“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Blake,” she said as she tucked the book under her arm and balled her fists, so she’d be ready for action.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a third figure appeared. Shock didn’t begin to describe her feelings as the large—familiar?—man charged toward them. He wore battle fatigues and a black baseball cap. She couldn’t get a clear view of his face.
He dispatched the man to Kinsley’s right in a matter of seconds with what looked like a Taser. Whatever he’d used was probably more sophisticated than something she could buy over the counter based on how fast the target went down at contact and how much he jerked around like electricity was pinging through his body searching for an outlet. The second ski mask wearer rounded on the larger man—a man she couldn’t get a good look at with all the arms flying. He’d ducked down low and was ramming himself into her attacker.
“Get out of here,” came a direct order. Kinsley instantly knew that voice. It looped her into a time warp that shot her back to a past she no longer wanted to be connected to and sent shock reverberating through her body.
“Gabriel.” The word came out on a gasp.
“Go. Do what I said,” Gabriel ordered as he wrestled Ski Mask to the ground. The first man wearing a ski mask was still convulsing on the ground, twitching.
“You know that guy?” Blake pushed against the glass, making an attempt to stand.
Every time Gabriel looked like he would pin Ski Mask down the man would twist or turn and knock Gabriel off balance. At first blush, Gabriel looked to be in charge, but she feared that could change in an instant. She didn’t want to leave him there to fight alone if she could help no matter how much his presence threw her off in the first place.
Half a dozen questions battled for attention. This wasn’t the time for logic and reasoning. She needed to act quickly either to help Gabriel or get Blake the heck out of there.
“Leave,” came out on a decisive grunt from Gabriel. His tone left no room for doubt that he was serious.
“We gotta go.” Kinsley helped Blake to his feet. He seemed to be in shock and, glancing down at the pavement, he’d lost a lot of blood.
But then Ski Mask managed to flip Gabriel onto his back.
Kinsley was torn. Did she stay and help Gabriel or get Blake to safety? The guy convulsing would most likely gain his senses soon and then it’d be two against one. Leaving felt like abandoning Gabriel. Her heart squeezed at the thought.
“Hold on,” she said to Blake.
He grasped at the door handle to hold himself upright. Kinsley looked for something to use as a weapon. There wasn’t anything but the book and her purse. She tucked the book inside, grabbed the straps and nailed Ski Mask a couple of times in the back of the head. She couldn’t feel sorry for the gash on his head when moments ago he’d tried to kill her and Blake was bleeding out from being shot.
Gabriel bucked Ski Mask off him and rolled over on top of the guy.
“Get the hell out of here,” Gabriel demanded. She knew he wasn’t being a jerk. He was trying to save her life. His rebuke still stung. Hurt feelings were useless, inappropriate and totally out of place under the circumstances.
One look at Blake’s pale skin and the amount of blood he was losing made the decision clear. There was no way she could stick around. He needed medical aid. At least she’d helped narrow the odds for Gabriel. He was back on top of the mystery attacker.
“Lean on me,” she said to Blake as the two pushed toward the side of the building. Blake was heavy and she could only thank her adrenaline burst for getting them this far. Raw strength alone wouldn’t have cut it.
A young man—he looked about the age of one of her students—hurried over and took some of Blake’s weight as she rounded the corner with him. Relief washed over her as security flooded the area coming from what looked like all angles.
Kinsley couldn’t begin to process the fact that she’d just been shot at, nearly attacked and had seen Gabriel again. Part of her, a very large part, wanted to go back and make sure he’d survived, that he was okay.
The last she’d heard about him after graduation and that horrible car accident was that he’d signed up for the military like he’d said he was going to. The Army. She didn’t begrudge him serving the country. She admired him for his service. Leaving her in the hospital without so much as saying goodbye had devastated her teenage heart.
Kinsley refocused. She was an adult now. She’d gotten over him. Right?
Wow, her mind was all over the place. It was probably the situation that had her normally logical mind in chaos. Her body reacted to seeing Gabriel again, too. But she didn’t want to go there.
“Thank you for helping,” she said to the young man who was easing Blake onto the grass so he could sit down.
Within a few seconds emergency personnel formed a circle around them. She looked up and saw a ring of gun barrels pointed at them. Her heart pounded her ribs and the world shrank. It seemed like all the air had been sucked out the universe and she struggled to breathe.
“He’s hurt. Help him, please,” she said.
“Hands where I can see ’em,” an armed guard demanded.
Kinsley’s focus became like a laser on the man as she thrust her hands in the air. “My name is Kinsley Greer and I’m here to give a talk about my book. On the ground is my publicist, Blake Henderson. And he’s been shot. Please help him.”
“On the ground,” the steady voice demanded. His gun was drawn on her.
Her pulse raced as she did what
