Allegiances. Cynthia Eden
he had a gun,” Mac added. “It was found on scene, so I think it’s safe to say the fellow wasn’t just hanging around for some friendly little chat.” Mac’s voice was curt. His green eyes were solemn as he stared back at her, and his face was tense.
Celia glanced over at Sullivan. “You think he was there to kill me. That he was waiting for me to show again?” Her gaze slid back to Mac. “That’s what you both think?”
“I don’t think he was there selling Girl Scout cookies,” Mac drawled.
Sullivan forced his back teeth to unclench. “He was lying in wait, Celia.” It was the only thing that made sense to him. “You gave him the slip before, so he went back to McGuire Securities. Maybe he thought I’d lead him to you.”
“But someone took Porter out instead,” Mac said. “So either someone was protecting you, Celia, or someone shut this guy up so he couldn’t reveal anything about who wanted you dead.” He paused just a moment. “I realize it’s been a while since Sully and I have been in the business, so I don’t know...just how many enemies have you made lately?”
She’d paled as she stared at the dead man. Sullivan studied the guy. Porter Vance appeared to be in his thirties, maybe late twenties. He had short hair, a muscular build and a bullet hole in his chest.
“I didn’t think Porter was my enemy,” Celia said softly. “He had no reason to want me dead. He was...he was one of the good guys.” Her right hand lifted and she rubbed her temple. “At least, I thought he was.”
Mac glanced over at Sullivan. “One shot, straight through the heart. I talked with the forensics team on scene. Based on the angle of entry and the bullet used, they think it was a sniper shot, probably from the building directly across the street. Porter probably never saw the attack coming.” He inclined his head. “A smashed burner phone was found beneath the body. No ID was on the fellow, but like I said before, he was armed. The cops took his gun into evidence.” Then he glanced at his watch. “Our five minutes are nearly up. We need to clear out of here, now.” He zipped the bag back up.
“Porter,” Celia said his name again. “This just doesn’t make sense to me. He left the CIA a year ago. There’s no reason for him to come after me!”
But he was there.
And he’d tried to kill her that night.
“Porter was always good with voices and accents,” Celia muttered as she kept rubbing her temple. “Even better than me. I should have remembered that. He was one of the chameleons. He could become anyone on command.” Her lashes lowered. “Just like me.”
“Okay...again...” Mac cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder. “Our five minutes are about up. I promised we’d be out of here. Our presence can’t exactly be widely known, unless you want to explain to all the authorities just who Celia is.”
No, he didn’t intend to explain her to anyone. They’d sneaked in the back door and his contact had let him in. Only one person had seen Celia so far. Others would be arriving soon, so it was definitely time to go.
“We have a starting point now,” Sullivan told Celia as he caught her elbow and steered her toward the door. “We start with him and we work back. We can figure this out.” They were in the hallway now, and Mac was following close behind them.
“There’s no we in this thing,” Celia said. She squared her shoulders. “Your part is done. I obviously made a mistake contacting you. Don’t you see that? There was a dead body dropped—almost literally—on your doorstep.” She shook her head. “I should have just emailed you the information about your parents and not tried to work a deal.”
“Uh, our parents?” Mac demanded. “Just what information do you have on them, Celia?”
Her gaze cut to him. “I know why your mother entered the Witness Protection Program. I know who she was before she changed names and moved across the country. I know the real reason she was running.”
Mac took an aggressive step forward. “And that reason would be?”
Celia looked back at Sullivan.
I haven’t opened the envelope yet. He’d waited because he wanted to share that information when his family was all together. And because he’d been too tangled up in her. “I was calling a family meeting in the morning,” he explained quietly. “Things got a little...out of control, so I didn’t get to call you.”
“Right, out of control.” Mac nodded. “I can see that. Dead bodies can lead to a loss of control.”
Celia was hurrying down the hallway.
“So can sexy ghosts from your past,” Mac added.
After shooting a glare at his brother, Sullivan took off after her. He’d only taken a few steps when Mac grabbed his arm. “Maybe you need to let her go.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sullivan gaped at him. “You’re the one who told me I made a mistake! You’re—”
“I’m the one who saw how much you hurt her before. And I’m the one who doesn’t want to see her in pain again. If you aren’t serious about her, you need to just back off. She’s got enough to deal with now as it is.”
An enemy—one killing in the shadows. “She won’t even tell me why she’s being targeted. It’s like she doesn’t trust me.”
Mac laughed. “Well, I guess that means you know how she felt before, right? Sucks, doesn’t it? When someone turns on you?”
He heard the clatter of her heels. She was at the end of the hallway. A few more moments, and Celia would be outside.
But we came in my car. It’s not like she’ll hot-wire it and leave me.
Hell. She would.
He shoved his brother aside and rushed after her.
She opened the door. Darkness waited.
“Celia!” Sullivan yelled. “Don’t—”
There was a whistle of sound, then a thunk. Wood flew into the air—splintering away from the door—even as Celia dove back inside the building. She hit the floor before he could reach her. Sullivan was pretty sure that his heart stopped when she slammed into the ground.
The bullet didn’t hit her. The bullet didn’t hit her.
He grabbed her arms and yanked her away from the still-open door. He held her close, his grip probably too tight, but he didn’t care, and he backed down the hallway as fast as he could.
“What in the hell was that?” Mac snarled.
“That...” Celia huffed out a hard breath. Her body was tense against Sullivan’s. “That was someone who wants me dead. And that bullet would have hit me if Sully hadn’t called my name.”
And in that last instant, she’d turned back. She’d moved back toward him. The bullet had missed her head and hit the door.
Too close. Too close.
“This is a county facility!” Mac’s grating voice seemed to echo around them. “To attack here...this guy is freaking insane.”
Insane...or just very, very determined to take out his target.
And now Sullivan realized just why Porter had been killed and left at McGuire Securities. “The shooter knew we’d come to look at the body. He wanted to draw you out so he could—”
“Try to kill me?” Celia finished. She glanced up at Sullivan, her dark lashes making her blue eyes appear even brighter. “Yes, I figured that out, too. Right after the bullet nearly lodged in my head.”
It was hard to breathe. She can’t die. “You’re not running from me,” Sullivan rasped.
Mac was on his phone. Probably getting all his cop buddies ready to search the scene