Under the Wire: Bad Boys Undercover (3 page)

The reality of what that meant hit Reid hard enough to drive him to his knees. He put a hand out to stay steady. “None of this makes any sense. It feels like we’ve dropped into one of your conspiracy theories.”

Reid kept talking, pushing out the words. The nonsense chatter kept his mind clear. Gave him room to think as he fought off the pooling dread that something awful had happened to Cara. That he’d gotten there too late.

“Not to make things worse, but some spooky shit has gone down in this area. Not right here, but same general area. A whole group of hikers in 1959—boom!—dead.”

“You’re an encyclopedia now?” Reid asked. For some reason, arguing with Parker eased some of the pressure building inside of him. This he could handle.

“The Dyatlov Pass incident.” Parker dropped on his haunches, closer to the ground, and took more photos. This time of the food, some of which looked frozen. “It’s famous.”

Reid checked his watch, looking for the telltale red dot that should point out Cara’s location. The malfunctioning blinking had stopped. Now he didn’t get anything. Either something cut off the signal or . . . He shook away the rest of the thought. Once his mind
clicked off and the emotion turned on full force, he’d be useless to her.

“Maybe the Yetis did it.” Right now he’d kill to see a Yeti just walking along with Cara.

“The hikers were found dead,” Parker said. “Tents ripped from the inside.” He stood up again. “Have you ever read a book?”

“This all happened more than fifty years ago. You don’t have any conspiracy crap that’s more recent than that? Something even a little relevant, maybe.” Like who would want to harm a privately funded science expedition. That’s what Reid didn’t understand.

“There are rumors about labor camps hidden up here. Government experiments.” When Reid started to interrupt, Parker talked over him. “Then there’s the mountain folk. Lights in the sky. Sound vortexes that drive people insane. You name it and the Ural Mountains have a legend about it.”

“Don’t make me sorry I brought you.” Reid walked around, mentally cataloging every stone and every leaf as Parker captured the scene in photographs.

“I can outshoot you but I do wish I could outrun you.” Parker broke the usual protocol of securing the scene and glared at Reid. “Just spill it. Is this an actual assignment or not?”

“It’s personal and . . .” His words trailed off as his eyes focused on the figure breaking through the mass of trees and heading right for them.

Parker must have picked up on the unexpected guest because he spun around and joined in the staring. They both watched as she got closer, stumbling and off balance, before stopping about ten feet away.

“One more step and I’ll blow your balls off.” Cara stood there, voice and hands shaking as the barrel of the gun bobbed around.

Relief smacked into Reid so hard that the breath whooshed out of him. He fought the urge to double over and rest his palms against his knees. He opted for putting his gun away instead, surprised when his hand trembled. “Thank God.”

Parker scoffed. “That’s your response to what she just said?”

“She’s bleeding.” The words kept repeating in Reid’s head before he finally said them out loud. Then he really looked at her. Her dark hair hung half in and half out of a ponytail band. She wore hiking boots but her utility pants had a long gash down the thigh. Ripped clothes. A bloody shirt. No jacket. Shaking hard enough to make her body sway.

Parker took a step toward her then stopped when she aimed the gun directly at him. “She looks like shit.”

Reid’s gaze toured her body, looking for obvious injuries. A hefty case of shock seemed to be right on the verge of kicking her ass. Not good. He needed her calm. Had to get her warm.

With careful steps, slow and as nonthreatening as possible, he moved in closer. “Cara, it’s me.”

She nodded and kept nodding. “I know.”

“Wait, you two are friends or something?” Parker asked.

“The threat still stands, Reid. I don’t trust anyone, including you.” She tightened her grip. “Do not move.”

“I like her so far.” Without any obvious footsteps, Parker had moved. Shifted his body until he drew almost even with her side. “Except for the part where she looks ready to pass out. Guns and fainting don’t mix.”

Reid agreed but didn’t let his concern for her show. “She knows how to handle a weapon.”

She glared at Parker. “And I’ve never fainted in my life.”

Anger. Reid took that as a good sign.

“Do you have a mirror?” Parker asked, drawing her attention back to him. “You look like you’ve been ripped apart by mountain lions.”

She frowned, as if sizing him up. “Weapons down and stop shuffling around.”

“That is never going to happen, sunshine.”

Her eyebrow lifted as her body seemed to steady. “Sunshine?”

Parker shrugged. “I thought I’d try flattery.”

Just enough talk. Reid moved in. One lunge and he’d have her gun. He didn’t want to rattle her or push her
any closer to the edge. Didn’t want to get shot either. “Cara, look at me. I need you to lower that weapon.”

“I can’t.” She shook her head as her words came out in a new wave of panic heavy breaths.

“We’re here to help.”

