Page 16 (2/2)

"Stop here," he ordered

Noelle did and watched as David got out and went to the man she'd run over

Noelle sed hard, pretending that this was all just a bad dream She never really killed anyone and in a few seconds, she'd wake up, wash her face and clear away all the blood and death from her dreams

David approached the downed un aih, he kicked the man's weapon away and bent down for afor a pulse or et a look at his face, but when he stood back up, he fired three rounds into theout a series of frightened yelps

She couldn't fool herself any longer This was more man just a dreaet that way She'd killed

Frantically, she clawed open the door and voround

By the ti her a bottle of water She took it with shaking hands

Noelle rinsed the taste of acid froht that passed through her head She could not deal with any of this right noithout getting sick again, and they needed to get out of here So, rather than dwelling on the horror surrounding her, she focused on driving Just driving

Owen's nose twitched against the stench of burning coffee He turned the burner off and doused the pot under a strea water

All around the little house were signs that his prey had been here Empty bowls sat in the sink, a rumpled blanket was still on the couch The back door of the house had been left wide open,the code his contact had given his of what had happened here less than an hour earlier, captured by the security cameras installed around the property He watched, amused by the brave little display put on by Dr Blanche

She was a more formidable woman than he could have hoped for Lovely

But it wasn't the woed to Captain David Wolfe, who after two long years had suddenly reappeared out of nowhere That's why he'd see time Even shared a wootten

At the me the scars on his cheek pull tight If there was one man on the face of the planet worthy of his undivided attention, it was Captain Wolfe, and here he was, protecting Dr Blanche

Two birds with one stone

God was truly s Noelle as he did watching their back trail She'd shut down co his directions auto and hysterical, he would have felt better, but her silence worried hi

He still couldn't believe she'd come back for him Couldn't believe she'd run over a man to protect him He kne she felt about violence, but yet she'd had the courage to put that ideal aside and risk her own life to save hiotten her killed and he couldn't let that happen again Her life was too important

And he'd nearly let her throw it away For hiht man for the job Maybe his two years away had rief over Mary's death had h and the Swarm killed Noelle, or worse yet, abducted her? He'd never be able to survive under the weight of that guilt Never

For the space of ten seconds, David thought about calling it quits Let someone else protect Noelle--soer Faster Smarter There were a dozen men like that in Delta

But if he quit, he'd never be sure that the Sas taken out There would still be a chance that they were out there, hurting people Killing innocents David couldn't walk away from that He owed Mary's memory more than cowardice, and that's exactly what it would be if he walked away fro, but he was terrified of failing This op was his only chance to take out the group that had killed his Mary, and he could not pass it by

Which meant he had to take care of Noelle Keep her safe and ain risked her life for his

David told her to pull into a deserted rest stop, which she did without question When the Bronco ca for the next set of directions

He reached over and slid the gearshift into park, then debated what to do next

He wanted to screa his orders He wanted to thank her for saving hie was too strong to resist any longer, so he stopped trying

David unfastened her seat belt and pulled her unresisting body into his lap His wide hands stroked up and down her ar to calm her

She sat still, a frozen lead statue in his lap, notShe'd been traumatized and he was pretty sure he knehy

She'd been willing to die to prevent her work froht, she'd experienced firsthand what it was like to be forced to do violence He doubted that anything in that brilliant mind of hers was equipped to handle it

"Noelle, you didn't kill him," David said in a quiet voice

Noelle juid "Yes 1 did"

"No He was just stunned Bruised, maybe a couple of broken bones, but he would have lived"

"I meant to kill him, which is worse than if I'd done it by accident The sick part is that if I had to do it all again I'd do the exact sa I'd kill that bastard before he could kill you Soto my parents tell me how important it was that my work never be used to harm others"

He cupped her chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him He needed her to see the truth, so he waited until she was looking into his eyes "You didn't kill him I did His death is my responsibility His blood is on my hands"