Emma stumbled. Mint pushed all the pain and fatigue in his body down to a small corner of his mind, caught her around the waist and got them both moving. Perkins lay on the ground, Walker right beside her. The fed looked up, fear flashing on his face in the split second before he got his gun up and started firing.
Craig and Drew had both been in the RV. Now it was nothing but a burning pile of fiberglass and plastic—the debris from the explosion. There wasn’t even time to search for their bodies.
Bullets exploded around them. Mint pulled Emma to a crouch behind the remnants of a picnic table. He winced when his knee hit the ground, but forced his thoughts away from the injuries he had sustained and pulled out his gun. He could feel the wet trailing down the side of his face. He lifted up to see over the edge and then ducked back down.
Three men, hired guns. Mercenaries probably. Or dirty cops. Feds. Their identities were a matter for later. The blackmailer had somehow managed to get a UAV retasked to American soil so that he could destroy the RV. Which meant both that he had the power to do that and that he knew where they were. Then he’d gotten these men to show up here immediately after.
To finish the job.
Whether that task meant killing Mint, or Emma, or the FBI agent with them, or all of them in one go—rendering Double Down practically destroyed and definitely scrambling to get a footing against this guy in the aftermath—Mint didn’t know. And there wasn’t time now to find out.
He lifted up again, fired one shot and downed the man to his left.
Two to go.
Walker kept firing. Drawing their attention his direction while he kept them from getting closer.
Mint fired off another shot, but missed. The man fired back. The bullet hit the wood right below his face. He ducked behind it, glanced long enough at Emma to see she was hunkered down and shifted to see Walker. He was totally exposed, covering Perkins with his body. Walker lifted up, firing. He took out the second man, leaving one for them to deal with.
Two friends down. Had the third man bailed, or was he hiding? Biding his time so he could personally take the rest of them out. After the job was done he would call the blackmailer and report in, saying that it was finished.
“Stay here.” He waited until Emma made eye contact with him. “Do not move.”
She nodded. No hesitation. She understood, and she wasn’t going to argue.
Mint checked the area around her. He needed to cover her even while he checked the immediate area and went to make sure Perkins and Walker were all right. That led to him planting his knees beside his teammate—ouch—and scanning the area while he said, “How is she?”
“I’m fine.” She didn’t sound fine, she sounded mad.
Mint said, “Okay. Walker?” He made eye contact with the federal agent, then Perkins, for a second each.
Walker said, “He’s still out there.”
“I’ll get him.”
“Yes,” Perkins said. “Get him.” Still mad. Because she’d been caught in the blast, forcing Walker to cover her, and it dinged her pride?
Mint checked Emma again. So long as she was stuck there, and he could keep an eye on her—make sure the guy didn’t sneak up behind her—she would be good. Physically, at least. Emotionally was another story.
He scanned again for the guy, but couldn’t see him. Had he left? Not much of a help to someone who needed a job done if the hired help bailed when things got hairy. He’d never have been hired by Double Down. Which was likely why he was here, hired by the blackmailer.
“Emma?”
“Yeah?”
“Come over here and sit with Perkins.”
She moved immediately. Mint covered her, making sure the missing man wasn’t going to pop up and put a bullet in her. When she hit the ground beside him, he got up and began his perimeter search.
His phone rang in his pocket, but Mint ignored it. Even while his hands itched to pull it out. It was likely Steve, who had probably seen what happened. Or figured it out somehow.
With the immediate area cleared, he widened the search. They’d come from the northeast. Probably had a vehicle stashed there. Mint hadn’t heard the approach because of the explosion, and his ears weren’t all the way back to normal, but he also hadn’t heard anyone leaving.
Mint rounded one of the vehicles, his ears pricking. But over what? He slowed, keeping an eye on the three people he was covering. Took two steps.
Gravel crunched under his feet.
A shift behind him brought his whole body around.
“Whoa.” The sheriff lifted a hand. “Easy there. Wanna lower that?”
Mint blew out the breath he’d been holding. But he didn’t allow the tension in his body to dissipate. He lowered the gun slightly, but by no means all the way. “There’s a gunman possibly still hanging around.”
