Brodie knew the area. As soon as he’d realized that they were being tailed, he’d altered course. They weren’t heading to the ranch. They were heading straight to McGuire Securities. I won’t drive into your trap. You’ll drive into mine.

“Open the glove box,” he told Jennifer. “Get my gun.”

She yanked open the glove box.

The gray car was still following behind them. Obviously, the driver thought he hadn’t been spotted yet. Brodie picked up his speed. He’d have to buy some time for Jennifer and him to vanish.

Because it was after the end of the business day, the street in front of McGuire Securities was deserted. Perfect. He spun into the parking garage.

From one garage to another...

He parked and rushed out with Jennifer. He took the gun from her, held it tightly. They hunched behind a thick cement column. Lights flashed as the gray car followed them inside the garage.

The driver stopped and jumped from his car.

So eager to come in for the kill? That eagerness would work against the guy.

Brodie shifted his position a bit as he glanced around the column. The driver of that gray car had a baseball cap pulled over his head, and he wore a thick, bulky jacket. In this Texas heat? The guy was approaching Brodie’s parked vehicle. The SUV’s windows were tinted, so he was leaning in close, trying to see inside.

The man had a gun in his hand, a gun that he was keeping near his side.

“Jennifer?” the man called. “I need—”

Brodie attacked. He jumped out from behind the column and went in fast and hard. His approach was silent, deadly, and before the guy could even see him, Brodie had slammed the man, stomach-first, into the side of the vehicle.

The man’s gun fell to the ground. Brodie pushed his weapon into the guy’s back. “You should have run away,” Brodie snarled. “You should have never come after her again!”

“Wait!” the man yelled. “You’ve got the wrong idea!”

The fellow’s voice was cracking with fear... The voice was also different...not the same guy that Brodie had confronted at the Montgomery ranch.

“Brodie!” Jennifer cried out.

He glanced toward her. She’d run from behind the column and she’d picked up the gun.

The stranger’s head turned toward her, too.

“Damn straight,” the guy seemed to encourage her. “Keep that weapon on him, Jennifer. Don’t let him hurt me! I’m here to help you. You know that! I’ve always helped you!”

Help her?

“Brodie, that’s not the man who has been stalking me.”

Brodie spun the guy around. The man’s baseball hat fell off and hit the cement.

“That’s Nate Wesley,” she continued as she took a few steps forward. Her voice was shocked. “He’s the agent who was assigned the role of my father.”

Her supposedly dead father.

Hell.

Chapter Eight

Jennifer couldn’t believe she was staring at Nate. He should have been so far away, living a nice, safe, normal life.

Instead, Brodie had his gun against his chest, and Nate’s face was a picture of fear.

“I saw this guy take you from the hospital,” Nate said. “I thought he was going to hurt you—”

“I’m protecting her.” Brodie’s face and voice were just scary.

“How was I supposed to know that?” Nate’s voice rose, then cracked. “You came out, nearly running with her. You put her in your ride and you hightailed it out of there.”

They had been in a hurry to leave. Mostly because Brodie had been afraid the stalker might be watching them. Sighing, Jennifer lowered the gun in her hand. “Brodie, it’s okay. He’s not a threat.”

Brodie didn’t budge. “I’m not so sure of that.” His words were a snarl. “Why were you even at the hospital? How did you know Jennifer was in Austin? Why are you here?”

Nate flinched. He looked older...so much older. The lines on his face were deeper, and the gray at his temples had spread to streak through his dark brown hair. “I heard about what happened in New Orleans. The fire at Jennifer’s place made the news. I went to check on her, and I followed her trail to Austin.”

“You’re lying,” Brodie said flatly.

“No, no, I’m not! I wanted to help her! We worked together for years. You think I’d just turn my back on her if I thought she was in danger? I was worried, so I followed her. When I got to Austin, I remembered that you’d worked that rescue mission in the Middle East. I remembered the way Jennifer had been so determined to pay you back...”

Nate had been the one to connect her with Brodie’s parents. He’d pulled strings and gotten their address for her. Since he’d been so involved, yes, Nate would have made the connection between her and Brodie once he’d gotten to Austin.

“She changed after that mission... We both did,” Nate added quietly.

Jennifer crept forward. She still had the weapon in her hand, but she wasn’t aiming it at anyone. “Brodie, he’s not a threat.”

“I’m not so sure of that.” Brodie didn’t look toward her. “He’s here, following us...at the hospital—”

“Since I got to town, I’ve been listening to the police scanner,” Nate told him, body tensing. “I heard about the big fire at the Montgomery ranch. About the woman who was brought into the hospital. I knew the Montgomery property was near the McGuire ranch—”

“And how did you know that?”

“Because he’s the one who led me to your parents years ago.” Her left hand wrapped around Brodie’s arm. “Please, lower the gun.”

Brodie finally looked her in the eyes. “You really trust this man? With your life?”

“I—”

“With mine?”

Jennifer frowned. She looked down at the gun in her right hand. Nate’s gun. Nate had been following her, and he’d been armed. If he truly meant no threat, then why the weapon? Just for his protection? Or for something more...

Nate had been so adept at lying in the field. He’d gotten the deadliest of criminals to trust him within a matter of moments.

He’d taught Jennifer how to lie.

Brodie exhaled and stepped back. “Fine, have it your way...”

And she saw Nate lunge away from the vehicle.

Jennifer stepped in his path. She had the gun up and aimed right at her ex-mentor in less than two seconds’ time. “No,” Jennifer said softly. “I don’t trust him with your life.”

Then something happened. She’d stared into Nate’s eyes dozens of times. She’d thought that she could see right past the mask that he usually wore when dealing with others.

But she’d been wrong. Because this time, in this moment, she finally did see him for the man that he was.

His eyes hardened. His face tightened with fury. “I won’t die for you,” he shouted at Jennifer. “You’re going down, but you won’t take me with you!”

She shook her head. “Nate?”

“He’s coming.” He laughed, and the laughter echoed around them in that empty garage. “I called him. Told him where we were going for every second of that ride. You think you trapped me in here? He’s got you now. You and your lover. He’ll kill you both!”

Footsteps pounded then as men rushed from the darkness.

Only...

These were McGuires. Not her stalker. Not the man Nate had just said would come to kill her and Brodie.

“We called someone during the ride, too,” Brodie murmured. “And just so you know...no one’s dying tonight.”

* * *

THEY TOOK NATE WESLEY—or, the man known as Nate Wesley—into the McGuire Securities office. Grant and Sullivan kept a tight hold on him. Sullivan...this had been her first encounter with the youngest McGuire brother. For some reason, she’d expected him to be a bit softer than his siblings. He wasn’t. If anything, he seemed even harder, even more dangerous. A deadly intensity clung to him like a second skin.

Jennifer didn’t go into that office with them. She retreated to the bathroom as she tried to settle her ragged nerves. When she stared at her reflection in the mirror, Jennifer hardly recognized the woman with the haunted eyes and pale cheeks.