Untraceable

Cady initiating contact with Bob Sinclair provided a huge break for Omega. Having an undercover foothold in his group would be measurable progress, bringing Omega much closer to taking Cady and his network down.

“That’s excellent,” Cameron said. “It gives Bob Sinclair instant credibility. Cady came to you, not the other way around.”

Evan nodded. “Yes, I plan to use that fact to my advantage as much as possible.”

“Did he contact you for a specific buy?” Burgamy asked.

Juliet spoke up. “Our most recent intel about Cady suggests that he may have acquired some surface-to-air missiles to sell on the black market. That would be a perfect fit for Bob Sinclair.”

Juliet’s voice wavered only the slightest bit when she said it.

Evan nodded in encouragement. “I agree,” he told the group. “Bob and Lisa Sinclair’s reputation is as entrepreneurs. They...” Evan looked over and saw Juliet’s pinched features as well as Sawyer and Cameron’s thunderous looks, so changed his pronoun choice. “Bob, I mean, is known as a jack-of-all-trades, dabbling in weapons, pharmaceutical drugs, technology, information. He’s the type of guy who can help Vince Cady out, so I’m not surprised by the contact.”

“Okay, good,” Burgamy said. Chantelle, sitting next to him, kept clicking away, taking notes on her tablet the entire time. “What’s the timetable for this op?”

Evan still didn’t know why Burgamy was even here. Yes, Cady was a pretty big fish and infiltrating his group would be a huge coup, but why the boss would sit in on an early planning meeting like this was beyond Evan.

“I have a meeting scheduled with Cady tomorrow in Baltimore, his base of operation. Since Bob Sinclair is an old cover, I’m just going to pull and use all the old info, IDs, etc. Prep is relatively minimal. I can go under immediately, depending on how the meeting with Cady goes.”

“Eighteen months absence isn’t going to be a problem?” Burgamy asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure it will come up. I’ll make certain I have something to say.” Evan didn’t know what that would be yet. The truth wasn’t an option, and the whole situation with Lisa Sinclair was quite complicated. Evan would have multiple answers rehearsed, depending on exactly what questions were asked, how they were asked, and the climate of the conversation.

That’s what a good undercover agent did: constantly took stock of the situation and adapted.

“And what about Lisa Sinclair, Bob’s ‘wife’?” Burgamy asked.

And there it was, the announcement of the elephant in the room. Evan didn’t look over at Juliet to see her reaction. She didn’t need anyone gawking at her.

“What about her?” Evan responded, keeping his tone neutral.

“Bob and Lisa Sinclair were a couple. A tight couple.” Burgamy leaned more of his weight on his arms, which were folded on the conference table. “The cover worked so well because the criminal groups you infiltrated bought into the whole Bonnie and Clyde, can’t-live-without-each-other vibe the two of you gave off.”

Evan didn’t want to admit it, but Burgamy was right. Going in without Juliet would make this mission more difficult. But the alternative wasn’t an option, so Evan wasn’t even entertaining it as such. He glanced briefly over at Juliet, who was looking intently down at her notes.

“I’ll make it work, as Bob Sinclair alone. I’ve certainly done my share of undercover work with no partner.” Evan could see the Branson brothers nodding, backing him up. Cameron in particular knew about long-term solo undercover work, having recently come off a life-changing operation himself.

But Burgamy wasn’t willing to let it go. “Isn’t Cady going to wonder about Lisa? Her absence will certainly make suspicions higher, perhaps even jeopardize the entire mission.”

Evan sat up straighter in his chair, then leaned toward Burgamy. He could see Juliet’s brothers mirroring his actions, tension evident. Evan didn’t like where this was going.

“I’m a trained, experienced operative, Burgamy. I’ll handle it.”

The boss’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I have every confidence in your abilities, Karcz. But the facts are the facts.”

Burgamy leaned back in the chair in a relaxed pose that belied the words he’d said. Suddenly the entire meeting became clear to Evan, the purpose of Burgamy’s attendance and his endgame. And Evan had played right into his hands. He knew what Burgamy was going to say before his boss even said it, but there was nothing he could do.

