Page 89 of Stealth Mission

She blinks slowly as I wipe her tears away with my thumbs.

“I’m so fucking glad to see you. I’ve been waiting…”

She shakes her head as her lashes dip down. “Vik told me you’ve been to the farm.”

When I drop my hands from her face and wrap my arms around her again, she relents and leans into me.

“You didn’t think I’d be far from you with a chance that someone was going to try to hurt you.”

Suddenly the spitfire is back. She stiffens, pushing against my chest. “Hurt you, too! Evan… the bomb was on your truck.”

I didn’t catch all that she said.

“Say it again.”

Her brows furrow as she grips the front of my shirt and gives me a shake. “The bomb was on your truck.”

“No.” I pull her closer. My whole body is aching. “Say my name.”

An exasperated sigh crosses her lips. “I’m talking about bombs and you’re fixated on me saying your name.”

“I am.”

When her hands loosen from my shirt, her palms press against my muscles causing a weird sensation to bloom inside of me.

Hope?

No. This is a feeling of rightness. I just need to unfuck everything.

This is the most important mission of my life.

I try to swallow around a new, even larger lump in my throat.

“Evan.”

My knees feel unsteady at the sweet sound of her saying my name.

She searches my face as she presses her lips tight. “Evan.There was a bomb on your truck. Someone was trying to hurt you. I just happened to be there.”

The fear that consumed me during that helicopter flight flashes hot again. “I let you get hurt. I should have checked the truck. There was a car bomb a few hours before and I didn’t do my job.”

She steps back and shakes her head. “I don’t know what your job is, Evan. But…”

“But what, sweetheart?”

She flinches, her expression filled with sadness. “Please, just let me go. I know you’ll be leaving as soon as whatever job you’re doing is over.”

Hands hanging at my sides, I struggle to breathe after that arrow to the chest.

It’s true.

The Agile team is only in Vandemora for a single case. When we find the missing woman, we’ll be assigned to another job. Who knows where. We’re an international rescue team.

But my mouth opens and something spills out that I have no control over. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”

“I’ve got to go, Evan. I suggest you talk to Vik and figure out how to keep yourself from getting more tangled up in whatever is going on in Karma. I’d hate to see you or your team get hurt…” Her chin quivers. “Or killed.”

I reach for her again, desperate, but she turns and walks away toward her Land Cruiser. The sound of her sandals clicking rapidly on pavement is as loud as gunfire.

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