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“That’s the plan,” he said. As they drove the three miles to the grocery store, Cole constantly checked his mirrors. He didn’t see anything to concern him, but traffic was already heavy, so it wouldn’t be hard for anyone who might be tailing them to stay hidden in the crowd. Even as he checked behind him, his thoughts raced ahead to how he’d be able to provide any real security to Kelsey and Eddy at the grocery store. The store would have places to hide and multiple entrances and exits that he wasn’t familiar with. He wanted this over quickly. “Twenty minutes in the store,” he said when they were parked. “In and out.”
“Got it.” She’d made a list, which from experience he knew would be organized to match the layout of the store. That was all part of her logical brain. There’d be no backtracking or meandering. She put Eddy in the baby sling, and they headed across the parking lot to the entrance.
Cole kept an arm around her waist as they walked. He stayed vigilant, but had to squint against the brightness of the sun. It was reflecting off the pavement, creating a glare, which he didn’t like. It added to his feeling of vulnerability. He had a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. Something felt off. The unsettled feeling he’d had before they’d even left the house had escalated into a five-alarm siren in his head. Over the years as a SEAL, he’d learned to be in tune with his body’s warning system—and right now, it was screaming.
When they got to the traffic lane immediately in front of the store, he checked to the left. Everything was clear. When he swung his head back to the right, the sun was in his eyes limiting his vision, but he heard the squeal of tires and a powerful engine throttling up. A split second later, a dark sedan came around the corner of the building and accelerated straight toward them.
“Out of the way,” he yelled, giving Kelsey a push toward the store. With a second to spare, she and Eddy cleared the car’s path, but he didn’t have time to get to the entrance himself. The car was only feet away. Running would mean risking getting caught under the wheels. No good. Instead, he tucked his body and rolled onto the hood of the car at the moment of impact.
He went up the windshield and over the roof, landing on his side on the pavement behind the car. It screeched to a stop and backup lights came on. Cole didn’t have time to assess his injuries. He had to act, so he staggered to his feet to get out of the car’s way. He was dimly aware of Kelsey screaming his name in the background.
He spared her only one glance, but it was enough to know that she was unhurt and had her phone in her hand. She’d be dialing 911, but even if a squad car was dispatched right away, it wouldn’t be able to get to them immediately. For now, he was on his own. He kept his focus on the two men who were now climbing from the car. He had to prevent them from reaching Kelsey and Eddy until the police arrived.
Parts of his body were screaming at him. He pushed aside the pain as best he could, but he knew he wouldn’t last long in a fight. He had to try. “Get in the store,” he yelled to Kelsey as the men moved toward her. “Go. Now.”
He tried to sprint forward to get between Kelsey and the men, but the best he could manage was a loping run. He’d have to take them from behind, so he kneed the nearest assailant in the back of the thigh. The man’s leg buckled, sending him to the pavement, but only for a few seconds. He got up limping and came at Cole.
Blackness hovered at the edges of his vision, but Cole charged forward again, refusing to give in to the darkness. He concentrated on inflicting maximum damage to the attackers as quickly as possible since he didn’t know how long he could keep going. He chopped the limping guy across the throat, but Cole’s aim was off, and he made contact near the man’s eye. It would leave a bruise, but the blow lacked sufficient force to do any real damage.
The other guy came at Cole then, his fists swinging in a wide arc and aimed at the side of Cole’s head. He stepped inside the arc and got in a strong right to the man’s jaw, making the man stagger back, but the other assailant was on Cole just as quickly. Cole punched him, making contact near the eye again, but he took a solid hit to his gut. It dropped him to his knees, pain radiating from his torso.
He was close to collapsing, but not yet. He couldn’t give in yet. He shot his arm forward, catching a pant leg, and jerked hard. The man lost his balance and slammed down onto the pavement, but was up, swearing, seconds later, shaking out his wrists.
“Finish him off,” the larger one yelled. “Come on. Do it.” That man was moving closer to Kelsey. She had her arms wrapped around Eddy and was backing up.
