David understood what Adam didn’t want to voice in front of Marlee and Summer. If the bomb had been planted with the hopes of killing David and Summer, it was a long shot. Not that there wouldn’t be deaths, but that the bomb would cause the deaths of the two people who were the targets.
Therefore the killers would be watching those coming out of the hotel.
And when Summer and David stepped out, whoever planted the bombs would be waiting to grab them in the chaos. There was probably a sniper on the roof of a building across from the hotel.
“You got a plan?” he asked Adam as he helped hand over a small child to his waiting mother. The woman looked pale and sick. He hoped she wouldn’t pass out. She didn’t. Child cradled in her arms, she disappeared down the stairs to the exit.
“Yes.”
“All right, I’ve got a backup one if yours doesn’t work.”
Adam shot him a perturbed look. “It’ll work.” He helped an elderly couple over the hole, then looked back at David. One by one, David and Adam helped everyone in the stairwell make it to the bottom floor. Thankfully, the exit wasn’t blocked and they were met by rescue personnel.
David watched the last person exit, then turned to Adam. “All right, what’s your plan?”
“We get out of here.”
David lifted a brow. “That’s your plan?”
Adam shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a good one.”
“Where are they now?” Raimondi pressed the phone to his ear as he watched the news coverage. The bomb had done its job. The middle of the hotel was practically gone. Each end still stood. Deaths were reported, but no official number had been released. They were calling it an act of terror. He snorted. They could call it whatever they wanted as long as he was able to get to David Hackett.
“Still in the hotel.” Corbin Hayes sounded satisfied. A premature satisfaction, Raimondi felt sure.
“Are the men ready to move in?” he asked.
“As soon as I spot them, I’ll give the word.”
“The sister and the marshals are expendable,” he said. He picked up the remote and upped the volume.
“That’s good because that might be the only way we’re going to get to Summer and David.”
“Do we have everything set up in case we need to get to them in court tomorrow?”
“I’m still working that angle. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait that long. I know you want this taken care of way before then.”
“Indeed, that would be best.” Raimondi hung up. He muted the television and turned to sink into the recliner.
A knock on the door pulled his attention from the television screen. “Come in.”
Agostino stepped in. “Hello, Uncle.”
“What news do you have?”
“Nothing. I just thought I would come wait with you.”
Raimondi gestured to the recliner next to his. “Sit.”
Agostino sat.
Raimondi rose and poured his nephew a glass of bourbon. He handed it to Agostino. “How is your mother?”
“Grieving. She’s in bed and won’t get up.”
“When is the funeral?”
“Tomorrow.”
Raimondi nodded. “She will go.”
“How is Georgina?”
He pulled in a deep breath. “She will be fine.”
“It’s been over a year and she hasn’t let go of him.”
“It’s not up for discussion. She will be fine.” He took a sip of the bourbon. “As soon as I present her with David’s head on a platter.”
Agostino frowned. “I thought she didn’t want him hurt.”
Impatience threaded through Raimondi. “She doesn’t know what she wants. If falling in love with David Hackett is any indication of her judgment, then clearly she has none.”
“But—”
“Enough. Bring them to me.”
30
Summer cast glances at an uncharacteristically quiet Marlee. Her sister stood silent and pale, her lips quivering every so often. David and Adam seemed to have worked out some sort of plan and were now determined to put it into action. Rescue workers filtered in through the exit door. Several made their way up the stairs, carefully maneuvering around the hole.
Two stayed behind. One looked at the four of them. “Everyone all right?” At their affirmative, he said, “Come on, come on, let’s get out of here.”
Adam flipped out his badge. “We’re going to need your help.”
If Adam had reached out and slapped the man, he couldn’t have been more surprised. For a moment he didn’t move, then said, “We don’t have a lot of time to discuss this. What’s the issue?”
In less than ten seconds, using short concise sentences, Adam explained the situation.
The fireman nodded. “Hold on a sec.”
He spoke into his radio and within another five seconds had five other firemen coming through the door. He outlined the plan to get them out of the building alive.
Summer broke in. “It’s too dangerous.”
Adam’s phone rang even as the firefighters started stripping out of their gear. He snapped it to his ear and listened. He looked at David. “We got our sniper. He’s under arrest and awaiting questioning.”
The firefighters paused and exchanged glances. The building shuddered and a chunk of concrete landed in front of Summer. The firefighter who’d taken charge shot dark looks at the stairwell even as he handed his gear to David.
A young man in his early twenties hesitated. “Captain, you sure about this?”
“We’re rescuing people. You know the creed. ‘Give me strength to save a life …’ That’s what we’re doing.”
“Yes sir.”
Once the four of them were dressed in firefighting gear, David pronounced them ready. “Let’s do it.”
Adam nodded. “Can’t thank you guys enough for this.”
“I’m Chip Hancock, fire captain for company 12. I come from a family of firefighters and law enforcement.” A slight smile curved his lips. “Can’t wait to tell Dad about this one.” He shoved his ax into David’s hand. “Act like you’re helping me to the ambulance.” He glanced at the others. “The rest of you do the same. Then get on the truck. I’ll manage to get away from the ambulance and drive you wherever you need to go.”
