Page 34 of Fox in Plain Sight

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Hand on his gun, Nick froze. The man standing only a few feet away, pointing a gun at him, caused the small hairs on his skin to stand to attention. A familiar tingling spread over his body, and he recognized it instantly. He was facing another Stargate agent. This wasn’t the mysterious Mr. Smith Michelle had told him about, or at least he hoped not. Only Michelle could confirm.

“Leave that gun right where it is,” the man ordered.

Nick turned his head sideways, without taking his eyes off the stranger. Tall and athletic-looking, the man appeared to be in his early thirties, his dark blond hair hanging over his forehead, yet cut short on the sides. He was clean shaven and appeared well groomed. “Michelle, is this him? Is this Smith?”

She peered past him. “It’s not his voice.”

“What?” Did that mean what he thought it meant?

“I’ve never seen him. I only know his voice.”

The stranger clicked his tongue. “You shouldn’t have let me get the drop on you. Getting sloppy, my man.”

The fact that the man addressed him as if they knew each other unnerved Nick, but he pretended that he didn’t mind. “You’re late,” Nick said instead.

“Actually, I was early.” He motioned to Michelle, who was now trying to squeeze past him. Nick pushed her behind his back. “Just like this one here showed up early. I was wondering what she was planning.”

“We need to talk,” Nick said firmly. Preferably without the other Stargate member pointing a gun at his head. Clearly the man had trust issues, and while Nick had been close to wiping out Michelle’s reluctance to trust him with seduction, the same method wasn’t going to work on his fellow Stargate agent.

Not that he could blame the guy. Nick himself wasn’t sure whether he could trust him either. Sheppard had warned them that should the program ever be compromised they’d have to assume the worst: that one of their own was a traitor. That one of their own could come to hunt them down, using the very skill that had made them brothers against them.

“Yeah. Alone,” the stranger responded. “Lock her up.”

“No!” Michelle protested, her head darting past Nick’s shoulder.

The stranger’s gun veered toward her. “You don’t have a say in this.”

“But I do,” Nick countered, glaring at the man.

“Unarmed, you don’t.”

“You know I’m not unarmed.”

The man cocked his head to the side. “And just how fast a draw are you?” He made a small movement with this gun. “It takes way less time to pull the trigger with the finger already on it. So don’t be stupid.” He motioned to a path beyond the copse of trees. “There’s a shed down there, a couple hundred yards away. She’ll be fine in there while we talk.”

Nick glanced at Michelle, seeking eye contact. She stared back at him, frightened. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Why he felt he had to make her that promise, a promise he was determined to keep, he wasn’t entirely sure, particularly since at this moment he wasn’t in the position to make promises—not with a gun pointed at his head.

Michelle pressed her lips together and swallowed.

“Walk.”

Nick reached for Michelle’s hand and followed the stranger’s order. The time it took to reach the storage shed tucked away between some trees seemed to take forever. During the entire time, Nick went through various scenarios of how to turn the tables on the guy following them. But every scenario meant putting Michelle’s life in danger. It was better to take a wait-and-see approach, until he could figure out whether the guy was friend or foe. At least, Nick would be alone with him at that point, which would mean he’d only have to worry about his own life.

The lock on the shed was perfunctory at best and gave way easily.

Nick urged Michelle into the dark interior, noticing her shiver at the prospect of being locked up.

“Take her phone,” the stranger ordered.

Nick stretched his hand out, nodding to Michelle to follow the barked command. She dug into her pocket and pulled it out, placing it in his palm.

“I’ll be back soon. Trust me.”

She lifted her eyes to his then, staring long and hard at him. “I hope I won’t regret this.”