Calculated Vendetta. Jodie Bailey

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СКАЧАТЬ lame excuse about the army not being conducive to a family. She was as much of a soldier as he was, and that was the flimsiest reason in the world for a breakup.

      Outside, she inhaled deeply and immediately wished she hadn’t. The humidity of the early September evening made taking a breath feel more like drowning. It was after eight o’clock, but the heat of the day held on even in the twilight. It didn’t matter she’d been raised here, nobody ever really got used to the way summer dragged into autumn. The North Carolina Sandhills brought with them a special kind of humidity-fueled torture.

      Grabbing her phone, she started to fire off a text to John to cancel their interview for the next day, but she paused. He’d been a great source on her last article, and his input would be valuable for her research on the Joint Task Force mission he’d been a part of five years ago. Casey tapped her thumb against her phone. This was why business and personal didn’t mix.

      Maybe she should let it go. This was one working dinner with a man she hardly knew. Nothing serious. Casey glanced over her shoulder. Nothing like the place she’d been with Travis when he walked out her door for the last time.

      Forget him. Forget this day. She was done. Casey shoved her phone into her hip pocket and pulled her keys from her purse. Time to go home to air-conditioning and ice cream.

      “Casey, wait.”

      Against her will, her feet dragged to a stop on the sidewalk. Yep. Travis was still tenacious.

      And she still couldn’t resist him.

      Travis stopped beside her and glanced around the parking lot. “At least let me walk you to your car. If John can’t be gentleman enough to—”

      “Are you for real?” Casey whipped around and turned the full force of her pent-up fury on him. “Were you watching the whole time? You think you get to spy on me because...because why, exactly? Walk away, Travis. Seems like that’s the one thing you’re really good at.”

      He didn’t back off like she’d expected but held his ground, his expression neutral. “Just walking you to your car, Case. Let a guy be nice, okay?”

      Travis was a lot of things, including a big kid in a man’s body, but one thing was certain—his mama had taught him how to be a gentleman. He’d walk any lone female to her car. It had nothing to do with her. She could stand on the sidewalk and fight him, or she could let him take the walk to the end of the row with her, thank him, then go on her not-so-merry way.

      It was easier to give in. Without another word, she turned on her heel, made sure no cars were coming, then stepped off the sidewalk.

      Travis kept pace beside her, not saying a word.

      As much as she didn’t want to talk to him, Casey couldn’t hack the silence. Between the two of them, it was unnatural. She tightened her grip on the strap of her backpack, running her thumb along the stitching. “Did you ever get any word on orders?” He should have moved on from Bragg months ago, but an investigation at his unit had held all his soldiers in place. Word around post was the fence was down now that the investigation was closed, and guys were being shuffled to other assignments.

      He lagged behind then caught up, as though the question had slowed his pace. “I—” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to selection for a Special Missions Unit in a little over a week.”

      “I never knew you wanted to go that route.” There were a lot of things he’d kept from her, including his apparent fear of commitment.

      “You still with the Public Affairs Office?” He didn’t answer her question, and she didn’t push it.

      “I am.” They’d reached her Jeep and Casey stopped, staring at the door handle as she slipped the backpack from her shoulders. Turning to look at him would be dangerous. Her pride was already bruised by John. She didn’t need the reminder of what could have been if she let herself look at Travis Heath long enough to remember he wasn’t the root of all evil. “I’ll probably be there until—”

      There was movement at the front of her Jeep, and someone melted out of the shadows. Surely John wasn’t waiting, thinking he could shoehorn his way into her evening once again.

      She turned her back fully to Travis, facing the newcomer.

      It wasn’t John. A man appeared at the front of her SUV, a hood over his head casting his face into shadow, and a pistol pointed straight at her chest.

      * * *

      Travis’s muscles tightened, the heat of confrontation rushing through him. It took all he had not to shove Casey to safety and rush the guy. Instead, he edged between her and the gunman and balled his fists, forcing his attention from the pistol to the man, trying to size his advantage and figure out the best way to get Casey safely out of this.

      In spite of the heat, their attacker wore a dark hoodie pulled forward to distort his features in shadow. Still, something about him was vaguely familiar, a flicker of memory Travis couldn’t grasp.

      Now wasn’t the time to try.

      The gun wavered from Travis to Casey, almost as though the man holding it wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

      Travis eased one foot forward, getting himself in position to take out the foe, but the pistol stabilized, aimed squarely at him.

      Whoa. Travis froze, reading confusion in the gunman’s expression. This guy was no pro, but he wasn’t a novice either. Rather than aiming at the head, he had the pistol pointed squarely at center mass, the mark of someone who had at least a little training. Something told Travis the guy could probably get off a fairly accurate shot, but that wasn’t a theory he wanted to test.

      He’d trained for moments like this, but having Casey thrown into the mix complicated everything. Right now, Travis was physically trapped with the Jeep on one side and a car on the other, but he’d always been better with his words anyway. “Dude, you don’t have to do anything crazy.”

      The statement hardened the man’s resolve, and his stance stiffened. “I want her backpack...and your wallet.”

      “Take it easy.” He’d hand over everything in his possession as long as the guy didn’t pull the trigger on Casey. The barrel of a weapon aimed straight at them made Travis willing to do whatever it took to protect her.

      But he had an idea. “Casey, hand me your backpack.” He lowered his right arm slowly, like he was reaching behind him for the bag.

      The gunman steadied his aim.

      Behind Travis, Casey hesitated, giving him a second to pray she wouldn’t choose this moment to argue, then she slipped the strap into his hand.

      Perfect.

      Travis wrapped his fingers around the canvas strap and eased forward, bracing himself for whatever came next. If this was the last breath he took, at least he could say he’d given it all he had. He threw his arm out, the backpack catching their assailant in the arm.

      The gun clattered off the trunk of the car beside them and Travis rushed forward, but the narrow space between the Jeep and the car slowed his momentum.

      The other man snatched Casey’s backpack, skirted the front of the Jeep and ran for a dark sedan idling two spaces away, leaving tire rubber СКАЧАТЬ