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Silence. Not even the buzzing letting him know the line was open.

The comms were down.

More shouting. A crash. The front door splintered as something heavy slammed against it repeatedly, each impact shaking the walls.

Daniel seized Ellie’s hand and raced across the bedroom. He threw open the window leading to the backyard and stuck his head outside. Clear. For the moment.

He waved Ellie forward. “You first.”

She pitched herself over the ledge and into the mulch below. Heavy footsteps thundered down the hall. As Daniel placed a hand on the windowsill, the bedroom door slammed against the wall.

Three masked men burst in.

Daniel threw himself through the window just as a bullet shattered the glass beside his head.

Sharp fragments rained down on him as he hit the ground hard, the impact jarring his teeth.

Ellie brought up her weapon and fired two precise rounds.

Covering him. He caught a flash of her gorgeous face, focused and determined, every inch the FBI agent she used to be.

“Go!” he shouted, staggering to his feet.

They sprinted across the backyard. Gunfire tore through the air. A bullet clipped the fence inches from Ellie’s shoulder. She bolted through the open gate, Daniel one step behind her. His blood roared in his ears and he dared a look over his shoulder. The masked men were in the yard.

More gunfire.

A burning pain ripped through his leg.

He stumbled, his knees nearly buckling as his hand instinctively shot out to grab a tree branch. Ellie skidded to a stop and reversed course, reaching his side in a second. He could already feel the blood gushing, hot and fast, down his leg. He pushed her off. “Go!”

She ignored him, pivoting and unleashing multiple rounds at the men in the yard. They scattered like rats, seeking cover.

“Come on.” She ducked under his arm and braced his weight. “Move, Daniel!”

He had no choice but to follow her instructions.

He half-ran, was half-dragged, down the path along the retention pond, doing his level best to keep from leaning on her slender form too much.

Blood stained the sidewalk. Every step was agony.

It felt like the bullet was lodged inside him.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and kept moving.

The gunmen would follow. And they’d kill Ellie.

Where was his team?

The path curved and his cousin’s sedan came into view.

“A little further.” Ellie’s breath came in puffs. She, like Daniel, kept checking behind them for the gunmen.

Black spots danced in front of his vision. He blinked to clear them away, even as nausea swirled. It was fifteen more steps to the car, but it felt like five thousand. Daniel’s knees threatened to buckle again.

“Go, El!” He tried to shove her away, but she refused to release him. She clung like a burr, her cheeks flushed with the effort of yanking him forward.

“No way, Daniel! Where you go, I go.”

Even in his pain-induced haze, he heard his own words repeated back to him.

And they hit like a sledgehammer. They were a team.

In another time, under different circumstances, it would've stirred quiet admiration—this woman who didn't flinch, didn't run, who fought beside him when it would've been easier to let go. Now, all he could process was the terror that she’d die trying to save him.

It fueled his steps, pushing him beyond the bounds of what he thought was physically possible.

Ellie was not dying today. Not on his watch.

They stumbled off the curb just as a white utility van screeched around the corner and came to a stop, blocking their path.

Without thinking, Daniel shoved Ellie behind him and raised his gun as the sliding rear door flew open.

A dark-haired man held up a silver badge. “Agent Tanner, FBI. Get in the van!”

Dizziness threatened to take him under as indecision froze him in place.

Then the unmistakable sound of shouting and boots pounded on the path behind them. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed his fears. The gunmen rounded the corner.

Ellie pitched forward, wrapping an arm around his waist, and together, they dove for the van.

Daniel hit the steel floor with a jolt, Ellie’s soft form landing on top of him.

Pain exploded in his leg. He barely had the chance to yank his feet inside before Agent Tanner slammed the door shut.

Gunshots erupted like firecrackers, bullets pinging off the van's reinforced sides as tires squealed and the van lurched forward.

Hand shaking, Daniel sat up and aimed his weapon at Agent Tanner. His vision had narrowed to a pinpoint, and he was about to throw up from the pain, but he didn’t trust either of the men in this van. Not with Ellie’s life. “Who are you?”

“FBI, Ranger Perez. Put down your weapon.”

Ellie’s hand came up and grasped Daniel’s wrist. She forced him to lower his gun. “He’s telling the truth.”

His gaze swung toward her. He swallowed. “You know him.”

She nodded and said something he didn’t hear as the blackness finally won and he passed out.