The Blonde Identity (70)

“You found us.”

“I found you.”

She kissed him once on the lips but that wasn’t nearly good enough, so she peppered more kisses on his cheeks and on his chin and that’s how she knew that he was smiling—because she kissed that smile right off his face.

“You found me,” she said on a sigh then pulled back. “Wait. How did you—”

“Your comms unit has GPS.”

“Oh! Fancy!”

“Zoe.” Alex’s voice was a warning, and Zoe felt her sister moving through the shadows, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Sawyer.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “I saw all those laser guns—”

“That’s not what they’re called.”

“—pointed at you, and I wanted to help, but you told me to run, so I—”

He held her face in his hands—not like she was fragile: like she was precious. And Zoe had never been so achingly aware of the difference. “You did the right thing. Now, did you get it?”

“Zoe!” Alex shouted, but Sawyer’s face was just right there—so close. Kissing close. So she kissed him again because she could.

“Yes.” The word was a whisper against his lips. “I got it.” Then she stuck a hand down her shirt and watched him try not to grin.

“Need some help looking around down there?”

“No,” she chided then pulled the thumb drive free and handed it to him. His eyes went wide at the same time something else changed. Maybe the wind. Maybe the clouds drifting back over the moon.

But she felt Alex at her back, heard her low command. “Zoe, come over here. Now.”

And Zoe realized that they were still in the shadows—too far from the yellow ring of light to really see—so she took Sawyer’s hand and called back, “It’s okay, Alex. It’s just Sawyer.”

“Zoe.” Alex didn’t sound okay. “Walk to me. Now.”

“Alex.” Zoe tried to tease. “Sawyer’s on our side, remember? He’s CIA, too.”

Then Alex inched into the light and Zoe noticed two things: the gun in her sister’s hand and the look on her face as she said, “No. He’s not.”





Chapter Fifty-Four





Her


Zoe wanted to laugh—would have laughed—if it hadn’t been for the look on Alex’s face—dark and cold. And the way she held the gun—like it was just another part of her, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Ever.

“Step away from him, Zoe.” Alex’s voice was low and even. “Do it. Now.”

And still Zoe was the moron who asked, “Why?”

Alex looked annoyed. “So I can kill him!”

But Alex was wrong. Alex had to be wrong. “No. Sawyer’s on our side. He’s CIA. He’s . . .” She trailed off as she looked up at the man who wasn’t looking at her because his gaze was locked on Alex, mirroring her every move, like boxers in a ring. Circling. “He’s one of the good guys?”

And, so help her, it sounded like a question. Because he didn’t look like a good guy, not with every part of him on high alert. Muscles tensing, jaw clenching. She shouldn’t have even been able to see it in the moonlight, but Zoe knew him so well by that point. She knew him in the dark. But it was different this time, and it gave her a new kind of tingle, way down in her gut, and one word echoed in her mind: dangerous. Sawyer was dangerous.

“I told you, sweetheart, I’m not all good.” That little boy grin was back on his hot guy face, but his voice was lower and darker, and Zoe thought she was going to be sick.

“Zoe!” Alex was shouting and Zoe was shifting—away from Sawyer and the line of fire and the lies. Mostly, she wanted away from the lies. But her sister just sounded annoyed. “Get out of the way so I can kill him!”

“Come on, Alex,” he called. “Why don’t you put the gun down—”

“No. I need this gun because I’m going to kill you with it.” She sounded like she really wished everyone would pay attention.

“Alex,” Sawyer said with exaggerated patience, “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you, but . . .”

“What’s going on with me?” Alex actually laughed. “He’s a traitor, Zoe. Kozlov turned him. He works for Kozlov. He—”

“Alex! Will you . . .” But Sawyer trailed off as, suddenly, everything changed. The grin slid off his face and his gaze shifted to the highway that snaked through the mountains, a black ribbon rising and falling with the Alps. “Shit!” He swung back to Alex. “Listen, we’ve got about two minutes before all hell breaks loose, and you both need to—”

And then all hell broke loose.

The dark night was suddenly too bright—full of headlights and dome lights springing to life as people charged out of cars. There was shooting and screaming and a lot of (probably Russian) cursing as Alex dove behind the motorcycle and opened fire. Something slammed into Zoe, trapping her between the icy ground and the rock wall and—

Sawyer. His face blocked out the moon, and his weight pressed against her, keeping her down or keeping her safe and, right then, she wasn’t sure of the difference.