Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jasper crossed the compound yard, trying to rein in his irritation.
Upton had apparently found Katherine, bypassed the deadline he’d given her, and sent someone to take the files.
Jasper hadn’t said it out loud, but he wondered if Upton had already filed whatever official paperwork he needed to destroy her career.
And how the fuck had the CIA breached his secure site and located her? He was already running a full mental scan and audit in his head.
The air had cooled, and the first hint of a storm rode the breeze coming down from the mountains. Thunder boomed in the distance. The compound lights had already clicked on at the fence line, casting pale cones along the gravel drive and the locked front gate.
Beyond the bars was the SUV, its engine idling softly. A driver waited behind the wheel, while the courier stood beside the open passenger door with a folder tucked under one arm.
The timing was wrong. The location was wrong. The order was impossible to verify without tipping their hand.
Jasper stopped ten feet from the gate. The visitor had a conservative haircut and was clean-shaven. His suit hid a lean build. He wore a neutral expression as he lifted the folder. His voice was clipped. “I have a transfer order for the Walter Vance materials.”
“Set the order on the ground and step back,” Jasper said.
The man didn’t move. “I’m authorized to release it to Katherine Townsend only.”
“She’s not available.”
“She’s required to sign the transfer acknowledgment.”
“Then you’re going to be disappointed.”
The man’s gaze flicked briefly over Jasper’s shoulder toward the main building.
“Ms. Townsend is already in significant procedural trouble. Moving federal materials to a private security facility without prior authorization creates a chain-of-custody problem. Refusing a direct retrieval order will make that problem worse.”
Jasper let the words sit. They created pressure without creating proof.
If he refused, the refusal could be framed as interference.
If Katherine refused, the refusal could be framed as noncompliance.
If they released the papers, the Vance materials would disappear into whatever hole Upton had prepared.
“Name,” Jasper said.
The courier tapped the folder once. “My authorization is attached to the order.”
“I didn’t ask for a number.”
“My name isn’t relevant to the transfer.”
“It is to me.”
The man’s eyes cooled. “You’re not part of the transfer.”
“I am as long as the materials are inside my compound.”
“They don’t belong to you.”
“They don’t belong to you either until I verify the order.”
“You don’t have that authority.”
“I have a gate.” Jasper let his gaze move to the locked bars between them. “That’ll do for now.”
Anger flashed across the courier’s face before his professional mask settled back into place. “Ms. Townsend is risking her position, her clearance, and possibly her freedom if she continues withholding federal documents. I’m here to make this easy for her.”
Jasper shrugged. “I’m well aware of the situation. You showed up here without prior notice, with an order that can only be verified by the man whose authority you claim. So let’s verify it together. Call your boss and let me speak to him.”
“Mr. Upton is not available,” the man spit out, mimicking Jasper’s early words and tone.
Jasper snorted. “Convenient.”
“Just like Ms. Townsend’s unavailability.”
Jasper’s irritation rose another notch. He nodded at the folder. “Set the order down and back away.”
The compound door opened behind him. “Jasper!”
The man’s eyes snapped to a point over his shoulder. Every muscle in Jasper’s body tightened. He didn’t turn. “Stop where you are, Katherine,” he called.
Her steps faltered but didn’t stop.
The courier’s expression flickered with recognition. “Ms. Townsend appears to be available now,” he muttered.
Jasper cast a quick glance over his shoulder. “Katherine, go back inside.”
“That’s him,” she yelled, her voice raw enough to strip the air from the yard. “Jasper, that’s him.”
The courier frowned. “I’m here for the files.”
“You’re lying,” Katherine said, stopping next to Jasper. “You tried to kill me!”
Jasper put an arm out and shifted her behind him. “You’re sure?” he murmured.
Her breathing was ragged. “I’m sure.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the man said. “I must insist you turn over the files.”
“You came into my bedroom,” she said, pointing a finger at him over Jasper’s shoulder. “You told me I should’ve stayed in the archives.”
Jasper shoved her fully behind him. The man’s mouth became the mouth in Alyssa’s sketch. The polished courier became the man who was now trying to use bureaucratic pressure because the gun hadn’t worked the first time.
Jasper drew his weapon. “Hands where I can see them,” he said.
The driver sat up straighter, leaning forward. The courier’s jaw tightened. “You’re making a mistake.”
“No,” Jasper said. “You did that when you showed up here. Step back. You’re not getting the files, and you’re going to speak to the police.”
