Squashed between the unyielding floor and Joe’s hard body, Elly couldn’t scream. Could barely breathe as she struggled to comprehend how the shooter had found her.
Again!
“Officer needs assistance! Gunfire at the City Central Hotel!” Joe’s tense tone broke into her thoughts. He’d managed to maintain the presence of mind to call 911.
She tried to lift her head but couldn’t. Joe was stretched out on top of her.
“Stay down!” His curt voice left no room for argument.
“Maybe we should crawl to the bedroom.” She didn’t want Joe to be hit by gunfire either. And the way he was protecting her left him vulnerable.
“I need backup.” Joe was still talking into his phone, although she didn’t think he was still on with the 911 dispatcher. “Shooter on the south side of the building.”
It took a moment for her to recognize Steele’s voice responding, “Be there in five.”
The news that Steele was close helped calm her racing nerves. Yet she needed to breathe. “Up,” she croaked.
As if finally understanding her dilemma, Joe lifted himself up onto his elbows, taking the brunt of his weight off her. “Stay down,” he repeated. “He could still be out there, and I don’t want to give him another target.”
It was both humbling and horrifying the way Joe put his life on the line for her. Well, probably more so for Rhy than for her. “I’d rather get out of here.”
“Not yet.” Joe didn’t move. “Steele will be here soon.”
She didn’t like it but decided to let it go. He’d promised her brother to watch over her and would die to keep that vow. All she could do was to put her faith in God and in the members of Rhy’s tactical team.
Please, Lord Jesus, keep us all safe in Your care!
As the seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness, she understood these relentless attacks against her wouldn’t stop until she was dead, or the shooter was arrested.
And the way things were going, she felt certain the first would happen before the second.
In that moment, she made a silent promise to kiss Joe again before she was taken from this earth to be home with Jesus.
Surely, he wouldn’t deny her that much.
“Joe?” Steele pounded on the door. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Joe crawled over her to cross the room. At the door, he stood in a crouch and let Steele in. “Thanks for coming.”
“We need to get you both out of here.” Steele’s tone was just as grim as Joe’s. “Let’s move.”
“Anyone out there searching for the shooter?” Joe asked as he grabbed the computer, tucked it under his arm, then crossed over to help her up.
“Brock, Grayson, and Raelyn.” Steele glanced at her. “Where’s your coat?”
“I’ll get it.” Joe thrust the computer at his teammate. “Keep her close.”
Swallowing hard, she huddled beside Steele. “I don’t understand how this happened.”
“It shouldn’t have.” Steele scowled. Before he could say anything more, Joe returned with her winter coat.
Her hands trembled as she pulled it on. The extra layer of fabric didn’t offer any additional warmth. The temperature in the room wasn’t the problem.
It was the situation that had chilled her to the bone. Leaving her to bleakly wonder if she’d ever be warm again.
“We’re taking the side exit.” Steele led the way down the hall.
Joe nudged her forward so that she was between the two men. Her coat barely stretched over the extra layer of the vest. She supposed it was a good thing she’d been wearing it, and Joe, too, for that matter. Yet from the hole in the window, she could tell the shooter had been aiming for her head.
If she hadn’t gotten so frustrated with Joe’s attempt to keep her at arm’s length that she’d abruptly turned away from the window at that exact moment, she’d be dead.
She stumbled, but Joe caught her from behind. “Almost there,” he said encouragingly.
Managing to stay on her feet, she followed Steele outside. The SUV was parked close to the building. Steele stood near the back passenger door and helped her in.
Joe ran around to get into the passenger seat as Steele dropped the computer on the floorboard and slid behind the wheel. Seconds later, they were careening out of the parking lot and out onto the road.
For long moments, no one spoke. She stared at Joe’s profile, then abruptly frowned when she saw something dark along the side of his neck.
Was that blood?
“Joe, are you hit?” Amazingly, she didn’t feel sick or faint as she leaned forward to get a better look. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine.” He reached up to touch the area. “It’s a scratch.”
“We need to take care of that.” She was proud of the steadiness of her tone.
“Later.” Joe dismissed her concern. “It’s more important to find a safe house.”
“I don’t understand how the City Central Hotel became compromised,” Steele said with obvious frustration. “I made sure I wasn’t followed.”
“We may have underestimated this guy,” Joe said with a sigh. “I’ve suspected military and/or law enforcement background. It could be he has decent access to intel.”
“This shouldn’t have happened.” Steele lightly pounded his fist on the steering wheel. “Rhy is going to flip out.”
“Don’t tell him,” Elly said. When Steele’s incredulous gaze met hers in the rearview mirror, she added, “Not yet. Let’s stay focused on our next steps.”
“Elly’s right,” Joe said. “I’ll call Brady. We need a safe house.”
