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hissed just loud enough for her to hear.
    Robin was clearly in a state of shock but she listened and
followed his directions through the woods. They moved at a good pace while he
listened to the gun fight behind them.
    A few seconds later the woods were silent.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    A car waited for them when they broke free of the woods.
    “Jump in!” he ordered.
    Robin could only trust that he’d seen the driver and knew it
was safe. She climbed in with him right behind her and the car took off.
    No one spoke.
    Grayson watched out the windows as they sped down the
mountain. Half an hour later, they reached a small town and the driver stopped
at a hotel.
    “Room five. They’re waiting.”
    “Thank you,” Grayson said before he motioned for her to get
out. He led the way to Room 5 and opened the door. Two men were waiting inside.
One was listening to his cell phone while the other simply sat and waited. They
were dressed like loggers or construction workers: warm clothes for the
outdoors. Nothing fancy.
    The taller of the two ended his call and nodded at his
partner. To her he said, “Hi, Robin. I’m Hinks. This is Finley.”
    “Did everyone get out safely?” Grayson asked.
    She didn’t miss the look the two men shared and knew they
didn’t have good news. Grayson sank down onto the bed, preparing himself it
seemed.
    “Arianna.” That was all Hinks said.
    Grayson groaned, folding over. Robin went to him and sat
down beside him, resting her arm around him.
    After several heart-wrenching moments, Hinks sat down in a
chair. “She took out the shooter, but he fired at the same time. It struck her
in the temple, killing her instantly. At least it was quick.”
    Finley finally spoke in a low voice that matched his blue
collar clothes.  “We know the gunman was, in fact, assigned to murder you,
Grayson.”
    “I don’t understand any of this,” Robin said. But, in fact,
she was putting pieces together. Hadn’t Grayson said his sister was an agent?
She couldn’t remember if he had said her name or not…
    “Robin, you’re completely safe now. We’ve made sure of that.
You’ll be staying here tonight and then we’re all heading back into Portland.”
    Hinks and Finley briefed Grayson before they left, going to
the room next door to stay the night. In the quiet after they left, Robin asked
him, “Was that your sister?”
    He sat up, rubbing his face. “I would have never expected
her to be present during an extraction. Hinks said she insisted on being at the
scene to help me.”
    “I’m so sorry.”
    When he could finally speak, Grayson began telling her about
his sister. He needed someone to know what she’d done and sacrificed for her
job and their country.  Arianna was one of the Agency’s most skilled agents. Much
of her career success was due to her youthful appearance and petite frame; her
ability to pass for a teenager or very young woman enabled the Agency to use
her successfully in the most top secret Intel operations.
    On Christmas Day, she and a partner were assigned to escort
Grayson safely back to the United States with Intel from his mission. It was
Arianna’s partner that first spotted the danger. It was the man Grayson thought
he saw on the plane.
    It’d been Arianna who arranged for the SUV when they escaped
the airport. She organized their extraction from the woods, insisting that she
come along with the two best sharp shooters in the agency.
    “Why?” Robin asked. She didn’t understand why everyone
risked their lives.
    His answer was simple. “I put you in danger. We put in you
in danger. We had to fix it.”
    His eyes were bloodshot from the stress of the day. She
pulled him closer, wanting to comfort him, and hoping that would be enough for
now. Robin couldn’t imagine his pain…and in a way, it had been for her. Arianna
had given her life to keep Robin alive. With that on her mind, they sat
entwined on the bed for a long time.
    “Is it really over now?” she asked