Burgamy turned to Juliet. “Juliet needs to go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair to ensure the success of this operation.”

Chapter Three

Juliet heard the words that came out of Burgamy’s mouth as if from far away. She searched for a response inside herself—knew she should have some sort of explosive negative comment—but could find only silence.

She couldn’t go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair. She wasn’t ready. It would be a disaster.

It ended up she didn’t have to give an answer, anyway. Her brothers took care of the explosive negative comments for her.

“There’s no way in hell, Burgamy,” Sawyer, her normally laid-back younger brother, said grimly.

The expletive that came from Cameron should’ve had her smacking his arm or at least telling him to chill out. But Juliet still could find only silence.

Both brothers stood, now in an open argument with Burgamy, listing the reasons Juliet couldn’t go back undercover as Lisa Sinclair. She wasn’t ready, Burgamy couldn’t force her, she hadn’t had the needed prep time... Juliet just tuned them out as they continued.

She knew her weaknesses, knew she was a coward. She didn’t need to listen to an active discussion of those facts.

Juliet looked up from her folded hands to find Evan staring at her across the table.

She could find no pity in his gaze. Nor disappointment. He actually shrugged and rolled his eyes, gesturing casually with his hand to all the chaos. As if the yelling currently reverberating through the conference room came from preschoolers throwing temper tantrums about sharing their favorite toys, rather than Juliet’s boss asking her to do something that would probably get both her and Evan killed.

How could Evan take it so lightly?

Juliet rubbed a hand over her face. There was no point in letting her brothers get in trouble with Burgamy—again—over this. The choice belonged to her and she already knew her answer.

She stood up, but didn’t try to yell over her brothers, just waited for them to realize she had something to say. Over the years she had perfected that practice.

Eventually everyone grew silent and looked at her.

“No. I won’t do it.” Juliet said it plainly, not raising her voice in any way.

“Juliet,” Burgamy began in his nasally tone, “it’s evident that the mission has a greater chance for success if you are part of it.”

“I disagree,” she said.

Burgamy had no intention of giving up so easily. “But Vince Cady and his people will be expecting you to be with Evan. Bob and Lisa Sinclair are a known couple.”

Juliet held up a hand to silence her boss. “My initial presence might be an asset, I concur. But for any longer term I would just be a liability. Evan can’t babysit me and successfully complete the mission.”

Now it was Evan who spoke up. “Jules—”

She turned to him, could see the anguish in his eyes. “No, Evan. I’m not of any use to anybody in the field right now. Trust me.”

Burgamy was determined to continue his argument. “But—”

Juliet decided to put a stop to it right now and save them all the trouble. “Respectfully, Burgamy, I’m not an agent anymore. You can’t force me to do this. So let’s not pretend like you can, okay? I’m not going back in the field as Lisa Sinclair.” She turned to Evan. “I won’t risk your life that way.”

Burgamy wisely didn’t say anything further. He knew Juliet’s words were true. After what had happened to her the last time, no one at Omega would ever try to force her into an undercover assignment. If she ever went under again, it would be her own choice.

Juliet didn’t see that happening anytime soon, say, for the next twenty years.

She noticed both her brothers sitting down, evidently accepting the battle was over. Which it was.

“I’ll help Evan in any way I can,” Juliet said. “I’m willing to be the support team leader, so I can use my experience to assist him.”

She spoke to Burgamy as she said it, but saw Evan’s surprised look out of the corner of her eye. It was no wonder; for the year that she’d been working as a handler, she’d never volunteered to oversee any of his cases. She’d done some strategy and analysis support for him, but never anything that would keep them in daily contact.

Working as Evan’s handler would definitely bring the two of them in regular contact. She’d just have to deal with that. Juliet frowned and rubbed the back of her neck. Maybe she was too much of a coward to go back out in the field, but she could at least help him from the safety of Omega Headquarters. She knew staff support wasn’t what Evan really needed from her. Plenty of people were qualified to act as his handler, her two wounded brothers being prime examples. What Evan needed from her was in the field.

Disgust with herself pitted her stomach.

