Page 55 of Safeguarding the Witness

“Mine,” she said firmly.

He didn’t argue. In her condition, she wasn’t capable of aiming, but he could use all the firepower he could get. Spence couldn’t tell where Julio’s shooters were hidden. The fierce blaze from the cabin explosions made it difficult to pick out the brief flash of a pistol or rifle.

“You’re going to be fine,” he said.

“Not so. Too much blood.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Ruined my favorite jacket.”

“We’ll get you a new one.”

“But I want this one. Damn Julio.”

Another shot rang out. Spence heard a shout from Quintana. She’d been hit but not incapacitated. Aggressively, she returned fire.

He figured that the sniper from the airport was part of this assault. Someone among them was carefully taking aim and bringing down members of the CLF Security team. Though Spence hated to call a retreat, there was no honor in being mowed down.

Jamison and the other law enforcement officers ought to arrive at any moment. Spence had managed to reach Jamison by phone and alert him. The goal was to hold out until backup arrived. Or to get the hell away from here. He had arranged a secondary escape route from the nearby meadow.

“Plan B,” he shouted. That meant head for the meadow. “Plan B.”

“Queen bee,” Mollie chimed in.

For someone who was shot and losing blood, she was plenty cheerful. Probably in shock. Feeling no pain. He half carried her through the forest, dodging behind tree trunks and rocks. He hoped they were putting distance between themselves and the attackers. The farther they went, the fewer gunshots landed. The super-accurate sniper wouldn’t waste ammo on impossible targets.

At the edge of the meadow, Spence signaled a halt. Almost as soon as they got into position, he heard the thwap-thwap-thwap of a helicopter’s rotors. Spence’s instructors had been in the army and understood military rescue, making him the perfect person to contact in case of a surprise attack. Further proof of his proficiency came in the positioning of his copilot, armed with a long-distance repeating rifle.

When the helo touched down, the copilot stepped into the open door and commenced firing into the trees behind the security team, who dodged, crouched and ran toward their rescuer. Spence counted heads. Since Rossi had taken the unconscious man to the hospital, there should be four plus him and Mollie. They approached the aircraft and leaped inside.

Before liftoff, another person ran toward the helo. A woman. Madison. She shouted and waved her arms. Had she been responsible for the explosion? Spence refused to believe it.

“Hold your fire,” he ordered.

He helped Mollie’s twin climb aboard.

They swooped into the cloudy sky above the meadow, where a plume of black smoke marked the location of the burning cabin. Even louder than the rotors, the scream of police sirens came closer. Red and blue lights flashed. Law enforcement took over the scene.

Spence put through a call to Jamison to update him on what was happening, but he couldn’t sound an all clear. Not yet. Not while Madison knelt beside her sister and held her hand.

The copilot sat beside him. “We have a problem, sir.”

* * *

Mollie gazed into the cool, blue eyes of her twin. A mirror image. For five years, Mollie had imagined the moment when they were finally reunited. She hadn’t expected to be riding in a helicopter and bleeding from a shoulder wound, but life wasn’t always lollipops and roses.

“How could you do this?” Mollie asked. “How could you explode the safe house?”

“I didn’t,” Madison protested. “All along, I’ve been trying to protect you. Not to hurt you. Never to hurt you.”

Whether or not it made sense, Mollie believed her. Blinking away tears, her gaze drank in the sight of her twin, quenching an unassuageable thirst. “I knew you weren’t dead.”

“You were right.” Madison echoed her quiet sobs.

“Are you pregnant?”

“No way,” Madison said. “Why would you think that?”

“Julio said you were. You were carrying his heir, and he wanted to marry you.”

“He must have gotten me confused with that Raquel Diaz,” Madison said with a sneer. “That little witch is so fired. As soon as I get back to my office—”