Locked and Loaded Read Online Free PDF

voice and stepped in closer. “For Wagner, this is personal. She’s gonna go in, take risks that … well, just know that she’ll die trying to bring down the Salazar drug empire.”
    For a moment Anthony just stared at Sage’s boss. What had the Salazars done to this woman? A silent understanding passed between both men. Hank’s eyes held a plea, even though his expression was stern and his voice had never wavered. The depth of concern in Hank’s unblinking gaze connected with something within Anthony that he couldn’t name. Words were insufficient as both men clearly struggled with how to articulate what couldn’t be asked or said.
    To end the brief standoff, Anthony simply nodded. It was the best he could do, the best acceptance of Hank Wilson’s terms he could offer under the circumstances.
    “I’m decent,” Sage announced, cracking the door open. “The dress is dirty, but hey.”
    Hank caught the edge of the door, cast another meaningful look in Anthony’s direction, and then accepted two cups of coffee from an approaching agent. “Thanks, Dan.”
    “No problem.”
    Special Agent Dan Jennings handed a hot Styrofoam cup to Anthony as the three men entered the room. Anthony thanked him while monitoring the body language of both men before his eyes settled on Special Agent Wagner.
    She’d been injured, she was in way too deep, and he’d potentially compromised her cover—but it was clear from her expression that she would not be deterred from attempting to go back in.
    She had taken her lush mass of hair down from its former long ponytail and was wearing that same wide gold belt and white micromini dress that he’d met her in, something that amounted to little more than a short tube of stretchy white fabric. It clung to every outrageous curve she owned as though it had been painted on her, and she still looked fantastic in it, even if it was slightly smudged from their combat and where he’d dumped her into the speedboat. She’d recovered her chunky gold bangles, necklace, and earrings from the plastic hospital bag, and was now leaning against the bed in gold stilettos that made her long, satiny legs appear to go on forever.
    But she paid the men before her no mind as she focused on a small gold compact mirror she was holding and tried to blot makeup on over her arm bruises. He thought about the defensive moves she’d made, how her skillful blocks had kept him off balance, and was so glad now that she was an adept fighter. Yet, even blocking him, there was contact—hard male muscle against butter soft female skin, and it was going to leave a mark.
    When she winced as she dabbed the compact pad beneath her left eye where he’d grazed her, Anthony inwardly cringed. If that blow had actually connected, it would have shattered her cheekbone and been ruinous to her gorgeous face. For the first time in his life, he thanked the good Lord that he’d sparred with an armed combatant who had almost bested him and had dodged almost every blow.
    Even though she’d aggressively come at him, he’d never ever laid a hand on a woman before. All the training in the world hadn’t prepared him for that. Then learning that she was a friendly, more than that—a fellow warrior—was going to jack with his head for a long time. Seeing the result of their hand-to-hand combat now made him sick to his stomach.
    “Okay, here’s the plan,” she said, without missing a beat. “I need a lift over to South Beach—back of a van, blacked-out windows, whatever. Drop me off discreetly in a parking lot or something so I can go into one of my fav boutiques. I’ll explain that I had a little domestic trouble if asked. Shopping all day will be my cover.”
    “Not before you get an MRI to be sure there’s no bleeding on your brain or anything else,” Hank warned in a no-nonsense tone. “I’m serious.”
    “Okay, but after that, I’m outta here. And can you tell ’em I have to do this stat, like none of that hanging out