Fatal Truth: Shadow Force International (32 page)

A minute passed with no further noise. She let her breath ease out slowly, keeping her eye off the scope and watching the nearby surroundings instead. Nothing she could see or sense to the left. Nothing to the right except more trees and an owl sitting on a skeleton limb, watching the rolling hill for a two a.m. snack.

Too many days on the run.
There was too much stress and adrenaline built up in her body. The flip side was gnawing exhaustion.

Another minute passed. The owl continued his watch. Parker resumed hers as well. She had four hours before the guard changeover at sunrise. Four hours to finish what she’d started and make sure the blowback didn’t hurt Savanna.

Running the plan through her head, she shifted the scope slightly to see the army of snowmen in the garden. Would she live long enough to have kids? To ever play in the snow with them?

She was pondering that thought when she heard another twig snap.

Chapter Twenty-two

_____________________

______________________________________________________

T
HE PHONE STOPPED
ringing, the president hanging up before the call went to voicemail.

“Give me my phone,” Savanna said.

Coldplay had done a total reversal from the man telling her about the drug trials a moment ago. He’d gone quiet, restrained. Totally controlled once more.

“You can’t talk to him.”

The phone began ringing again. “I have to take it,” she said.

“No matter how hard you try not to, you could end up giving away our location without even realizing it.”

“What if it’s about Parker? I can’t ignore Linc Norman, no matter how much I want to.”

He let out a tight sigh and handed her the phone.

Her fingers shook and she nearly dropped it. He steadied her hand and the phone, closing her fingers over the hard plastic.

With a grateful nod, she hit the answer button, closed her eyes, and prayed for the right words.

There was no script for this. No teleprompter. It was just her and the most powerful man in the world about to go head to head.

She dispensed with pleasantries and got right to the point, turning her back on Coldplay and walking toward the fireplace. She needed to focus, had to get this right. “What do you want?”

Norman’s laugh was soft, patronizing. “Van, long time no see. Did you really think you could hide from me?”

Before Savanna could say anything else, the phone was snatched from her hand.

Whirling around, she found Coldplay tapping the speaker button. He nodded at her to answer the president’s question.

Deep breath. You can do this.

She didn’t need a script or a teleprompter. She had Coldplay. His faith in her showed in his eyes.

“I have the file,” she said to the president, pushing her nerves aside. It was time to be ballsy. “All I have to do is expose that file and you’re done.”

“And what file would that be?” She heard the clink of ice in a glass. Norman made slurping noises. She could just see him tipped back in his chair, downing a couple fingers of scotch. “Oh, let me guess…some made up bullshit your sister concocted to make me look like the boogie man? Good luck with that. You don’t even have a platform anymore, Van. The whole nation is shaking its head over what a fraud you are while my approval ratings rose once again after my pilgrimage to
Meh-he-co.
”

Was he drunk or just high on his own ego? She snatched the phone from Coldplay’s hand. “You were in Jamaica, you idiot, not Mexico. And I still have plenty of friends and colleagues in the business. Any one of them would be thrilled to have the scoop on your devious, undercover activities.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She heard the clunk of ice cubes again. “I saw that video of your accident. I didn’t recognize Hunter at first without all that hair. God, he looked like a crazy man back in the day, didn’t he? I suppose between him and Parker, they’ve filled your head with all kinds of self-righteous glory, haven’t they? Made me into the big, bad wolf knocking on your door.”

Savanna frowned and stared at the phone as if the answer might be spelled out on the screen. “Hunter? What are you talking about?”

“He escaped Witcher last week. Been looking all over for him. I figured he was coming for me, but I guess he was after you all along.”

“What?”

She looked at Coldplay and shrugged. His face was totally devoid of emotion. Was he remembering all the people Linc Norman had commanded him to kill?

She wanted to throw her arms around him and wipe those memories away. “You’re drunk and confused,” she said into the phone, “but mark my words, Mr. President. What you did to the man protecting me, and all those other soldiers, is going to be your downfall.”

“Are you really that clueless, Van?” the president enunciated every word as if she were slow or hard of hearing. “Lieutenant Trace Hunter. Remember him?”

She dropped her eyes to the phone screen again. “Of course, but—”

“Trace Hunter is your
bodyguard
.”

Savanna felt like she’d been hit. Confusion stumped her for a moment, and then the realization slammed into her full throttle.

She stumbled back.

Trace Hunter
.

Her gaze snapped to Coldplay’s, a sharp hiss of fear rushing through her body and making her dizzy. Oh God…

The look she saw there. The cold remoteness.

“Good old fashioned
revenge
,” Norman said, still exaggerating his words. “You pissed off the most dangerous assassin to ever set foot in Washington and now he’s going to kill you. Hot damn. Guess I won’t have to then. He wants that file, too, I’m sure. The details of that are…messy. Maybe you can cut a deal. Ask him to spare your life.” His laughter this time was pure enjoyment. “Good luck with that, Van.”

The line went dead.

Savanna felt as cold as the frozen ground outside where her snowmen soldiers were all but buried.

“Savanna,” Coldplay said. He took a careful step toward her. “I can explain.”

Her feet felt like fifty-pound blocks but adrenaline pounded in her veins. Her body wanted to flee, but her feet were rooted to the floor.

She scooted backward, skirting him, and holding out a hand. As if she could divert him or stop him if he attacked.
What a joke, Savanna. You couldn’t hold off a mouse.

Still, instincts were instincts. “Stay away from me.”

He flinched as if she’d struck him. “You know I would never hurt you.”

