From the corner of her eye she saw Anderson lift his assault rifle and fire at her. Reacting instinctively, she avoided the shots and fired back. Bullets hit him center mass, and he dropped dead.
And then Carson grabbed her and held his gun to her head. “I’ll kill her!” he screamed.
Justice took aim.
“Justice, no!” Brielle cried.
He fired.
Carson howled in pain as he dropped his weapon and fell to the floor. Blood gushed from a wound in his shoulder. Faith knelt next to him, ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and used it to staunch the flow of the blood.
Justice and Brielle rushed toward each other. He held her head between his hands and kissed her hard, again and again. Their tears mingled as they ran unchecked down their cheeks. Justice leaned his forehead against hers.
Wiping away her tears, he murmured, “Are you…okay? Baby, please tell me, are you…you?”
She gripped his arms. “Yes! Yes, I’m okay!”
He pulled her closer to him. “Oh, God, I was so afraid! Afraid you wouldn’t make it! Afraid you’d hate me for taking so long to find you.”
“I never gave up hope. I knew you’d move heaven and earth to find me. I…”
“You promised!” Carson moaned. “You promised you’d kill me! Why didn’t you kill me?”
“That’s a good question. Why didn’t you kill him, Justice?” Brielle asked.
Before he answered, he spoke into his mic. “We need medical down here by the elevators. Special Agent Nash Carson is down. Anderson is dead. I repeat, Anderson is dead.”
“EMTs are on their way, Chief McQuaid.”
“Special Agent? What the hell are you talking about?” Carson groaned as he struggled to rise.
Faith pushed him back down. “Stay still.”
Justice led Brielle farther away. “He’s a Barrington cousin, Bri. His mother is Linda.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my God! How…?”
“There’s a lot to explain, but he’s an FBI agent, and a former Marine. He…”
At that moment they were interrupted by Brielle’s parents and brothers. Only because Trey was FBI and Cameron a former member of the Department of Justice were any of them allowed to get near Brielle after the worst of the gunfight ended.
She found herself practically suffocated as they pulled her into a tight bear hug. The brothers shed tears, kissing Brielle on the cheek and checking to make sure she hadn’t been hurt in the raid.
Her tears flowed anew when Cameron and Brianna wrapped their arms around her. “Mom! Dad!” she sobbed. “Oh, God, it…it was terrible! I…I had to watch you die!”
“It’s over,” Cameron comforted her. “It’s over, sweetheart.”
EMTs strapped Carson to a flat board and rolled him toward the elevators. Brielle grabbed his hand.
“Thank you, Carson, for everything you did for me. You’re going to be okay. My brother Trey will help you.”
Carson coughed. “My fucking chief shot me!”
“You asked for it,” Brielle reminded him.
He glanced at Brielle’s brothers who listened to their exchange with amusement on their identical faces. “You have an annoying little sister! Please keep her away from me. She never shuts up.”
The McAdams brothers grinned at him. “Yeah, we know!” Trey answered for them.
