Harlequin Intrigue June 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: To Honor and To Protect\Cornered\Untraceable (39 page)

Chapter Two

Juliet already sat in the conference room between her brothers Cameron and Sawyer, chatting with both, when Evan arrived at the meeting. He wasn't surprised to find the two men flanking Juliet. If Cameron and Sawyer had their way, she'd be wrapped in cotton wool and hidden away somewhere.

The Branson men were brothers to Evan in every way but blood. He'd known them most of his life—Sawyer, Cameron, and their older brother, Dylan, who no longer worked at Omega—and would do anything for any of them. But their overprotectiveness when it came to Juliet frustrated Evan.

Juliet had strength none of the Branson family wanted to admit, including herself. Right now it lay hidden under layers of fear and regret. But the strength resided inside her. He'd seen it multiple times during their tenure as partners in the field. He wished Juliet would trust him to help her find that strength again, but he couldn't force it to happen. Could only wait and hope.

Evan deliberately took the seat directly across from Juliet. She nodded at him and gave him a polite smile before looking away. He decided to engage her brothers instead.

“What's up, Tweedledum and Tweedledummer?”

Neither brother was up to his normal speed. Both were recovering from gunshot wounds received in action over the past few months, Cameron from an undercover operation gone wrong, and Sawyer from an attempt to fix that. They would recover fully, but were manning desks until they were cleared for field duty.

Not that either seemed to mind desk duty right now. It gave them each more time to spend at home with the loves-of-their-lives, also recently acquired in the cases. Having met Cameron's Sophia and Sawyer's Megan, Evan wholeheartedly supported his friends wanting to stick close to home.

“Watch it there, shorty. I can still kick your butt even with my arm in this sling,” Sawyer told him. The “shorty” barb had been around since they were all teenagers and Evan had been the last to hit his growth spurt, so he'd been a head shorter than the Branson boys for a time. Even though they now were all around the same height—each over six feet— Evan still got called shorty from time to time. But it brought the slightest of smiles to Juliet's lips, so he let it slide.

“Yeah, I'd hate to put your other arm in a sling,” Evan retorted.

“Why are we having a big powwow with Burgamy?” Cameron cut in, referring to their boss, Dennis Burgamy. “Since when does he sit in on normal op-specification meetings?”

“I was wondering the same thing myself.” Juliet glanced briefly at Evan before turning away.

Evan knew he had to tell her about him going back undercover as Sinclair. He didn't want her to hear it for the first time in the middle of the meeting.

“I don't know why Burgamy wants to be in the meeting exactly,” Evan said. “But you guys should know that I'm going back under as Bob Sinclair.”

Cameron muttered a curse. Sawyer didn't say anything. He'd already been aware that the Sinclair persona had been resurrected a few weeks ago. Evan had posed as Bob Sinclair to help Sawyer out in a case.

The color washed out of Juliet's face and she stood, her chair rolling back from the table forcefully. All three men stood, as well.

“Excuse me,” she murmured.

“Jules—” Sawyer reached for her, but stopped when she flinched away.

“No, I'm all right. I'll be back in a minute.”

Evan watched as she all but fled from the room. He gave a heavy sigh and sat back down.

“Should one of us go after her?” Cameron asked.

“No, let her go,” Evan said. “She just needs to pull herself together.”

Sawyer and Cameron looked as though they might argue, but decided against it. Evan knew he was right. Juliet would not want any of them coming after her, crowding her space. She'd be back when she was ready, which would probably be sooner than either of her overprotective brothers suspected.

Evan hated Juliet hearing about the Bob Sinclair situation this way, but knew it would have upset her no matter when or how she heard about it. There was no way around that.

Dennis Burgamy, head of operations at Omega, entered the room along with his assistant, Chantelle DiMuzio, who looked harried. Of course, poor Chantelle always looked harried. Anybody who worked that closely with their boss day in and day out couldn't help it.

Burgamy took the seat at the head of the table, glanced around, and turned to Evan. “Where's Juliet?”

“She had to step out. She'll be back soon.”

