Brick gave her a comforting smile.“I’m sure he had to be.He couldn’t compromise a future investigation.”
She sighed.“Yeah.I guess I won’t be able to move anytime soon.”
“Don’t worry about that, okay?We’ll make it work.”His arm slid from her shoulders and he entwined his fingers with hers as they stepped onto the asphalt to walk across the parking lot.
She smiled, feeling the greatest sense of relief she’d experienced since that fateful day with Shelby.Movement in the corner of her eye made her gaze dart to the parked cars across the lot.The long, slim barrel of a gun was aimed at them.She sucked in a breath to scream, but Brick moved faster.
He took her to the ground as gunfire erupted.
Crack,crack,crack!
Glass rained down.Brick’s arms covered her head.Her cheek pressed into the unrelenting ground, and the concrete swallowed her shrieks.Brick’s curses reverberated next to her ear.His weight shifted, and his return shots shook her body.
Panic stung her like angry bees.The blast of bullets stopped and Brick quickly rolled off her.“Get up, we’ve gotta move.”He caught her beneath her arms and hauled her to her feet behind his SUV.He opened the driver’s-side door and hustled her inside.The scent of leather hit her nostrils, mixing with the acrid taste of gunpowder and fear.
She scampered to the passenger seat, keeping her head down.Brick hauled himself inside and flipped open the center console.He removed his gun then stepped back onto the pavement.
Crack!
A bullet struck his shoulder.No!A cry tore from her chest.She dove across the vehicle, arms outstretched, as she watched him stagger.Another shot fired, but he ducked.
“Brick!”she cried.
The passenger door opened.Rough hands grabbed her calves and yanked her backward.She screamed as her knees hit the pavement.Brick’s gaze was wild as he reached for her.
Another gunshot clapped the air, but she didn’t see what happened.A rough hand slammed against her mouth, cutting off the shrieks coming from the depths of her heart.
“I’ve got you now, bitch,” she heard Keetan snarl, just before she was thrown into a waiting trunk.
The lid clanked shut, snapping her into darkness.
CHAPTER 19
Terror and adrenalinesurged through Brick’s body as he watched a masked man open the passenger door and yank Natalie out.
Panic shot through him.He had to get to Natalie.
Brick charged for the guy who’d just shot him, attempting to throw him to the ground and reach the man trying to take Natalie.The guy through his weight, and they both slammed into the cement.Voices shouted behind him.Officers were running from the building ordering him to freeze.But he couldn’t see them through the haze of fury blurring his vision.Tires screeched.A sedan tore from the parking lot.Brick locked his gaze on the license plate, committing the numbers to memory.
“Hands in the air!”the cops shouted.
“A woman was just kidnapped!”he bellowed, keeping his knee in the guy’s back.“Follow that silver vehicle!”
An officer shouted into her radio, then jogged to a marked police car.Brick needed to chase down the vehicle, but if he stood up with a gun in his hand, he’d get taken down by the officers surrounding them.
He disarmed the shooter and yanked the ski mask from his face.Justin flung a mouthful of threats over his shoulder at Brick.Officers rushed across the parking lot to contain a third man—probably Clyde.
Goddammit.
A couple of officers grabbed Brick by his raised hands and took his gun.Fuck, fuck, fuck.He didn’t have time for this.“Get Chief Wiebe,” Brick barked.
“Stand and keep your hands in the air.”
Jesus Christ.He was going to snap.He did as instructed, backing away from Justin and fighting the urge to lunge at him.He needed to jump in his SUV and get the hell out of here.
Arnie stalked out of the station, his face tight with bewilderment.“What the hell happened?”
“Sir, this is Justin Crater from Club East,” Brick snapped, his patience nonexistent.“As I told you, he’s working with Keetan.”
