“Stay right there,” the guy ordered Carter. He held the gun steady and stepped closer to him. Two steps. His back was rigid, his shoulders tense. He wasn’t steady and didn’t really seem in control. At any moment, he could shoot.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
Slowly, I edged inside the room and raised my own gun.
My arms were straight, and I aimed carefully.
Carter watched me now. His eye twitched. I didn’t know why—then I said, “Put it down.”
The guy tensed immediately. He began to turn around.
I moved forward. “Put. Your. Gun. Down.” My gun was right behind him. My heart pounded so loud I could barely hear myself. “Put it down. Now.”
“Emma,” Carter said.
I couldn’t hear anything else. My pulse was deafening. The guy still hadn’t done what I said, and I gestured to the floor. “Drop it. Now.”
He didn’t. He turned and pointed his gun directly at me—then all hell broke loose. As soon as his gun cleared from Carter, I heard Carter yelling, “Get down!”
I sank to the floor. The guy wavered, confused at seeing Andrea behind me. I twisted around and yelled at her, “Get down!”
She gasped, then fell to the floor.
At the same moment, Carter lunged. His elbow came down on the guy’s arm, and he yanked the gun from his hands before ramming his elbow into his head. The guy fell to the floor. His hips landed not far from me, just as someone else ran into the room. The shooter reached behind him, even as he was falling, and pulled out a second gun. I recognized Michael just as the shooter pointed his second gun at him—
Bang!
The shooter went limp. His gun fell from his hand and skidded across the room. Standing above him, with his gun cupped in both hands, was Carter.
He’d shot him.
The guy was going to shoot Michael, and Carter killed him instead.
We were all safe.
A gurgle came up my throat. I was relieved, terrified, and joyous all at the same time. I pushed myself to sitting, but Carter was there.
He swept me up, picking me clean off the floor and wrapped his arms around me. He buried his head into my shoulder. “Oh my god.” He trembled as he held me. “Oh my god.” His hand stroked my hair. “You’re alive. Thank god.”
I was alive. So was Andrea. Peter. Drake. Michael. And Carter, too. I leaned back and framed his face. “I love you so much.”
Tears covered his face. He pressed his lips to my forehead, then my mouth. I didn’t care what happened after that. Carter was safe. We were all safe.
The police were suspicious, but Andrea corroborated our story.
She and I had been on our way home from a restaurant nearly two months ago. We were attacked. They took her, and my life was in danger, so I hid. Carter got a tip, went in search for her, and that was the showdown they found when they were called to the building. It hadn’t been long before the cops and medics showed up. Andrea was found. We could no longer hide.
When I was cleared after I gave my statement, I walked through the police station and saw Carter in an interrogation room. Our eyes met and held, but neither of us showed any reaction. I was thankful he was alive. I had to trust him with everything else.
So I went to the lobby and waited at the desk. I needed to find out which hospital Andrea was at. As I stood there, a man approached.
“Emma?”
I didn’t recognize him. He wore a black sweater over jeans, and a detective’s badge hung around his neck. He gave me a half-grin. His dark hair was cut short, almost a crew cut, which seemed to fit his athletic physique. His face looked too weathered to be classically handsome, but he was rough and cute at the same time.
“I already gave my statement.”
“I know.” He glanced down, saw his badge hanging in view, and tucked it under his shirt. “Sorry about that. I forget half the time I have it on. Uh, no. I don’t work at this station. I’m—”
It clicked. Amanda’s boyfriend. Brian.
“—uh, you and I have a friend in common…” He trailed off as I nodded.
“Is Amanda here?” I asked.
“No.” He gestured to the parking lot behind him. “They, uh, heard about your sister, so they’re there with her. I don’t think they’ve been able to see her, but Amanda said you would want them to check on her first.”
I nodded. That sounded right. “My sister is okay?”
“From what I’ve heard, I think so. Amanda asked me to give you a ride over or just to be here when you got out.” He looked around, but no one else had appeared. “We didn’t know who they would detain and so forth. You know.”
“The others are still being questioned?”
“Well, Carter and the other guy, Michael. The guy who was shot, he’s at the hospital.”
Drake. I nodded, my mind buzzing. What about Peter? Was he still—
“Amanda said another guy is at the hospital, too,” Brian added. “She didn’t know his name, just said she recognized him from your security team.”
I pinched my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Right.” Peter was safe. Everyone was safe. “I’d like to talk to Amanda.”
His eyebrows went up. “Pardon?”
I held out my hand. “Your phone. I’d like to call Amanda.”
He reached for his phone, but was slow bringing it out. “Because…”
“Because.” I smiled at him. “You don’t think I’m stupid enough just to get in a car with you? There are a lot of people who know a lot about me. Anyone of them could spin a nice web for me to believe. Give me your phone. I will dial her myself, and then maybe I’ll get in a car with you.” He started to press a number on his phone. I stopped him. “No, no.” Taking it from him, I waved toward the desk. “I’ll call from over there. Thank you.”