Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(21)

Then he was moving silently toward the door. Pushing aside the shade and peering outside. After a brief moment, the tension left his shoulders. “It’s the good guys.”

For some reason, it was getting harder for her to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.

Jasper glanced back at her. “Gunner’s team is in town. When I found the body, I called them.” He paused a beat, then said, “You can trust them.”

She shook her head. “You’re the only one I trust.”

He gazed back at her. A faint furrow appeared between his brows.

“Why didn’t you just call the sheriff?” she asked. “Wyatt would—”

“This case is a little over his head. And the station blew up last night. He’s already got enough to deal with.” He tucked the gun back in his waistband. “If the agents need his help, they’ll say so.”

She pushed her hands against the tops of her thighs. She was sweating, far too nervous and far too aware of the dead body down the hallway.

Then the front door opened. A tall, dark man with short black hair and a faint scar under his chin marched inside. He seemed to fill the small room, dominating the space. Between him and Jasper, she suddenly felt very, very overwhelmed.

Then the stranger’s gaze turned toward her. “You’re Veronica Lane.”

She nodded.

“I’m Agent Logan Quinn.” He offered his hand.

She took it slowly and immediately had her fingers clasped in a warm, strong grip.

Then she was free. Logan glanced at Jasper. “Glad you were on this one, man. If she’d wandered in alone...”

Her spine straightened. “I would have managed to call the authorities just fine on my own.”

Logan’s eyelids flickered. “Of course, my apologies, you would have, but if the body’s as fresh as Jasper says, then the killer may still be close by.”

Just what she didn’t need to hear.

“Let’s ease out of here until the techs arrive.” Logan waved toward the door.

Unable to help herself, Veronica cast a longing look toward the laptop.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that,” Logan told her.

Yes, that was what she was afraid of.

Veronica nodded even as she curled her hand over the small flash drive that had been attached to the laptop. The flash drive that she’d taken the liberty of “borrowing”—right after she’d copied those recovered files. The files had been saved to the flash drive just seconds before Jasper had appeared in the den.

The sunlight hit her the minute she stepped outside the apartment. Spring, but it was still already uncomfortably warm. Veronica was surprised to see a few other cars there. Her gaze scanned the lot. She recognized Gunner. Beside him stood a woman with short blond hair and fierce eyes. A few people in suits were scattered around the area.

“We’ll let the crime techs take over while we do a little...hunting in the area.”

Logan’s voice was mild, but his use of the word hunting seemed strange to her. She looked over at him, frowning.

“You need some help with that?” Jasper asked, his own voice just as mild.

Logan hesitated, then glanced her way. “We got this covered. Why don’t you just finish your business with Ms. Lane.”

She didn’t think that she liked Logan Quinn. His gaze was too guarded. His words were too careful. She had the impression that he was a man who carried secrets, a lot of them.

Veronica took a few steps toward Jasper’s truck; then she hesitated. Her instincts were screaming at her. She looked over her shoulder at the agent. “Logan, do you know my brother?” She wasn’t going to “Mr. Quinn” him.

She caught the flicker of surprise on his face. “Yes, I do.”

Her heart iced. Suddenly, everything was making a whole lot of sense to her.

The agents’ presence in town. At least two agents from the FBI...both in little Whiskey Ridge. All of those guys in suits. The fast response to Jasper’s call.

When they’d been at the police station, Gunner had insisted on questioning her kidnappers—questioning them alone.

He hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of me.

And now Cale’s code name had been the last one listed in Reed’s deleted files.

She had to face the facts, even if those facts scared her to death. It wasn’t just a coincidence that the federal agents were in town. The agents were in Whiskey Ridge because they were hunting Cale.

She reached for Jasper’s hand, pulled him close. “W-we’ll stay out of your way. Don’t worry.” Because she and Jasper were going to hunt and find Cale long before the agents could.

Jasper stiffened a bit at her touch, but she just curled her arm around him more. Then she started pulling him away from that apartment that smelled of death and away from the agent with suspicious eyes.

They didn’t speak until they were inside Jasper’s truck. He turned on the engine, and his gaze flickered toward Gunner and Logan.

The agents who were staring right back at them.

“I know what you said,” she began quietly as her hands clenched in her lap. “But I can’t trust them.”

His gaze darted to her.

“Don’t you see what’s happening?” she demanded. “They think that my brother is a killer. They’re tracking him down because they want to take him down.”