by Tee O'Fallon
Andi stared, unable to take her eyes off the barrel of the gun. Odd, but Meera was pointing a gun at them, and all she could think was that the woman really was Scottish.
“Where’s the fucking laptop?” With Meera’s accent, the word “fucking” sounded more like “fooking.” She raised the gun, again pointing it at them.
Andi flinched. Fear shot up her spine, immobilizing her. She glanced at her purse. Her cell phone was in there, but there was no way she could get to it. Or to the second door, the one behind them. They’d never get out without being shot.
“You’re too late.” Joe grabbed the back of a chair. “The state police and the FBI have it, along with all your accounts and every wire transfer I ever made for you.”
Meera sneered.
We’re going to die.
“I’m sorry, Andi.” Meera took a step closer. “I really did like you. And I’ll miss your lovely café.”
Did like her? As in past tense. As in, I won’t be around much longer.
She grabbed Joe’s arm, crushing his shirtsleeve in her fist. “Meera, please.” She was surprised at how steady her voice was because inside she was shaking like a leaf.
“Don’t do this.” Joe pushed in front of her, holding his arms up and away from his sides as if that would actually shield her from a bullet. “She didn’t do anything to you. Let her go.”
When Meera lowered the gun and uttered a heavy sigh, Andi thought he’d actually gotten through to her.
Meera stepped closer, stopping when she was five feet away from them. “I told you once that you can’t walk away. Ever. There’s only one way out.” Then she raised her arm.
…
Nick flung open the door to the conference room, aiming in, shouting, “Platz.”
Saxon lowered to the safety of the floor, his head erect, his body quivering with tension.
Breathing hard, Nick scanned the room.
Empty. No Meera and no deputy marshal.
Someone groaned.
Nick bolted to the far end of the conference room. Saxon rose to his feet.
“Pass auf,” he commanded over his shoulder, wanting Saxon to remain at the open door and guard it.
The deputy lay on the floor behind the table, and several rolling chairs that had been strategically placed there to conceal the injured man.
He clicked his mic. “Officer down. Conference Room C. Female suspect—Meera Devine—is loose in the building. Approach with caution.” He added a quick description then holstered his Smith & Wesson and knelt by the deputy. Blood flowed from a deep gash on the man’s head, but his chest rose and fell with even breaths. Nick stood and yanked a handful of folded paper towels from the sink dispenser, then pressed them to the wound to slow the bleeding. “Hang in there. Help’s on the way.”
The deputy groaned again, louder this time. A good sign.
“What the hell’s going on?” Cox said from the doorway, shooting Saxon a wary look.
Saxon’s head was lowered, his big body blocking Cox’s entry.
“Lass es.” Nick commanded. He didn’t want his dog taking a chunk out of the agent’s leg.
Saxon backed off, allowing Cox to run into the room.
“She hit me.” The deputy touched his fingers to where Nick held the towels to his head. “Ah, damn, that hurts. What did she hit me with?” He tried getting up, then grimaced and thought better of it, easing onto his side.
“Who hit you?” Cox looked at the deputy then to Nick.
“Easy there. Stay down,” Nick rested a hand on the man’s shoulder. “It was Meera,” he said to Cox, then nodded to the small blood-covered bust of George Washington lying on the floor beside the deputy.
The deputy moaned, and as he rolled onto his back, the hem of his jacket caught on the man’s holster, and Nick froze. The holster was empty, as were the leather handcuff and spare magazine pouches.
In a nanosecond, Meera’s plan crystallized. A moment of panic gripped him, and his heartbeat seemed to slow to a complete stop.
She’d go after Myer, and Andi was with him.
“Stay with him and keep pressure on the wound,” he said to Cox, then ran to the door, clicking his mic along the way. “All units, she’s heading for Conference Room B, and she’s armed.”
“Hier!” Saxon spun and followed Nick as he charged down the long corridor to the other conference room.
