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No, Cate was alive now because the retted was that he and Alec hadn’t so So that no one had died So that no one had been wounded Irets

Except the way Cate had shied away from him From his touch That still bothered hi else is bothering you, his inner voice nudged into his consciousness

He so didn’t want to go there Didn’t want to examine his reaction too closely, but It is what it is, he admitted to himself He’d never been jealous of Alec—not since the day he turned eighteen and joined the Marine Corps anyhich Alec had done the year before him From that point on their friendship had been untainted by anything as destructive as jealousy on either side Each was the other’s cheerleader, and the accomplishments of one were a source of pride to the other Liam had even followed his brother into the DSS Not because he was jealous of what Alec was doing, but because he believed wholeheartedly the DSS was his true calling, same as it was for Alec

But that’s exactly what he was feeling right now Jealousy Hot, harsh, unreasoning He didn’t like it one bit, but he couldn’t refuse to acknowledge it He was jealous—of the ad way Cate spoke Alec’s name As if

“At the end of the road, turn right,” said the GPS And when Liam had dutifully done so, the GPS said, “You have reached your destination”

Twilight covered the earth, and there was a delicious sents who ran the safe house—a husband and wife team in their fifties, but who continued to instill confidence in their abilities—had told them dinner would be ready in thirtyforward to dinner with an appetite she hadn’t had since Alec had found her Since he’d convinced her to testify against Vishenko

In addition to feeding the they needed—from clothes, to toiletries, to bedrooms, to information What little information they had, anyhich wasn’t much Cate remembered how the first question Liam had asked was the status of the marshals who’d been wounded in the attack on her, and the other prosecutor, too As if he really cared about men he didn’t know As if it mattered to him

She’d wanted to know, too, of course She hadn’t had a lot to do with the prosecutors other than prepping for trial, but the twoher for the past otten to know the boys already and his as expecting their third child in a couple of months The other had just becoo If Cate still believed in a just and merciful God, she would have prayed for the men, prayed they would recover coh this terrible tirief

But Cate didn’t believe Not anymore Vishenko had killed her faith in God as surely as he’d killed her faith in the goodness of er prayed Not for herself Not for others

Angelina still believes And Alec, she told herself wistfully as she sat on the bed in the bedroohtfully feminine room she would have loved when she was sixteen Now it did nothing for her Cate had spentoff the grid Taking te hand-to-h house Skipping meals on occasion, when her money wouldn’t stretch to cover a roof over her head and food Always looking over her shoulder Always terrified Alwayson to somewhere new after a few months, somewhere Vishenko’s men couldn’t find her

No friends She couldn’t afford friends, and not just because they ht accidentally betray her She couldn’t take the chance—if Vishenko’s et caught in the cross fire She knew Vishenko’sas she was She was al so

Like the prosecutor today Dead because of her Onewith hiuards were plastered over her, taking those bulletsto oppose hi to testify The prosecutor wasn’t a friend, but she’d still caused his death And if anyone else as shot thisdied, that was her fault, too