Her eyes turned a little glassy, as if she had trouble focusing. “Someone called in the Alliance?”

“She knows about the Alliance?” Parker asked, sounding stunned at the idea. “Clearly I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on right now.”

Reid ignored his friend. Blocked out the cool air and the danger involved in standing out there, exposed. Kept all of his attention on Cara.

“I came for you.” And that was not a lie. He would cross oceans without blinking if it meant keeping her safe. Their rough past didn’t change that.

She frowned. “How did you know where to find me . . . or to come now?”

“You’re in danger.” Reid thought the gnarled tent should make that obvious, but she clearly was not in a stable mental place to be able to reason things out for herself. “Cara, you have five seconds or . . .”

“Or what?”

“She asks a good question, man. What kind of threat do you intend to make next?” Parker whistled as he made one last move. He stood next to her with a hand close to her arm.

Reid waited for Parker’s slight nod. When it came,
Reid knew they were ready. Both in position. They could disarm her without incident then get her help . . . and seek a few much-needed answers. But he needed to draw her attention first. “What the hell happened here?”

“They’re dead.” The desperate words sounded as if they’d been ripped out of her.

He forced his instincts back. Did not rush in or give in to the tension pumping through him. “Who, Cara?”

“My whole team.”

That didn’t really clear anything up for him or stop the tension shooting through him. “How did—”

“Reid.” The hand with the gun dropped to her side and she rushed forward, closing the short distance between them. Her free hand came up and fingernails dug into the sleeve of his thin jacket as her gaze searched his. “We need to hide.”

“I think she’s tipped over.” Parker slipped the gun out of her hand and checked it before tucking it away behind his back.

A wave of relief crashed over Reid, followed by an even bigger one of dread. “Let’s calm down for a second.”

She held on to him. Both hands now. Her fingers tightening around his biceps as her eyes and voice begged for help. “We have to go.”

Reid agreed she needed to get out of there and relax. “Why?”

“They’ll be back.”

He glanced at Parker, who just shook his head and asked, “Who is ‘they’?”

“They’re coming—” Her words cut off as she dragged in deep breaths. “This time they’ll kill me, too.”

C
ARA COULDN’T
catch her breath. Couldn’t think. And there was no way she could deal with Reid. Not now. Maybe not ever, but certainly not while her head spun and the thoughts in her brain kept scrambling.

But there he stood, towering over her at six feet. His short hair straddling the edge between brown and blond. Muscles so defined she could almost see them through his thin jacket. Those protector instincts clicking into place as he morphed into this larger than life persona.

His edge remained. The wariness in those bright blue eyes. He held his body stiff, almost as if waiting for the next blow to come. None of that had changed in the months since she’d seen him. Little had. He looked even more fit, more toned, if that were even possible.

Just seeing him had her stupid heart flipping over. Through all the confusion and fear, his sturdy demeanor broke through and comforted her. Her insides
stopped jumping around and her whole body seemed to steady. Slowly, but she could feel the change.

Being with him had been a wild ride that left her reeling sixteen months ago. Standing in front of him now both knocked her off kilter and calmed her. It had always been that way with him. In every conceivable way he’d been wrong for her . . . and still so right.

She focused on his face and that intense stare that seemed to burn through her. Holding on to him, the world stopped its violent spinning. She inhaled, tried to settle what was left of her frayed nerves.

The last three days had been a nightmare. She’d been dragged and thrown around. Passed out. Even now she could only remember snippets. Fragments of the information she needed to piece together to find her team.

She forced her grip on Reid’s arms to ease. A small shake continued to move through her. When she turned her palms over she noticed the blood.

Reid’s gaze followed hers. “Let’s get you washed up.”

“You’re not worried someone might attack us?” Time blurred on her but even now she looked around, unable to move and just waiting for the next attack.

“No.”

Always so clear and sure of his capabilities. On another man the self-assurance would come off as cocky. On him—how he took every new problem in stride and handled it without any fanfare or need to shout about his abilities—the confidence worked. Made her feel
more at ease. “They came out of nowhere. I didn’t see who or what.”

“Understood.” Reid nodded to the other man, apparently sending him some secret signal that had him taking off his pack before turning back to her. “We’ll talk about all that later. Right now, we’re going to make sure you’re okay. And if anyone tries to strike while my back is turned, Parker will shoot ’em.”

Parker nodded. “Damn straight.”

She filed the name away and concentrated on the way Reid held her. Moving slowly and being more gentle than she remembered possible, he cradled her hands in his. The reassuring touch nearly broke her. Her mind shot back in time. The feel of those palms running over her skin. The hours she spent studying each scar and every callus.

She couldn’t do this.

She stepped back and dropped her hands from his. “It’s not mine. Cliff . . . he should be here.”