“Run,” Cole yelled, but his voice was weakening. She probably couldn’t hear him over Eddy’s cries. She still held her phone. Was she on the line with dispatch? Was help on the way?
With a superhuman effort, Cole got to his feet again. He needed her to get inside, get to safety, but she wasn’t going or drawing the weapon he’d given her. He pushed himself, knowing he was close to his limit, and moved forward. He desperately wanted to come between Kelsey and the assailants, but his legs wouldn’t do it. They would no longer hold him. Everything was fading, no matter how hard he fought to hold on to consciousness until help arrived. He listened for sirens, thinking that he heard them in the distance, but it could just be the whirring in his head.
Fear like he’d never felt before gripped him. He’d been in tight spots with his team when tensions were high and fear palpable, but this was completely different. Kelsey and Eddy were his family, and he couldn’t let anything happen to them. They were his to protect, his to love. Edwin had entrusted their safety to him, and they meant everything to him. Everything. What hadn’t been clear to him in the night suddenly was. He loved them, both of them. He had to fight. Had to.
He tried again to rise, making it to his knees. When one of the men came at him, Cole lifted his arms to grapple with the assailant, but never made contact. Cole crumpled slowly to the ground. He felt a kick in his side and heard a bitter laugh as everything went dark.
SEVENTEEN
“Cole!” Kelsey screamed as she backed toward the store. She should have run when he yelled for her to, but she hadn’t wanted to leave him. He was hurt. She had no idea how badly. It looked like the other men had gotten in some hard blows—and that wasafterhe’d gotten hit by their car. She was amazed he’d been able to get up and fight at all…but all the fight was drained from him now. It killed her that she could do nothing for him until help arrived.
She turned to flee into the store, but it was too late. The larger of the two men had moved lightning quick and gotten between her and the entrance. She was trapped.
She wouldn’t panic. She could think her way out of this. She had to, or God only knew what would happen to her and her son. She straightened her shoulders, facing her assailant, trying to judge how aggressive he’d be. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the smaller of the two moving to get behind her. She pivoted, so they were both in her line of sight.
They were moving in, which meant she had to do the unthinkable. She drew the gun from her purse and clicked off the safety.
Eddy was crying, sensing her fear and anxiety. She wanted to comfort him, but she had to protect him first. She pointed the gun at the larger man, hoping it would be a deterrent and she wouldn’t have to pull the trigger. She didn’t want to fire a gun only inches from her baby’s head, but she might not have a choice.
A siren’s wail was discernible in the distance, but she couldn’t see any flashing lights yet. She’d have to hold her own until the police arrived. The two men came closer, undeterred. Maybe they thought she was just bluffing with the gun. Or maybe they were angry enough to be willing to take their chances. If they’d thought that grabbing her would be easy, Cole had certainly proven that wrong. The one had a swollen eye, and other already had a dark bruise on his jaw. Somehow, Cole had gotten in some solid hits before he went down.
“Get the hell away from us,” she yelled as she struggled to hold the gun steady. Her anger spiked when they laughed at her. “I know how to fire this gun.”
“Sure you do, but can you aim?” the bigger man taunted her, giving her a grin that had no humor to it. It wasn’t a look she’d ever forget. She had a feeling she’d be seeing it in her nightmares from now on.
“Jesus,” the other man said as sirens wailed closer. “This job’s a pain in my ass. Let’s just finish her off and get out of here while we can. The boss said we could, if we had to.”
“She’s not going to fire that thing. I’m grabbing her. She’s worth more to us that way.”
No way was she going to give them the opportunity to stuff her and Eddy in their car. “Not another step closer,” Kelsey warned. She’d taken in their words about the boss, but she couldn’t process them yet. Not when she was in the middle of a fight for her and Eddy’s survival. Her hands trembled, but she readjusted her grip, making the decision that she’d pull the trigger if she had to.
They each took two steps toward her, and still she wavered, not quite able to shoot. Putting holes in targets was one thing, but shooting a human being, even an evil one, was another. The men laughed at her again. Just then, Eddy, who’d been crying, let out a huge wail and kicked against her as if reminding her that he needed her to be strong for his sake. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, deciding that she could do this for him.