Burgamy, dressed impeccably in a dark suit, sighed impatiently. Everyone knew there was no love lost between him and the Branson family. Each side tolerated the other, but only barely. Usually Burgamy didn't have much problem with Juliet, however. Why had he even asked about her?

“Well, I don't have much spare time, so we'll need to start without her,” Burgamy barked.

“Okay, to get everyone up to speed,” Evan began, trying to stall to give Juliet time to return. “In the midst of Sawyer's operation last month with Dr. Megan Fuller and DS-13, we weren't sure if the Ghost Shell hardware system was going to be sold on the black market. Or if we would have the means of stopping it if it was sold.”

“A disaster on all counts,” Burgamy said.

Everyone nodded. Evan continued. “We were in a time crunch so I put feelers out on the street using some past covers, in case I needed to infiltrate any black market weapons groups.”

Evan looked over at Sawyer. “Fortunately, Sawyer was able to acquire Ghost Shell and arrest or eliminate most of DS-13, whom we are considering permanently disbanded.”

Sawyer raised an eyebrow. That wasn't exactly how the whole thing had gone down, but whatever. Close enough.

Evan looked up, his attention caught by Juliet coming back through the door.

“Sorry,” she murmured to Burgamy, before taking her seat between her brothers once again.

Her features were still a little pinched, but she seemed otherwise well composed. As Evan knew, she was stronger than she thought.

“I was just explaining the situation with Sawyer and DS-13 last month,” he said to her. “You already know all of that.”

Juliet nodded. She did know it. As a matter of fact, she was the reason Sawyer and his fiancé, Megan Fuller, had gotten out alive at all.

“In the midst of that operation, one of my feelers got a lot of response—Bob Sinclair.” Juliet flinched as Evan said it, but he continued. “First, it was DS-13 who expressed interest, but since then someone from Vince Cady's group has made contact.”

That got everyone's attention. Vince Cady was a crime boss with his fingers in almost every piece of ugliness you could find: weapons, technology, blackmail. On the surface he looked clean, and did a good job of covering his tracks. Omega had never found anything that could be used to indict Cady, but they knew he was dirty. And even more, he was key to a number of larger groups and sellers. If Omega could get dirt on Cady, they could take down a lot of other bad guys.

Vince Cady was known as a grade-A bastard. Smooth, but with a cruel edge. And very,
very
smart. Which was why he'd never been arrested.

Cady initiating contact with Bob Sinclair provided a huge break for Omega. Having an undercover foothold in his group would be measurable progress, bringing Omega much closer to taking Cady and his network down.

“That's excellent,” Cameron said. “It gives Bob Sinclair instant credibility. Cady came to you, not the other way around.”

Evan nodded. “Yes, I plan to use that fact to my advantage as much as possible.”

“Did he contact you for a specific buy?” Burgamy asked.

Juliet spoke up. “Our most recent intel about Cady suggests that he may have acquired some surface-to-air missiles to sell on the black market. That would be a perfect fit for Bob Sinclair.”

Juliet's voice wavered only the slightest bit when she said it.

Evan nodded in encouragement. “I agree,” he told the group. “Bob and Lisa Sinclair's reputation is as entrepreneurs. They...” Evan looked over and saw Juliet's pinched features as well as Sawyer and Cameron's thunderous looks, so changed his pronoun choice. “Bob, I mean, is known as a jack-of-all-trades, dabbling in weapons, pharmaceutical drugs, technology, information. He's the type of guy who can help Vince Cady out, so I'm not surprised by the contact.”

“Okay, good,” Burgamy said. Chantelle, sitting next to him, kept clicking away, taking notes on her tablet the entire time. “What's the timetable for this op?”

Evan still didn't know why Burgamy was even here. Yes, Cady was a pretty big fish and infiltrating his group would be a huge coup, but why the boss would sit in on an early planning meeting like this was beyond Evan.

“I have a meeting scheduled with Cady tomorrow in Baltimore, his base of operation. Since Bob Sinclair is an old cover, I'm just going to pull and use all the old info, IDs, etc. Prep is relatively minimal. I can go under immediately, depending on how the meeting with Cady goes.”

“Eighteen months absence isn't going to be a problem?” Burgamy asked.