Reid frowned at his friend then at her. “What?”

“The blood.” The word stuck in her throat, but she punched it out.

The memories flipped around on her. The red, so much of it, pooling on the tent and running into the grass. The smears on the piece of tent she’d been wrapped up in when she woke up from the night of horror she couldn’t quite remember.

Some parts floated back to her. She’d tried to rub
the blood off, in the grass and on her pants. The voice in her head that kept screaming to get it off. The haze, the stumbling and crawling. The useless search for her team. For any sign of life.

“It’s not yours. I get it.” Reid continued to study her. Those intelligent eyes roamed over her. Not in a sexual way. More of a I-need-to-knock-her-out-to-calm-her-down type of way.

Just the thought of that had her inhaling deeply as she struggled to bring her nerves and her brain and every other part of her back under control. “I’ll be fine.”

“Here you go.” Parker handed her a towel.

“Thanks.” She had no idea what pocket he pulled it out of. “You are? I caught the first name, but—”

“Parker Scott.”

She nodded as she rubbed her hands. Raked the rough cloth over her skin again and again. Knotted it then unknotted it. “Part of the Alliance, I’m assuming.”

“About that . . .” After a few seconds Parker grabbed onto the corner of the rag and pulled it out of her hands. “How do you know about the Alliance? We’re not exactly in the phone book.”

“No kidding.” Not knowing what to do with her hands now and trying to ignore the burning sensation from rubbing them raw, she stuck them in her pants pockets.

Parker’s eyebrow lifted. “So . . . ?”

She glanced at Reid, but he hadn’t said a word. Just
stood there, watching and taking it all in. She might not remember what happened a few days ago right here at the campsite, but she did remember the way Reid stared. How he sized up every situation, work or personal. That last part had been an issue between them.

“I’ve seen you all in action.” She waved her hand in Parker’s general direction. “Well, not you, but the rest. Some of you.”

Parker blinked at her a few times. “How exactly?”

That situation, being held hostage and the standoff, she didn’t want to think about any of it. She could only handle one disaster at a time. At some point in the future she’d need to sit down and figure out how she kept walking straight into danger, but not today. Not while this one was still in motion.

After a few beats of silence, Reid jumped in. “She was involved in my first case with the team. You hadn’t joined the Alliance yet.”

“Wait a second.” Parker held up a hand as he continued to stare at her. “This is the second time in like a year and a half that you’ve been in this kind of danger?”

Something about the stunned sound of his voice snapped her to attention. The rest of the haze clouding her brain cleared as anger settled in. “Are you trying to suggest that says something about me?”

Parker took a step back. “Nope.”

“That’s probably enough talk about the past for now.” Reid picked up the other man’s abandoned backpack
and handed it to him. “For the record, Parker tends to speak his mind, regardless of how scary or stupid his thoughts are.”

Parker snorted. “Thanks, man.”

“But you are part of the Alliance.” For some reason she needed to be sure. One team member increased their safety. Two might make her nerves stop pinging and the constant need to double over and throw up subside.

“Yes,” Parker said.

With that answered, her mind flipped to a new thought. She looked at Reid. “And I’m your assignment again?”

“Good question,” Parker mumbled under his breath.

Reid took his time. Took off his pack and dug around inside. Handed her a jacket and glared at her until she took it from him and put it on.

Once she snuggled into the oversized sleeves and wrapped the extra material around her, she eyed him up. “Happy? If so, answer. I’m not going to forget what I asked.”

Reid exhaled. “Your brother sent me.”

She closed her eyes for just a second and let the news wash over her. “I should have figured.”

It made so much sense. Of course, big brother Caleb. He had the resources. He could hack into any system and dig around for information without leaving a virtual footprint. She had no idea how and didn’t want to
know the particulars, but none of this amounted to a surprise.

“Uh, who exactly is your brother?” Parker asked.

Reid talked right over him. “We don’t have time for this now.”

Parker cleared his throat. “We’re going to make some time.”

The back and forth made Cara’s head spin again. She tried to focus on Reid as she pointed at Parker. “Which one of you is in charge?”

Reid nodded. “Me.”

“Definitely me,” Parker said at the same time.

Her hair picked that moment to lose the battle with the wind. She felt the last strands slip out of her ponytail holder and fall around her shoulders. She thought about running her fingers through it, trying to untangle the knots, and didn’t even bother. Not when she had bigger issues plaguing her. “How did you know where to find me? No one is supposed to know our exact location.”

Reid reached into his pack again. This time he brought out a satphone. “Not important.”

But it was. Something about the way he ducked the question when he usually ran at them head on. He kept moving around, and not just conducting his normal surveillance. No, this was different. She likely wouldn’t have noticed if they didn’t have a history. But now, as the panic started to subside, she picked up on other things.

