Page 62 of See You There

“Luke!” Edgar shouted. In his periphery, he could see that somehow Edgar had opened the back passenger door closest to them.

Dahlia looked up at him. “We could make it…”

“There’s at least ten feet of open space.” Luke judged the distance. “Whoever it is, they are a terrible shot—but I'd rather not give them a freebie.”

“We can’t just stay here!” Dahlia scowled at him.

“Do you have a better suggestion?” He clenched his jaw. “I’m sure Edgar called the police. We just need to wait—”

“He’s moving!” Edgar bellowed.

Luke lifted slightly to peer over the tailgate and through the cab of the truck. He glimpsed a hulking figure moving in the trees, presumably looking for a better angle on them.

Shit!“This is the dumbest assassin I’ve ever heard of,” Luke tried to joke. “I don’t think he’s even wearing a mask.”

Dahlia’s lips firmed. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait here for him.”

In the distance, they heard sirens and then crashing noises as the gunman ran through the underbrush. But was he moving closer or farther away?

The black SUV inched forward until it bumped the truck with a metal-on-metal scraping noise.

“Go!” Luke pushed Dahlia from her crouched position, and they both sprinted the short distance to the door, diving inside as bullets hit the hood of the SUV. Luke’s legs were barely clear of the open door when Edgar threw the car in reverse, gunning the engine back down the road. Luke lay on top of Dahlia, his view of the front seat blocked by Edgar lying sideways, steering by watching the rear camera screen.

Two police cars, lights flashing, appeared on the dash screen, and Edgar slammed on the brakes, causing Luke and Dahlia to rock hard into the center console.

Officers surrounded them, guns drawn, screaming for them to show their hands. Edgar slowly sat up, holding his hands above his head, and then putting them out the driver’s side window. More officers arrived shouting instructions, and for a minute, it felt like all hell had broken loose.

“It was a setup,”Luke said, sitting in the interrogation room. When James arrived, Luke had insisted his brother sit with Dahlia while she gave her statement.

“It’s looking that way.” The detective agreed. “But why would someone target you or Ms. Everton?”

“I have no idea. I’m not sure which one of uswasthe target. But that had to have been their goal. It wasn’t spur of the moment. The plan may have been terrible—at any minute, one of the cars from the photo shoot could have come down the road—and the shooter didn’t even try to take out Edgar, which let us get away.”

“You’re a defense attorney. You must have a lot of enemies.”

“Fewer than you’d think.” Luke debated if he should mention the other ‘accidents.’ The image of Dahlia ducking her head as bullets rained down on them flashed in his mind, deciding for him. “There were two other attempts before this.”

The detective’s eyes sharpened. “Explain.”

“Yesterday, Dahlia and I were on a crosswalk near Piedmont Park. A car ran through a red light, narrowly missing us. Then earlier today, just as we left a radio station interview, a bucket of broken cement pieces was knocked over from the scaffolding above us.”

“Those could be coincidences.”

Luke arched his brow. “Possibly. But someone was definitely trying to kill us today at the restaurant.”

Now that the shock had worn off, anger roiled through his blood. Luke didn’t like being threatened, and he liked someone threatening Dahlia even less. She’d been brave, but he’d seen the fear clouding her green eyes. He would find out who was behind this, Luke vowed to himself.

“Your driver only got a partial glimpse of the guy. What about you?” the detective asked, bringing him back from his thoughts.

“In between trying not to get shot?” Luke inhaled through his nose and scrubbed a hand down his face. “I got the impression he was a big guy, but it happened fast, and he was moving.”

“Ms. Everton gave evidence to the district attorney about that casino robbery near Buckhead?”

“There’s no reason for someone to kill her over that. It’s already done.” Luke shook his head. “Besides, nobody knows about her deal. She hasn’t signed the paperwork yet.”

“They haven’t identified the shooter. The tattoo in the photos she provided is all we have to go on right now. Unfortunately, nothing popped in our system, and all the other witnesses are being tight-lipped. Maybe the shooter thinks she can identify him. Someone she knows, but doesn’t want to name?”

A muscle ticked in Luke’s jaw. “If Dahlia knew who the shooter was, she would tell you. Like I said, the shooter doesn’t even know about the photos.”