Only then did he realize how much Meera had played them. She would have had no way of knowing where Joe was, and what better way to find out than to get inside the federal building and pretend to be a co-witness against Brian Argyle. She’d orchestrated the whole thing, then played them like a bunch of chumps fresh out of the academy. With security and magnetometers at every door, she never could have gotten a firearm into the building, but she’d procured one just the same, and she knew how to use it.
Eric’s voice came over the radio. “ETA five minutes.”
Five minutes. Nick pounded down the hallway with Saxon keeping pace at his side. This could all be over in two.
Standard federal protocol didn’t include security officers stationed inside the U.S. Attorneys’ office space. Security’s job was to guard all the first-floor entrances and courtrooms. Until backup arrived, he was on his own.
At the end of the corridor, the closed door to Conference Room B came into view. He had no idea what he’d find on the other side, but he wasn’t about to wait around with his thumb up his ass.
With his pulse skyrocketing, he and Saxon charged to the door. In those last steps, he completely regretted everything he’d said and done to push Andi away. She would never forgive him, but he prayed he wasn’t too late to save her.
Five feet from the door, he heard the gunshot.
And Andi’s scream.
Chapter Twenty-One
She shot him. Meera shot Joe. It had happened in an instant, and she still couldn’t believe it.
Blood seeped into his shirt, and his head lolled to the side. His eyes were closed, and she couldn’t be sure he was breathing.
Andi took rapid breaths, trying not to panic. She moved toward him, intending to kneel at his side.
“Don’t move,” Meera ordered. Her lips curled into an evil smile as she pointed the gun at Andi’s head. Oh my God, oh my God. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the bullet to blast through her skull.
“Put these on,” Meera shouted.
Something thumped on the floor at her feet. She opened her eyes to see a set of handcuffs.
Where did she get handcuffs? Probably the same place she’d gotten the gun.
“Do it!” Meera shouted. Spittle flew from her mouth, and her eyes glittered with rage. She unhooked her purse from her shoulder and heaved it to a corner of the room.
Keeping one eye on her, Andi swallowed hard, then picked up the handcuffs. Never having touched a pair of those before in her life, she didn’t automatically know how to work them. Using her fingers, she pushed on one side of the metal cuffs. It opened with a loud ratcheting sound. She clamped the cuff over her wrist, shoving one end into the other until it again made that same ratcheting sound.
Meera growled her impatience. “Now your other wrist.”
The door handle jiggled, then the door crashed open, slamming against the wall.
Nick and Saxon stood in the doorway. She wanted to cry with relief. Then it all happened so fast, yet she caught every movement as if she were watching a movie in slow motion.
While Nick raised his gun, Meera grabbed Andi’s arm, jerking her to stand in front of her. The woman was using her for cover.
The movement of Nick’s arm was subtle, but she caught it as he adjusted his aim away from her.
Two gunshots blasted. Meera cried out and winced but didn’t drop her gun. Blood trickled from her arm.
“Platz!” Saxon hunkered down at Nick’s feet.
The barrel of the gun jabbed against her skull. Meera’s chest pressed against Andi’s back as she wrapped her free arm around Andi�
�s waist. As they were both approximately the same height, Meera’s head was directly behind hers.
She grabbed the woman’s arm, clawing at her flesh, but Meera’s hold was as tight as a vise.
“Andi, don’t move!” Nick shouted as he moved into the room.
“Be a good girl and do what he tells ye.” Her breath was hot against Andi’s ear, her brogue becoming thicker. “And don’t do anything stupid.” She rammed the gun harder against her head.
Nick and Saxon had taken cover behind one of the floor-to-ceiling square columns in the room. Most of Nick’s body was concealed by the column, but she glimpsed his eyes. They were lit with fury.
Saxon’s tail and part of the dog’s body protruded from the other side of the column, his big body vibrating with energy. She understood he was only waiting for Nick’s command to lunge at Meera and take her down.
But he’ll be shot.
As Meera jammed the gun harder against her skull, the thumping in Andi’s chest resounded like a battering ram, echoing in her ears.