“Copy that.” The sheriff started to turn.
“And we need an ambulan—”
A shot rang out.
The sheriff’s body jerked, and he dropped to the ground. Dead.
Mint ducked. “Down. Everyone down!” They were probably already taking cover, but he needed to say it.
“Mint!” Emma’s cry rang in the air.
He crouch walked over to her. Walker had pulled Perkins behind his car so she was no longer exposed. He studied Emma’s gaze, assessing her state in a few seconds. She was holding on, but she wouldn’t be able to do that forever.
“Take Emma and go.”
He turned to Walker. “What?”
“I’m good.” The other man had his weapon out. He was trained.
“Me, too.” Perkins’s voice was far steadier now. “We’re good, Mint. Take Emma. Get her safe.”
Mint didn’t stay much longer after that. And he didn’t argue. He led her to the car.
A bullet pinged off the hood. Mint got the door open and slid across the seat to start the engine. Emma climbed in behind him.
He didn’t want to leave Perkins or Walker. Didn’t want to leave the RV wreckage when two of his coworkers were dead. Or the sheriff.
Tears blurred his vision. He coughed and willed the emotion away. Emma’s hand touched his arm. He wanted to push her away, pretend he wasn’t feeling anything. Ignore the softness of her touch. Stick with the tactic that he was strong enough, that nothing bothered him.
He shifted into the seat. “Stay down. We’re getting out of here.”
She got the door shut, and he pulled out.
Five minutes later, when he glanced in the rearview, his heart sank.
“What?” Emma looked back as well.
He gritted his teeth, then said, “We’re being followed.”
“Is there anything you want me to do?” She wanted to look back again, but how would that help? She was way out of her depth. Explosions and gunmen. Two guys that worked with Mint were dead, and they’d seemed like nice people. She’d wanted to get to know them. To learn those things about Mint that only coworkers knew. And that didn’t even touch whatever family or friends they had, those who would be grieving the loss soon enough.
She sucked in a shuddering breath and tried to hold it together. Like Mint was doing.
“Mint.”
He glanced at her, like she’d snapped him out of his thoughts. “What was that?”
“I asked if there’s anything you want me to do.”
“Oh, sorry.” He thought for a second, then pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her. “Two-six, seven-five.”
She unlocked his phone.
“Okay, Google.” His voice was slightly louder now. “Call Steve.”
She didn’t even have to do anything, and the phone in her hand placed the call.
“Put it on speaker.”
She nodded and pressed the button. The voice on the other end said, “Preston.”
“It’s Mint.”
There was a quick pause, then the man said, “What happened?”
Emma shut her eyes while Mint relayed everything—and the fact that even now they had a tail on them. The last man. Biding his time, determined to finish the job he’d started.
She glanced out the back window again but couldn’t see anything sinister. She didn’t even know what she was looking for.
“He wants to cripple Double Down and stall out any hope we have of figuring out who he is,” Steve said over the phone.
Mint replied, “Protecting himself and whatever he wants to do.”
How on earth were they supposed to figure out what the blackmailer was up to? Emma figured he would probably expose the truth about her mother’s past choices soon enough, if he hadn’t already, and she just hadn’t seen it because she didn’t have a phone right now.
Small blessings in the middle of everything that was going on.
Kind of like being here with Mint. Even knowing their lives were on the line, she still felt a measure of safety just being around him. He’d given up working on their assignment to leave with her and keep her protected. But that had been before the RV exploded.
“So what’s your plan?” Steve asked, his voice sad in a way she could tell he was holding back emotion. And she’d never even met the man.
Mint said, “Stick it out. Get him where I want him and force him to make a move. Then I’ll take him out.”
“I’d feel better if you had backup.”
“The sheriff is down. Walker is with Perkins.”
“I’m sending you an address. It’s the closest airport. By the time you get there, I’ll have a plane on the tarmac waiting to bring the two of you back to Virginia.”
“You want us to come home?” Mint asked.
