LOGINThe many men who had tried to court Gwen in the past flashed through her mind, followed by her ultimate goal. In the end, it was James' face that came to mind.She couldn't give up. It would be irresponsible of her to let her life plans go awry like that. She was good enough for James, and Beverly… Well, what made her better than Gwen?"I have to leave for a while." Beverly leaned close to James' ear, cupping her mouth as she spoke quietly so only the two of them could hear. "I found the sniper. As it turns out, Kyle was kidnapped by the same sniper last night."I have to go and save him now. I won't take long, honey. I'll take the operators with me and be very safe, okay?"It was the first time Beverly had voluntarily told James about her plans. It was also the first time she'd chosen to rely on him.Gwen watched Beverly lean on James while tugging on his sleeve, playing coy and batting her lashes. She nearly snorted at the sickening sight of a single mother of two acting like a
Beverly turned her attention back to the laptops, her fingers flying over the keyboard endlessly as she searched. At that moment, Wanda popped in and said, "Bev, James is awake."Naturally, Beverly was worried about James. She badly wanted to see him, but she couldn't leave now. She continued typing, combing through the system to track down the sniper.James was alive, which meant the sniper had failed in his mission and could very well face be eliminated. If that happened, it would take a lot more effort to find the mastermind."Wanda, I…" Beverly's eyes widened when she came across an image. She shot to her feet. "Bianca, take over the search!"She'd seen Kyle get run over by a car, and the person behind the wheel was none other than the sniper himself. The image had been from last night, right after Kyle had left Rosewood Manor. The sniper had taken Kyle and sped off, heading toward…"Bev!"Wanda and Bianca cried out after Beverly, who bolted out of the villa.James stood by
"He's gotten hurt plenty of times before," William said, attempting to comfort Beverly when he saw that she was in shock. "A gunshot wound like this isn't a big deal for him. Don't worry."Beverly recalled touching the scars on James' back and grew even more upset. "The sniper was aiming for me. It's my fault James got shot.""Oh, please, it's not like you're a stranger to James. You're his wife—as your husband, he's supposed to protect you. Don't be too hard on yourself."William was exasperated with James and wondered what the man had been thinking. It was one thing to get shot, but to play up his injury in front of Beverly and refuse to let the doctors into the room was plain melodramatic.If William were honest, he thought James deserved every bit of pain he was in."Bev." Wanda wrapped an arm around Beverly's shoulders. "You need to pull yourself together now that James is down for a bit. You've still got the kids to look after."Nolan approached them at that moment and repo
James pulled Beverly into his arms, then spun to shield her from the bullet, which hit him squarely in the back.Beverly watched in horror as the blood drained from James' face. She cried, her voice hoarse with panic, "Honey! Honey, don't scare me…"James slumped against her. He saw the frightened look on her face as tears spilled from her eyes. He meant to wipe them away, but his arm dropped to his side like dead weight. Still, his voice was gentle and cajoling. "I'm fine, honey…"Screams erupted from the crowd as it dispersed and tried to find cover. The special forces operators moved to hold James upright.Beverly clutched his hand tightly and went with the operators as they transferred James to the Hansons' villa.The walls of the master bedroom shielded them from the prying eyes outside. The medical team, which had rushed over at first notice, were kept out by Wendell.When Wanda and Harvey arrived and saw the medical team stopped outside the room, they growled, "What the
"Chief Bronson, Professor Reed's gone missing. That's why Mrs. Bronson…" Bianca was out of breath as she reported to James, though she trailed off when she met his stormy gaze."If Professor Reed's gone missing, the police should be the ones getting involved, not Mrs. Bronson!" Wendell snapped. "Is Horatio the one who went to Mrs. Bronson about this? Shouldn't he know better?"The police wouldn't get involved unless a person goes missing for more than 12 hours. Professor Reed hasn't been missing for that long, so why the huge fuss?"Wendell was a little incensed by the situation.James' expression was unreadable as he asked quietly, "Have they found him?"Lowering her voice, Bianca answered, "Yes. They're taking him to the hospital now. Professor… Professor Reed…"Wendell grew impatient at Bianca's stammering. "Spit it out already!""Professor Reed is in shock and has been stubbornly clinging to Mrs. Bronson…" Bianca's voice grew softer. "Horatio and the others are worried that
Anna stared at the laptop screen for a few minutes, then turned her bewildered gaze to Beverly. She couldn't believe that Beverly was Cipher, the legendary hacker herself.Amazed, Anna rubbed her eyes as if to clear her vision. If she hadn't seen Beverly working with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.Beverly continued analyzing all the images of the mysterious car. A while later, the missing surveillance footage was restored.As it turned out, the car had sped toward the port after Damien got in.Anna was as worried as she was nervous when Beverly cut her a dark glare, warning, "If you tell anyone what you just saw, I'll hunt you down and make you pay. You know I can hack into any of your electronic equipment, don't you?"Eyes widening, Anna gaped at Beverly incredulously."Don't test me, Anna." Beverly closed Horatio's laptop and got out of the car, rounding to the driver's seat. "Get out."Anna, however, put on her seatbelt. "I won't tell anyone you're Cipher, bu







