Striking Distance

15

?PUNETA! FUCK!

On a single inhale, Javier weighed his options. He had no infrared drone overhead to give him the big picture, no radio contact with the DUSMs, and no damned assault rifle. There were ten feet between Laura and the station’s rear entrance and a couple of lateral feet between her and the SUV’s open door. But judging from the hole that first shot had left in the building’s concrete wall, these were armor-piercing rounds. Bulletproofing was not going to stop them from penetrating the vehicle—which meant they couldn’t take shelter inside it—and lying here on the ground and trying to use it for cover was a fucking bad idea.

They had to move now.

But moving was risky, too. If this sniper had any training, he’d be watching, waiting for Laura to pop into his sights again in her attempt to flee.

“Stay low!” Javier caught her hard around the waist and dragged her up with him, lunging for the studio’s back door, Agent Killeen behind them.

“Get back!” he shouted to the station’s staff, who stood just inside the door staring in horrified surprise. “Get back, goddamn it!”

Two more shots, and Killeen went down with a cry.

Javier didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

Laura would be dead if he did.

The best thing he could do for Killeen and the others was to get Laura out of the line of fire. As long as she was in the shooter’s sights, he would keep firing, putting every DUSM, reporter, and bystander out here at risk.

Javier threw himself and Laura through the open doorway, the two of them landing on their hands and knees just as the shooter opened up on the entrance.

More screams.

Javier jumped up, dragged Laura to her feet again, and hurried her down the hallway. “Everyone get out of the hallway and away from the door! Those rounds can penetrate concrete. Go! Move! ”

He didn’t stop moving until they reached the dressing room. Both hands gripping her coat, he pressed her up against the wall. “Are you hurt, bella? Talk to me.”

She looked at him with dazed blue eyes, blood running down her temple, her entire body shaking. “I-I’m fine.”

Shit.

“Like hell you are.”

She was in psychological shock—acute stress reaction.

He quickly removed her coat, checked her for other injuries, and found abrasions on her palms and right knee from hitting the asphalt so hard.

Goddamn, that had been close! If she hadn’t stumbled . . .

His stomach lurched at the very thought.

She reached up, pressed her hand to her bleeding temple, and looked down at the blood on her fingers, as if she couldn’t understand what had happened, the expression on her face reminding him of the expression she’d worn in the helo after he’d carried her out of Al-Nassar’s compound. Slowly, she sank to a sitting position on the floor.

He draped her coat over her to keep her warm and pulled out his cell. “McBride, it’s Corbray. Yes, she’s safe but in shock with contusions on her right temple, her hands, and one knee. She’ll need an ambulance. We’re inside the building. Killeen is down. I think the shots came from the top of a parking garage to the north of our position. He’s probably using a flash suppressor.”

Through the walls of the station Javier could hear the wail of sirens, but it sounded as if the shooting had stopped. Oh, how he wished he were out there, rifle in hand. He would run that fucker down and catch him trying to make his getaway.

But Javier couldn’t leave Laura.

“We’ll stay put. Roger that.” He hung up and slipped the phone into his pocket, then walked to a nearby sink, grabbed a paper towel, and wet it. “One of the deputies is taking care of Killeen. Ambulances are on their way.”

Laura was silent, her gaze focused on nothing as he knelt beside her.

He pressed the wet paper towel to her temple, gently wiping away the blood, something in his chest constricting when the light pressure made her flinch. “Sorry. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to get a look.”

Her temple had a few deep abrasions, and it looked as if some debris had embedded itself in her skin, probably from ricocheting bits of concrete. Once it was cleaned out, it would heal fine. She was lucky it hadn’t struck her eyes.

“Look at me, bella. Talk to me.”

She met his gaze, her eyes still unfocused, pupils dilated, body trembling, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. But she said nothing.

And Javier understood.

She’d been forced to watch the footage of her abduction and had then stepped out the door into a hail of gunfire. Together, it was just too much.

He pressed his forehead to hers and looked straight into her eyes. “Laura, do you hear me? You’re safe. You’re here with me, and you’re safe.”

A voice came from the dressing room doorway. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

Javier looked up—and found himself staring into a camera lens.

“Turn that fucking thing off!” He reached out, put his palm over the lens, got to his feet, and slowly pushed the cameraman out the door. “You got any shame, man? She’s one of yours. If she were lying there bleeding to death, would you film that, too? Yeah, you probably would. Ratings, right?”

Martin spluttered, glaring at him. “Do you know how expensive that piece of equipment is? You can’t—

“The hell I can’t.” Javier stepped back, slammed the dressing room door in the cameraman’s face, and locked it. He sat beside Laura and drew her trembling body into his arms. “It’s going to be all right.”

* * *

IT WAS THE reassuring sound of Javier’s voice that reached her.

“Javi?”

“I’m right here, bella. You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

Head throbbing, Laura realized she was in the station’s dressing room. She’d done the broadcast. Gary had played the footage of her abduction. And . . .

Oh, God! Someone had tried to shoot her!

“Wh-what . . . Who . . . ?” Her heart pounded as if she’d been running, her stomach churning, her body shaking uncontrollably.

He looked into her eyes. “You don’t need to worry about that. McBride, the cops—they’ve got this locked down. It’s over. You’re safe.”

It was then she remembered, her heart giving a hard knock, the breath leaving her lungs in a rush. “Janet. Agent Killeen! She was shot!”

It was happening again. People were dying because of her.

“The ambulance is almost here. There are marshals with her now. She’s not alone, bella. Just take deep breaths.”

Laura closed her eyes, tried to do as he said, but the sound of gunshots and screams echoed in her mind, memories of another time, another place.

Cries. AK fire. So much death.

Cover her! Cover her!

No. No. No!

She clung to Javier, the strength of his embrace and the reassuring tone of his voice holding her together,