“
Do
I know that?” Her brain felt like it was on fire, trying to figure out why she couldn’t place him with 100% confidence. But Norman was right—
if
this was Trace Hunter standing in front of her, his features were different than the single photo she’d ran on her show all those months ago.

But
something
in her psyche had tripped her memory when he’d shown up at her door, hadn’t it?

Dumb Savanna
. Why hadn’t she followed through? Dug deeper?

I was a little busy staying alive
. “Are you Trace Hunter?” she asked, her voice tight with stress.

He held his hands up, palms out as if trying to placate a scared, injured animal. “Savanna, this is not what it seems. Linc Norman is wrong—”

She cut him off, raising her voice. “
Are you Trace Hunter?
”

And boy, didn’t she sound exactly like a scared, injured animal.
Get control
.

She’d slept with this man, thought she knew who he was because he was doing his job of protecting her.

If he wanted me dead, why would he keep me alive?

The president’s words rang in her ears.
He wants that file, too…

Coldplay lowered his hands, stood motionless. “Yes. I’m Trace Hunter, the man you crucified in public on your show because of intel your sister received from the president and told you to run.”

Fear wrapped its fingers around her heart. Anger did as well. “Why are you here? For Parker’s file?”

“I didn’t even know that file existed until we found the USB. I’m here to protect you, Savanna, and help you find your sister.”

Right. Again, she heard Linc Norman’s words.
You pissed off the most dangerous assassin to ever set foot in Washington and now he’s going to kill you.

The idea was ridiculous, but that didn’t stop her from taking another step closer to the door.

Even if all Hunter wanted was Parker’s file, he could have already taken the USB and bugged out. He had brought her here, pretended he cared about her. Had taken her to bed like a lover and encouraged her to stand up to her mother and stop hiding in the shadows of the past.

He was definitely there for something more than a file on Project 24.

Revenge
. The word circled her brain. “Wow. The president’s correct on all counts. I
am
clueless. And gullible, apparently. You seduced me so I’d fall in love with you. You’re not here to kill me, just rip my heart out. Nice.”

“Love?” He seemed shocked by the idea.

She started for the bathroom, and Trace started to follow. “Don’t,” she said, holding up a hand once more. She’d had it, and damn it, she was not going to cry in front of him. No matter what. She might throw something, but never would she cry. “Get out of my sight.”

His face morphed into something she couldn’t name. “The intel in the file Parker gave you on me wasn’t true, I swear. I’ve done a lot of shit in my life that I’m not proud of, but I would never betray my country. I would never hurt you.”

“And yet, you hid your identity from me this whole time.”

Just saying it out loud ripped her heart a little more.

“I needed to prove to you that I’m not the scumbag you exposed on your TV show eighteen months ago. You would have never given me the chance if I’d told you who I was upfront.”

He was right, but that didn’t make his betrayal forgivable. “When were you going to tell me?”

He closed his eyes for a second, opened them, but didn’t look at her. “I tried to tell you multiple times. Things between us got out of hand. I…”

“Out of hand? So you thought it better to lie to me by omission? Figured you’d get me in bed first, then lay the big reveal on me, and I’d be so wowed by your sexual prowess I wouldn’t care? Well, good job burying your lead, Lt. Hunter. You totally suckered me.”

She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. Fleeing to the bathroom, heart fluttering like a manic bird, she closed the door behind her, flipped the lock, and beat a fist against the wall.

Dammit. What was she going to do now?

T
RACE STOOD OUTSIDE
the bathroom door, quiet as a cat, listening, his guts shriveled to a tight lump in his stomach. The look on Savanna’s face had crushed him. That fear—how could she believe, after everything they’d been through, that he would hurt her?

Fucking Linc Norman.

No point blaming him. It was his own damn fault. And he
had
hurt her. He’d totally screwed her over in more ways than one.

Love. She’d said he seduced her so she’d fall in love with him. Seemed like she’d been doing the seducing and he’d fallen for her. It wasn’t love, though. It was…

Infatuation?

Passion?

Admiration?

Shit, he didn’t know at this point. He’d never loved anyone outside of his grandmother.

Savanna’s fear had been followed by the realization he’d deceived her and that kind of pain, in Trace’s experience, was worse than any kind of physical hurt.

In all the ways he’d fucked up in his life, this was the worst. She’d trusted him. Relied on him.

Behind the door of the bathroom, he heard little noises. Noises like muffled crying.

Ah, shit. He’d made her cry. “Savanna.”

No response.

He tapped on the door. “Savanna, I never meant for that” —whatever
that
had been—“to happen. The sex. The…seduction.”

“That makes me feel tons better,” she yelled through the door. “Thanks. Now go away. I want a new bodyguard. Wait…”

The door creaked open two inches. Savanna’s face was puffy and red. Yep, definitely crying.

“Did Beatrice know about this? She did, didn’t she? She said something to me that first day about me persecuting innocent people. Jesus! How could I be so stupid?”

The door slammed shut again and he laid a hand on the frame. “Beatrice is the one who convinced me to take your case. She knew Norman was after me, but not why. She thought you and I could help each other.”

A sarcastic laugh exploded on the other side. “Help each other? Yeah, we sure did that. I’m still alive but we’re no closer to finding my sister, and you… Well, I’m not sure what you got out of this other than toying with me. Although, I’ll admit, I did the seducing. God! The first time I ever go after a guy, and it’s one who’s dicking with me!”

Love. He wasn’t lovable, even when he wasn’t trying to kill people. Far from it. He was a messed up piece of shit that didn’t deserve one look from Savanna, much less her love.