“Let her go and put your gun on the floor.” Nick’s voice was cold and controlled. “There’s no way out.”
“I beg to differ.” Meera dragged the barrel of her gun lower, pressing it into the soft flesh of Andi’s cheek. “You’ll let me go because I’ve got something you want.”
As she breathed harder, the smell of gunpowder entered her lungs. The barrel of the gun was warm against her skin, reminding her that Nick and Meera had fired off a round.
Nick readjusted his position, giving Andi a brief but clear glimpse of his upper body, and her heart stilled. The center of Nick’s gray-blue uniform shirt was quickly darkening.
With blood.
Nick’s been shot.
But he was wearing his—
Body armor.
No, he wasn’t. He’d given it to her and never put it back on. Neither Nick nor Saxon was wearing a Kevlar vest. He’d adjusted his aim to keep from shooting her, but in doing so, had missed a kill shot and taken a bullet to the chest.
Worry hit her with more impact than any physical pain could. Nick had been shot, and he was bleeding profusely.
He clicked his mic. “Lock down the building. Nobody gets out.”
A voice came back that sounded like Eric’s. “Copy that.”
“Let her go, Meera.” His voice was even, yet she knew him well enough to hear the pain behind his words. “We have the laptop. Shooting anyone else won’t help you. The building is on lockdown, and there’s no way out.”
“We’ll see about that.” Meera backed up, edging for the door behind them.
Movement made Andi glance to where Joe lay on the floor. His shirt had dampened with more blood, but his eyelids fluttered.
He’s alive.
Meera yanked the gun from her face, pointed it at Nick, and fired again.
Andi screamed, squeezing her eyes shut. The gun had been so close to her head, her ears rang from the blast. When she opened her eyes, she expected to see Nick lying on the floor, but he and Saxon were still there, taking cover behind the column. He wouldn’t risk another shot at Meera, not while she still used her as a human shield.
Again, she clutched at Meera’s arm, feeling something warm and sticky. Nick had shot Meera in the arm, yet she retained the strength of a gorilla.
Meera walked them backward. “Open the door,” she growled.
“Andi, don’t!” came Nick’s harsh command.
“Do it!” She jammed the gun against Andi’s temple, and this time it was hot enough to burn her skin, and she flinched. “Do it, or I’ll keep shooting your boyfriend.”
“No,” she cried. She couldn’t bear the thought of Nick being shot again. “Please don’t. I’ll do anything you say.” Blindly, she reached behind her until her fingers contacted the doorknob. Twisting the knob, she pushed the door open.
Meera dragged her through the doorway.
“Andi, no!”
The last thing she glimpsed was the rage and pain on Nick’s face.
…
Nick bolted to the door and peered around the doorjamb in time to see Meera back her and Andi up toward the stairwell at the end of the corridor. The absolute terror in Andi’s eyes sent a shot of panic through his bones, the likes of which he’d never felt before in his life. Goddamn, he felt helpless. Helpless to save the woman he loved more than his next breath.
More than his own life.
A sudden and sharp, burning pain stabbed him in the chest, forcing him to shut his eyes momentarily. He blew out quick breaths, willing himself to remain upright. He was hit. How badly, he didn’t know.
He pressed his shoulder against the doorjamb for support, watching Meera drag Andi closer to the wall, and for a moment he didn’t understand what she was doing. When she reached for the small fire alarm box on the wall, he figured out her tactic in a heartbeat.
Diversion.
Meera would try to escape with the hundreds of people who—in the next few minutes—would try to evacuate the building.
With the gun still pressed to Andi’s head, Meera flipped up the clear plastic cover and pulled down the lever. A piercing siren shattered the quiet. White strobes flashed on the ceiling.
Meera’s arm shot back around Andi’s waist. She backed them closer to the stairwell door, keeping one eye on him. People began poking their heads into the corridor, looking each way, searching for fire or smoke.
Just before disappearing through the door, Meera aimed her gun directly at Nick. And fired.
