Page 91 of Dangerous Liaisons

He handed her the strip of fabric. “Lift him,” she instructed.

Cole carefully lifted Harris by the shoulders. Jesse slipped the cloth under his shoulder blade and brought one end around his neck, the other under his arm. With the towel over the wound, she cinched the dressing tight.

“Good and snug,” Cole said.

Jesse riveted her gaze onto him. The moonlight passing through the window shadowed his features. She checked the bandage on Harris’s shoulder.

“You’re telling me the guy out there isn’t yours?” she asked.

“If he was, would I be in here?”

“How the hell would I know?”

Cole settled Harris back onto the floor, then rested a hand on hers.

She pulled free. “Find out what’s going on out there.”

Cole murmured, “Blue Bird, report.”

Two seconds later, “Cardinal, so far, all clear. No trace of Raven.”

Jesse sat back. “Isn’t that just peachy?”

Cole tightened the final knot in Harris’ dressing and took a deep breath. “What reason would I have for lying?”

“None of this makes sense, Murphy. If you didn’t intend on taking Lanton down, why employ me to go after him?” Her heart constricted. Why bother with me at all?

“Girl’s dense, ain’t she?” Harris rasped.

“You picked a fine time to return to consciousness,” she said.

“I been conscious all along,” he replied. “Playin’ possum’s what kept me alive more than once.”

Jesse choked a laugh. “Thank God for small favors.” She returned her attention to Cole. “Where’s Amanda?”

“We had to be sure when Lanton came—”

“You used her as bait!” Jesse lunged for him.

Cole grabbed her shoulders, slamming her back onto the floor. She was breathing hard. She barely stifled a cry at sight of figures appearing in the doorway. The lights went on and she gasped at sight of the man standing in front of six agents.

Blue Leader.

“Take Miss Evans,” he instructed.

Two men brushed past him.

“Get the medic in here,” he ordered.

Cole rose to his feet, pulling Jesse with him. “Sir—”

“Step aside, Murphy,” Henry Neilson ordered.

Jesse tried to pull free of Cole, but he held fast.

“Can’t do that, Sir. Perhaps you haven’t been briefed—”

“I’ve been briefed,” Neilson replied in clipped tones. “Stand down.”

Cole went rigid. “I’m under orders, Sir.”

“Orders I’m countermanding.”

“Sir,” Jesse cut in, “I need to be sure my sis—”

“You will both stand down,” he snapped. He took three paces and stopped within an inch of them. “I don’t give a damn what you two thought you were doing. It’s finished.” Nielson glanced at Cole’s hand still gripping her arm. “Release her, or I’ll do it for you.”