Page 37 of Shadow Undercover

Trace nudged her to the side of the door. The knob turned under his hand. “You locked up before you left?”

“I’m paranoid about locking the house and my car.”

He slid the key into his pocket and palmed his Sig. “Stay here until I tell you it’s safe to come inside.”

Bridget caught his arm before he went inside. “Be careful.”

Trace turned to see worry in her gaze. What he did next came as a surprise to them both. He brushed his lips over hers in a brief caress. “Don’t worry.” Before he compounded his mistake, he pushed the door open and entered the house.

“Knew you were interested in Bridget,” Joe crowed in his ear. “Good job, man.”

Nico broke in. “Cut the chatter. Trace, we have eyes on your woman.”

His woman. The term made a zing of awareness sprint up his spine. After that kiss, Trace would be lucky to claim a friendship with Bridget much less a more significant relationship.

He shook off his distraction and focused on the job at hand. He wasn’t comfortable with Bridget out of his sight even though his team protected her. He should be guarding her, not Shadow. Night was falling, though. The growing gloom made Bridget harder to see. “Searching,” he whispered to his teammates.

Tracking with his weapon, he swept the first floor, absently noting how homey the place felt, nothing like his condominium. His teammates had ragged on him for the past two years to do something with the place. No point, to his way of thinking. He was there less than half the time. Fortress was short staffed. Shadow had worked more missions than was healthy for them, a strain they were feeling.

“First floor clear,” he whispered. “Heading to second floor.”

“No movement inside,” Joe murmured.

“Perimeter clear,” Ben added.

“Bridget is safe,” Nico said.

“Copy.” Trace peered up the stairwell, scanning for movement in the darkness. If Ruth was upstairs, she was asleep, hiding, or absent. With the stale air and empty feel of the house, he suspected the latter. Still, carelessness could get him killed.

He climbed the stairs noiselessly, pausing every few steps to listen. Nothing.

Trace reached the second-floor landing and turned right. He approached the first room, pausing to the side of the doorway. A bedroom. Bed was empty.

His gaze zeroed in on the closed door across this room. He turned the knob. Closet. A quick glance inside revealed nothing but clothes, a lot of them. Runway dresses. Ruth’s clothes.

Trace glanced around the room again. Nothing personal in here. Maybe a guest room with Ruth using the closet for overflow storage.

On to the next room. He retraced his steps to the hallway and approached the next bedroom, the master bedroom from the size of it. Empty bed. Two closed doors.

He stood to the side and opened the first door. Closet filled with business and casual clothes. This might be Bridget’s room. He checked the bathroom. Empty aside from a few toiletries.

One more room to check. Trace returned to the hallway and approached the final room. The door was ajar. He pushed the door inward and glanced inside. His breath hissed out. Not good.

“Sit rep,” Nico demanded.

“Hold,” he whispered and went to the remaining closed door in the room. Closet? A second later and his suspicion was confirmed. This was definitely Ruth’s room. The clothes stored in the closet were a different type than those Bridget stored in her room. “One more room,” he told Nico.

Trace checked the bathroom. A lot of toiletries, most of them exotic and expensive. “Nico, the house is empty. Someone pawed through Ruth’s belongings. Not sure if this is Bridget’s work when she searched for a clue to Ruth’s plans or if someone broke into the house. The front door was unlocked when we arrived, though.”

“Take Bridget inside and walk her through the house. If something is missing or out of place, she’ll know. We’ll go from there.”

“Yes, sir.” Trace returned to the porch where he’d left Bridget.

She pushed away from the wall. “Is Ruth here?” Hope gleamed in her eyes.

Trace laid his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I need you to walk through the house and see if anything is missing or out of place.”

Bridget sighed. “I hoped I was wrong.” She squared her shoulders. “It’s dark now. Would it be all right if I turned on the lights?”

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