Read Under the Wire: Bad Boys Undercover for Free Online

the valley. Then his gaze shot to the trees. “It never is.”
    She thought about what these men did for a living. How they traveled all over the world neutralizing threats and walking into danger when others ran out. “The expedition is here to investigate the unsolved incident.”
    The corner of Reid’s mouth lifted. “But?”
    “I’m investigating something else. Me and a few others on the team.” She held up a hand. “And before you ask, I’m not going to spill every detail. But yes, why we’re supposed to be here and why we actually are do not exactly match up.”
    Reid pointed at the ground and the broken flashlight by his foot. “You realize whatever you were really doing out here probably caused this.”
    “Smooth,” Parker said over a fake cough.
    “Yeah, Reid. I get that.”
    “And I get that you’re trying to be professional and protect your work, but we’re done. We’re going to arrange for transport to get you debriefed and back to your brother.” She tried to interrupt but Reid only talked louder. “Parker and I will secure this scene . . . stop shaking your head at me.”
    “I can’t leave yet.”
    Reid stared at her but this time the harshness around his eyes softened a bit. “Your team. I get it. We’ll find them.”
    “It’s more than that.” She couldn’t even imagine where they were and what they were going through. If she let her mind go there, bile rushed up the back of her throat and her brain froze. “Yes, you need to find them and make sure they’re safe, but there’s also sensitive data I need to recover.”
    Reid frowned. “From?”
    “Our facilities.” Having a security crew get here probably violated some contract she’d signed before coming to Russia, but she never agreed to die for this job. She’d take the risk and apologize later.
    Parker joined in the frowning. “What are you saying?”
    “We have a site more than a mile from here. It’s the main campground.” She knew that was just the start. Once Reid started picking away at the details, she’d likely tell all. This undercover stuff clearly was not for her.
    “Why are we just finding that out now?” Parker asked.
    “We’ll get to that later,” Reid said. “Let’s go.” His jaw tightened and his voice dropped even deeper. “And do not fight me on this, Cara. This is what we do. We minimize damage, and we’re going to try to do that here.”
    Right . They were experts and did this sort of thing as routinely as she collected soil and mineral samples. If there was ever a time to trust that expertise, it wasnow. She couldn’t win this battle anyway. He had the guns, the connections, and the muscle. And the idea of having a bodyguard sounded smart right now.
    Before she could answer, Reid tried again. “I came to help, Cara.”
    “Which is why I’m letting you stay.” How good he looked, how the steady thump of her heartbeat kicked up whenever he turned that intense gaze on her . . . those things made her think she should go. She’d never had much of a defense against him, and she needed to find one now. “Don’t make me regret the decision.”
    “Trust me.”
    “You said that to me once before.” And she’d paid a steep price for listening.
    His gaze narrowed. “This time actually try doing it.”

4
    R EID IGNORED the voice inside his head that said to rush her out of there, onto a plane and back to her brother. Anything to keep her safe and out of the middle of a mystery that could end with more missing bodies, or worse, a few dead ones.
    First they had to retrieve whatever she found so damn important she was willing to risk being shot over it. He bit back a barking yell at her over but only because he understood the need to secure sensitive information at all costs. But that was his job, not hers. He didn’t like the lines merging and blurring.
    Since he’d never been great at outarguing her, he decided to focus on speed. With Parker’s help they’d performed a quick search of