“You got it.”
Summer hitched her breath. A sniper? But why? Didn’t Raimondi want them alive? It didn’t make sense and she had no more time to think about it before she was hustling out the door. Finally. Her tension came not only from the anxiety of being a target, but from the fear of being trapped in a collapsing building.
Once outside, Summer clung to the captain, doing her best to make it look like she was holding him up when, in reality, if it hadn’t been for his arm around her waist, she might have collapsed onto the hotel’s asphalt. She pushed him toward the ambulance, then turned for the fire truck as he’d directed her to do.
The gear was heavy, weighting her down. She was surprised she could keep moving. She heard Marlee whimpering behind her and prayed no one from the Raimondi family could hear her. David and Adam crowded next to her. They climbed into the truck and waited.
Within no more than a minute, but what seemed like an hour, the captain climbed into the driver’s seat and the truck took off.
She clung to the seat. David wrapped an arm around her. She looked at him. “If they’re watching, won’t they find it strange that a fire truck is leaving the area when the fire is still going?”
“Maybe, but it’s our only hope right now.”
“I want to go home,” Marlee wailed. “Please, please, let me go home.” Her sister had had enough. She broke down, sobs racking her slender frame. Summer’s heart clenched with the need to comfort, but she was so tired, she could barely move. Adam sat up front, giving the driver directions. David placed a hand on Marlee’s shoulder. Summer couldn’t tell if he meant the gesture to be a comfort or a warning.
Ten minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot o
f a warehouse. Lights burned and the doors flew open. Marlee managed to dry her tears and get herself under control.
The fire truck stopped beside a waiting SUV. Two other SUVs waited, just like the previous times they’d had escorts. Within seconds, Summer, David, Adam, and Marlee had stripped the firefighting gear off and handed it over to the captain and the other firefighters who stood staring.
She hugged the captain. “Thank you.”
He flushed. “Yes ma’am.” His gaze flickered over the others. “Stay safe.”
One of the marshals spoke up. “Please don’t say anything about where you delivered them.”
“Not a word.”
“We’re leaving and won’t be here long enough for it to really matter, but …” He shrugged.
“I was never here.”
He left and Summer slid into the vehicle followed by the others.
Ten minutes later, they were in the driveway of a small building on the edge of a middle-class neighborhood. The marshals gestured for them to go inside.
Summer hung back. “How do we know we can trust them?”
“Because they didn’t take our guns,” David murmured in her ear.
She wasn’t sure if he really thought that or if he was just trying to comfort her. She stepped inside and noted that the place had been decorated to be functional, not fancy. “What is this place?”
“A debriefing hidey-hole.”
David gripped her upper arm and led her to a chair. She sank into it. Adam did the same for Marlee, who’d stopped her weeping and sat mute, staring straight ahead.
David turned to the man closest to Summer. “They found us again.”
Short and to the point. Summer decided she liked that about her husband. Her husband who’d lied to her. The husband she was very, very angry with but still loved with everything in her. She’d pushed aside her past hurts and fears and allowed him to lay siege to her heart. And he’d stomped all over it. A renewed sense of betrayal and a tidal wave surge of anger swept through her. She clamped her lips together and waited to see how this meeting was going to play out.
“I’m Bennie Holcombe. I’m with the marshals.” Bennie was tall, a couple of inches over six feet. Muscles bunched under his jacket. Dark eyes glittered at her.
“Where are Mike and Chase?” David asked. He didn’t seem intimidated by the man’s vast size.
“We just got word that Chase was injured in the hotel bombing. He was returning to your suite when the bomb went off. He’s being treated at the local hospital.”
David grimaced. “And Mike?”
“Mike’s been removed from duty as your handler.”
Summer gasped. “Why?”
“Because someone keeps tracking you down. There’s a leak somewhere and we can’t seem to plug it.”
Summer shivered. She’d been sprayed by the sprinklers and without the warmth of the heavy firefighter’s uniform, the wet cold seeped into her bones. She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Or we’re being tracked somehow.”
A young woman in a plain blue sweatshirt pulled several blankets from a shelf behind her. She handed one to Summer and one to Marlee who quickly wrapped herself in it. Summer did the same and felt slightly warmer.
“How?” Bennie asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t have any idea, but if none of the marshals working with us are traitors, then it only makes sense that they’re tracking us somehow.”
Bennie motioned to the woman beside him. “This is Holly Spencer. Why don’t you women go with her and we’ll see if there’s anything on you.”
Marlee sank into her blanket.
“Marlee should be fine,” David said. “They were tracking us before she came into the picture.”
“Check her anyway.”
Marlee dropped the blanket onto the chair and rose, her casted left arm clutched to her stomach. She followed Summer and Holly into a back room.
———
David went with one of the other marshals. In a side room, David asked, “What’s your name?”
“Vic Hastings.” The two men shook hands.
