Free Guardian Ranger by Cynthia Eden Page A

like that.
    Her heart was in her throat, but she swallowed and managed to shove it back down where it belonged. “I found Reed’s laptop and recovered some files.” She frowned up at him. “He doesn’t name the men who’ve been working his jobs. They all have code names.”
    His lips tightened. “There could be prints on that laptop.”
    Prints. She hadn’t even—
    “Put it down, carefully. Crime-scene techs will be coming soon.”
    They’d find her prints all over the machine. Wonderful. Prints at a crime scene. Witness to two murders hours before. This wasn’t exactly the exciting life that she’d always craved.
    Gingerly, she put the laptop on the old coffee table. “He lists names like Deuce, Razor, Striker—”
    “Striker is the code name that your brother used.”
    And her heart was right back in her throat. Her gaze flew to the screen. “His last job was... It was just three weeks ago. In...Phoenix?” That didn’t make any sense. “What kind of job would he be doing there?”
    “You really don’t know him that well,” Jasper murmured.
    Goose bumps rose on her arms. She stood, shaking. “Do you know what kind of job took him there?” She rubbed her forehead. “He saved people. That’s what he told me. He took rescue missions. When tourists were kidnapped and held for ransom, their parents couldn’t always pay, so he went in.” She didn’t like what Jasper was implying. “Cale is a hero,” she said again.
    Jasper didn’t speak then. In that stark silence, Veronica wasn’t sure...was she trying to convince him that her brother was a good man or was she trying to convince herself?
    “I’ve seen names like these before,” she whispered. Not those exact names, but similar ones. She rubbed a hand over her forehead. “They were scribbled on the backs of some old photos that Cale had at the house and—” She broke off, her eyes widening. “I’d seen him before.”
    Jasper frowned at her.
    “The tattoo on Reed’s arm.” She barely breathed the words. “That’s why it caught my eye at Last Chance. I—I’d seen it...in one of the pictures at the ranch.” She thought about Reed’s face, took ten years away from it, gave him hair... “He served with my brother.”
    “That’s how they connected. How Reed knew that Cale could get the jobs done for him.”
    Jasper had recognized Reed, too. He’d remembered the man from the military, and Jasper had known just what sort of business Cale had been involved with at the bar.
    Before she could figure out what to say next, she heard the growl of a car’s engine. Jasper tensed, and his hand went to his waist—and to the gun tucked in his waistband.
    Then he was moving silently toward the door. Pushing aside the shade and peering outside. After a brief moment, the tension left his shoulders. “It’s the good guys.”
    For some reason, it was getting harder for her to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.
    Jasper glanced back at her. “Gunner’s team is in town. When I found the body, I called them.” He paused a beat, then said, “You can trust them.”
    She shook her head. “ You’re the only one I trust.”
    He gazed back at her. A faint furrow appeared between his brows.
    “Why didn’t you just call the sheriff?” she asked. “Wyatt would—”
    “This case is a little over his head. And the station blew up last night. He’s already got enough to deal with.” He tucked the gun back in his waistband. “If the agents need his help, they’ll say so.”
    She pushed her hands against the tops of her thighs. She was sweating, far too nervous and far too aware of the dead body down the hallway.
    Then the front door opened. A tall, dark man with short black hair and a faint scar under his chin marched inside. He seemed to fill the small room, dominating the space. Between him and Jasper, she suddenly felt very, very overwhelmed.
    Then the stranger’s gaze turned toward her. “You’re Veronica