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“No, I need you to come with me.”
I pointed at the computer. “Yuri told me how to do that thing you wanted. He’s too busy to do it himself.”
Liam frowned. “Take them all offline. We will deal with them later.”
After I quickly turned off all the cameras, I hurried after him, panic starting to build. We found Jo in the kitchen with Andre, making a plate of food.
“Jo, we need to go. I’m moving you and Elizabeth to the Ramirez compound until this is handled.”
Jo frowned. “What? Why?”
Liam didn’t get a chance to answer. A huge blast rocked the house. Andre and Liam knocked Jo and I to the ground. Shouts and gunshots rang outside the house and I screamed.
“Fuck! Andre, hide them, I need to get outside!”
Andre nodded once, pulling Jo and I into the massive pantry. He shut off all the lights before joining us. He moved stacks of food in front of the door and pulled open the door to the wine cellar. I didn’t even know they had one.
“If things get any worse, we’re heading down, okay? I don’t want to get trapped down there but if they get inside the house, it’s our best bet.”
I was shaking at this point. It was like a war zone out there. I could hear people yelling and calling for help. Dogs were barking and snarling and there was an ever present rumble of motorcycles. I had no idea where James was or if he was okay.
Jo pulled me away from the pantry doors, holding my head against her shoulder as we sat on the floor. She was surprisingly calm through all of this. She spoke low to Andre, trying to figure out if they had anything to protect us if someone came inside. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t even cover my ears against the sounds with the stupid sling on my arm.
“Keep them away from the house!” I heard someone shout.
Glass shattered in the kitchen as another loud blast went off. We held our breath, listening to see if someone would come in through the window. It stayed quiet. Well, as quiet as it could be. With the window broken, we could hear every gunshot perfectly.
Jo got up, trying to peek through the crack in the pantry door. Andre kept demanding she get away from there but she ignored him.
“There’s no one in the kitchen, Andre, stop worrying so much. I just want to see–”
I heard her gasp. The sound of the front door being thrown open was loud and suddenly, Jo burst into action. She tossed the food out blocking the door of her way and threw herself out of the pantry. I yelped, racing to join her when Andre followed her.
“God damnit, Jo, what are you doing out here?”
That was James’s voice! I came out of the kitchen to chaos. The front door was wide open and James was on the ground with Liam, whose eyes were closed. Jo was screaming, trying to get to him but Andre was holding her back. Or trying his best to. Jo was freaky strong and kept almost managing to escape.
I raced to James’s side while Andre was distracted but James was focused on Liam. He shook Liam’s shoulder, trying to wake him. “Brother, wake up before Jo loses her damn mind.”
Liam’s eyes flew open and he sucked in a breath, groaning. “Son of a bitch!”
Jo slammed her elbow into Andre’s gut, freeing herself from his grasp. She dropped by Liam’s side, cupping his face while searching him for injuries. He looked a little disoriented, frowning at Jo, but otherwise, I couldn’t see any injuries.
“What happened?”
“He took one to the vest. He’ll be fine,” James ground out but he still looked worried.
Liam scowled. “Fucker shot me in the chest.”
“O’Connor! We aren’t done yet!” My stomach dropped. I knew that voice. Harrington was striding across the driveway like there wasn’t a massive firefight going on around him. It was twilight, the sun almost completely gone, so it was hard to see him fully, but he had a gun pointed at us while he screamed. “You took away my family, I’m going to end yours!”
Everyone scrambled. Everyone, that is, except Jo. My gaze was glued to her and everything seemed to move in slow motion as she picked up Liam’s gun that had been sitting on the floor. She stood, aiming at Harrington, and took a deep breath. Harrington’s bullets were smacking against the side of the house, just missing Jo standing in the open doorway. Liam was screaming at her but she ignored him. She released the breath slowly and pulled the trigger.
Everyone froze, watching as Harrington dropped to his knees and collapsed. He was maybe a hundred feet away but Jo managed to hit him right between the eyes. I saw the shock on his face right before he fell. Jo marched forward, grabbed the door and slammed it closed, spinning around to face us. Her face was a scary combination of calm and furious at the same time.
Liam was finally on his feet. He flew toward her, slamming her against the door, his hands in her hair as he kissed her roughly. She wrapped herself around him, tears spilling down her face. It was hard to watch. I turned away, focusing on James again. His face was pale and he looked like he was in pain.
“James?” Horror slid over me like ice slipping down my spine.
