Page 6 of It’s Always Been You (Always #1)

Travis inclined his head. “We had to sedate you.” His tone was wary. “I need to know how often you get this way.”

“By this way , you mean violent?”

“Sar-Caitlin. Do you remember anything at all?”

She shook her head.

Travis was silent for a beat and then, “What brings this on? Is it accidental or can you control it?”

“I can’t control it,” Caitlin replied, ignoring the first question and answering the second.

It was not lost on Travis that she was evading his question. His brows puckered into a frown. “Caitlin, I need to know what sets you off. I can’t have you on a plane 40,000 feet in the air and have you go all ninja on us.”

If the situation wasn’t so serious, she would have laughed. She didn’t think Travis was in a joking mood either. “When I feel threatened, it kicks in. Adrenalin sets it off.”

“Who did this to you, Caitlin?” Travis asked quietly. There was an underlying menace in his voice, though not directed at her.

Caitlin moved away from him and walked to the kitchen. “I’m not sure I trust you enough to tell you everything.”

“But you will.”

She cut Travis a sharp glance, but he was staring at her with determination.

“You’re awfully sure I’m coming back with you.”

“There’s nothing for you here except danger.” His nostrils flared. “That stunt you pulled this afternoon is all over the internet. My people are trying to clean it up, but I don’t think that’s possible. It’s already on the news.”

“What— ”

“I used another identity to check into this hotel, but we still need to leave immediately. If possible, within the next two hours. I already have my plane on standby.”

“But—”

Travis closed the distance between them and gripped her shoulders.

“Listen to me. The men who are after you are Russian mafia—arms dealers. I have no idea how the CIA got caught up in their mess, but you shot and killed Adler, and so far it’s a dead end.

The Berlin police are taking the lead on this, and it’s out of our jurisdiction. ”

“How many did I kill?”

“Caitlin, it doesn’t—”

“How many, Travis?”

“Two.”

“Why am I not in police custody?”

“The embassy and I took care of it.”

“What? How?”

“It’s not your problem anymore.”

“Travis—”

“Damn it, Sarah. I handled it, okay? Get dressed; we leave in a fucking hour.”

Childishly determined to get in the last word, she said, “My name is Caitlin.”

She turned and strode back into the bedroom.

“They’ve taken her to ground.”

Alexandr Komarov’s gaze flickered away from his aquarium and landed on his henchman who had entered his study.

His man inside the CIA had underestimated the strength of the specter agent.

Adler thought they were myths, but Komarov knew better because he had a few as members of his Bratva.

Unfortunately, they were away on assignments, and he had to use some of his lower level crew .

Taking down Jase Locke wouldn’t have been easy if the man hadn’t already lost half the blood in his system. He was almost dead when they shot him. He had been useless for information, refusing to give up anything on his partner. His lover.

Caitlin Kincaid had his money. There were rumors that she had amnesia, which would explain why Locke had nothing to bargain with.

Not that the man could negotiate out the death sentence Alexandr had condemned on him.

Locke murdered his two sons. There was no forgiveness for that.

His sons should have been the next in line to take over the Bratva.

The double-crossing Locke turned out to be an embedded deep cover agent known as specter agents—a special division of the CIA.

Locke’s cover was blown—ratted out by one of the specter agents during a meeting.

A bloody shootout occurred and Locke disappeared, along with $100 million of Komarov’s money.

The experimental branch of the CIA known as Project Infinity was rife with corruption.

The loose oversight and billions of dollars passing through the hands of their agents from money laundering schemes were too tempting to keep most of them honest. And so the project imploded, and the agency cut them loose.

The few that were honest were hunted down and assassinated.

The corrupted specter agents dispersed and joined the organizations they were tasked to infiltrate.

They had become the deadliest enforcers of the mob.

“How could she just disappear?” Komarov asked. “Don’t we have eyes inside the embassy?”

“We do. But we have a big problem.”

Alexandr remained silent, which was a signal for his man to continue.

“The man who subdued her at the embassy is a security specialist, Travis Blake.”

“The name sounds familiar. ”

“Blake Security Inc. is a rapidly growing security firm.”

“What kind of security?”

“Mostly executive protection. One of the best on the U.S. east coast.”

Alexandr cursed. “So you’re telling me she could be on a flight to the U.S. right now?”

“Yes.”

“How could this have happened?” Alexandr roared as his henchman cringed. He had been so goddamned close to his goal with a fucking man in place to execute his plan. “One little girl and those three idiots couldn’t handle her.”

“She moved quickly—“

“Fucking Adler underestimated her. You know how our friends can get . . . a little crazy,” Komarov said.

“Yes, sir.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Komarov turned back to his aquarium to calm his rising frustration.

“The timing of a security specialist showing up and taking Ms. Kincaid tells me someone is aware of what she knows. I want you to find out everything about Travis Blake. See if he has any weaknesses—family members—anything we can use to make him give up Caitlin Kincaid.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alexandr waved his hand to dismiss his henchman. At least he had flushed out the elusive Ms. Kincaid, and they weren’t exactly at a loss for where she could be. Travis Blake was a dead man for even thinking he could steal that money.