“We need to regroup, figure out our next move. You need to get off the ground in Colorado and head back here.” Steve paused. “I’ll talk to Walker and Perkins about clean up there.”
She sucked in a breath. “He’ll know.” Emma had to say it. She knew it was true down to her bones, and nothing in her could deny it. Whatever move they made, the blackmailer would know.
Steve said, “I have people on the plane. When you pull in, they’ll protect you. And I’ve covered your tracks as much as I can, chartering it using a shell company not linked to Double Down. Your names won’t be listed on the manifest. Once you lose the guy behind you, you’ll be home free.”
She figured he’d only explained that because of everything that’d happened. Maybe all the stress and anxiety was there in her voice. He probably didn’t explain himself to that extent normally. Still, she couldn’t let go of the fear.
She said, “He sent that…thing.”
Mint glanced at her. “It was a UAV.”
She didn’t exactly know what that was, but it kind of proved her point. “He’ll know.”
“You need to trust us.” Mint squeezed her hand for a second, then moved it back to grip the wheel. “It’ll be okay.”
Emma shook her head. “There’s a murderer right behind us. I’m not going to be okay.”
She didn’t even want to think about what Mint’s intentions were with the guy. She’d seen far too much bloodshed. Were more people going to die? Even if they were bad, was she supposed to be happy about death? It wasn’t ever going to make her feel better. Not even if it was them vs. her. She just wasn’t built that way.
“Emma,” Steve said, jogging her from her thoughts. “What did the blackmailer ask you to approve?”
It took her a second to realize he was talking about the reimbursement requests. “One of the senator’s staff members had put a deposit down on the caterer for a charity fundraiser the senator was having.” She thought over what day it was, realizing she’d already lost track. “It’s this weekend, though it’s likely been canceled now.”
“Anything else?”
She thought for a second, then said, “The other reimbursement request was for the same event. For the cake decorator.”
“Both food,” Mint said. “And both related to this event.”
“So what does a blackmailer want with a charity fundraiser?”
Emma couldn’t figure out the answer to that.
“Emma can send you a link, get you all the info.” Mint glanced at her, a question on his face.
She nodded. “I will.”
Mint grabbed the phone. “Gotta go.” He hung up, the car drifting to the center line for a second before he caught it. Then he took a turn at the last minute. Emma looked back to see a black truck do the same thing, with a screech of its tires. Mint drove a half mile and then pulled around the back of a closed down store. Not just shut, but permanently closed.
He pulled over, close to the wall so that she’d scrape brick if she opened her door. Boxing her in? Or cocooning her in that web of safety he wove around her.
Emma’s hands shook as she rubbed down the legs of her dirty jeans. She didn’t even want to think what her hair looked like right now… She shut that thought off. Not wanting to be that kind of woman, even as a distraction technique when the situation got really crazy. Her mom cared that much about her appearance, even when her life was out of control. Maybe especially during those times.
Emma needed to figure out what kind of woman she was going to be. Maybe she should already know that, but surely some people had to wait until their late twenties to discover the kind of person they were.
Mint said, “Head down. Don’t get out, no matter what you hear.”
She didn’t meet his eyes, not wanting to see what was there. Or for him to see what was in hers. She was close to the edge. About to lose it. She knew herself well enough to know it was only a matter of time before she finally gave in to the stress and anxiety of everything that’d happened and ugly cry for, like, days.
He slipped out of the car.
The truck engine roared. Emma didn’t turn back. She hunkered down in the seat, her breath coming fast now. He was going to kill that guy. She didn’t want the man to kill her, but the idea that Mint was going to end someone’s life, just to protect her. A sob rolled up her throat. She let it out, her body bucking. Tears rolled down her face. He was going to allow a black mark—the taking of another life—to be placed upon his soul.
For her.
The shot rang out. Her whole body jerked, and she gave in to the tears.
Mint opened the car door and got back in. “Em…”
She looked up. “I can’t do this. I can’t live this kind of life.”
He started the engine and shifted to drive. The last thing she saw on his face before he turned away was a wash of something that looked an awful lot like disappointment.