Page 58 of Witness Security Breach

They ran, forcing their way through the dense weekend crowd.

Aiden snatched her hand and cut down the side street, Orleans, dragging her with him. Then they ran at a flat-out sprint. Keeping up with him wasn’t an issue. She could run like hell. The muggy air seemed to thicken. Breath sawed in and out of her lungs. Her heartbeat and the thump of their boots pounding on the pavement filled her ears.

Devlin and his surprisingly fast cohort came charging after them.

They had to shake those two men.

Straight ahead was a fenced-in garden behind a three-steepled church with a statue of Jesus in the center of the lawn, His arms upraised. This was the time to say a prayer if she knew any. The garden would do them little good, since it was a wide-open space and provided no cover.

Neither Charlie nor Aiden knew the city, while Devlin had home-field advantage and the entire police force on his side.

Charlie and Aiden reached the corner, their breaths coming hard. Looked left. Looked right. Split-second decision made.

They bolted down Pirates Alley and threaded in between strolling pedestrians. To one side of the thoroughfare was a towering church. To the other, the Cabildo and a Technicolor melee of lime green shutters, garish blue doors and neon yellow walls in the bowels of the city—all screaming that they had no clue where to run.

At the gaping mouth of the alley was a milling crowd. With a little luck, they might blend in, disappear.

On instinct, they turned to the left in unison, without hesitation, toward the church. Charlie made a beeline for the doors, hand in hand with Aiden.

It was locked. On the sign, the St. Louis Cathedral didn’t open until five on Saturday.

Aiden tugged her up against him into a pocket of shadows in an alcove. Her heart jackhammered in her chest. Her brain engaged. Professional awareness was in high gear. Her determination like a cold iron bar. But there was no ignoring the feel of him against her, every spot where they touched, each lick of friction as they pressed closer. He was so solid and heavy, warmth radiating from his muscles flexing under her palms.

She wanted to shut off that part of her brain that picked up those details but also commit the particulars to memory. How steady and calm he was. The world could be falling apart, and he’d still be rock-solid.

The taller, stocky guy pounded past the front of the cathedral as vacationers taking photos in the pedestrian-only plaza out front inadvertently helped shield them. It probably didn’t occur to him to look at the entrance since he knew the church would be closed.

For once, not knowing the area worked in their favor.

The thin peal of bells rang out, calling to saints and sinners alike. A circus atmosphere pulsed around them—meandering tourists, mimes, artists, street musicians, magicians, living statues painted in silver and gold, palmists and tarot readers selling glimpses of the future.

She looked up at Aiden. Their eyes locked.

He pressed a palm to her cheek and something she couldn’t define shone in his eyes. “Come on.”

Staying there wasn’t an option. With two men canvassing the area—one a cop—they’d eventually be spotted.

They made a break for it, dashing through Jackson Square, around the equestrian statue and past a row of iron benches with dividers. They narrowly avoided a collision with a group of teenage girls who were running up to a row of fortune-tellers.

Aiden looked back. The squeeze of his hand tightening on hers told Charlie what she needed to know. One of the men wasn’t far behind. Or probably, both were close.

There was no outrunning them. No place to hide where they wouldn’t be found.

They had to make a stand.

Surprise would help, but hesitation would be fatal.

On Decatur, they blew by the French Market and ducked into a restaurant.

“Hello,” said the hostess. “How many—”

Aiden pointed toward the back. “We’re meeting people.”

They strode through the restaurant.

At the sound of the hostess’s voice again, Charlie looked to the front. Devlin breezed inside while the other guy went around the building.

Aiden pushed into the kitchen. “We do it here,” he said, echoing her thoughts.