Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(4)

As if Gunner was one to talk. The ex-SEAL sniper just looked like one very deadly shark when he smiled.

“Was that who I think it was?” Gunner asked.

“If you mean was that Cale Lane’s little sister, then, yes, it was.” Talk about easy pickings. He’d been in town for less than five hours. He’d thought that he’d have to worm his way into Veronica’s good graces before he could get a good start on this mission.

But the woman had just come walking right up to him.

“Want to tell me what she wanted?”

He and Gunner were working the assignment together, so there was no reason to hold back. “She just hired me to find her missing brother.”

Not much could surprise Gunner. The guy had been to hell and back on his missions, but Jasper caught the faint flicker of surprise on his face. “You really have the devil’s luck.” Gunner saluted Jasper with a beer bottle.

“So they say.” Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between having luck and being cursed.

“You didn’t tell her that you were EOD?”

Even if he’d told her, Jasper wasn’t sure that Veronica would have even known about the group. Most civilians didn’t know of its existence. “Have I ever broken cover?” Jasper tossed back at his friend.

Gunner shook his head.

“And I’m not starting now.” As if a pretty face would sway him. Veronica had definitely been graced with a pretty face. Heart-shaped, with high cheeks, a round little nose and the biggest, brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

The eyes had caught his attention first, held it and made it hard for him to look away.

Then he’d noticed her mouth. Who would have guessed that sweet Veronica Lane had a mouth made for sin?

Or legs that seemed to stretch forever.

He cleared his throat and shifted beneath the table. “As far as I can tell, the woman doesn’t know a thing about the EOD. She thinks I’m a mercenary, just like Cale.”

If she only knew the truth.

For the past two years, Jasper had been working for the Elite Operations Division. The hybrid group of ex-military personnel took on some damn dangerous missions...missions that no one else could handle. EOD agents generally worked off the grid. Way, way off.

But someone had started to hunt EOD agents. Three men had been killed in the past six months, and all signs were indicating that the killer was...

Cale Lane.

“So I guess you took the job?” Gunner asked.

“We came to an agreement.” One that they’d hash out more later. “That agreement...it does involve me getting full access to Cale’s house and all of his personal files.”

“Lucky SOB,” Gunner muttered, shaking his head.

Jasper shrugged. “He’s missing. She wants me to find him.” He still couldn’t quite get over the shock of seeing her come for him, pushing out of the crowd, looking so out of place and so—

“What’s going to happen when she finds out that you’re in town to catch her brother? That Uncle Sam wants Cale locked up tight so that the man never sees daylight again?”

This time, Jasper’s shrug was forced. “I guess she’ll hate me then.” Her blue eyes had flashed with so many emotions. Fear. Desperation. Hope.

Soon enough, he’d see what her gaze looked like when hate burned in those blue eyes.

“You’re playing with fire.” It was a warning that Gunner had given him before.

And, as before, Jasper’s answer was the same. “Good thing I like to get burned.” Then he rose from the table, and, because he was still thinking about her, still wondering about the lovely Ms. Veronica Lane, Jasper made his way out of the bar.

The EOD had already run a full background check on Veronica, and, yes, the woman was as innocent as she looked. No skeletons in her closet. Just a desperate woman looking for her brother. A woman who is about to trust the wrong man.

Outside he saw Veronica hop into a small blue sedan. Nothing fancy or particularly noticeable about it. Her taillights flashed on, and she quickly reversed.

Then she pulled away from Last Chance.

He watched her, his gaze lingering and...

Another pair of headlights flashed on in the parking lot. His gaze shot to the right just as a vehicle’s motor growled and a car lurched forward. When it reached the parking lot’s exit, the vehicle turned to the left and headed in the same direction that Veronica had just taken.

Just another bar patron, leaving for the night.

Only Jasper hadn’t seen anyone get in that vehicle. So the driver had been sitting inside for a while, doing what? Talking on his phone? Yeah, maybe.

Waiting for Veronica?

That made no sense. So the driver had taken the same road that Veronica had taken.

It didn’t mean anything, despite the kick in his gut.

He was seeing danger where there was none. A definite downside of his job. After so many missions, so many deaths, he saw danger everywhere.

Jasper turned back toward Last Chance.

Sometimes a car was just a car.

He looked over his shoulder at the darkness, unable to shake the tension that had tightened his body. Because sometimes danger could really be anyplace.

*

SHE HAD THE radio blaring. The loud music helped to keep Veronica’s mind off the fact that it was after midnight and she was on one long, lonely stretch of Texas road.