“You know Rhy’s going to hear about it sooner rather than later,” Steele muttered. “Better to call him first.”
“I’ll do it.” Elly patted her pockets, relieved to find the disposable phone in her coat pocket. She entered Rhy’s number.
He answered on the second ring. “Elly? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m with Joe and Steele. But you should know that the window of our hotel suite at the City Central Hotel was hit by gunfire. We’re all fine, though,” she added for extra emphasis.
“What in the world is going on?” Rhy demanded. “I want to talk to Joe.”
“He’s reaching out to Brady for a safe house,” she said calmly. “That’s why I’m calling you.”
“This is unbelievable,” Rhy said, still sounding upset. “I don’t understand why this perp isn’t in custody by now.”
“I wish he was too, but it sounds like several of the team members are out searching the area around the hotel.” She wasn’t sure what else to say to reassure her brother. “We’re doing everything we can, Rhy.”
“I know, I know.” She could imagine her brother running his hands through his short blond hair. “I’d really like to talk to Joe.”
She sighed. “Okay, hang on.”
Joe finished his call with Brady, then reached for her phone. “I’m here.” There was a pause, then, “I wish I could tell you how this happened, but I don’t know. We’ve been safe there for the past sixteen hours.”
Difficult to comprehend that this nightmare had only started Saturday evening. It seemed like she had been on the run from this guy for days instead of hours.
“I understand. Brady has arranged for an FBI safe house. We’re heading there now and will be in touch later.” Joe ended the call and handed the phone back to her. “Rhy is obviously upset, but he’s glad we’re getting a safe house from Brady.”
“I feel responsible,” Steele said in a low tone. “I watched for a tail, but maybe I missed something.”
“This guy has a scope, maybe even a set of binocs,” Joe said. “Brady is going to meet us at the FBI offices where we can swap rides. The safe house he’s arranging for us is only three miles away from that location.”
“I’m surprised the FBI is giving us a safe house.”
“I’m not.” Joe glanced back at her. “For one thing, you’re an FBI agent’s sister. For another, the feds are treating this guy as a domestic terrorist.”
Thinking of the man she’d bumped into as a terrorist made her shiver. Yet she knew Joe was right. After killing so many innocent people, every law enforcement agency in the state wanted him apprehended.
“I guess the good news is that he’s only targeting me, not other innocent victims.”
“That’s hardly good news,” Steele said in a dry tone. “Having him in custody would be good news.”
She shrugged. “Better me than taking out more innocent lives at another public event.” She abruptly straightened. “Wait a minute, what about the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center? They’re featuring live performances of the Christmas Carol every Thursday through Sunday from now until Christmas. What if we’re wrong about him not looking to take more innocent lives? What if he’s just buying time until the next event?”
Steele and Joe exchanged a look. “I’ve been wondering if there shouldn’t be a shelter in place order, but that’s not my call to make,” Joe said. “Truth is, he’s been following you. If he’d wanted to take out a bunch of visitors at the theater, he could have done that by now. They had a matinee performance today and another show tonight. But he showed up at the hotel instead.”
She wasn’t convinced. In some ways she hoped this guy was only interested in her.
They arrived at the FBI offices faster than she’d expected. Seeing Brady in his SUV waiting for them eased some of the knots in her stomach.
When Steele pulled up next to him, Brady and Joe lowered their respective windows.
“Ready to jump in?” Brady asked.
“Let’s do it,” Joe agreed.
Both Joe and Steele got out first, then crowded around her until she was situated in the back of Brady’s car. Joe crawled in beside her, leaving Steele to take the front passenger seat.
“You’re going to leave the other SUV here?” she asked.
“For now.” Brady met her gaze in the rearview. “Marc Callahan will get us another rental in the morning.”
“Callahan?” Steele asked.
“Our cousin,” Brady and Elly said at the same time. If the situation wasn’t so dire, she’d have laughed.
The safe house was a nondescript tan brick home located on a half acre of land. A few minutes later, they were all crowded in the kitchen.
“You still think this is related to the ice skaters?” Brady asked.
Joe lifted his hands. “The only thing I know for sure is that this guy is determined to kill Elly. And that’s not typical behavior from an active shooter.”
“True,” Brady admitted. “Ian has still been searching for the missing kid. I hope to have him switched over to working on the facial recognition sometime tomorrow. There’s a lead that Callahan is following up on related to the kid. If he’s found, that will free up more resources.”
Elly was secretly glad that a missing child had taken priority. God had kept her and Joe safe so far.
She felt certain the local police and the FBI would have the shooter in custody very soon.