The gunshot echoed above the din of the screeching fire alarm. He ducked back into the library just in time to avoid the bullet that shattered the doorframe where only seconds earlier his head had been. He barely felt the sting of the splinters that embedded in the side of his face.
Damn, but the woman really does know how to use a firearm.
A moan had him turning to see Myer on the floor. The man’s face was pale, telling him the guy had lost a significant amount of blood. Judging by the ding in the wall behind him, the wound was a through-and-through.
Breathing more heavily now, he canted his head, clicking the mic with his free hand and wincing from the movement. “All units, gunshot victim, Conference Room B. Suspect escaping via the east stairwell. I’m in pursuit. Be advised the fire alarm is bogus. Maintain lockdown.” Although he couldn’t be certain building security would honor his lockdown order over evacuating people from a potentially burning building.
The corridor was quickly filling up with people responding to the fire alarm and heading for the stairwell to evacuate.
“Police! Make way.” He and Saxon pushed past the people heading to the stairs.
Catching sight of the gun in Nick’s hand, some gasped. Others jumped out of the way as Saxon barreled through.
With every step, excruciating pain lanced through his chest. The hallway wavered, and for a moment, it looked as if there were two hallways. He clenched his jaw, staving off the pain that was so acute it was impacting his vision.
“Medics dispatched,” Eric’s voice came back on the radio. “Lockdown in place. We’re heading up the stairwell to your location. We should intercept Meera somewhere in the middle.”
“Hier.” Saxon followed him down the corridor, weaving in and out of the crowd as they made their way to the stairs.
Just before the door, a wave of dizziness rocked him, and he nearly blacked out. The pressure on his chest was unbearable and threatened to take him to the floor. Got to…keep going. Leaning one hand against the wall, he took in deep breaths, shaking his head to clear it.
“Officer, are you all right?” A woman stared at his bloody uniform shirt.
Ignoring her question, he fisted his hand on the wall.
C’mon, c’mon. Pull yourself together, Houston. If you don’t, Andi will die.
Because there was no way Meera would let her live.
He pushed from the wall, shoving past more people and through the stairwell door. He and Saxon barreled d
own the stairs. “Police! Make way,” he shouted as the number of people on the stairs increased to the point where he wasn’t getting anywhere.
A few people moved aside as they took in his uniform and his unholstered gun, but most remained on the stairs, blocking his way.
“Saxon!” He glanced down at his dog who looked up at him, ears erect, waiting for his command. “Gib laut.”
Saxon began snarling and barking at the top of his lungs. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, clearing a path down to the next landing where, again, people were packing up, blocking the stairwell.
“What’s going on?” a woman shouted.
“They won’t let us leave the building,” someone else cried.
“We’re bogged down by the evacuation.” This time it was Matt on the radio. “We’re stuck in the stairwell, but still coming to you.”
A woman on the landing below glanced up. Meera. Her eyes went wide with recognition, and she shoved Andi in front of her, pushing her toward the stairwell door. When she couldn’t get through the crowd, she pointed her gun in the air and fired. The blast echoed in the close confines. People screamed and hit the floor, covering their heads with their hands.
“Move!” Meera waved her gun back and forth until her path was clear.
Nick aimed down the stairs, but people were scurrying in all directions. Getting a clean shot without risking innocent lives wasn’t possible.
Meera flung open the door and pushed Andi through first.
“Make way!” he shouted, louder this time. “Saxon!” he added, urging his dog to keep barking.
As he shoved people aside, the pain intensified, but he kept pressing forward. Eventually he reached the door Meera and Andi had disappeared through. No sooner did he grab the handle and yank on it when another red-hot burning sensation speared him dead-center in his chest, and he staggered. Saxon clawed at the floor, uttering a low growl.
“Fuss.” He wanted Saxon to heel at his side, not launch into the hallway and get shot.
When the spasm passed to the point where he could see straight, he went through the doorway, leading with his gun. Thirty feet down the corridor Meera was shoving Andi into an open elevator.