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“It’s time,” Cody said, and Keira’s eyebrows rose in a silent question that was also an accusation Apparently the ether, a plan they hadn’t bothered to clue her in on

Cody caught Keira’s expression and said, “McKinnon’s taking Mandy and the children to the agency’s safe house in Casper He’ll rejoin us after that”

Keira hadn’t thought about that before, but it was the sh it appeared Mandy could protect herself, the three young children were at risk, so it made perfect sense to whisk them out of the way to safety She was surprised Cody had picked Trace for the job, though She would have expected hiive that task to her, the woman on the team

Then she knew Callahan, she thought with a ist to her lips He probably voted to have Trace, the known ele what he probably considered the weaker link—herself—with Cody and hi with it

A burning sense of injustice swept through Keira, but she suppressed it I’m not the weaker link on the team, she told the two men in her mind You think I am, but you’ll see

Trace knew better Her partner knehat she was capable of, and Keira drew soe But she couldn’t tell Cody and Callahan—they wouldn’t believe her She could only show theot the chance

Callahan and McKinnon had left to take the suitcases out to Callahan’s four-by-four, which the team had decided was the best choice for McKinnon to drive, since the children’s car seats were already set up in it

Mandy was fitting her daughter, Abby, into the baby sling to h path When she was done, she touched Cody’s ar you,” she said “Don’t let anything happen to Ryan I’ll never forgive you if—” Her voice broke, but she didn’t have to finish the sentence

Keira read the expression on Cody’s face and knew he didn’t want to ht not be able to keep, especially not to Mandy She saw co that twisted her insides when he told Mandy in a deep voice, “I’ll do my best”

“That’s not good enough,” Mandy whispered She glanced down at her two boys, then put a protective ar in front of her She raised her face to Keira’s, tears she couldn’t prevent springing to her eyes “Please,” she said as if her heart was breaking “Please, take care of Ryan”

“I will,” Keira proht shake of his head This was between Mandy and her If Keira had anything to say about it, Ryan Callahan would return to the ho loved him more than her own life Even if it meant Keira had to sacrifice her own

Callahan and McKinnon returned just then Each man picked up one of the boys, and Callahan put his arht back,” he told Cody and Keira without a backward glance

Once the others had left, Cody told Keira, “Probably wasn’t a good idea to lie to Mandy”

“I wasn’t lying,” she replied coolly “Special rule seven, remember?”

“Yes, but” He didn’t kno to explain without offending her Cody had seen Callahan in action, back when he’d gone by the name Reilly O’Neill, and Callahan could almost assuredly take care of himself If he couldn’t, then it was a fair bet no one else on the team would be in a position to do it for him All in all, it wasn’t likely that Callahan would need Keira’s protection

He caught a flash of so in Keira’s eyes, but all she said was, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that” Then she asked casually, “So, did the three of you discuss anything else while you were outside, other than as going to take Callahan’s family to safety?”

Cody alht himself But he knew from her expression that Keira somehow already knew the answer to the second part of her question without hi it in words