AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She spotted him as he continued toward her, her eyes widening in surprise, the tiny lift at the corners of her mouth suggesting she was pleased to see him.
“Fancy meeting you here.” He stopped a few feet away.
“I could say the same.” She gave him a head-to-toe. “Let me guess. You worked today.”
He grimaced and inspected his jeans. “Am I that grungy?”
“No, but I know from personal experience what your soot smudges mean. Like the one here.” She tapped her left cheek.
He reached up and scrubbed the area she’d indicated. “Gone?”
“Yes.” Her gaze dropped to the list in his hand, and a killer dimple appeared in her cheek. “Grocery shopping for your grandmother?”
“Yeah.” He tried not to stare at the enchanting dent that juiced his libido. “She gave me her list before I got called to the scene this morning. To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood to follow through on my promise. Now I’m glad I did.”
A faint flush crept over her cheeks, and she leaned down to readjust a bag in her cart. “I, uh, don’t want to hold you up. You must be tired.”
“Not anymore.” When her flush deepened, he tipped his head toward the lot and changed the subject. “Where are you parked?”
“Right there.” She nodded to her Camry, three cars away, and started walking again.
He fell in beside her. “Why don’t I help you load your groceries? I’m in no hurry to wander through the aisles inside. Seems like between every visit, they rearrange the store and it takes me—”
A loud, sharp pop cut him off midsentence, and he jolted to a stop.
Seconds later, another pop sounded, followed by a distinctive thump as a bullet pierced the back of her trunk less than ten feet away.
Heart lurching, he grabbed Bri and pushed her down beside the closest car. “Shots fired! Take cover!”
As he yelled out the warning, screams erupted around the parking lot.
He dropped down next to Bri, letting her cart wobble away as he used his body to shield her.
But it was hard to keep a person safe when the shooter’s location was impossible to pin down—and when your duty weapon was locked in the glove compartment of your car.
Bri struggled to extricate herself from his protective tuck. “Marc, let me up!” She wiggled free, emerging a moment later clutching a weapon. “Where’s the shooter?”
“Unknown.”
“Call this in.” She stayed low but jockeyed sideways to get a broader view of the lot, Sig gripped in both hands.
Since she had the gun, he pulled out his cell and did as she’d asked, relaying the pertinent information and location in a few clipped sentences after identifying himself as an ATF agent.
“Officers have been dispatched.” The 911 operator’s response was crisp and all business. “I’ll stay on the line until they arrive.”
“Copy that.”
Marc surveyed the lot. Around them, people were cowering beside their cars. Next to him, Bri’s posture was rigid.
“I don’t see anything.” A slight quiver snaked through her words. “Are you certain it was a shooter?”
He pressed the mute button on his cell. “Yes.”
“I don’t know.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth as the faint wail of a siren heralded the approach of a patrol car. “A car could have backfired. Or it may have been—”
“Bri.” He waited until she met his gaze. “The second bullet hit your trunk.”
Her lips parted a fraction, and a wave of shock wiped all expression from her face. “How do you ... do you know that?”