Burgamy, having evidently failed in his purpose for being at the meeting, excused himself and left. His assistant trailed after him. With them gone, some of the tension left the room, and quiet conversations started up.

Juliet looked over at Evan’s handsome face as he spoke to Sawyer about Vince Cady. Evan’s brown hair, cut short and stylishly, and his beautiful hazel eyes, were in sharp contrast to her brother’s darker looks. A small scar marred Evan’s cheek, hardly a centimeter from his left eye. He’d gotten it during a case they’d worked on together, three years ago.

Evan had fought the bodyguard of a drug lord they’d been investigating. The huge, muscular guard, having found out the two of them were law enforcement, had decided Evan needed only one eye. The thug would’ve been successful in that little venture if Juliet hadn’t helped wrestle the knife away.

She still smiled a little whenever she thought of that case. Evan had joked a few weeks later, at a Branson family barbecue, that the scar was okay because it finally made him as ugly as her brothers. As if any of them could be called ugly.

It had been a long time since Juliet had been to one of her family’s barbecues. She wondered if Evan still went, even without her there for the past year and a half. Probably. Her brothers were his best friends.

The next couple hours were spent discussing details of the case. Evan would meet Vince Cady two days from now, at a place yet to be determined by Cady in Baltimore, which was less than an hour away from DC. There were a lot of unknowns in the case, things Evan would have to figure out on the fly, not unusual in undercover work.

The primary objective of the case wasn’t the arrest of Vince Cady. Leaving him in play in order to get information on his other contacts and pipelines took precedence. So, although they’d all like to see him behind bars as soon as possible, that wouldn’t happen immediately. Instead, recovery of the surface-to-air missiles—the SAMs—that Cady wanted to sell would be the primary objective. Omega couldn’t allow them to be sold to enemies of the United States.

And Evan would be the sole person stopping that from happening.

Juliet ignored the tiny voice inside her that said this mission was too much for one person, even someone as capable as Evan, to handle on his own. Evan would be just fine. And he wouldn’t be alone; he’d have plenty of support from the team here at Omega.

Juliet pretended that was enough. Because what else could she do?

Eventually, the meeting wound down as they worked out as many details as they could. The team trickled out one by one, each sure of his or her own assignments. Sawyer and Cameron both hugged her as they left to go back to their own cases, wishing Evan luck, offering their support whenever it was needed.

Juliet grabbed her own items, preparing to go to her office. She had a lot to do before Evan’s meeting with Vince Cady.

“Can I walk with you?” Evan asked her.

“Sure.” They stepped out of the conference room together and down the hall. It had been a long time since Juliet had talked to Evan, just the two of them. It felt...weird. But not as awkward as she would’ve expected.

“I just wanted to let you know I had no idea Burgamy was going to say all that junk,” Evan told her. Juliet noticed he was careful to keep a distance from her and not touch or crowd her in any way as they were walking. “I mean, I knew I would be resuming the role of Bob Sinclair, but I didn’t think Burgamy would suggest you go back under as Lisa.”

Juliet swallowed and tried to make light of it. “You know Burgamy, always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“More like, always willing to do whatever it takes to get credit and recognition from his superior officers.”

Juliet nodded. Burgamy definitely had his eye on a position much higher than the one he currently held.

They arrived at Juliet’s office, one of the few perks of working as an analyst was having an office rather than just a desk like active operatives, and she entered. She thought Evan would say his goodbyes and head out, but he followed her in. She placed the case files on her desk and turned to him.

“You look very nice today,” Evan said, leaning against the wall near the door. “Professional.”

Compared to the jeans and sweater she normally wore, that was probably true. “Thanks.” Juliet half smiled. “I wanted to put in an effort, since Burgamy was attending the meeting. Although if I had known why, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Evan grimaced. “I don’t blame you.”

“So you feel ready to take on Bob Sinclair again?” As soon as Juliet uttered the words she wished she could take them back. She didn’t want to talk about Evan’s feelings regarding Sinclair any more than she would want to talk about hers if she was resuming the role of Lisa.

“Yeah, sure.” Evan shrugged. “Can’t miss an opportunity like this with someone like Vince Cady.”