“I get that my brother tracked you down when our communications went down and I stopped checking in twice a day, but how did you—” Then it hit her. Anger stormed through her. Red hot fire burned from her feet to her head. “Reid Thomas Armstrong.”

“Wow.” Parker’s eyes widened and he whistled. “That is a spectacular pissed-off female tone.”

“The use of my full name is bad.” Reid’s voice dropped even lower. “Trust me. Even though it’s not my real name, it’s still bad.”

She took a step forward until she stood right in front of him, just inches away. She poked a finger into that impressive chest. “You still track me?”

Parker’s frown deepened. “Wait, what does that mean?”

“Okay, hold on a second.” Reid’s hands came up along with the soothing tone. “Calm down.”

He had once admitted to her that it was a practiced law enforcement move. The lilt to his voice and comforting words. The whole thing where he settled down people who had lost the ability to function or think rationally. Brought them back from the edge. How he remained straightforward and logical, even repeated phrases and carefully picked his words.

Well, she wasn’t in the mood to be soothed. Not about this. “Say that again and I will fire that gun right at your—”

“I don’t always use the tracker,” Reid said as his hands moved in front of him. “This was an emergency.”

Parker looked from Reid to Cara and back again. “What tracker? What are we even talking about?”

“The one he implanted. In me.” She jabbed Reid’s chest one more time, half furious she hadn’t removed the thing and half grateful for the failure.

Parker’s mouth dropped open. “What the fuck?”

She was starting to like this Parker guy. “Yeah, that was my reaction when I found out.”

“Let’s go back for a second.” Parker let out a sound halfway between an exhale and a harsh laugh. “How do you two know each other?”

“We used to date,” she said. That didn’t cover it, but she thought the explanation came close enough.

Reid glared at her. “We were engaged.”

“Barely.” And that was another subject she absolutely did not want to discuss. The quick proposal, the doubts, how it all fell apart. Memories of Reid had become a flashing warning sign in her brain. A testament to how not to get involved with a guy.

Forget that she’d loved him. That she still thought about him and fought off regrets. That doubts about leaving him pummeled her every hour at first, and still on a daily basis. The nagging sensation that she’d given up too soon and out of fear.

Yeah, forget all that.

“The length doesn’t matter,” he grumbled.

She almost laughed. “Typical guy response.”

Parker nodded. “She’s got you there.”

“I figured out we made a mistake and left.” Talk about a shortcut. She bypassed all the confusion and heartache and the very real sense that she’d waded into waters well over her head the second Reid jumped through that window and covered her body as the bullets flew all those months ago.

Reid’s jaw clamped shut. “We’ve gotten off track.”

Not as far as she was concerned, because the point was not about their relationship. It was about his controlling behavior . . . which kind of was about their relationship. “I broke up with him,” she said to Parker, “but not before he implanted a tracker under the skin on my shoulder while I was out due to a knife wound.”

Parker winced as he turned to Reid. “Do you do that with all the women you propose to?”

The thought of him . . . of being one in a line . . . She pushed the idea away and concentrated on the anger welling inside her. For the first time in days she felt like herself again. Not just like a zombie wandering around, waiting to drop from exhaustion or be carted away. “Good question.”

“There was an ongoing kidnapping threat back then.” Reid offered the comment as if it explained everything.

“How long ago?” Parker asked as he took the satphone from Reid.

“I dumped him sixteen months ago.”

“Yeah, please keep saying it that way.” Reid exhaled.

She shrugged. “It’s true.”

“Good thing I have a strong ego.”

She didn’t want to think about his ego or any other part of him. He possessed unbelievable skills with a gun, in the bedroom. Everywhere, really. He could even cook, when all she bothered to do was order takeout.

Focusing on her rage was the only way to get through this. “So, my brother told you he lost contact with me, and you turned on the tracker, or whatever you did to find me, and came out here.”

Reid shrugged. “Sure.”

No, that wasn’t right. She sensed there was more to the story. Bad parts he wasn’t telling. “You just happened to be in Russia?”

A huge grin spread across Parker’s face. “Montana.”

The answer didn’t make any sense to her. “What?”

“We were supposed to ride to Montana. Luckily, we hadn’t left DC yet.”

She broke eye contact as she tried to process that bit of information. Papers blew around her feet. All harmless. The notebooks and laptops she’d collected contained the important information about the expedition. Unfortunately, most of the technology had been damaged and only the hidden notebooks survived
that
night.

“So, this isn’t an Alliance assignment.” Which meant they didn’t have clearance. They didn’t understand the import of what was happening out here or how a case
of missing scientists made more sense than they might think. She didn’t wait for them to answer. “You have to leave. Now. Ten minutes ago, actually.”