Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            Liza’s heart raced faster. “What happened to her?”

            “He dragged her out of the facility, drove her a few miles, lost our surveillance van.” There was a sudden pressure at the base of her neck, a few inches above her new tattoo. Tom’s forehead. He was leaning on her. “Then he pulled her out of her own car,” he whispered, “onto the back lot of a grocery store and shot her in the head. Twice. My boss wanted to storm the place and arrest the bastard, but I convinced him to wait. To use this time to get intel. To find Eden. So we recruited the nurse and she’s dead. I have to live with that, but I couldn’t live if you got hurt. So I forbid this.”

            Liza swallowed, wanting to assure him that she’d forget about Sunnyside, that she’d stay safe for him. But this was bigger than either of them. So many innocent lives lay in the balance. And she’d risked her life before, every time she’d entered a battle zone. She could and would do it again for Mercy and Abigail. They deserved to live without fear.

            “I’m sorry for the nurse who was killed. I really am. But I’m qualified and I’m careful. I won’t take stupid risks. If I even get the job.”

            The pressure on her back disappeared as his hands gripped her upper arms again, spinning her to face him. “Goddammit, Liza,” he cursed from behind clenched teeth. His eyes were wild. Afraid. And still angry.

            At least he no longer seemed appalled at the thought of kissing her. A small balm.

            She looked up into his face, the need to soothe outweighing the urge to run. She loved him. She always had. And even though he didn’t feel the same way, simply seeing him like this, so helpless and afraid, was devastating. She needed to fix him. Heal him.

            So she cupped his face in her hands, her chest hurting when he shuddered into her touch. “I survived three deployments. I was a combat medic. I’ve been shot at. I shot back, and I’m still here. I can take care of myself.”

            He closed his eyes wearily. “Why? Why would you do this?”

            She didn’t hesitate. “For Mercy and Gideon. Amos and Abigail. And for that young girl who’s pregnant, who must be so scared. This has to stop, Tom. I can help. I need to help.”

            He opened his eyes and now she only saw despair. “But why you?”

            “Why not me? I’m qualified for the job. I know about Eden. I’m not foolish. You can even wire me if you want.”

            His expression flickered, despair becoming fear. Fear for her.

            He stepped back, and her hands fell from his face to dangle uselessly at her sides. “We wired the nurse who agreed to work with us. She’s still dead.”

            Liza was too tired to debate with him any further. He wasn’t going to change his mind any more than she was going to change hers. “I’ll see you around.”

            And this time when she opened the front door, he let her go.





SEVENTEEN



ROCKLIN, CALIFORNIA

            THURSDAY, MAY 25, 11:50 P.M.





Tom stood staring at the door after Liza left. This had to be coming from her PTSD. Survivor guilt. She’d experienced enough loss. Her mother, her sister. Her husband.

            Tom hadn’t seen this coming. Because you didn’t ask the right questions. He’d known something was wrong, that she was experiencing PTSD, but he’d let it go on way too long.

            Well, that was history. From here on out, he was asking all the questions. Because I’m not going to let her undertake a damn suicide mission.

            You can’t stop me.

            Watch me. He could stop her. True, he couldn’t keep her from applying, short of putting her into protective custody. Briefly he considered it. Because the alternative was ruining her résumé, altering her references so that they gave her a bad review. He could do it.

            But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to save her from herself.

            He locked the front door, resetting the alarm, then climbed the stairs to his office, his thoughts a whirlwind. Pebbles ambled after him, settling down in her preferred place against the wall.

            The sight of the dog curled up against what had been Liza’s bedroom wall had Tom’s eyes burning. “She’s not there,” he said, his voice breaking. Because she wasn’t coming back.