Ashton leapt for Harper, rolling him away from Summer.He had no doubt he could take Harper, but it was the other man, the man who had just proven reckless enough to shoot through a large window, obviously not caring too much if Harper got hurt in the process, who worried Ashton.Ashton just needed to get Summer out of here.
Live to fight another day.
“Get my car keys upstairs,” he said to Summer.“Stay low and away from windows.Harper has a partner out there.”Ashton blocked a gut punch from the man beneath him, one that would’ve certainly knocked all the wind from Ashton.He reached for the gun Harper had dropped, but the other man kicked it to the opposite side of the room.
Summer ran up the stairs.
Ashton threw two punches at Harper’s head, followed up by a blow to the midsection, making sure Harper’s attention didn’t focus on Summer.
“I’ve got them.”Ashton saw Summer’s legs before he heard the words.He took a punch to the ribs, but then cracked Harper along the jaw.While Harper was momentarily stunned, Ashton jumped up and grabbed Summer’s hand, running for the garage door.
A shot splintered the doorframe as they ran through.Ashton couldn’t tell if it was from Harper or his partner.Ashton clicked the automatic unlock button for his rental car as they ran outside of the garage.
“Get in,” he told Summer.“And stay low.”
Ashton got in and started the ignition, throwing the car in reverse and dipping low in the seat as Harper ran out of the house.He pushed Summer’s head down as shots shattered the glass of two of the side windows.Other bullets slammed into the metal of the car’s frame.
Damn it, this was his second shot-up vehicle in a week.And the car rental insurance probably didn’t cover bullet holes.
He spun the car in the street and stepped on the gas, keeping his head so low that he could hardly see over the steering wheel.Only after they turned the corner did Ashton sit up.But even then he didn’t slow his speed.Those guys had a car, too, and he wasn’t sure how far they were willing to take this.
He sped them out of Summer’s neighborhood and began weaving through different side streets, turning every few blocks.Only after he was sure Harper and his partner weren’t following them did he slow down and pull Summer up from where she hovered in the floorboards.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, climbing into the seat.“A few little cuts from the glass, I think, but overall I’m okay.You?”
“That first bullet skimmed my shoulder but didn’t do real damage.”He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, leaning over to kiss her temple.“I thought I had lost you when I realized there was a second shooter out there.Thought I’d sent you right into his line of fire.”
“I never even left the garage.I thought you might need help.Which you did.”
He kissed her again.“Yes, I did.”
“I don’t know who those guys were, Ashton, or why they would want to kill me.Do you think they were robbers?What would I have that they would want to steal?”
He kept his arm around her as he drove.“Let me call Omega, get people on the scene at your house as soon as possible.They weren’t after you.They were after me.”
Curtis Harper trying to take his vengeance on Ashton, and Summer had just been collateral damage.
“What if Chloe had been there?”Summer began to shudder.“What if she’d been in her crib when that guy broke in?”
Ashton stopped the car at a dark gas station, pulled far to the side where the car couldn’t be seen from the road.He put it in Park, then yanked Summer across the seat and into his lap.
She only had on his T-shirt and the windows had been shot out.He rubbed his hands up and down on her arms and legs, trying to instill some warmth back into her body.But it was the thought of her daughter being hurt that had her body shivering—no amount of external warmth would heat that frozen place inside.Ashton knew, because the thought of Chloe or Summer being hurt brought on the same chill in him.
“Summer, I promise we will figure all this out and I will get you and Chloe both somewhere safe, okay?”
He held her tightly to his chest as sobs broke loose from her.No one could blame her for the breakdown.Ashton just held her close, murmuring words of comfort.
“Let me get us to Omega Sector, sweetheart,” he said against her forehead as her emotional storm ran its course.“Get a team out to your place and make sure you and I are safe and warm.”
“I’ve got to get Chloe, too,” she said between shuddery breaths.
He nodded, understanding the need to have her close.“Joe and Laura will bring her.They’ll meet us there.”
Ashton eased her back to her seat, then stepped outside to use the payphone.The sooner Omega could have a forensic team at Summer’s condo, the sooner they’d have answers.
He dialed Steve Drackett’s cell phone, a number he had memorized.
