A car backfires and the sound jolts me from my Jess-induced haze of desire. We jerk back at the same time.
“Shit.” The air separating us feels suddenly cold but I keep my hands on her, unable to quite give up the feel of her yet. I can’t believe how close I was to taking her then and there in the middle of the street.
“Sorry,” she says quietly.
“Don’t be,” I snap.
A crack ricochets through the air and the wall of the apartment behind us explodes.
“Fuck.” My side protests as I pull us to the ground and cover her body with mine. Jess screams.
Crushed beneath me, she squirms, her ass wriggling against me. “Hunter!”
“Keep still, for fuck’s sakes.” I lift my head and try to peer around the bike. I hope it offers enough protection from the shooter. My heart thuds painfully against my ribs.
“You’re squashing me.” Jess wriggles some more and almost works her way out from underneath me until I grip a hand around the back of her neck and she freezes. “Hunter?” Her voice comes out in a squeak of fear.
“Are you hurt?”
“What? No! Just squashed.”
“It’s okay. Just keep still. I need to phone the cops.”
“What?”
“That was a gunshot.” A deep shudder wracks her while I dig my phone out of my jacket.
“That was a car, wasn’t it?” she asks hopefully.
“No way.” I twist my head around to view the apartment block and the damage. A rifle of some kind perhaps—a hunting gun most likely. Which says to me we haven’t been caught up in some kind of gang war because they’d be using illegal weapons. Someone deliberately shot at Jess.
I put through a call to the police and the dispatcher tells me someone is on their way. Apparently someone already called in the sound of gunshots. Sadly in some parts of London, the sound isn’t as rare as it should be.
“Are the police coming?”
I glance around the bike wheel and scan the area. Nothing. No suspicious cars or people. A couple of pedestrians walk past us and give us strange looks. I ease back and urge Jess to sitting. Her hands tremble and her usually tanned skin is like ash.
“Stay behind the bike,” I order. “The police will be here in a minute.”
Jess grabs my jacket sleeve. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m just going to have a quick look around.”
“Hunter,” she hisses, “someone was shooting at us. Shooting!”
I lift a shoulder and crack a grin. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m invincible. Stay here.”
By the time I’ve searched both sides of the streets, the police arrive with armed officers and they take their time clearing the area. With no sign of the shooter, they pack up pretty quickly, concluding it was a one-off. If it was a serial shooter, they’d have stayed to pick off a few targets, they tell me. I’m not sure if that makes me more or less nervous. That tells me it’s personal. Someone is trying to hurt Jess.
But why? Something to do with the money? A business deal gone wrong? The trembling, wide-eyed woman with her arms clamped around herself sure doesn’t seem like a hardened criminal or the kind to associate with dangerous people. But I know differently, right? I wish my head and my heart could come to some kind of agreement on this.
Arm around her shoulder, I take her up to her apartment. She makes no protests when I take her keys from her unresisting hands and lead her to the couch. While she hugs herself, I make a coffee and press cup into her hands.
“Drink.”
She takes a sip and her nose wrinkles.
“Lots of sugar,” I explain as I sit on the battered cushions next to her. “You need it. You’re in shock.”
“Why would someone shoot at me?”
“I don’t know. Can you think of anything?”
“No. Are you sure it was a gunshot?”
“The cops said as much.”
“It must have been you.”
“What?”
“They were shooting at you. It’s the only logical explanation.”
“No, that was meant for you.” Besides, I’m not the one who’s stolen a shit ton of money, I add silently.
“Do you think I’m in danger?”
“The police are sure the shooter isn’t around anymore. They said it was just bad luck we were there and good luck that we weren’t hit.”
“And what do you think?” She takes a sip of the coffee and lifts that wide gaze to mine. Trust shimmers in those eyes and crushes my chest.
“I think you need to be careful and think hard. Two shots? Doesn’t sound like a random shooting to me. Sounds like someone with a target.”
“Shit, Hunter, you’re scaring me.”
“I don’t mean to. Think carefully, Jess. Is there any reason someone would shoot at you?” Tell me the truth, I plead mentally. Maybe I could even help her if she would just come clean.
Hands clamped around the coffee mug, she stares into the dark liquid and shakes her head. “No. I can’t.”
Disappointment wraps around my gut and it’s not because I’m no closer to the money, it’s because she’s doesn’t trust me enough to tell me about her past.