Page 16

FOURTEEN

The sounds of shattering glass and screams filled the air.

Ellie’s heart thundered against her rib cage as adrenaline and fear heightened her senses.

The floor was cool against her heated skin.

Bullets thudded into the wall above her, perilously close.

Daniel’s breath fluttered against her hair.

His body covered her in a cocoon of safety, his arms cradling her against his broad chest. The world shrank as her vision narrowed to the assault rifle firing from the passenger side of a black SUV. She couldn’t see who was holding it.

The bullets stopped as suddenly as they began. Tires squealed as the SUV took off around the side of the building.

Daniel shifted away from her. Gun in hand, he stayed low. Screams and cries from the other patrons echoed around them. Ellie sat up, her stomach swirling with nausea and her limbs shaky. Her vision dimmed at the edges. She sucked in a steadying breath.

A hand gripped her shoulder. Slightly rough. Urgent. “Where are you hit?”

Ellie quickly assessed her body, but there was no pain. She tried to push Daniel’s hand away. “I’m fine. You?—”

“You’ve been shot.” Daniel’s voice was tinged with panic. “El, you’re bleeding.”

Confused, she looked down. Blood stained her shirt.

Her jeans. It pooled around her on the floor, dark and glistening beneath the flickering fluorescent lights.

People were still screaming. Their terror fueled her own anxiety as she patted frantically at her side, neck, and chest. No pain. No gunshot.

An awful realization hit her as she looked at Daniel properly. Blood spattered his face and neck. Peppered his white shirt. Her heart stuttered as her hands stretched toward him. “It’s not my blood, Daniel.” Dread surged. “Is it you? Are you hit?”

A groan broke the moment.

James was slumped against the wall, blood soaking his chest and streaming down his left arm. His chair had toppled, trapping one leg beneath. Melted ice cream, cobbler, and crimson mixed on the floor around him.

Ellie scrambled to his side, shoving the chair aside. “James!”

His eyes fluttered open. “Didn’t know… being shot… hurt this much.”

Her composure wavered, but training took over. She yanked an apron from the kitchen rack and pressed it hard against the gunshot wound near his shoulder. James cried out. “I’m sorry. I know it hurts.” Ellie didn’t lessen the pressure. If she didn’t slow the bleeding, he’d die right there.

Behind her, Daniel called for backup, his voice steady and clipped. The hysteria around them had dulled to a low murmur. Ellie didn’t know if anyone else was hurt. The wall behind James was riddled with bullet holes. Most were clustered where she had been sitting.

Their attackers had been shooting to kill.

“Hurts…” His eyelids drooped shut.

“James, stay awake.” Ellie’s tone was sharp and commanding. “Paramedics are on the way.”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Bossy.”

“You got that right. Don’t you dare die on me, old man. You have people who depend on you, grandkids to spoil.”

Ellie's chest ached with emotion. James had spent his life dedicated to the Bureau. Nights, weekends, holidays. He’d sacrificed time with his family to keep their country safe.

He deserved to enjoy his retirement. Tears blurred her vision.

It wasn’t fair. An hour ago, he was attending his son’s birthday party and now he was bleeding out on a dirty diner floor.

All her fault. This was all her fault. She never should’ve come here.

James opened his eyes and focused on her. “Don’t trust anyone… find the flash drive… stop them…”

She nodded sharply. “I will. I promise.”

Daniel disappeared into the kitchen and then returned. “The SUV is still here, and another has arrived. Men are getting out.” He quickly took charge, herding everyone still in the restaurant toward a hallway that led to the adjoining gas station where they would be able to escape.

Sirens wailed in the distance. The police. Paramedics. Shouting erupted from the kitchen. A waitress and several chefs burst through the swinging door. Daniel directed them to safety, ordering them to lock the door behind them.

“Go.” James’s voice was barely a whisper. “Go now. They’re coming. They’ll make sure you’re dead this time.”

She pushed harder on his wound. It was still bleeding far too much. “I’m not leaving you.”

Daniel appeared by her side. “El.”

The sirens wailed louder.

James rallied, drawing his handgun from its holster before placing it in Ellie's hand. Then he looked at Daniel. “Get her out of here… won’t shoot anyone else… she’s the target…”

More shouting erupted from the kitchen. Metal clanged. Something crashed. A man’s voice barked a command, harsh and purposeful.

Daniel gripped Ellie’s arm, his tone urgent. “We have to go. Now!”

He hauled her to her feet. She clutched James’s handgun, the weight oddly reassuring. Her former boss had shut his eyes. Playing dead? Or had he passed out? Sirens blared. Closer now. Maybe half a block away. She sent up a prayer that it would be soon enough.

Daniel pushed her toward the parking lot. Ellie raced across the restaurant, glass crunching under her tennis shoes. She slid on some water by the broken window before jumping the frame onto the asphalt. Daniel’s boots pounded right behind her as they bolted for his vehicle.

A shout came behind them. Ellie ducked as bullets pinged off the surrounding cars.

Glass in a nearby Toyota shattered, spraying her arms with fragments.

She didn’t dare slow down. Instead, staying low and moving quickly, she reached Daniel’s Explorer.

Seconds later, she was inside. He’d already fired up the engine.

With a squeal of tires, he shot out of the parking spot.

Flashing emergency lights exited the highway, heading their way.

Ellie lifted her head just enough to glimpse the inside of the diner. Men, dressed in black with balaclavas covering their faces, caught sight of the incoming police cars and bolted for the kitchen. One SUV circled around the side of the building. A parking lot spotlight caught the driver’s face.

Dark hair, angled face, hawklike nose.

Adam Parish. Gideon’s top enforcer.

The Iron Fist had found her.

Ellie’s stomach twisted. She was now at the center of a turf war. Gideon wanted her dead. Tobias wanted to use her. Both men would stop at nothing to get the evidence Lena had stolen—either to use it or to bury it.

Daniel punched the gas as he tore out of the parking lot and shot down the feeder road. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” She answered automatically but then paused to take stock. No gunshot wounds. That would have to do for now. “You?”

“No.”

Her relief was short-lived. Police cars flew into the parking lot as the SUV driven by Adam sped onto the feeder.

He was following them.

Ellie's breath caught in her throat. “Daniel, that SUV?—”

“I see it. Put your seat belt on. And stay low.” His jaw clenched as his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

The SUV’s headlights swerved behind them, picking up speed.

Gaining ground. Ellie snapped her seat belt in place and realized she was still holding James’s handgun.

She adjusted her hold on the weapon. It felt both foreign and familiar at the same time.

A tie to her old life, to the person she used to be.

Confident. Self-assured. Fearless. That’s who Special Agent Elizabeth Conway had been.

Being shot, losing her identity, and constantly looking over her shoulder had worn away those traits.

Facing her past was difficult, and she didn’t want to return to her life as an FBI Agent, but she’d joined law enforcement for a reason.

She’d wanted to make a difference. To protect people.

To do what was right, even when it came at a cost.

That calling hadn’t disappeared. She’d just buried it, along with every other part of herself when she changed her name.

A calmness she hadn’t felt in a long time washed over her as a sense of purpose brought her sharply into focus. Daniel had saved her life. And if need be, she was prepared to save his.

God, give me strength…