“You got a shower in this place?”
“Yeah. And dry clothes. Just go through them and find something in your size.”
“Thanks.”
David stepped into the bathroom while Vic went over his clothes. Ten minutes later, he was showered and changed into a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a Dallas Cowboy dark blue sweatshirt. He even found a pair of socks and combat boots that fit. When he stepped back into the room, Summer and Marlee were nowhere to be seen. Still showering and changing. He approached Vic, who turned and looked at him. “We found it.”
David blinked. He hadn’t really expected them to find anything. “What?”
“This.” Vic dropped Summer’s necklace into David’s outstretched palm.
31
Summer decided she’d never take showers for granted ever again. Or soap. Or clean clothes.
She brushed her hair and stared into the foggy mirror. She wasn’t interested in cleaning it. It didn’t matter what she looked like at this point. All that mattered was survival. Marlee came into the bathroom via what amounted to a changing room and stepped up beside her. She swiped the mirror with a towel. She leaned forward and examined her face.
“I look like I’ve aged ten years,” she scowled.
“No you don’t. And at least you’re alive.”
“Barely.”
Summer sighed.
Marlee took the brush from her and led her to the toilet seat. “Sit.”
Summer didn’t have the energy to argue. She sat.
Marlee positioned her so she could have full access to Summer’s hair. With long gentle strokes, she brushed.
Summer felt some of the tension seep from her. “Thank you.”
“You used to let me brush your hair for hours when we were younger.”
“I know. I love it.”
“I figured out that was one way to get you to spend time with me.”
Summer blinked. “What?”
“You were always so busy working or with your friends. I was so much younger. Mom was either at the doctor or one of the bars downtown trying to find her next boyfriend that I felt lost, alone, invisible.”
Summer swung around with a gasp. “I never knew that.”
Marlee shrugged and flushed. “I suppose that’s why I acted the way I did.”
“And still do.” The words were out before Summer could swallow them.
Marlee jerked, then let out a short laugh. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Summer sat in silence while Marlee maneuvered the fingers of her broken arm and worked her hair into a tight french braid.
“Doesn’t that hurt your arm?”
“A little. I’m just using my fingers to hold the hair and doing most of the work with my right hand.”
“That’s amazing you can do that.” She paused. “Why didn’t you go into cosmetology? You’ve always been great with hairdressing and stuff.”
Marlee sighed. “I didn’t figure it was a ‘good enough’ profession for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you’re a lawyer. I figured I needed to do something better than becoming a hairdresser.” The bite to her words crawled up Summer’s spine.
“But I never said—”
“You didn’t have to. Didn’t you listen to your own lectures on making something of my life?”
Summer snapped her lips shut. Was she really that demanding and judgmental?
When she was done with the braid, Marlee stepped back and said, “I know I can be a brat. I’m sorry.”
The admission and apology surprised Summer. She sighed. “I probably made it easy for you to be one. You were so mad at me for marrying David. Why do you dislike him so much?” She’d never voiced the question until now.
It hovered between them and Summer wondered if Marlee was going to respond. With a sigh, her sister laid the brush on the c
ounter. “Because he moved too fast, swept you off your feet.” Her sister looked down. “Took you away from me.”
“Oh, Marlee, he didn’t take me away—”
Marlee looked up, eyes fierce. “Of course he did. Now when you have a day off work, who do you spend it with? Now, on the rare occasions that you actually cook a meal, who do you share it with?”
Summer stared. Speechless. “But he’s my husband. That’s what married couples do.”
“Not to the exclusion of all others,” Marlee argued. “I have to fight tooth and nail to get any time with you.” Her shoulders slumped. “It’s just so different than it used to be. I don’t like it. You were my one constant, the person I knew I could count on. Then you got married and it all changed.”
“No, no. That’s not true.” Was it? Had she excluded Marlee since getting married? She didn’t think so, but if that’s the way Marlee felt—
She gripped her sister’s right hand. “If that’s how you feel, then we need to figure out when we can spend time together. Just you and me. We’ll put it on the calendar.”
Marlee gave her a small smile and nodded. “Sure. Let’s do that.” Then she frowned and looked around. “Assuming we live to see another day.”
A knock on the door made Summer jump. “You two about finished in there?”
Summer opened the door to David’s handsome face. His eyes swept over her and the longing there nearly had her falling into his arms. She wanted to forget his deception and the fact that everything she knew about him was a lie. But she couldn’t. She had to be strong. To help Marlee through this craziness and make sure they all stayed alive.
“We’re ready.”
Summer and Marlee followed David into the main area. Marlee went to the blanket she’d left on the chair and wrapped it back around her. Summer didn’t think it was that chilly in the building, but Marlee had always been one to freeze no matter the temperature outside.
She watched her sister squirm a bit and get comfortable. Marlee closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cushioned headrest. Summer sighed. Already, she’d tuned everything out around her.
Summer turned to ask what they’d found, but stopped when she saw her necklace laid out on the table in front of Vic. “What’s going on?”
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