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 down 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.

He and Saxon charged down the hallway. Every beat of his heart made his chest throb, but he couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. Not until he’d gotten Andi to safety.

Or died trying.

Just as he and Saxon got to the elevator, the doors closed. He shouted his frustration and slammed his fist on the metal door. The pain reverberating in his torso was so fierce he fell to his knees. Nausea engulfed him. His vision swam, teetering on darkness, and this time it took longer to clear. When it did, he noticed splotches of blood on the carpet in front of his knees. Dammit. He was losing blood quickly, and he couldn’t see or hear straight. His senses were royally fucked up. Soon the energy would drain from his body like air from a popped balloon.

“Nick, where are you?” Eric’s voice demanded from the radio.

Sucking in quick breaths through his nose and open mouth, Nick raised his eyes to the glowing succession of numbers over the elevator doors as it ascended. Though it killed him to wait, he did, watching the red numbers change as the car kept going up.

With the building on lockdown, he’d expected the elevator to descend, or at least stop on another floor. But it kept climbing.

Fourth floor.

What the hell was she planning?

Fifth floor.

“Nick? What’s your twenty?”

“Stand by,” he gasped, waiting for the elevator lights to stop changing.

The letter R glowed above the closed elevator doors.

“They’re on the roof.” Why, he didn’t know. There’d be no way off.

Saxon whined and licked the side of Nick’s face. His dog knew every nuance of Nick’s behavior. Seeing him on the floor, unmoving and smelling of fresh blood, wasn’t normal.

Keep moving. Have to get to Andi. She was everything to him, and he cursed himself for screwing up his priorities. Avenging Tanya’s death for his own personal reasons seemed so pointless now.

“Help me up, buddy.” He rested his hand on Saxon’s back, using him for balance as he pushed to his feet. When he was vertical, his vision darkened again, and he leaned one hand on the elevator doors, waiting for the moment to pass.

Frantic, he began pounding on the up button, because there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d have the strength to take the stairs three floors up to the roof. But the other elevator was on the ground floor where it would most likely remain during the evacuation. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

He half walked, half ran down the corridor, all the while pressing his hand on the wall to keep from falling on his face.

After backtracking to the same stairwell he’d come in from, he pushed open the door. By this time, most people from the upper floors were jammed on the lower landing, leaving the stairs above nearly devoid of people.

Again, his vision wavered, and his knees nearly buckled. He couldn’t hold himself upright, couldn’t find his balance. It was as if the entire building were shifting beneath his feet, but it wasn’t. It was his body trying to shut down. “No, dammit. No!”

He shoved his gun back into its holster and grabbed the metal railing with both hands. He let out a harsh breath, surprised that the pain in his chest had dulled to a bearable measure. A bad sign. When he stopped feeling any pain at all, he’d be a dead man.

I’m not going to make it.

You can, and you will. Andi’s depending on you.

Beside him, Saxon walked up the steps, his nails clicking on the painted concrete.

“Almost there, boy,” he said, although he was really trying to reassure himself that he was making headway.

Gripping the railing tighter, he picked up his pace, not stopping until he made it to the roof level. As he flung open the door, a strong gust nearly slammed it back in his face. He held fast to the knob, using it for balance. Men’s angry shouts came to him. Not the Feebs who’d taken point on the roof. They’d long since stood down after Myer was safely ensconced inside.

An angry female voice shrieked. Meera.

He eased open the door and was nearly blinded by sunlight. Squinting, he looked to the edge of the roof, and his heart nearly stopped.

Andi stood on the ledge of the building. Meera’s gun was pointed directly at her head.