AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unlike when they had made love and he had taken care to balance his weight on his elbows, she remembered. Today, he’d been too concerned with protecting Marlowe from the shooter to take any other precautions.
“Sorry about that.”
Bowie quickly drew himself up to a sitting position. They were both behind the sofa where he had dived, taking her with him.
They were still there, taking care to remain out of range of whoever had done the shooting.
A thought suddenly occurred to him as he looked at her, horrified. “I didn’t hurt the baby, did I?”
Despite the situation, she found his concern incredibly sweet. “From what I remember from my high school science class, the baby is currently the size of a pea, if even that big, so I’m guessing she or he is all right.”
Bowie blew out a long b
reath. “Well, that’s a relief.”
Since there were no more shots, Marlowe ventured out from behind the sofa before he could stop her. “Are you out of your mind?” he demanded, making a grab for her.
“Shooting’s stopped,” she told him. “I guess he quit while we were ahead,” she quipped. Marlowe looked up toward where the bullet had shattered the glass. “Where did that shot come from? It couldn’t have been the street,” she guessed. The angle was all wrong.
Bowie rose cautiously to his feet. Marlowe was right. Whoever had shot at them was gone.
He took a closer look at the hole the bullet had made. “My guess is that it came from the building across the way.”
Marlowe said the first word that came to her mind. “A sniper?”
“As good a term as any for now,” Bowie answered. He looked at her again. This time, he frowned. “You sure you’re all right?” he asked. “You’re shaking.”
Embarrassed that he had noticed, Marlowe did what she always did. She took refuge in anger. “Someone just took a shot at one of us. Of course I’m not all right. I want to fillet that SOB.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bowie couldn’t help laughing. “You really are one tough woman, aren’t you?”
“I have to be,” she admitted, being more honest with him than she had intended to be. “Otherwise, I’m going to fall all to pieces.” Marlowe realized that he had taken out his cell phone and was calling someone. “Who are you calling?” she asked.
Heaven help her, her suspicions about Bowie were back. Was he calling whoever had fired at them to tell the hired gun that he’d missed his target—her?
“The police,” Bowie answered. “Someone just took a shot at one or both of us. Who should I be calling?” he asked her.
But before she could attempt to answer him with an offhanded remark, Bowie held up his hand and put the phone on speaker. Someone picked up on the other end of the line.
“911. What is your emergency?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Someone just took a shot at us through the window. Could you send police officers to Ms. Marlowe Colton’s residence? No,” he told the dispatcher who told him she was taking down the information, “not to the family residence. This happened in her condo right here in town. Yes, that’s right,” he said, “that’s the address.” He verified the address that was already registered with the police. “Thank you.” Closing his phone, he told Marlowe, “They’ll be here in five minutes.”
“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” she told Bowie, less than happy that he had taken this initiative.
“Why?”
“Because now the police are going to notify my father,” she told him. “And all hell is going to break loose.”
Chapter 7
“Wait, let me understand this,” Bowie said, putting his cell phone back into his pocket. “You’re Payne’s daughter. Wouldn’t he want you to be safe?”
“I’m his daughter,” Marlowe agreed. Bowie had gotten that much right, but not the rest of it. “That means that, if at all possible, he’d expect me to handle this situation on my own. Quietly.”
Bowie shook his head.
“Your father’s as bullheaded as mine is,” he commented, surprised at how alike two men who professed to be sworn enemies could actually be.
