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I grabbed my jacket off the back of my office chair and gripped my cell in my hand. I was just about to shoot off a message to Lola when my office phone rang out. I puffed out a breath, knowing I should have left ten minutes ago for the baby shower. The guys were waiting for me so we could all go over together, and now I’d have another thing to deal with before I could leave. Being the boss of a whole department was more work than I’d thought it would be.
I picked up the receiver, placing it next to my ear, and said, “Brody Easton.”
“Special Agent Easton?” There was a pause. “This is Detective Montgomery from Cresthill.”
My back straightened, and I caught Jord’s eye where he was waiting outside my office, leaning against a desk. I tilted my head for him to come inside as I said, “Yes.”
“I managed to get some more footage from the Quinn Baltera murder. I’ve just emailed it to you.” I clicked my mouse to bring my computer to life, opened up the new email, and pressed play on the video as he continued, “We’ve put it through facial recognition but couldn’t come up with anything.”
I stared at the video, leaning closer to the screen as Jord came to stand beside me. It was grainy at first but cleared up the closer the figure got to the camera. I frowned, feeling like I recognized him...
“But,” the detective continued, “we had a hit on his face not five minutes ago near Sal’s Diner in—”
“Motherfucker!” My nostrils flared as I slammed my hand on the spacebar to pause the video and pointed at the screen. “It’s Jace.”
“Jace?” the detective asked.
I shook my head and looked at Jord, who was staring at the screen with a frown on his face. “Did you say you’d just gotten a hit on him?”
“Yeah, about five minutes ago at Sal’s Diner—”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I slammed the receiver down on the handset and ran out of the office, Jord on my heels. “What’s going on?” he asked, tapping Kyle and Ryan on the shoulder as we ran past. I didn’t have time to wait for the elevator, so I took the stairs two at a time, trying to get out of the building as fast as I could.
“It’s Jace,” I managed to get out between breaths. “And he was spotted by Sal’s.”
“Shit!” Jord swore, his long legs nearly catching up with me, but he wouldn’t be able to. There was nothing like the determination that lit a fire under your ass when your loved ones were in danger. Lola and Cade were at the diner, and that could be the only reason he’d been spotted there.
“He’s going after Lola,” I said as we made it to the front doors, but my legs didn’t stop sprinting me toward my car. “He’s behind it all.” I pressed the button to unlock my car when I was around fifty feet away, and within seconds, I was yanking my door open to slip inside. The engine roared, and just as I was about to reverse out, Jord pushed into the passenger side.
I didn’t have a siren to put on the top of my car, but I raced through the streets and hit speed limits I’d never gotten to before. If I didn’t get there in time…
I couldn’t think about what would happen if he hurt her. I couldn’t comprehend what my life would be like without Lola in it.
As I pulled in front on the diner, I slammed my foot onto the brake so hard I thought it might go through the metal. I pushed my door open just as a shot rang out, and my body jerked. My stomach dropped, and anger like I hadn’t felt before washed through me.
It took ten steps to get to the door, and in that time, another shot rang out. I was
pulling my gun from my belt and raising it before I knew it. It took me only seconds to take in the scene in front of me.
The diner was decorated with everything pink, but it was Cade lying on the floor with red seeping from his shoulder and Lola half lying, half sitting as she held her leg that had me squeezing my trigger, aiming right for the back of Jace’s head as he loomed over them.
His body swayed, the gun he held clattering to the floor, and then he went down, missing Lola’s body by inches.
People were shouting, footsteps cracking on the floor as the guys rushed to Lola and Cade, but I couldn’t move. My entire family had been shot at: my son, the woman I loved, and my unborn baby girl. I could have lost them all in one fail swoop, and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.
“Brody!” Sal shouted, his hands pressed against Lola’s leg. “Get your ass over here.”
I stumbled forward, not knowing who to go to, but Lola’s eyes sprang open, and she begged, “Make sure Cade is okay.” I thought I loved her even more at that moment.
Sirens rang out, help on its way to save my family, as I collapsed to my knees between them both. Jord was checking Cade’s shoulder, and he said, “It’s through and through.”
“Lola’s isn’t,” Sal grunted. “And she looks like she’s about to pass out.”
I lunged toward her, falling on my ass as I tried to wrap my arms around her. Her back leaned against my chest, her pale face glancing up at me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Brody.”
“No, darlin'.” I shook my head and placed my hand on her cheek, feeling wetness trailing down mine at the same time. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
