Free Undercover Texas by Robin Perini Page A

weapons.”
    “Yeah, I’m not even bringing up the irony there.”
    Erin pulled out the medical kit and placed it next to him, then opened the small refrigerator. Okay, so she was mad. She had every right to be.
    Within seconds, she’d settled Brandon on the floor by her feet. He held a sippy cup in his small hands and stared up at Hunter. His son’s big brown eyes looked at him with such trust...so unlike his mother.
    And why should she trust him?
    He unfastened his life vest and let it fall to the floor.
    “Oh, Hunter,” Erin murmured.
    He blinked. Blood stained the inside of the orange material. He tried to look over his shoulder. Pain sliced through him and he hissed.
    He lifted his arms to unbutton his shirt. She pushed his hands away. “Let me.”
    Her voice had gentled. Her fingers worked their way down, but when she tried to slide the material down his back, he couldn’t stop the moan.
    She stopped. “I’m sorry.”
    “Just get it off,” he bit through clenched teeth. “The wound needs to be cleaned.”
    Together they worked his arms out of the shirt, but the material stuck to him.
    “You’re going to have to soak it off.”
    Resigned, Hunter turned onto his stomach. Erin filled a bowl with water, then returned to his bedside.
    “This is going to hurt, Cl—Hunter.”
    Great. So much for hoping she wouldn’t remember. “I know it’s going to hurt. Let’s just get it over with. I don’t want Brandon seeing it.”
    She hovered over him and sucked in a deep breath.
    “Do what you have to do,” he said.
    Her hands more gentle than he deserved, she wet down the shirt. Inch by agonizing inch, she pulled the cotton from his body.
    Her gasp echoed through the shack.
    “Hunter, you’ve been shot.”
    * * *
    T HE SECRET FACILITY BASED JUST outside Langley, Virginia, defined covert. No one used names here. Leona Yates wiped her hands down her dark suit, nodded at the guards and proceeded to the hand scan. Several seconds of whirrs and clicks later, the computer had matched the palm print, and a retinal scan had completed authentication.
    “Yates, Leona. Verified,” the mechanized voice confirmed.
    She crossed the lobby and pressed a single button. Within moments a solid titanium elevator whooshed her down several levels. With the security and background checks, this was one place Leona had always believed invulnerable.
    Now she couldn’t stop her belly from twisting as she grew closer and closer to the man she didn’t want to face.
    The doors slid open and Trace Padgett waited to greet her. His strong, powerful figure impressed her, as much for his brains as his well-proven abilities to get the job done. No matter what the obstacle. Which was why her boss had handpicked him.
    “The general’s waiting, ma’am,” Trace said, and held out an arm to escort her into the inner sanctum.
    She nodded and walked down the barren hallways. “What does he know?” she asked.
    “More than we do, most likely,” Trace said.
    “He always does.”
    Leona licked her lips and entered the general’s office. He cut an impressive figure, his Special Forces experience keeping his eyes sharp and his intuition keen. They were about the same age, but the general’s forehead carried twice as many worry lines. More responsibility. More decisions. More deaths on his hands.
    Leona just prayed three more wouldn’t come about on their watch.
    General Miller crossed his arms. “Status,” he ordered.
    “Terence Mahew was admitted to a Florida hospital. He’s alive but vulnerable. We should bring him in.”
    The general nodded at Trace. “Make it happen.”
    “Yes, sir.” Trace saluted and exited the room.
    “You trust him?” Leona asked quietly, revealing for the first time her discomfort.
    Her boss’s eyebrow rose, and then his jaw set. “I have to.”
    “Kent—”
    “Why didn’t you come to me, Leona? I would have helped you.”
    She squirmed under the piercing gaze. “I made Hunter a promise. I couldn’t