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Reagan kept hoping to catch him in a lie, and she was annoyed that she believed him. “Who were the other guys at my house?”

The lines of his face deepened into a scowl. “No one of importance. They were low level muscle sent to kidnap you.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“We don’t know.”

“But you do. Or you have an idea. You believe it has something to do with English. I want to know what you’re thinking. I deserve to know how I ended up in the middle of all of this.”

“We don’t know for sure. We’re guessing at this point.”

She was suddenly tired of the conversation. Fueled by anger mixing with frustration, she marched up to him, drawing herself up as tall as she could. Even then, she tilted her neck back until it ached to look in his face.

“You’re lying. You know more than you’re saying. Those guys — they don’t know he cut off all ties to me and my mother a long time ago, do they? They don’t know that we offer no leverage when it comes to him. I’m right, aren’t I? Either you tell me what the hell is going on, or I’m on the road heading back to my house.”

“You can’t leave.” His tone was low, his dark eyes swirling as they watched her.

“What are you going to do to stop me?”

His large hands encircled her upper arms as his head snapped up suddenly. “Nothing. But they are.”

With one quick jerk, he shoved her to the ground, his heavy body collapsing on top of her, knocking the wind from her lungs. The sound ofping, pingpierced her eardrums, loosening dirt and grass as the stream of bullets connected with the ground around her. Her scream clogged her throat as she struggled to breath. She wiggled her body to try and pull free, but she was unable to escape the man pinning her.

He pulled a cell phone from his pocket while holding her immobile. She couldn’t understand why he chose to make a call now, but he shouted loud enough into the receiver for his voice to ring in her ears. “Shots fired. Garden. South side. Need back-up. Now!”

Then he covered her from head to toe, his beefy arms wrapping around her head in a protective cocoon. With no other option, Reagan clutched his shirt, buried her face against his chest and prayed for the gunshots to end.

Chapter Six

The meditation garden offered little protection from the gunfire. It contained nothing but green bushes and grass with two cement benches affixed to the ground, so his only option was to scoop Reagan in his arms and half-carry, half-drag her over to the weak cover of the bushes. Her body shook against him, and he could hear her teeth chattering.

The door to the garden burst open behind him, but he didn’t have to turn to know it was Luke coming to his aid. The door opening triggered another round of gunfire, so his brother dived to the ground beside him, his gun drawn.

“What the hell?” Luke shouted. “The nurses are calling 911 and security to lock down the hospital. They’re leaving this door open for us to get back inside.”

“Then take her. Hide her somewhere. I’ll cover you.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

The brothers silenced her with a look. Luke ducked back, staring at his brother incredulously.

“I’m not leaving you out here without back-up.”

Jackson looked over at Reagan who watched their exchange with wide eyes. Her face had paled to a scary white, and her body continued to shake violently. He turned back to Luke, satisfied his brother saw what he did.

“She’s the priority. Get her inside.”

Ping, ping, ping.

Luke scooted closer to Reagan. His hand cupped her chin and lifted her face until she looked in his eyes.

“No one’s going to hurt you. If they try, I’ll stop them before they can. You have my word. Do you understand?”

Jackson felt relief when Reagan nodded in response.

“Good,” Luke continued. “I have to get you to safety. Can you run on your own, or do I need to carry you?”

“I can run.”