The question he’d been wanting to ask her since last night.Can you trust me again?
Now she was asking it of him.
And even though she could tell it went against everything he believed in, letting someone else venture into a dangerous situation instead of him, he nodded and said, “I trust you.”
* * *
MARLEY’S ENTIRE BODYtrembled as she shut off the engine of her convertible. The bungalow she’d grown up in, where her dad and brother still lived, looked so harmless and cozy, but there was nothing harmless about this situation, was there? Patrick was inside that house, holding her family hostage, all so he could get his greedy hands on some cash. To flee from the law, to get away with murder.
“I really hope you can hear this,” she muttered.
She didn’t look down at her chest, in case Patrick was watching her from the window, but the transmitter taped inside her bra dug into her skin, reminding her of the danger she was about to walk into.
Caleb’s partner assured her that every word would be recorded and transmitted to the team’s earpieces in real time. They would know what was going on every second she was in the house. If she said the panic word, agents would storm the house in less than a minute. If she convinced Patrick she wanted to leave town with him, she would say the go word and the arrest would be made after Caleb gave her the signal to wrench away from Patrick’s side.
Taking a breath, she picked up her purse, which contained the two hundred thousand dollars. The agents had opted not to tag the money with dye, instead tucking a tiny GPS transmitter into one of the stacks, in case Patrick managed another great escape.
She slung her purse over her shoulder and got out of the car. Her legs shook as she stepped onto the gravel driveway. She took a few more seconds to breathe, to gather her composure, and then she walked up the path to the front door.
Her hand wavered as she knocked on the door. It opened instantly, and for the first time in three months, Marley laid eyes on the man she’d been engaged to marry.
He looked exactly the same. Brown hair cut in a neat, no-nonsense style, wiry body covered with a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. Only his brown eyes looked different. Wilder. Colder.
Patrick looked pleased as he peered past her shoulders and examined the deserted street. He also seemed completely unruffled by the fact that he was pointing a gun at her.
“You came alone. Good girl.”
She yelped as he grabbed her arm and hauled her into the house, closing and locking the door behind them.
“Where’s my dad and brother?” she demanded.
He ignored the question. “Did you bring the money?”
She nodded.
“Give it to me.”
She reached into her purse, pulled out the envelope, and handed it to him. Keeping his gun trained on her, he stuck a hand into the bag and took out the envelope. Opening the flap, he flipped through the thick stacks of bills.
Marley held her breath, praying he wouldn’t stumble across the transmitter. It was smaller than a watch battery, hard to find unless he diligently examined each bill, which he didn’t.
She exhaled slowly. “It’s all there.”
“I can see that,” he replied.
“Can I see my family now?”
