Mountain Retreat. Cassie Miles

I am.”

      “If it’s no big deal, why did the rebels come after me tonight with guns blazing? I deserve a real answer. My fiancée is lying in a bed upstairs with a gunshot wound.”

      When he gestured toward the balcony, their heads turned in her direction and she pulled back into the shadows.

      Agent Hawthorne slapped her palms on the table and thrust her face toward him. In profile, her nose was as long and sharp as a ferret’s. Her lips drew back from her teeth.

      “I was going to ask you the same question,” she said. “Is there something you haven’t told us? Some bit of information you haven’t seen fit to share?”

      “My debriefings are complete. I gave you pages of intel on the rebel camps, on where they’re getting their weapons and how their operation is run.”

      “How do you know it was the rebels who attacked tonight?”

      Nick rose slowly from his chair and towered over her. “You tell me, Hawthorne. How did they know about Sidney?”

      “A leak,” she said.

      “Could be something else,” Phillips said. “They could have had Sidney under surveillance at the saloon.”

      Eager to get away from Nick’s scrutiny, Hawthorne turned on him. “Why would they do that?”

      “We haven’t kept it a secret that Nick is here in town. He’s part of the schedule for the Tiquanna meeting. The rebels might have figured that he’d contact his fiancée. And when she left work in the company of two official-looking guys, they’d draw the obvious conclusion.”

      Sidney nodded. Though she hated to think of being watched by rebel thugs, Phillips’s explanation made logical sense. She wished that he was in charge of this operation instead of Hawthorne.

      The thin female agent returned to her seat at the head of the table. “I knew it was a mistake to pick her up tonight.”

      “She would have found out that I was at the meetings with Hurtado,” Nick said, “and there would have been hell to pay.”

      Phillips drawled, “Y’all wouldn’t want to make Miss Sidney angry.”

      “Oh? Why not?” Hawthorne said.

      Nick chuckled. Sidney couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was grinning as he said, “My fiancée was planning a coup on the government of Tiquanna. You’d be wise not to underestimate my woman.”

      “Let’s talk about another woman, shall we? I’d like to hear more about your relationship with Elena Hurtado.”

      Sidney vividly remembered Elena. An exotic, raven-haired beauty, she played the role of South American bombshell to perfection. Elena was a woman who deservedly inspired envy. If Nick had a relationship with her, Sidney wanted to know.

      Not wanting to miss a word, she leaned forward. Her forehead bumped against the spokes holding up the railing. Just a quiet, little thump. But it was enough to draw the attention of the military guy and Phillips.

      She was discovered. There was nothing she could do but stand up. Trying to ignore the pain in her arm, she pasted a smile on her face and shuffled along the balcony toward the staircase in her oversize moccasins.