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From the corner of her eye, she saw the front door burst open revealing Brock and Raelyn. The two tactical team officers ran inside and took control of the situation. They surrounded a bleeding Banner, removing the gun from his hand and placing him under arrest. Then they moved through the rest of the house, making sure no one else was there.
As they did that, she lifted her head, searching for Steele. He was standing just a few feet away, but there was also a small pool of bright red blood on the floor.
He was hit? She forced herself to stand on her shaky legs. “You’re bleeding!”
“Yeah, he caught me in the calf.” Steele turned toward her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how this happened. Banner and Perkins shouldn’t have known anything about this safe house.”
“It’s not your fault.” She took a step toward him. As if understanding her need, he drew her close, giving her a hug. “I was so scared. Where did you get that second gun?”
“I had it tucked beneath the vest, it’s a trick we sometimes do. Easier to grab it from there rather than the ankle holster.” He buried his face against her hair for a long moment. “There was no way I was going to let him hurt you or the baby.”
Overwhelming relief washed over her. She leaned against him for a moment, then forced herself to step back. “I need to tend to your wound.”
“It’s fine.” He waved a dismissive hand.
“There’s an ambulance on the way,” Raelyn spoke up as she and Brock returned. “Banner needs it more than you. Do you want me to call for a second rig?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll slap a bandage on it later.”
“Better do it now. You’re trailing blood all over the place,” Brock drawled.
With a grimace, Steele limped past the prone figure of Banner toward the hallway where she assumed the bathroom was located.
Banner’s gaze locked on hers. The malevolence reflected there gave her pause. She turned toward Brock. “What about his partner?”
“Strangely, Perkins is back at the precinct questioning Otterson.” Brock shrugged. “He claimed he was waiting for Banner to show up. It could be Banner is in this alone, but trust me, we’ll dig deeper to see if Perkins is involved.”
It was another hard lesson not to trust a person by their outward appearance. Or the way they portrayed themselves to others. She should have known that already from Jake, but apparently, she was a slow learner. Banner had come across as supportive but would not have hesitated to kill her.
Banner remained silent, but she could see the wheels spinning in his mind. No doubt, he’d try to come up with a plan to implicate Perkins or to exonerate himself.
She hoped the danger was finally over. Banner must have orchestrated the attacks against her with Grotto’s help. All because of the evidence Ellis may have hidden in the blue vase.
“We need to get to my apartment as soon as possible.” She was proud of her calm tone. “Banner made it clear he was looking for evidence that Starkey hid from him. I think it may be hidden in the bottom of the blue vase.”
Brock looked surprised, then nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He glanced over as Steele returned from tending his wound.
“I agree with Harper. We need that vase.”
“Call Rhy, have him send someone,” Raelyn suggested. “Until we know Perkins isn’t involved or that Grotto isn’t lurking nearby, you should stay here.”
“Yeah, okay.” Steele’s expression was glum. “I guess I messed up enough for one day.”
“I think Flynn may have been the one to mess up,” Brock said. “He was in Rhy’s office today when you called to get the safe house. Including the code Tarin had provided for you to get inside.”
“And Flynn may have mentioned it to Banner because the guy saved his life.” Steele groaned. “He’s going to kick himself when he learns the truth.”
“Yeah. He will.” Brock managed a smile. “Or maybe he’ll let you kick him.”
Steele rolled his eyes. He pulled out his phone and made the call to Rhy about the blue vase, giving him everything they’d learned from Banner about Tommy Grotto and Otterson being father and son.
Since it appeared they weren’t going anywhere soon, she dropped into the closest chair.
She did her best not to break down crying over the fact that her time with Steele was over.
* * *
Steele was irritatedat how he’d allowed Banner to get the drop on them. He’d never expected the bad guys to be waiting inside the safe house.
