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“Where’s my phone? I’m calling 911.”
“Your phone’s downstairs. Use mine and do it behind that bed.” He handed the phone to her, closing her fingers around it. Rolling from her body, he said, “Move.”
“Where are you going?”
“Going to pop my head up and have a look.”
She stopped midcrawl and grabbed his shirt. “No, you’re not.”
“Just a peek. Get on that phone.”
She huffed out a breath but continued a damn good army crawl across the carpet.
Joe got on his knees in front of the window and yanked the drapes closed. He parted them at the middle and put his eye to the glass at the bottom of the window.
“What is that building across the street from you?”
“That’s a house.”
“It’s huge. Who lives there?”
“Some stockbroker and his wife and kids. I don’t think he’d be renting out any rooms to snipers.”
“Are they home?”
“I don’t know. Hang on.”
As he listened to Hailey make the 911 call, he continued to scan the scene across the street. “There’s that small park. There are several trees tall enough to give someone a view of this room.”
“The police are on their way.” She sucked in a noisy breath. “Joe?”
His heart stuttered again. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but I think there’s a bullet in my wall.”
“Good. Let’s leave it for the police to dig out.”
“Someone shot at me through my window from a tree? Do you see anyone in the park?”
“Nope. Maybe he made his escape after he took the shot, while we were on the floor.”
“Maybe he thinks he hit me.”
Joe did another scan of the park and then crawled toward Hailey. He found her stretched out on the floor, on her back, clutching his phone to her chest.
She flung her arm out to the side and pointed to the wall. “Bullet.”
“You’re right. At least the police will be able to identify the type of weapon used.”
“And the FBI. I’m reporting this to Porter, along with the attempt on Ayala’s life. Someone is desperate to shut us up, whether we have anything to say or not.”
“That’s a bold move, all right.”
Sirens screamed from the street below, and Hailey rolled her eyes. “That’ll get the neighbors talking.”
“Are you ready?” He touched the small cut on her cheek. “The glass hit you. Scared the hell out of me when I saw the blood.”
“Better the glass than the bullet.” She grabbed his hand and kissed the inside of his wrist. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“Anytime.” He nudged her to start crawling out of the bedroom. “You first.”
She rolled onto her stomach. “I suppose we should stay down just in case he’s waiting out there to take another shot through the window.”
“At least until we get out of the bedroom.” He scooted to the side to let her pass. “I’m actually glad the shooter took aim at you first.”
“Thanks.” She kicked her foot out at him as he crawled behind her.
“Think about it, Hailey. Would you have noticed a red dot on my forehead? If he’d taken me out first, you would’ve been in shock, confused and an easy mark for his next shot.”
“You’re right. I literally would not have known what hit you...and then me.” She shifted to her side when they reached the hallway. “Okay to stand up now?”
“The police are at the door.”
One of the officers pounded on the heavy door and shouted, “Police! Did someone call the police?”
Hailey scrambled to her feet. “I guess that’s me.”
* * *
ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, the police left and Hailey collapsed in a chair in the living room. “So, somebody climbed a tree in the little park across the street and took aim at my bedroom window.”
“That’s what the officers seem to think after finding that broken branch, but your neighbors didn’t see or hear anything except your window shattering.” He sat on the arm of her chair and brushed her hair back from her forehead. “You still have a few grains of glass in your hair.”
