Deadly Game (Fortress Security #5)(67)

“You amaze me, Rowan Scott. I’ve never known any woman as strong as you.” Only a strong woman would tolerate his constant on-call status, the danger, the secrecy. He believed Rowan was the right woman for him.

“Wait until there aren’t prying eyes watching. I think I’m due for a meltdown.”

“I’ll be here when you face the storm, love.”

She raised her head, unasked questions in her gaze. Brent needed to guard his words. Otherwise, he’d scare off the woman of his dreams by telling Rowan he loved her too soon.

He helped Rowan from the vehicle. She gripped his hand as the caskets were unloaded and carried over the hilly terrain to the grave site. Once Rowan’s friends gathered, the minister gave a few last words of comfort and led in prayer. And then the service was over.

Slowly the mourners returned to their vehicles and drove away, leaving Rowan to stand beside her sister’s casket. Brent’s operatives moved away to give Rowan privacy.

Brent wrapped his arms around Rowan while scanning the area. His skin crawled, a sure sign they were under surveillance. He glanced at Jon who gave a slight nod. He felt the eyes on them as well.

He took another minute to survey their surroundings. A slight movement to his right in the tree line caught his attention. The figure was dressed in black and mostly hidden behind a stand of trees. The figure must have noticed Brent’s attention was focused that direction because he or she pulled back into the trees and vanished from sight.

The crawling sensation persisted. More than one observer, then. “Jon, at least one in the trees on the right,” he murmured.

“Saw him. There’s another on the left behind the big stone angel. Three more behind us.”

“That we can see,” Eli muttered.

Brent turned Rowan more fully into his arms and bent so his mouth was beside her ear. “Baby, I don’t want to rush you, but we need to leave.”

“Why?” Her voice sounded thick.

Oh, man. She was crying. Rowan’s distress gutted him. “We’re under surveillance. You’re not safe here.”

With a shuddering breath, she nodded and stepped away from the shelter of his arms. Rowan laid her hand on Heather’s casket and murmured, “I’ll find Alexa and bring her home. She’ll never doubt I love her. I’ll do my best to raise her as you would have wanted.”

Her cell phone chimed. She checked the screen, tilting her phone so he could read the message.

A ball of ice formed in Brent’s gut. The kidnappers wanted Rowan to come alone to the Wilson mausoleum on the west side of the cemetery with the records. “I go with you or no deal.”

“They won’t like that,” Rowan said as she sent the message.

“If they want the information, they’ll cooperate.”

Seconds later, a blistering response came. Rowan flinched. “Definitely not happy.”

“But they agreed,” Brent pointed out. “I won’t let you do this alone.”

“You said things never go according to plan.”

“They don’t. We lay plans and adjust on the fly.” He slid one arm around Rowan and urged her toward the meeting place.

“I assume you plan missions.”

He snorted. “We have multiple plans for every mission. When Plan A fails, you go to Plan B, then C, D, and so on.”

Jon and Eli started to fall into step with them. Brent held up his hand. “The kidnappers contacted Rowan and want to meet her on the west side of the cemetery with Maxwell’s records. Circle around behind these clowns. If everything goes south, we need one alive.”

“Copy that,” Eli murmured. He and Jon split up and moved in opposite directions away from the rendezvous site.

“Won’t they see Eli and Jon coming?” Rowan whispered as they resumed their journey. “There’s still plenty of sunlight.”

“Lots of cover for them.”

The closer they came to the meeting place, the tighter she gripped his hand. Brent located the right mausoleum. He scanned the area, scowled. Too many places for an opponent to hide. He nudged Rowan to a sheltered alcove, her back to the wall.

He faced outward, his body blocking Rowan from view, and waited. Brent didn’t wait long. The kidnappers sent another text. “What does it say?”

“Place the records on the ground in the alcove and walk away.”

“Not going to happen.” He held out his hand for her phone. “Let’s not make it easy for them.”

Rowan dropped the phone on his palm. Brent sent the kidnappers a message to bring Alexa or no records. He handed the phone back to Rowan.

Seconds later, a gunshot shattered the silence in the late afternoon. A bullet slammed into Brent, the momentum throwing him against the mausoleum wall. Pain in his chest stole his breath as he sank to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him up.

Nearby a woman screamed his name. He tried to fight off the approaching darkness and lost.





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE


Rowan scrambled to Brent’s side and dropped to her knees on the cold ground. “Brent!” She rolled him to his back, desperate to see where he was injured. She’d heard the shot, knew that was the reason he’d flown back and hit the mausoleum wall.

“Brent.” Rowan patted his cheek, but he didn’t respond. She stomped on the panic exploding in her gut. Rowan couldn’t help if she had a meltdown.