He could hear Roman running, yelling to the other members of the SWAT team.
“Are you out in the open?”
“I’m okay for now as long as he’s working alone.”If the gunman had a partner who was in the process of making his way to this side of the building, Ashton was in trouble.“But there are civilians all over the place.”
“Alright, we’ve already got locals on their way to you.ETA four minutes.We’re five minutes behind them.”
Another shot rang out, creating a grinding sound as it hit the metal of Ashton’s truck.“You guys hurry.”He disconnected.
Other people were starting to realize what was happening.Panicked cries came from farther away.Ashton tried to move from behind his truck, but a volley of shots rang out.
There was no way he was getting out from behind this vehicle.
Damn it, he had one more call to make and all the lies he’d told over the past few months dictated he do it right now before the sirens of local law enforcement arrived.
Hunkered down behind his truck, looking at the destroyed flowers he would’ve been giving Summer in a few hours, he called her.
“Hey, Summer, it’s Ashton.”He tried to keep his voice light.
“Hi.I didn’t expect to hear from you this afternoon.Everything okay?”
“Well, actually, unfortunately something has come up.Something at work.I need to see if we can reschedule.”
Silence met him from the other end.Damn it.
“Summer—”
A set of shots rang out and another one of his truck windows blasted out, blowing glass near him.The gunman was obviously trying to get Ashton to leave the cover of the vehicle.He cringed.There was no way Summer hadn’t heard the window breaking.
“What was that?”she asked.
“The work thing I was telling you about.Another window just broke.”The gunman was also firing into the florist shop.Ashton needed to return fire, he couldn’t take a chance on Marcel getting hit.But he didn’t want to take a chance on Summer hearing the gunfire.
“Summer, can you hang on?I have to put you on hold for just a sec.”Ashton didn’t wait for an answer, just pressed the mute button, raised his head over the edge of the truck and fired four rounds based on where he estimated the shooter was coming from—the roof of the three-story office building across the street.
Hopefully, Ashton’s return fire would pin the gunman down for a few minutes.
“Marcel?”he called out.“You okay in there?Hurt?”
“No.But that bastard shot out my window!”
“Just stay back, okay?Police are on their way.”
Ashton pressed unmute.“Sorry.I’m back.”Although his voice was calm, another piece of glass from the shop fell to the ground making a loud shattering noise.He grimaced.“Things are a little chaotic here.”
“I can tell.I thought you were just making the whole work situation problem up.That you had just changed your mind.”
“No, no, I promise I would be there if I could.”He heard the sirens begin to ease their way up the street.In another thirty seconds, they’d be unmistakably blaring.He tried to keep his voice as conversational as possible.“Can I call you tomorrow and we’ll work out another time to go out?”
“Are you sure that’s what you want, Ashton?”
He could hear the hurt in her voice and wished he had time to reassure her the way he wanted to.“I’m very sure.”
That was all he could give her.All the secrets he’d kept from her were now racing toward him in the form of sirens.If he’d been honest from the beginning, he could’ve been honest now.
“I’m sorry, Summer.”Ashton disconnected the call, cursing.But for now he had to push Summer out of his mind.He needed to make sure Marcel and the other civilians weren’t hurt.
The guy was firing at the shop again.Ashton leaned from the back of the bed this time and fired again, hoping to pin the man down, or at least draw fire back to the truck.But he’d now used nine of his fifteen-round magazine.
