“Grant?”
“Yeah.”
“Not good.” Riley was dreading seeing his Team Leader again. He knew he’d lost some of Grant’s trust, no matter that Riley had made the right call.
Riley pulled out his phone and hit dial on Grant’s number.
“Done?” Grant asked.
“We think so.” Riley glanced at Erin who nodded.
“It’s quiet out here.”
“Good to hear. We’re headed your way.” Riley glanced at Erin. “I hope...I hope you know I only did what I did—”
“We don’t need to talk about that now,” Grant said and ended the call.
Fuck.
Riley pocketed his phone. Earning Grant’s trust back wasn’t going to happen overnight.
“Really ready?” Riley asked Erin.
“Really ready.” She smiled at him, but it was fleeting.
“Come on.” He tucked the box under his arm and held out his hand.
She took it and together they walked out of the office. She paused to ensure the door was locked before they proceeded to the elevators.
“I’m not going to miss this place,” she said on their way down.
“Not even a little?”
“The people, yeah. But not this place. Not after all this.”
Riley wished he could change her mind. It was easy to see how she’d made a difference doing her job. That she strove to make the world a better place. Having that same world bite her sucked, but it didn’t change the impact she’d had. He hoped she saw that in time.
The elevator dumped them out into the lobby. He signed out of the security office and they headed for the front doors.
“Stay on my left, okay?” Riley placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her closer.
“I thought Grant said everything was okay?”
“It’s my job to be careful.” He smiled and pulled out the keys. “Come on.”
He pushed through the glass doors first, glancing up and down the street. The mid-day foot traffic had picked up, but overall it was a quieter street. He lifted the box to his shoulder and kept his other hand on Erin.
If they were right, and Thomas was a plant to get closer to Erin, then they had to consider the threat to her life was still active.
Something tickled the skin between Riley’s shoulder blades.
“Come on.” He urged her to walk faster.
“What’s wrong?” She glanced up at him.
“Nothing.” At least nothing he could put his finger on. Instincts were well and good, but he couldn’t tell her his gut wasn’t comfortable.
He twisted, glancing over his shoulder.
Something out of the corner of his eye glinted, like metal in the sunlight.
A crack of gunfire split the calm afternoon.
Before he could react, a freight train the size of a peanut rammed into Riley and he pitched forward, onto the sidewalk. His head knew he should tuck and roll, but his body wouldn’t react. It was as though he were trapped in time and space, held totally still.
Hands grasped at him. Erin. He saw her mouth open. He knew those words that look of terror. He didn’t have to hear her ragged cries for help to understand them.
Erin had to be saved. She had to be okay, at all costs. Nothing else mattered except her.
Riley threw his uncooperative body to the left, doing his best to shield her. His limbs wouldn’t obey him and his feet weren’t working. What the hell just happened?
MARK PUMPED HIS FIST as the two went down.
Fucking finally.
He’d wanted to make this problem go away quietly, but that damn woman was a cockroach.
The people on the street scattered, taking cover. At most Mark and his men would have minutes to clear the scene.
“I didn’t hit the target,” the sniper said.
“What?” Mark glanced at the man.
“He moved.”
Mark grabbed his radio.
“Get the box, now,” he snapped.
Sure enough, Erin Lopez pushed up to her knees. The man tried to move, but his body wobbled.
The sniper fired again.
The man threw himself over Erin.
“God damn it.” Mark spoke into the radio again. “Get the box and her.”
A pair of men in the parking lot sprinted for the pair.
A dark SUV jumped the curb, blocking Mark’s view of the targets. The doors opened, and three men got out, weapons at the ready.
“We need to move,” he said.
Sirens wailed in the distance. They wouldn’t have as much of a head start this time, and there was still no resolution.
Mark dove for the stairs, the sniper at his back.
Where the hell was Thomas? He was supposed to keep Mark updated about the rest of those Aegis bastards.
11.
SUNDAY. NEXGEN OFFICES, Erbil, Kurdistan.Header here.
Erin couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt.
“Riley?” She rolled and pain shot up her spine.
That wasn’t good.
“Erin? Erin!” He shouted her name, grasping for her.
“I’m right here.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed.
The other SUV shielded them, but for how long? Would the sniper reposition and fire again?
“Erin?” Riley rolled toward her.
She stared down at his body, bracing herself for the worst, but there was no blood.
He wasn’t bleeding.
She’d heard the shot, felt the air displaced by the bullet. God, she’d just known he was dead. She pushed up to her knees, her bones screaming in agony, and cupped his face.
“You’re okay,” she shouted. Whatever had knocked him off his feet, it hadn’t signed his death warrant.
Movement from the parking lot caught her eye. Two white men in plain clothes carrying guns was by no means a normal sight. She doubted they were with Ruddy Brothers Security.
Erin snatched Riley’s sidearm from his holster and lifted the weapon. Enough people were hurt already. Whoever these bastards were, they weren’t going to kill her or Riley.
She aimed and squeezed off a shot.
They weren’t taking Riley from her.
She might not know what these fuckheads wanted or what she’d done to deserve this, but they would not take Riley from her.
The man closest to them went down.
No body armor.
Good to know.
The other man ducked behind a car.
Bullets pinged off the SUV closest to the road. Shattered glass rained down on them.
“Get them in the SUV,” Grant ordered from the other side of the vehicle.
That sounded like a good plan.
“Come on.” She grabbed Riley’s hand. There wasn’t any blood. She had to
