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“Miranda Scott,” Morgan whispered, feeling the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
“Who?” Riley asked.
“The woman agent. That should be me.”
Before Riley could respond, she slid out of the car with Bash behind her.
“You can’t keep doing that, guys! Sam’s going to kill me!” Riley yelled after them.
“You need to help Sam! Let them go. There’s nothing you can do,” Morgan heard Flip tell Riley.
Instead of heading to the building, Morgan hurried across the street to the park, trying hard not to glance at the man bleeding out.
“Where are you going?” Bash asked, hurrying behind her.
“I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you. Please go back to the car.”
He caught her wrist and stopped her.
“What are you doing?” she huffed.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not leaving you. You have been by my side since this whole screwed-up drama began. You’ve saved my ass more than once.”
Morgan felt emotions welling up but shook them off. “You don’t owe me anything. We’ve helped each other. You can go back to Chicago with a clear conscience. Now let me find Asa and see if I can negotiate a release for Agent Scott.”
“You mean trade yourself? It’s not happening, Morgan.”
She stopped. “Agent Scott could have a husband. Kids. I have no one. It’s just fate. I was never meant to get away from him.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Do you know how asinine that sounds to me? There is no world in this universe where you are fated to end up in that man’s hands. And you are wrong about so many things. People do care about you, Morgan. I care about you. A lot. This isn’t the time or place to talk about it, but I want you to come back to Chicago with me.”
“But…” He put his finger to her lips.
“We can argue about it later, but you are my fate.”
Her eyes turned to saucers.
“Now, tell me where we are going so I can help.”
She pointed to a children’s play castle with a tower that stood in the middle of the park. “Everything is flat. I wanted to climb up in the tower and see if I could spot Asa and the other DF member.”
Grabbing her hand, they ran to the children’s play castle and crawled through the cramped tunnels. It was a tight fit for Bash. When they reached the top, they had a 360-degree view of the park and post office. Riley was positioned on the far-left side of the building, while Sam and Max were stationed on the right side. Perez was searching the abandoned vehicles. As if he could feel their eyes on them, Max glanced in their direction until he spotted them. Morgan was waving at him when they heard a shot.
A blond-headed man blasted from the bushes near the front doors and began firing random shots as he maneuvered between the vehicles heading toward the street, probably expecting to reach the getaway van. Sam and Max dashed from the right corner of the building in pursuit. As they drew closer, Agent Perez aimed his gun and shouted, “Stop. Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head.”
The man turned to fire at Perez. Riley, who had been making his way from the left, took a couple of shots to draw the man’s fire away from Perez. When the blond guy turned his attention to Riley, Perez fired, hitting the blond guy in the right shoulder. Sam jumped out from behind a truck and had him on the ground with his hands behind his back within seconds.
Morgan was paralyzed, watching the scene play out in front of her. Bash squeezed her hand. The guilt bubbled up inside.
Chapter Forty-Six
Bash found sliding down the tunnels much easier than climbing up had been. He insisted on going first. He was afraid Morgan would hit the bottom and take off without him. The sense of guilt she felt for the whole situation was weighing on her. The carefree, perky, glass-half-full kindergarten teacher he’d met at Guntersville Lake seemed to be slipping away from him. She refused to believe she didn’t bear responsibility for something that happened before she was born.
Morgan began withdrawing as soon as they arrived at his grandmother’s house. She had not wanted to interfere with his reunion with his new family despite their attempts to include her. After dinner the previous evening, she stayed in her room. When she realized she had not been included in the plans to retrieve the ledger, she took it as a dismissal. It had been their attempt to protect her. She had already done far more than her share. It probably felt like another abandonment. Her Pops died. Her apartment was destroyed. Her teaching position was suspended. Her best friend married. He had handled it all wrong.
How she had crept so far under his skin was still a mystery to him. They had only been together for a short time, but he knew in his heart he did not want to let go of her. They were nowhere near making a long-term commitment, but he could visualize it down the road. They needed to take it slow. Like normal people do when they date. The best-case scenario, they become lifelong lovers. Worst-case longtime friends. In other words, there was no worst case. She would be in his life one way or the other. They just needed to be in the same location to give themselves a chance.
“Bash! Wait!” Morgan said, grabbing his hand to stop him.
