Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(58)

“I admire loyalty.” He stepped away from her. A faint breeze stirred the hair at her nape. “Do you think you ever could’ve been loyal to me?”

She didn’t know what to say. The man was crazy, and at any moment, she expected him to snap and just shoot her. Her gaze darted to the left and tension had her body stiffening.

The long, black car. The one that had run her off the road.

“Jimmy’s car.” Now Wyatt sounded sad. “You and Jasper got the description right.”

“You were driving. Not Jimmy.”

“You had the flash drive.” Just that fast, anger whipped in his words. “The files should have been gone, but you had them.”

She wouldn’t let him see her fear. “I gave the flash drive to Sydney. She has the evidence that can clear my brother.”

He growled. “It wasn’t just the damn drive. It was all those pictures you kept talking about. Pictures from Cale’s time in the military.”

Her breath caught. The pictures had linked Cale to Reed, but they hadn’t been much help for anything else.

“Was I in those pictures, Veronica?” Wyatt asked her softly.

She’d known that Wyatt had served in the army, but Veronica shook her head.

“You wouldn’t be lying now, would you? Because those pictures...I won’t let them ruin things for me. Cale served with me when we had demolitions training.”

Demolitions...the bomb at the sheriff’s station...

“Reed was with us then. That’s how I knew he was in the business. With all those agents still circling town, I can’t have those pictures turning up.”

“Y-you weren’t in the pictures,” she whispered, and it was the truth. He wasn’t.

He exhaled slowly. “Well, then, I guess I just blew your house to hell for no reason. But, hey...” Now he flashed her a smile that held the edge of insanity. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

How had he hid his darkness? “Why?”

“For money, of course. Isn’t that why people do most of the things in this world?” He rolled his shoulders. “But when the smoke clears, it won’t be me who gets blamed for the crimes.” His smile had dimmed. “Folks will say Jimmy blew up your house. Just like he destroyed my station. Then, torn up by what he’d done, Jimmy came back here and shot himself.”

Her knees buckled. Wyatt grabbed her, held her steady.

Her lashes had lowered. She put her hands on his stomach, acting as if she needed balance.

Don’t show him your strength.

“You said you took care of him.”

“And I did.” A pause. “Pity that kid never appreciated the lessons I taught him.”

She shoved against his chest, and because he hadn’t been expecting the move, it was easy for her to grab the gun he’d had holstered at his waist. Her hand snapped up, fingers locked around the weapon. “Get away from me!”

Wyatt blinked at her in surprise, and then his gaze dipped down to the gun that was inches away from him. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“And you shouldn’t have been a cold-blooded killer, so I guess we’ve both screwed up, huh?”

Wyatt flashed his smile once more. The sight chilled her. “Veronica, you’ve got more steel in your spine than I thought.”

She’d show him steel, or rather, lead, when she shot a bullet into his chest. “Why do you want Jasper out here? Is he next on your hit list?” she whispered. “Another EOD agent that you’ve been paid to take out, one that you were supposed to link back to Cale?”

“Give me the gun, Veronica.”

She couldn’t back up because the patrol car was behind her. She couldn’t move forward because Wyatt was blocking her path. “Get back!” she yelled.

He didn’t get back. “You won’t shoot me.” So confident.

“Yes. I will.” She was just as confident. “You were the one on the side of that road, shooting at me. Not Jimmy. You.”

He still had that slight smile on his lips. “How are you gonna prove that?”

“When Jasper gets h-here, he’ll take you into custody. We’ll find Jimmy. We’ll get proof that you were behind everything and not—”

“Your Jasper’s gonna die today. Cale’s gonna die. They’ll both go out in a gun battle as they try to save you.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “But they aren’t gonna save you, either.”

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. “I can save myself.”

“No, you can’t.” Then he lunged for her.

She shot him. Didn’t so much as hesitate. The gun blasted and her ears rang and the bullet slammed into his stomach.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the blossoming red on his shirt. Wyatt stumbled back, and she took that opportunity to slam her shoulder into him and knock him to the ground. Then she ran as fast as she could—not toward the old highway, but toward that long, black car that sat near the side of the crumbling house. Jimmy’s car. Because she could just see the top of Jimmy’s head in the car.

She yanked open the passenger door. “Jimmy!” He was inside, his hands and feet tied. And his chest was bleeding. So much blood. She reached for him, yanking the ropes free that bound his wrists. He’d taken a shot straight to the chest.