AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Paz,” I said desperately, trembling. “Are you okay?” Was he hit?
He looked at me and gave me a smile sweeter than a cranky lumbersuit like him should be capable of. “I love you.”
It was then that I saw it. Blood on the floor. Pooling next to him.
“Fuck. You’re hit.”
But Mitch was prowling toward us slowly, pulling a revolver out of his gaudy belt. And now we were both on the ground, vulnerable and defenseless. Paz held me tighter as I froze in terror. This was it. But at least we would spend our last moment together.
“I always thought Henri would be the one I had to take out. Or your loud bitch of a sister. Never you, Pascal. I always saw a little of myself in you. Cool and calm and focused on what really matters. Success and money.”
He took another step, and my entire body shook.
“My own sons have been nothing but disappointments. They don’t have it in them. The ability to do what it takes to get what they want. I thought you were better than them. But you and your cop girlfriend have got to go. My Canadian friends are angry with me, and my guys are making sloppy mistakes because of you and your amateur investigation.” He jutted his chin. “That one over there couldn’t even shoot her at close range. So apparently, I’ve got to end this myself.”
He aimed at Paz’s head, and I let out a blood-curdling scream.
But my scream was drowned out by a crashing sound. A battering ram held by two officers in tactical gear smashed through the door.
“Drop your weapons,” a deep voice commanded. And before I could blink, the warehouse was swarming with FBI agents armed with rifles.
Chapter40
Pascal
From the back of the ambulance, I watched the flurry of activity. Several tactical teams had descended on the Hebert compound, and the entirety of the alphabet was here. FBI, DEA, DHS, ATF. Every department was here for a piece of the criminal pie.
But I had far bigger problems. Mainly the bullet in my ass. Well, it wasn’t there anymore. According to the EMT, it had passed through very briefly, but I’d be on my way to the hospital shortly for stitches, X- rays, and a shit ton of antibiotics.
At the time, I hadn’t even felt it. I was totally focused on Parker and keeping her safe. But now the adrenaline was wearing off and the pain was catching up to me.
I lay in the ambulance while Parker sat on the back bumper, giving yet another statement to law enforcement. The questions were endless and repetitive, but she knew better than anyone how important it was to go over every detail carefully. She was only a few feet away, but it was too far. I would never let her out of my sight again. No matter how logistically impossible that may be.
I had almost lost her tonight. After spending my life preparing to keep everyone I loved safe, the reality of what had occurred was crippling. Yes, we were alive. But things could have gone so differently.
“Let me through,” came a familiar, angry voice. “We’re family.”
As I sat up to get a look at the new arrival, my sister hopped into the back of the ambulance, flanked by my brothers. Before I could react, she was crushing me in a hug.
“Ease up, Adele. I got shot.”
“Fuck you,” she said, hugging me tighter. “I can’t believe you got yourself fucking shot.”
“Adele, let him go. You can yell at him after he’s been to the hospital.”
“Okay.” She sniffed, taking a step back. The ambulance was bursting at the seams now that all three of my siblings had wedged their way inside. Parker was still sitting on the bumper, her eyes gleaming like she was enjoying watching them bombard me.
“How are you even here?” I asked.
“I called them,” a high-pitched voice piped up. Liv appeared at the open doors and looped her arms around Parker. “When you didn’t text, I called the police and the FBI, and then we used the AirTag Parker put on Mitch’s car to follow you into the woods.”
“You were tracking Mitch’s car?” I asked.
“Shh,” Parker said. “It’s not strictly legal, but I needed to know where he was going.”
“And it saved your ass,” Liv said, defending her friend. “We lost the signal part of the way here, but we followed the roads, and the FBI contacted one of the Heberts, who helped us find the place.”
“A Hebert helped?” Henri said, his voice surprised.
