Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(3)

“He could be in deep cover. Maybe on a mission that can’t be—”

“Cale didn’t even tell me when he left.” That was the part that had first tipped her off to the fact that something was wrong. “Before every mission, he always comes to see me.” It was a ritual they’d had. After the sudden death of their parents, well, they’d needed to stick together. There hadn’t been a choice. It had just been the two of them.

Cale had never gotten a chance to tell their parents goodbye, to say that he loved them that one final time.

So every time that Cale left for a mission, he came to see her. He always told her goodbye.

“He didn’t tell me goodbye,” she whispered.

Jasper shook his head. “You think your brother is missing because he didn’t tell you goodbye?” He gave a low whistle. “I hate to break this to you, but—”

“Six. Months,” she gritted, not about to be put off now. Fine, he could think she was crazy, but he’d still better take the job that she was offering to him. “If you don’t believe me, well, you won’t be the first. The local sheriff thinks I’m being neurotic, and he sure won’t lift a finger to help me.”

Jasper watched her with his steady gaze.

“Does it even matter if you believe me?” Veronica asked. “Can’t you take the money, find him and then prove that I’m wrong? You’ll get paid either way, I swear. I just need to know that he’s alive.” Because the gnawing in her gut told her that something was wrong.

She was afraid that Cale was dead.

“I can’t live the rest of my life, wondering if my brother’s body is in a shallow grave someplace. I need to know what’s happened to him.”

Jasper just kept staring back at her.

“Say something,” she told him, voice tight.

His head cocked to the right. “You’re not what I expected.”

Well, that was something. Just not what she’d wanted to hear.

“We met once, didn’t we?” Jasper asked her.

So he remembered? She gave a quick nod.

His gaze narrowed on her. “Your hair’s different.”

Her hair didn’t matter. Only Cale mattered. Why was Jasper stalling?

He said, “Your brother talked about you a lot. He was always telling me how smart you were.”

Not so smart when it came to people. People generally made her feel lost, but when it came to computers and technology, she got by pretty well. “None of Jasper’s credit cards have been used. None of his accounts touched. Not since he vanished.”

“You know this because...?”

“Because it took me all of five minutes to get access to his accounts.” With her computers, there was very little that she couldn’t access. “If my brother had just been taking another job, then some cash should have been put in his account. A down payment, something. There was nothing.”

“Maybe he gets paid when the job’s done. Or maybe he has an account you don’t know about.” Jasper was being so calm and logical.

It was all she could do to stay seated. “There’s always an up-front payment.” You don’t risk your life for nothing...that had been a Cale Lane rule. Rule number three, if she remembered correctly. “And I know about every account he has.”

Jasper tapped his chin. She noticed that a faint growth of stubble covered his square jaw. The stubble made him look both dangerous and sexy.

She yanked her gaze away from that stubble and forced herself to look into his eyes once more. “You know him.” She made her voice smooth with an effort. “He was your friend once. Please, take this job. I’ll pay whatever you want.”

“Whatever?”

She nodded.

His lashes flickered. “You should be careful making an offer like that. You don’t know what I’ll ask for. You don’t know what kind of man I am.”

“You’re the kind of man I need.” One with dark connections that could—hopefully—lead Veronica to her brother.

He studied her, and she fought the urge to squirm. After a moment, his lips slowly stretched into a smile. “Well, Ms. Veronica Lane, in that case, I think you’ve just hired yourself a mercenary.”

An answering smile wanted to lift her lips because, for the first time in months, she could feel hope stirring inside her.

Jasper rose to his feet. She hurried to stand beside him. This close, she finally realized just how big he was. Jasper’s shoulders stretched as wide as a linebacker’s. “Thank you,” she murmured, offering her hand.

His fingers closed around hers. “Don’t thank me.” The words sounded a little too gruff.

She glanced up, her brows pulling together.

His smile seemed forced. “I haven’t found your brother yet.”

“But you will.” Keep the hope. Don’t let it fade.

“Yes,” Jasper said slowly, but with a definite promise rumbling beneath the words, “I will.”

*

THE CROWD CLOSED in behind little Veronica Lane as she hurried away from him. Jasper watched her go, aware that his gaze had dropped to the curve of her hips.

The lady had one fine sway when she moved, even if she staggered a bit in those three-inch heels.

“Are you smiling?” The surprised question came from Jasper’s left as Gunner Ortez grabbed a chair and swung it around. He sat down, looping his arms over the back of the chair. “Man, you know I’ve asked you not to do that. You’re scary when you smile.”