A Murder in Time(17)

“We’re not working with him,” Leeds disagreed. “He works for us.”

“Where?”

Leeds frowned. “Where?”

“Where’s he working for us?” she demanded sharply. “He’s not behind bars, is he? Not feeding us information about his clients from a military f*cking prison, is he?”

“No, of course not.”

“We’ve let him go back to his life, haven’t we?” This time she couldn’t stop herself. She slapped the console. “Goddamn it! I was there! I saw Daniel’s head blown off right in front of my eyes! Allan . . .” Her breath hitched, and she struggled against losing control. “God, Allan had a wife . . . they’d just gotten married,” she whispered, anger draining away and leaving only an unsettling despair. “So many died . . . and we’re letting that * go free.”

“He’s not free. Not technically.” He shot her a frustrated look. “Shit, I don’t like this any more than you do, Agent Donovan. But it’s not like you didn’t know this would happen. Sometimes we need to get involved with a few bad guys to take down someone even worse.”

“Like when we helped Osama bin Laden fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan?”

Leeds’s jaw tightened at the cutting tone, and he focused on his driving. Equally silent, Kendra folded her arms across her chest and stared out the window. For the next five minutes, the only sound was the traffic outside and the hum of wheels against asphalt. He let out a sigh when he let up on the accelerator, moving the BMW off the expressway into the Mount Pleasant area.

He snuck a glance at his silent passenger. “Look, I hate that it looks as though the bastard’s life is the same,” he finally said in a much quieter tone. “But he’s been working with us to set up several undercover stings. His intel has been good. The brass is pleased.”

“Oh, well. I guess that makes it all right, then.”

“Kendra—”

“I understand.” The heat that had blasted him only seconds before was gone. Her words could have been chipped out of ice. Oddly, Leeds preferred the hot anger. He shot her a wary look, met the onyx eyes. The expression in them wasn’t cold, exactly. But he couldn’t read it, either.

“I wasn’t supposed to talk to you about Greene.”

“You know I would’ve found out.”

Leeds steered the car into the lot outside her apartment complex and parked. “That’s why I told you. I thought it would be better coming from me.”

“Thanks. And thanks for the ride.” She opened the door and slid out. “I can manage from here.”

Before she could slam the door, he leaned over. “Kendra, you’re not going to do anything stupid?”

She gave him a look. “I’ve been accused of a lot of things, sir, but never of being stupid.”

“Reckless, then. Sir Jeremy Greene is in the hands of U.S. and British intelligence. They wouldn’t look kindly on any quest for revenge that would have a negative impact on their operation.”

She smiled, but it didn’t ease the tension rising inside Leeds. “I can promise you that I would never go after Greene for revenge,” Kendra said. “There, does that satisfy you?”

He searched her face. When the tension inside him didn’t dissipate, he could only sigh. He couldn’t pinpoint his anxiety, but there was something in the very stillness of her expression. Or maybe it was the smile . . .

Whatever it was, he could hardly challenge her. Instead, he nodded. “Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Shutting the door, Kendra clutched her bag, and stepped back. She waited as the BMW drove down the lane, disappearing from sight. Only then did she drop her smile.

She would keep her promise. She wouldn’t go after Greene for revenge.

But she hadn’t said anything about going after him for justice.





5

Three months later

“You’re a dead woman, Kendra.”

“I . . . don’t . . . think . . . so . . .” It wasn’t easy to push the words out, since the man had his sinewy arm wrapped tightly around her throat. His breath puffed in her ear. She managed to turn her head so her windpipe wasn’t crushed, and put all her power behind an elbow jab. The puff in her ear became a grunt. His hold loosened, only fractionally, but she pressed her advantage, grabbing the thick wrist, twisting. Within seconds, she’d reversed positions, pivoting and taking him down. She could’ve taken him out, with her knee hovering above a sensitive area.

He knew it, too. His eyes widened. “Have mercy!”

She grinned and released him, letting him flop back on the mat. “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous, Nate.”

His broad chest rose and fell. “Yeah. Generous.”

Feeling winded herself, Kendra snatched the towel off a chair and swiped it against her sweaty face. It’d been a long process, but she was finally feeling like her old self. She’d regained the weight she’d lost in the hospital, and her body felt limber and strong. Her hair had even grown out long enough for her to have it styled with blunt cut bangs and a sleek bob that curved an inch below her jaw.

She was almost ready.

The errant thought brought her up short, chest tightening like she was having an asthma attack.