The guys huddled together at the kitchen table, discussing theories. Elly did her best to pay attention, but her mind kept replaying those moments at the City Central Hotel. She’d been about to confront Joe about her feelings, but the shooter firing through the window, nearly killing her and Joe, had put an end to that plan.
She couldn’t help feeling as if she was living on borrowed time. There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that this guy would try again.
Having faith in God, and in Joe and the rest of the team, didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared for the possibility of being hurt.
Or worse.
All she needed was a few minutes alone with Joe. She wanted to let him know how she felt before it was too late.
“I should take a look at your cut,” she said, interrupting them.
Three pairs of eyes looked at her in surprise. Then Brady must have noticed the dried blood on Joe’s neck.
“It’s no big deal,” Joe said. “We have more important issues to discuss.”
“Fine. You talk while I bandage.” She stood and walked through the kitchen and living room to find the bathroom. There she found soap and towels but no bandages.
“You want me to get Alanna’s first aid kit?” Brady asked.
Joe scoffed. “You mean that suitcase disguised as a first aid kit? That’s not necessary.” He rose from the table. “I’ll take care of it myself.”
Swallowing a wave of annoyance, she spun on her heel and followed him to the bathroom. “Here.” She thrust the soap and towels at him. “I guess you don’t need me.”
“Elly, wait.” Joe caught her arm. “Are you okay? You seem upset.”
She bit back a sarcastic reply. “There isn’t much I can do to help, but I am an EMT. First aid is what I do.”
“Ah, okay. But I thought you didn’t like blood.”
“I got over it.” She gestured to the commode, so he sat down. “Responding to the injured victims at the parade put an end to that.” It wasn’t entirely true. If she imagined the bloody scene of the ice skaters or the pool of blood running down from Kyle’s body, the nausea returned. But the bloody area on Joe’s neck didn’t bother her. It was minimal in the big scheme of things.
It was all about perspective.
“Okay, then.” He took off his sweatshirt, revealing the vest he wore beneath. “Have at it.”
She cleaned the wound with soap and water, relieved to find he was right about the injury not being serious. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t mention my irrational fears to my siblings.”
“Of course not,” Joe quickly assured her.
She nodded and patted the skin around the laceration with a dry towel. “It wouldn’t hurt to put antibiotic ointment on this.”
“Later.” He shrugged back into his shirt. “Thanks.”
She stood for a moment, her head down.
“Hey. It’s going to be okay.” Joe stood and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
She leaned against him, trying to find the words to explain her feelings. Then she looked up at him. “I need one more thing from you.”
He nodded. “Sure. Name it.”
“This.” She lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him.
It only took a second for Joe to respond to her kiss, the way she’d hoped he would. This kiss even better than the last one. He hauled her closer, angling his mouth over hers in a way that sent shock waves through her body down to the soles of her feet.
Surely Joe couldn’t kiss her like that if he was completely indifferent to her.
The sound of a throat clearing had Joe breaking off their embrace and stumbling backward as if he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
“What’s going on?” Brady asked.
She glared at her brother, but Joe lifted his hands. “Elly was upset. I—didn’t mean, I only wanted to offer comfort . . .”
His words washed over her like an ice-cold shower. He didn’t care about her, not in the way she’d thought.
No, it was clear that Joe wasn’t going to accept her love, no matter how much she wanted him to.
Joe was caught completely off guard by Elly’s kiss. He hadn’t expected her to do such a thing when her brother Brady was nearby.
“We need to figure out a game plan,” Brady said, eyeing him intensely.
“I know.” He couldn’t bear to meet Elly’s gaze. He hated feeling like he was a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
Although the one time he’d tried to snatch a cookie, his dad had slapped him halfway across the room. He supposed he should be relieved Brady hadn’t done that considering the way he’d practically devoured his younger sister.
Nothing like playing with fire, he thought as he followed Brady back to the kitchen. He noticed Elly stayed behind, and it took all his willpower not to go back to make sure she was okay.
Seriously, he needed to get a grip. He couldn’t keep kissing Elly or letting her kiss him either. This absolutely couldn’t happen again.
“I just got a call from Brock,” Steele said. “They think they found the shooter’s location, but of course, there’s no sign of him now.”
“How does he keep getting away?” Joe asked.
“Good question.” Brady frowned. “Your theory that this guy is either in law enforcement or the military is a good one. I’ll put a call into Heath Strauss. He may be able to help provide some intel on recent military discharges.”
“Who?” Joe scowled. “I’ve never heard of the guy.”
“He’s a military investigator. We worked with him back when Aiden was having trouble keeping a widow and her young daughter safe.” Brady arched a brow. “Aiden and Shelby are engaged now too. They’re getting married next month.”
Was that some sort of subtle dig? Did Brady expect Joe to propose now that he’d kissed Elly?