“Yeah, I'm sure it will come up. I'll make certain I have something to say.” Evan didn't know what that would be yet. The truth wasn't an option, and the whole situation with Lisa Sinclair was quite complicated. Evan would have multiple answers rehearsed, depending on exactly what questions were asked, how they were asked, and the climate of the conversation.

That's what a good undercover agent did: constantly took stock of the situation and adapted.

“And what about Lisa Sinclair, Bob's ‘wife'?” Burgamy asked.

And there it was, the announcement of the elephant in the room. Evan didn't look over at Juliet to see her reaction. She didn't need anyone gawking at her.

“What about her?” Evan responded, keeping his tone neutral.

“Bob and Lisa Sinclair were a couple. A tight couple.” Burgamy leaned more of his weight on his arms, which were folded on the conference table. “The cover worked so well because the criminal groups you infiltrated bought into the whole Bonnie and Clyde, can't-live-without-each-other vibe the two of you gave off.”

Evan didn't want to admit it, but Burgamy was right. Going in without Juliet would make this mission more difficult. But the alternative wasn't an option, so Evan wasn't even entertaining it as such. He glanced briefly over at Juliet, who was looking intently down at her notes.

“I'll make it work, as Bob Sinclair alone. I've certainly done my share of undercover work with no partner.” Evan could see the Branson brothers nodding, backing him up. Cameron in particular knew about long-term solo undercover work, having recently come off a life-changing operation himself.

But Burgamy wasn't willing to let it go. “Isn't Cady going to wonder about Lisa? Her absence will certainly make suspicions higher, perhaps even jeopardize the entire mission.”

Evan sat up straighter in his chair, then leaned toward Burgamy. He could see Juliet's brothers mirroring his actions, tension evident. Evan didn't like where this was going.

“I'm a trained, experienced operative, Burgamy. I'll handle it.”

The boss's smile didn't reach his eyes. “I have every confidence in your abilities, Karcz. But the facts are the facts.”

Burgamy leaned back in the chair in a relaxed pose that belied the words he'd said. Suddenly the entire meeting became clear to Evan, the purpose of Burgamy's attendance and his endgame. And Evan had played right into his hands. He knew what Burgamy was going to say before his boss even said it, but there was nothing he could do.

Burgamy turned to Juliet. “Juliet needs to go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair to ensure the success of this operation.”

Chapter Three

Juliet heard the words that came out of Burgamy's mouth as if from far away. She searched for a response inside herself—knew she should have some sort of explosive negative comment—but could find only silence.

She couldn't go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair. She wasn't ready. It would be a disaster.

It ended up she didn't have to give an answer, anyway. Her brothers took care of the explosive negative comments for her.

“There's no way in hell, Burgamy,” Sawyer, her normally laid-back younger brother, said grimly.

The expletive that came from Cameron should've had her smacking his arm or at least telling him to chill out. But Juliet still could find only silence.

Both brothers stood, now in an open argument with Burgamy, listing the reasons Juliet couldn't go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair. She wasn't ready, Burgamy couldn't force her, she hadn't had the needed prep time... Juliet just tuned them out as they continued.

She knew her weaknesses, knew she was a coward. She didn't need to listen to an active discussion of those facts.

Juliet looked up from her folded hands to find Evan staring at her across the table.

She could find no pity in his gaze. Nor disappointment. He actually shrugged and rolled his eyes, gesturing casually with his hand to all the chaos. As if the yelling currently reverberating through the conference room came from preschoolers throwing temper tantrums about sharing their favorite toys, rather than Juliet's boss asking her to do something that would probably get both her and Evan killed.

How could Evan take it so lightly?

Juliet rubbed a hand over her face. There was no point in letting her brothers get in trouble with Burgamy—
again
—over this. The choice belonged to her and she already knew her answer.

She stood up, but didn't try to yell over her brothers, just waited for them to realize she had something to say. Over the years she had perfected that practice.

Eventually everyone grew silent and looked at her.

“No. I won't do it.” Juliet said it plainly, not raising her voice in any way.

“Juliet,” Burgamy began in his nasally tone, “it's evident that the mission has a greater chance for success if you are part of it.”