The driver’s window slid down. “Get in the car,” he said.
The courier’s gaze shifted past Jasper and locked on Katherine. Hatred flashed there now, bright and ugly beneath the professional calm.
Katherine had survived him, exposed him, and kept the papers out of his hands. Once might have been luck. Twice made her a problem he wanted to erase.
“Step away,” Jasper ordered. He wanted to move Katherine back inside immediately, but he couldn’t fully cover her and do so. No way would he turn his back on the man in front of them or lower his gun.
The courier moved, but not backward. His hand came up beneath the folder. Jasper saw the gun.
The courier fired at the gate camera. The camera above the intercom exploded in a burst of sparks and shattered plastic.
Jasper was already moving, pivoting toward Katherine as the shooter swung the weapon toward her. “Katherine, down!”
The second shot cracked across the yard.
Jasper hit her before the sound finished, driving her sideways into the gravel behind a boulder and keeping his body between her and the gate. Heat tore across his upper arm, sharp and immediate, followed by the wet warmth of blood.
Katherine’s breath punched out beneath him. Her eyes were wide as she peered up into his face.
“Stay down,” he told her.
Mack appeared from the east side of the compound, armed and moving fast and low.
Another shot rang out, snapping into the gravel several feet away and causing Mack to jump behind the small gate house. Jasper came up on one knee, using the boulder as partial cover and returned fire through the bars.
The shooter was already retreating into the SUV, a hitch in his step that explained the scuff Katherine had heard on the tile in her rental. The driver threw the SUV into gear, and the shooter grabbed the frame, half-turning to fire again.
Jasper squeezed the trigger, his bullet nailing the man in the upper leg as the SUV lurched backward. He buckled hard, his knee nearly giving out beneath him. He swung into the passenger seat as the driver accelerated.
Jasper fired at the SUV’s tires, hitting at least one. That didn’t stop it. The tires must have been self-sealing. Mack took a shot at the engine block. The driver corrected and swung the rear end around as the shooter fired out the passenger window.
Jasper covered Katherine again, as the bullet took a chunk out of the boulder.
Garrett emerged, weapon drawn as he ran toward them. The SUV went tearing down the road. Jasper ran to the gate and tracked it until the taillights vanished around the first curve.
He lowered his weapon and heard Katherine race up behind him.
“Jasper, you’re bleeding!”
Pain arrived a second later, hot and insistent, blooming along his upper arm. Blood slid down his sleeve and dripped from his wrist onto the gravel.
Her hair had come loose, and panic had blown her eyes even wider.
He wanted to shake her and yell at her for endangering herself. The two urges collided so hard he had to breathe through them.
Garrett reached them first, weapon still in hand, gaze sweeping the road, the gate, the broken camera, Jasper’s arm, and then Katherine. “Everybody okay?”
“Yes,” Jasper said.
Katherine pointed at his sleeve. “No, you’re not. You’ve been shot. We need to get you to the hospital.”
Jasper eyed the torn sleeve and blood. “It’s just a graze.”
Garrett studied the wound. “Vivi can stitch you up.”
Mack scanned the road beyond the bars. “SUV’s heading west.” I’ve got CB on comms. He’s already moving.”
“Raise CB. Tell him to see if he and his Outlaws can track it but do not engage,” Garrett said.
Mack nodded and spoke into his radio.
Vivi exploded out the door and jogged toward them. “You’re bleeding on my driveway.”
Jasper glanced at the red drops on the gravel. “Minor.”
Katherine made a small sound.
Jasper holstered his weapon and checked her from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Whatever fragile control she’d been holding cracked at the edges. “He shot you because of me.”
His fear finally found somewhere to go. “When I tell you to stay inside, you stay inside.” His voice came out low and rough, and he saw her flinch before he could soften it. He hated that. He still didn’t stop. “You do not run into open ground when I tell you to stay inside.”
“You didn’t know he was the man from my bedroom. I had to warn you.”
“I told you to stop.”
Her bottom lip quivered. “I couldn’t let you keep walking toward him without knowing.”
Garrett cleared his throat behind them. “Jasper.”
He knew the warning in Garrett’s tone. Back off. Not now. Not like this.
Jasper closed his mouth and looked away, jaw tight enough to ache. The adrenaline in his system had nowhere safe to land.
Katherine had almost been shot again trying to save him. Every part of him wanted to put her behind locked doors until the world learned to behave.