“Good.” Juliet didn’t know what else to say.

“Look, Jules...” Evan took a step from the wall. “I just wanted you to know, make sure you know, that nobody, even Burgamy, expects you to resume Lisa Sinclair. Burgamy wanted to try, had to try just in case, but he didn’t really expect you to do it.”

Juliet appreciated the sentiment from Evan, although she wasn’t sure if he was correct.

“I know your brothers want to protect you, which is why they were so adamant in there this morning,” he continued. “They love you and don’t want anything bad to happen to you again.”

“Thanks, Evan.” Juliet was tentative, not sure what his point was.

“And, of course, I never...” Evan ran his hands through his hair, seeming to need a moment to gather himself. “I never want you to go through anything like that again.”

Anguish was evident in his face. Juliet hurt for him. Ironic, since he was hurting for her.

“Evan—”

“But I want you to know something, Jules,” he added. “Although I would never try to talk you into going undercover against your will, you are capable of much more than you give yourself credit for. You can be a good agent again, if you decide to be.”

He said it with so much conviction that, somewhere deep inside, Juliet wished it were true.

Thought maybe, just for a second, that it could be.

But then she thought of this morning, how she’d gotten another of those stupid emails and had let it completely derail her again. How she arrived every day at Omega Headquarters at 4:00 a.m. because she was too scared to stay in her own house alone. She thought of the overwhelming panic that occurred whenever someone, however innocently, touched her from behind. She thought of all the ways she had screwed up the last mission, and the price she had paid for it.

And she thought of Evan and how he would be the one to suffer, or worse, if she went back out in the field and couldn’t perform her duties.

Evan wanted to support her, and Juliet appreciated his kind words, but he didn’t know all the facts. No matter what he said, Juliet would never again be a good agent.

“I’m sorry I’m sending you out there alone, Evan. I know it’s a sucky thing to do.”

“No.” He shook his head. “This isn’t about me or Bob Sinclair or this case at all. I’ll be fine. The case will be fine. I just wanted you to know that I think—that I know—you can do it. When you’re ready.”

Chapter Four

Evan watched as Juliet shuffled some papers, made a flimsy excuse about needing to be somewhere, and all but fled out the door. She didn’t make eye contact with him the entire time. Of course, she didn’t have to, for him to know what she was thinking.

That there was no way she’d ever be a good agent again.

Evan walked out of Juliet’s now empty office and down the hall to his own desk. There was no point going after her to convince her of his opinion, even if he knew he was right. Juliet still wasn’t ready to hear or accept the truth—that she could still do this job if she’d just give herself a chance.

Not that Evan expected her to do it immediately. She wasn’t ready to take those first steps back into active fieldwork, and that was fine. She should take all the time she needed to recover from what had happened to her.

He sat at his desk, pushing away the thoughts attempting to crowd into his mind. Images of Juliet lying bleeding on a warehouse floor, feebly trying to fend Evan off before she realized it was him and not the man who had attacked her.

In the middle of an undercover buy, the leader of a rival group, who didn’t like that Bob and Lisa Sinclair were cutting in on his share of black-market profits, had forcefully taken Juliet in the middle of the night. Before Evan even knew what had happened, and could get to her, she had been horribly beaten and raped.

Every muscle in his body tensed. Even now, eighteen months later, Evan had a hard time just forming the words in his mind.

And that was part of the problem, wasn’t it? They all—Evan, the Branson brothers, even Juliet herself—just tiptoed around it. Nobody ever really talked about it. He knew Juliet saw a shrink every once in a while, and was glad she did, but she never talked to anyone else about what had happened. Even though things didn’t seem to be getting better for her, and maybe getting worse.

Evan sighed and leaned back in his chair. In order to make things easier for Juliet, they’d all agreed to her unspoken request not to talk about the attack. To give her time. But now, a year and a half later, they were doing the same thing: just agreeing and protecting and sheltering her. For example, supporting her in the choice to leave active field duty and embrace a desk job.

Honestly, that just made Evan mad, because he’d never known people less suited for a desk job than any member of the Branson family, Juliet included.

