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He told hi That it was just the circu his perspective, when a vision of a wo of pale freckles; red-gold curls that ers in them and see if they were as soft as they looked; brown eyes fringed with gold-tipped lashes untouched by mascara—soft brown eyes that refused to cry

And faintly pink lips without a trace of lipstick Firm lips No-nonsense lips Lips that hadn’t trembled even when she’d believed she was about to be raped and killed Lips he’d give a sizable chunk of his next paycheck to discover if he could soften under his

You’ve got no business daydrea about her, he warned hiate her to a corner of his ht out of the corner of his eyetoward his office was Trace McKinnon And right beside him was the woently—to kiss

Chapter 4

Cody stood at the firing range in the soundproofed subbase headphones in place, he raised his right hand and fired his Glock 17 at the silhouette target fifty feet away until the 33-round high-capacity ust that roughly half his shots weren’t in the ten ring, although he had nothing outside a nine

He liked the Glock better than the standard-issue revolver he’d carried when he’d been the sheriff of Black Rock—reater distance and uns had never been his thing Knives had always been his first love, ever since he’d been a kid

Cody could re, and then practicing soood with his left hand as he ith his right He hadn’t even stopped when his father had roughly told hi a knife left you disarainst you

That had just added to the challenge Even as young as he’d been, Cody had figured out that if you were deadly accurate, you didn’t have to worry about having your own knife turned against you A well-balanced knife in the hands of a marksman was a potent weapon

Knives also had other uses, as he’d knohen he’d used his to pry open the warpedthe night he firstknife as a pry bar didn’t do much for its balance, but it sure came in handy

And knives could be concealed uns

He glanced down the line at the other two agents on the firing range McKinnon was doing rapid, five shot strings with a SIG SAUER P226; Keira was using the two-handed Weaver stance to empty her smaller, compact Glock 19 with deadly precision

Unlike the FBI, the agency didn’t have a standard-issue firearent requisitioned his or her oeapon based on fit and functionality, the agency’s position being that orked for one agent wouldn’t necessarily work for another—but they did keep records of all guns issued

And every field agent was responsible for staying sharp with the weapons of his or her choice Cody was sure Keira and McKinnon didn’t need today’s practice rounds, but with special rule seven invokedand it wouldn’t hurt, anyway; you never knehen just the tiniest fraction of an edge ht make a difference

One of the great things about working for the agency was that a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape involved in requisitioning assets for a covert operation had been ency had a whiz of an acquisition and supply tea he needed for an op that hadn’t been forthco in less than twenty-four hours

His small team already had in their possession ht need, and he’d been assured the rest would be ready and waiting for the with the two vehicles they’d requisitioned Neither vehicle would be new enough, or old enough, to draanted attention, he kneithout asking But under the hood—where it counted—both would be impeccably maintained McKinnon and Keira would drive the truck with its retractable, locking tonneau cover over the truck bed, concealing their gear Cody would drive the SUV, chosenability and near-perfect s a vehicle needed in the mountains around Black Rock—than for its amenities