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She rolled her eyes. If Paul could act like a father, she could act like a daughter who did not want to discuss her sex life. “There is nothing going on between us.”
“From my vantage point, there seems to be a lot going on.”
“We, uh…” Heat flared in her cheeks. She couldn’t bullshit Paul any more than she had been able to bullshit her own father. “What Cannon—I mean, Ford—and I have is temporary. Circumstantial and casual. Nothing more.”
“Sure, Zenner.” Paul tapped the wheel and whistled.
“It’s true.” Her post-Malgor existence wasn’t in Red Snow, no matter how vividly she could see Paul walking her down the aisle and giving her away to Cannon.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. As they pulled up to the drop-off point, she forced the knot in her belly to loosen. Focusing her attention on the operation, she followed Paul through the woods.
Jimmy’s voice sounded in her earpiece as everyone checked their communications. The dark diner, set back from the road by a sizable parking lot and surrounded by trees, came into view. Siding hung off the walls. Two of the four dingy front windows were broken. One more winter storm and the rotting roof wouldcrumble. God, she hoped it was warm enough in there to keep Aidan’s heart beating.
Sweat soaked her armpits and squished between her toes. Her feet grew colder with every step through the crunchy grass. Following Paul’s commands, the team fanned out under the cover of the trees and surrounded the diner. In less than a minute, she and Paul would enter the rear door while a team entered the front.
God, please let this end tonight.
She ignored the biting wind and crouched low. Pine needles scraped her cheeks as they crept closer to the diner. Movement at the window caught her eye.
“Twelve o’clock, Zenner,” Paul said.
A second later, gunfire exploded around the perimeter. She hit the snow face-first as a bullet whizzed by her head.
Curses bounced through the airwaves. “Snipers. Fuck.”
Several more shots pealed from the front of the diner. Another popped behind her. She twisted and fired into the night. Paul’s shots echoed in one ear, Jimmy’s shouts in the other.
A painful groan scraped through the airwaves. “I’m hit.”
“Dammit.” One agent in the front down. She squinted into the darkness and fired two more rounds. How had she thought tonight would be the end of her nightmare?
She dug her cheek into the snow as bullets flew over her head. Something metallic caught her eye, and she fired. Branches snapped in rapid succession. A body thudded to the forest floor.
“One down in back.” She aimed her weapon toward the shots volleying between Paul and the second sniper. Before she pulled the trigger, Paul grunted. She fired as panic reared up her throat.
Hissing Paul’s name, she scurried low and fast to his side.
“Warner’s down.” She felt his body for injuries with one hand as she fired into the night with the other.
A hole in his vest met her fingers. “Shot to vest.” She searched lower to his legs. Warm liquid met her hand.
Oh, God.“Hit to the thigh.”
She pressed her hand to the wound. Blood seeped through her fingers. She dropped her gun, stomped both palms over the geyser in his leg, and bent over him. No more shots splintered behind her, but the firefight still warred in front. She and Paul were sitting ducks, but if she removed her hand to grab her gun, he’d surely die. “I can’t stop the bleeding.”
“Direct pressure, Zenner, and stay down,” Jimmy repeated the command. “The snipers must have had thermal blankets on to hide their heat signatures, but we’ve got their locations now. Two in front up in the trees. One behind Zenner at three o’clock. Someone is coming around to cover you. Hang tight.”
“Roger that.” What else could she do? She shifted more weight onto Paul’s wound and fixed her gaze on his pale face. “Don’t you dare die on me.”
Shots continued from the front of the diner. Another cracked behind her.
Blood spurted from Paul’s wound as the echoes of the firefight reverberated in the forest. She rose to her knees and pushed more weight onto Paul’s leg. Holding her breath, she watched agents enter the building. She didn’t breathe again until Jimmy’s voice came over the comms.
“The boy is alive and secure. All hostiles inside the diner are down.”
The scent of chocolate carried on the wind.
Cannon?