The idea was more intriguing than annoying. He quickly averted his thoughts to the immediate threat of the gunman.
“Okay, give Strauss a call. Obviously, we can use all the help we can get.” Joe turned back to Steele. “Can you think of any reason why a former cop or military dude would do this? The motive is what keeps tripping me up.”
“No,” Steele said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Other than it must be personal,” Brady interjected. “No way is this a simple act of violence to make a statement. We’ve had profilers working on these types of incidents. As you’ve said all along, this one doesn’t fit the typical pattern. Most shootings are racially or religiously motivated, or they’re young men angry at the group of people they’ve targeted, like terminated employees or being bullied at a school.” He shook his head and sighed. “There is more going on here than we understand.”
“Yeah.” Joe glanced around the interior of the house. “It’s late; we need to get some sleep. But it may be helpful to have Steele stay the night.”
“I can sleep on the sofa,” Brady offered.
“It’s better if I plan to take a defensive position outside,” Steele said. “It seems this guy doesn’t get that close, but maybe if I’m stationed near the perimeter, I’ll find him before he can take another shot at Elly.”
“He shouldn’t know about this place at all,” Joe protested.
“Yeah, like the City Central Hotel,” Steele shot back.
His teammate was right. He didn’t like the idea of his buddy staying outside in the cold, though. “Too bad we don’t have another property nearby that we can use.”
“Hang on.” Brady worked his phone for a few minutes. “Okay, there is a house across the street that you can use.”
“How many safe houses do you have?” Joe couldn’t hide his surprise. Granted, his experience with working alongside the feds was limited.
Brady shrugged. “We didn’t have much to offer until recently. I put up a stink after the last incident with Aiden and Shelby. MPD has had better safe houses than we have. For once, Donovan, our special agent in charge of the Milwaukee field office, agreed with me. Shortly after that, these two properties were purchased by the bureau from the bank during foreclosure. They’re not perfect, but they’ll do.”
“I like it.” Steele rose. “It’s good to have two properties close together to help keep an eye on things. I wouldn’t mind if the shooter decided to use the roof of the house I’ll be staying in to aim at this one.”
“That would be nice,” Brady drawled. “But don’t count on it.”
Steele shrugged. “I can hope, right? I’ll head over there now and have Brock or one of the others on the team come relieve me in a few hours.”
Joe knew that was the right thing to do, everyone on the team was determined to keep Elly safe, and nobody could stay awake and alert for hours on end. Sleep was critical to staying sharp.
But he also hated taking resources from tracking the shooter. He tried to console himself there was a BOLO for this guy, which meant every cop in a fifty-mile radius should be looking for him.
Should, in fact, have found him already.
“Yeah, okay,” he reluctantly agreed. “We can make that work for tonight.”
Armed with the key code information, Steele shrugged into his leather jacket and left. Brady headed into the living room.
Joe stood, knowing he owed the Finnegan sibling an apology. “I—didn’t mean to kiss Elly.”
Brady arched a brow as he stretched out on the sofa. “Didn’t see a gun pointed at your head.”
“No.” He dropped into the chair next to the couch, glancing toward the bedrooms. “You’re right.”
Brady didn’t respond right away. Finally, he said, “Elly’s going to be twenty-five the first week in January. I don’t think you’re the first guy she’s kissed, Joe.”
He tried not to squirm in his seat. Why did that thought bother him? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had girlfriends before. Like Tina. “I know that. I’m not saying this correctly. I care about Elly, very much. I wouldn’t kiss her if I didn’t. But I understand this isn’t the time or the place for that. Rhy has put his trust in me to keep her safe.”
“Ah.” Brady nodded. “I see.”
Did he? Joe wished he did. He pressed on. “I would never hurt Elly. She’s going through a rough time. I never meant for our brief hug to spiral out of control.”
Brady held his gaze for a long moment. “Yes, she is going through a hard time. None of us are happy to know she’s been targeted by this guy. But I am going to hold you to that promise, Kingsley.”
Joe nodded in understanding. “I will gladly protect her with my life if necessary.”
“That wasn’t the promise I meant,” Brady said with a crooked smile. “As a cop, you would always protect an innocent person with your life. It’s the nature of the career we’ve chosen. Your relationship is between the two of you. But know this, Elly has a tender heart. I won’t be happy if you hurt her.”
“I won’t.” Even as he said the words, he knew he already had hurt her by pulling away from their kiss so abruptly.
It was reassuring that Brady hadn’t gone all big brother on him. And he couldn’t help wondering how Rhy would have acted if he’d been the one to interrupt their kiss instead of Brady.
Maybe once they had this perp in custody, he’d have to talk to Rhy to explain how much he cared for Elly.
Would his boss let him date his younger sister? There was only one way to find out.