AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lower my gun and slump in relief at not being out here alone, tears springing unbidden to my eyes. “Lee,” I choke. “You’re okay? He said you were dead.” I’m crying now, shoulders shaking and silent sobs shooting pain in my chest.
He looks a little taken back but drops to his knees by my side. “Not dead, ma’am. They gave it a good shot but we’re all still here.”
“Murray?” I sniff.
“I haven’t seen him, but we’ll find him.”
I shake my head. “He’s dead,” I say, thick with tears. “I know he’s dead, shot at the gate.”
“Shit.” He bows his head, before composing himself and looking at me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“My ankle is broken, but I’m okay.” I wipe the tears from my face. Having not cried for ten years, I’ve more than made up for it in the last week.
“I need to find Guinevere,” he says, looking into the house with worry. “And the girls, where are the girls?”
“Panic room,” I hiccup.
“I’ll go get them.” He stands to leave but I tug at his wrist.
“Harvey is getting them.” When he looks down at me, blinking, I sigh. “I know. But he’ll get them out. Don’t go running into fire. Guinevere will never speak to me again if you die.”
He looks unsure but nods and drops down to sit next to me. In a completely unexpected move, he puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him. I allow it and rest my head on his shoulder.
“What happened?” I ask, my voice quiet and tired.
He huffs out a breath. “We got a notification on the perimeter alarm of a breech. I took a couple guys down there to have a look and we couldn’t find anything, but when we came back there were seven men waiting for us. Kukri.”
I tense, I knew Marks was working with Volkov but still, hearing that they were here on my property, makes me sick. Lee squeezes me slightly.
“We managed to find cover and I radioed everyone out to help us take them out. We weren’t looking too good until Harvey and the cop turned up.”
“The cop?” I frown at him.
“Yeah, some guy in uniform arrived with Harvey. They provided a distraction so me and the guys could get close enough and we took them all out.” He shakes his head in annoyance.
“What?”
“It’s obvious now that it was a distraction, I should have sent a couple guys in to find you and Guin, to get you to safety.” His anger at himself is written all over his face.
“Then you would have been outnumbered and wouldn’t have been able to take out the men Volkov sent.”
He purses his lips, nodding slightly, but it’s clear my words haven’t made him feel better. “What happened inside?” he asks. “One of their men got to you?”
“Not exactly,” I sigh. “It was Gary Marks, Harvey’s police captain.” He snaps his head to me and then looks at the house with blind panicked rage. “He and Harvey were not working together,” I assure him. I may not be willing to forgive Harvey or even listen to anything he has to say, but I’m pretty certain that he was being genuine when he attacked Marks.
“Why would a police captain want to attack you?”
I chew around the foul taste in my mouth. “We have a history?” I offer it as more of a question than an explanation.
He narrows his eyes at me, clearly confused by this. Everyone on my staff knows I don’t have anything to do with law enforcement. I do not speak about what happened to me, it’s no one’s business. But despite Harvey’s betrayal, I’m seeing the benefits of letting people in a little more. Especially when it comes to the girls. “He…hurt me. When I was young. Him and my father, he was my father’s police connection.”
His eyes darkened as he turned to look at me. “When you say he hurt you…” The question is obvious.
“Yes,” I croak before clearing my throat.
“Is he dead?”
“Yes.”