Juliet especially.

Evan had worked with her for years in the field and knew her instincts were unparalleled. She could read an undercover situation and formulate a plan—sometimes multiple plans—almost instantaneously. She could pinpoint the weakness of an organization or a person’s individual psyche with frightening speed and accuracy.

More than once while undercover with her, Evan had been thankful she was a good guy, on his team, rather than vice versa. To say she was wasted as an analyst/handler wasn’t exactly true; she was good at that, too. But she could be so much more.

Evan had no problem with Juliet taking the time she needed to heal from the physical and psychological wounds she had suffered last time she’d been undercover. As far as he was concerned she could take the rest of her life, if that’s what she needed, and never set foot in the field again. He would be the first one to back her up in that decision. To hold her hand. To do more if she’d let him.

But what Evan couldn’t stomach was that Juliet thought of herself as a failure as an undercover operative because of what had happened to her. That because she hadn’t been able to escape her attacker, she’d failed.

Evan had tried multiple times to tell her what he had written in his official report of the incident. Even under the worst of possible circumstances, Juliet hadn’t broken cover.

She’d saved multiple lives, his included, because of that. No one could’ve asked for more from her. Seasoned agents had broken under much less duress than Juliet had endured. But despite everything that happened to her even through the rape, Juliet hadn’t told anyone she was law enforcement.

She was the furthest thing from a failure as an agent as possible. Evan wished he could make her understand that.

But Juliet no longer trusted herself. No longer considered becoming reinstated even a possibility. Because she believed she was—and always would be—a failure as an agent.

Evan knew he walked a fine line. He didn’t want to push her for more than she was ready to take on, but knew that without some sort of push she might never move forward at all. Either way, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t ready right now, despite what he or anybody else said. Evan would just keep encouraging her, and hopefully, they’d find some way to ease her back in a few months from now.

Baby steps.

He needed to try to get Juliet to open up and talk about what was going on in her head, see if he could figure out a way to help her make some progress.

Of course, Evan couldn’t throw stones too far while sitting in his glass house. He hadn’t told anybody about the dreams that had been plaguing him for the past year and a half. Hadn’t told anyone about how he sometimes sat in his car in front of Juliet’s house at night, just to make sure she was safe.

In case she needed him to protect her. The way he hadn’t been able to do on that last mission. The way that had haunted him ever since.

So maybe Juliet wasn’t the only one who needed to make forward progress. Baby steps for him, too.

But right now he needed to get ready for his meeting with Vince Cady. He flipped through the files on his desk one more time.

Cady was a vicious bastard. Evan was delighted at the opportunity to slip inside his organization and wreak as much havoc as possible. He was a little mad that arresting Cady wasn’t a priority for this operation, but understood why it wasn’t. Omega always kept the big picture in mind.

A chair creaking at the desk across from his drew Evan’s focus. Sawyer Branson winced a little as he took his arm out of the sling it had resided in for the past few weeks, and stretched it gently. “Ready for everything with Cady tomorrow?” he asked, rotating his shoulder.

Evan closed the files. “Yep. As much as I can be with this sort of thing. How’s the arm?”

His friend grimaced. “Let’s just say I don’t recommend getting shot. Even a flesh wound hurts like hell and takes a long time to heal. But it could’ve been much worse.”

“And with pretty Dr. Megan now working right upstairs, I’ll bet you’re not even itching to get back out in the field.” Evan tried not to snicker as he said it, but wasn’t entirely successful.

Sawyer got that goofy smile at the mention of Megan Fuller, the same smile his brother Cameron got at the mention of his fiancée, Sophia Reardon.

Branson men were falling like flies around here. Evan couldn’t help but grin.

“I’m not rushing the healing process, let’s just say that,” Sawyer said, stretching his arm out again. “Wouldn’t want to have any permanent damage.”

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll handle all the heavy lifting out in the field while you and Cameron play lover boys to your respective ladies.”

Sawyer got serious. “You sure you feel all right about going in with Cady? Cam and I both feel we’ve left you on your own. Especially without Juliet available in this situation.”