“I disagree,” she said.

Burgamy had no intention of giving up so easily. “But Vince Cady and his people will be expecting you to be with Evan. Bob and Lisa Sinclair are a known couple.”

Juliet held up a hand to silence her boss. “My initial presence might be an asset, I concur. But for any longer term I would just be a liability. Evan can't babysit me and successfully complete the mission.”

Now it was Evan who spoke up. “Jules—”

She turned to him, could see the anguish in his eyes. “No, Evan. I'm not of any use to anybody in the field right now. Trust me.”

Burgamy was determined to continue his argument. “But—”

Juliet decided to put a stop to it right now and save them all the trouble. “Respectfully, Burgamy, I'm not an agent anymore. You can't force me to do this. So let's not pretend like you can, okay? I'm not going back in the field as Lisa Sinclair.” She turned to Evan. “I won't risk your life that way.”

Burgamy wisely didn't say anything further. He knew Juliet's words were true. After what had happened to her the last time, no one at Omega would ever try to force her into an undercover assignment. If she ever went under again, it would be her own choice.

Juliet didn't see that happening anytime soon, say, for the next twenty years.

She noticed both her brothers sitting down, evidently accepting the battle was over. Which it was.

“I'll help Evan in any way I can,” Juliet said. “I'm willing to be the support team leader, so I can use my experience to assist him.”

She spoke to Burgamy as she said it, but saw Evan's surprised look out of the corner of her eye. It was no wonder; for the year that she'd been working as a handler, she'd never volunteered to oversee any of his cases. She'd done some strategy and analysis support for him, but never anything that would keep them in daily contact.

Working as Evan's handler would definitely bring the two of them in regular contact. She'd just have to deal with that. Juliet frowned and rubbed the back of her neck. Maybe she was too much of a coward to go back out in the field, but she could at least help him from the safety of Omega Headquarters. She knew staff support wasn't what Evan really needed from her. Plenty of people were qualified to act as his handler, her two wounded brothers being prime examples. What Evan needed from her was in the field.

Disgust with herself pitted her stomach.

Burgamy, having evidently failed in his purpose for being at the meeting, excused himself and left. His assistant trailed after him. With them gone, some of the tension left the room, and quiet conversations started up.

Juliet looked over at Evan's handsome face as he spoke to Sawyer about Vince Cady. Evan's brown hair, cut short and stylishly, and his beautiful hazel eyes, were in sharp contrast to her brother's darker looks. A small scar marred Evan's cheek, hardly a centimeter from his left eye. He'd gotten it during a case they'd worked on together, three years ago.

Evan had fought the bodyguard of a drug lord they'd been investigating. The huge, muscular guard, having found out the two of them were law enforcement, had decided Evan needed only one eye. The thug would've been successful in that little venture if Juliet hadn't helped wrestle the knife away.

She still smiled a little whenever she thought of that case. Evan had joked a few weeks later, at a Branson family barbecue, that the scar was okay because it finally made him as ugly as her brothers. As if any of them could be called ugly.

It had been a long time since Juliet had been to one of her family's barbecues. She wondered if Evan still went, even without her there for the past year and a half. Probably. Her brothers were his best friends.

The next couple hours were spent discussing details of the case. Evan would meet Vince Cady two days from now, at a place yet to be determined by Cady in Baltimore, which was less than an hour away from DC. There were a lot of unknowns in the case, things Evan would have to figure out on the fly, not unusual in undercover work.

The primary objective of the case wasn't the arrest of Vince Cady. Leaving him in play in order to get information on his other contacts and pipelines took precedence. So, although they'd all like to see him behind bars as soon as possible, that wouldn't happen immediately. Instead, recovery of the surface-to-air missiles—the SAMs—that Cady wanted to sell would be the primary objective. Omega couldn't allow them to be sold to enemies of the United States.

And Evan would be the sole person stopping that from happening.

Juliet ignored the tiny voice inside her that said this mission was too much for one person, even someone as capable as Evan, to handle on his own. Evan would be just fine. And he wouldn't be alone; he'd have plenty of support from the team here at Omega.

Juliet pretended that was enough. Because what else could she do?

