Jay followed her gaze. Did the curtain move in one of the fourth floor windows? Charlee and Nathan’s apartment? If he couldn’t move her to the car, her apartment was the next safest place. “Which one is hers?”
Tony held up a finger. “Copy.” The way she continued to listen to her wireless com while wildly scanning their surroundings kept him rooted where he was, his heart beating a furious rhythm.
Her gaze flicked to him. “We’re on our way.”
“Was that Nathan?” He tucked Charlee close to his chest, her slight weight a comforting presence in his arm.
She nodded and spoke low in his ear. “He doesn’t believe the gunman would be here alone. Their apartment is secure, so we’re moving there until the rest of the team arrives.”
Charlee tensed in the cradle of his arms. Her eyes were closed, but a tremble rippled over her body.
The chatter in the parking lot grew louder. Multiple footsteps shuffled closer. Colson whirled around the corner and ran toward Jay and Tony. “Cover the principal. The shots drew a crowd.”
Jay’s blood heated and hairs on his nape bristled. Another gunman could be mingled in with the approaching crowd.
Colson and Tony shifted into their protective formation, pressing their backs to his flanks, closing in tightly with their gun hands at their sides.
Eyes sweeping the fence line, rooftop, windows, and blind corners, Tony applied her usual pressure signal—tapping her elbow beneath his—to set the pace and direct him to the back entrance of the building.
As dozens of wide-eyed, slack-jawed spectators filled the alley, all he could think about was holding Charlee as close as possible and how incredible it would’ve felt to have her arms wrapped around him, holding him back.
36
Charlee hadn’t moved from the couch in their studio apartment since Jay carried her in from the rear alley. She couldn’t shake the hammering buzz in her head. If she were to guess, the gun firing beside her face had ruptured her eardrum.
What happened behind the building had registered a want she’d harbored for years. She’d been more than willing to squeeze the trigger and kill Roy’s man. But when it came to Roy, she didn’t just want to kill him. She wanted to destroy him.
With one hand on a towel at her ear, she shoved the other beneath her thigh to stop the violent trembling and blinked back the tears that thickened her throat. Neither Jay nor Nathan should have to deal with her fragility. They were suffering enough of her drama as it was.
The risks were riding her hard. How many Craigs prowled the property, waiting for them to emerge? Roy had caught up with them, but Nathan was still solidifying connections with Roy’s business adversaries. No one was prepared to stand against him yet.
Nathan prowled the room, cell phone to his ear, strategizing with his team in St. Louis.
Everything they owned filled half a dozen duffle bags and waited by the door. This time, they didn’t have a Marine chopper to carry them away.
Jay’s low tones drifted from the kitchen nook. His head bent toward Tony’s, lips moving, eyes hard as he glared at his bodyguard. Was he scolding her? Were they arguing over how to exit the building? Or was he just raging over the hell Charlee had led them into? Given his flushed cheeks, white-knuckled fists on his hips, and the heated way they whispered back and forth, Charlee guessed it was all of the above.
The heat in her graze wounds pulsed with the din in her eardrum. She removed the towel from the side of her head, relieved to see the flow of blood had slowed.
So fucking lucky. If Jay hadn’t distracted the Craig at the perfect moment, she’d be on her way to San Francisco. She wasn’t sure who fired first, but she knew she owed Jay her life.
“Keep pressure on it.” The cushion bounced with Nathan’s weight. He stooped down to meet her eyes. “Looks like you’re going to live.”
The dull throbbing pain was nothing compared to the up close and cutting wrath of Roy. “Yeah.”
He kept himself relaxed as he regarded her, but the strain of unleashed anger glazed his blue eyes. “You’re a pain in my fucking ass. Why didn’t you just stay in the car? Yet one more bad decision that’s landed us in a heap of shit.”
Ouch. She’d left the car because she was worried about him. No sense vocalizing that. “This is my shit, my problem. I never asked you to dirty your hands with it.” A tired argument, one he always ignored.
Nathan’s eyes hardened. “Let me have another look.” He turned her chin to examine the graze of the bullet behind her ear. “I don’t know if this one will scar.” He shifted his gaze to her ear. “Your earlobe…”
“Please don’t say it looks like Salvador’s.”
He swallowed.
Super. “Better than a hole in the head.”
He sucked in a breath and looked away. “I should’ve protected you better.”