Eventually, the meeting wound down as they worked out as many details as they could. The team trickled out one by one, each sure of his or her own assignments. Sawyer and Cameron both hugged her as they left to go back to their own cases, wishing Evan luck, offering their support whenever it was needed.

Juliet grabbed her own items, preparing to go to her office. She had a lot to do before Evan's meeting with Vince Cady.

“Can I walk with you?” Evan asked her.

“Sure.” They stepped out of the conference room together and down the hall. It had been a long time since Juliet had talked to Evan, just the two of them. It felt...weird. But not as awkward as she would've expected.

“I just wanted to let you know I had no idea Burgamy was going to say all that junk,” Evan told her. Juliet noticed he was careful to keep a distance from her and not touch or crowd her in any way as they were walking. “I mean, I knew I would be resuming the role of Bob Sinclair, but I didn't think Burgamy would suggest you go back under as Lisa.”

Juliet swallowed and tried to make light of it. “You know Burgamy, always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“More like, always willing to do whatever it takes to get credit and recognition from his superior officers.”

Juliet nodded. Burgamy definitely had his eye on a position much higher than the one he currently held.

They arrived at Juliet's office, one of the few perks of working as an analyst was having an office rather than just a desk like active operatives, and she entered. She thought Evan would say his goodbyes and head out, but he followed her in. She placed the case files on her desk and turned to him.

“You look very nice today,” Evan said, leaning against the wall near the door. “Professional.”

Compared to the jeans and sweater she normally wore, that was probably true. “Thanks.” Juliet half smiled. “I wanted to put in an effort, since Burgamy was attending the meeting. Although if I had known why, I wouldn't have bothered.”

Evan grimaced. “I don't blame you.”

“So you feel ready to take on Bob Sinclair again?” As soon as Juliet uttered the words she wished she could take them back. She didn't want to talk about Evan's feelings regarding Sinclair any more than she would want to talk about hers if she was resuming the role of Lisa.

“Yeah, sure.” Evan shrugged. “Can't miss an opportunity like this with someone like Vince Cady.”

“Good.” Juliet didn't know what else to say.

“Look, Jules...” Evan took a step from the wall. “I just wanted you to know,
make sure
you know, that nobody, even Burgamy, expects you to resume Lisa Sinclair. Burgamy wanted to try, had to try just in case, but he didn't really expect you to do it.”

Juliet appreciated the sentiment from Evan, although she wasn't sure if he was correct.

“I know your brothers want to protect you, which is why they were so adamant in there this morning,” he continued. “They love you and don't want anything bad to happen to you again.”

“Thanks, Evan.” Juliet was tentative, not sure what his point was.

“And, of course, I
never
...” Evan ran his hands through his hair, seeming to need a moment to gather himself. “I never want you to go through anything like that again.”

Anguish was evident in his face. Juliet hurt for him. Ironic, since he was hurting for her.

“Evan—”

“But I want you to know something, Jules,” he added. “Although I would never try to talk you into going undercover against your will, you are capable of much more than you give yourself credit for. You can be a good agent again, if you decide to be.”

He said it with so much conviction that, somewhere deep inside, Juliet wished it were true.

Thought maybe, just for a second, that it could be.

But then she thought of this morning, how she'd gotten another of those stupid emails and had let it completely derail her
again
. How she arrived every day at Omega Headquarters at 4:00 a.m. because she was too scared to stay in her own house alone. She thought of the overwhelming panic that occurred whenever someone, however innocently, touched her from behind. She thought of all the ways she had screwed up the last mission, and the price she had paid for it.

And she thought of Evan and how
he
would be the one to suffer, or worse, if she went back out in the field and couldn't perform her duties.

Evan wanted to support her, and Juliet appreciated his kind words, but he didn't know all the facts. No matter what he said, Juliet would never again be a good agent.

“I'm sorry I'm sending you out there alone, Evan. I know it's a sucky thing to do.”

“No.” He shook his head. “This isn't about me or Bob Sinclair or this case at all. I'll be fine. The case will be fine. I just wanted you to know that I think—that I
know
—you can do it. When you're ready.”