When a Secret Kills (17 page)

Jillian had dyed her hair back to its natural color. She’d skipped the straightener and her blond curls bounced around her shoulders with each step she took.

What did she think she was doing? She looked exactly as Colton remembered from high school. Her blue eyes caught his. Blue. Not brown. Jillian’s eyes.

“Sir, are you all right?”

At first, Colton wondered why Elliott was calling him sir. He was speaking to Colton’s uncle. While best friends, in public Elliott gave Frank every form of respect he could. Said it showed people that Frank was a man to respect, a man to follow, a man to trust.

A man who now looked like he was ready to faint dead away as he stared at the approaching duo.

Jillian’s face had bleached to a pale white color as she honed in on his uncle. “How dare you!”

Uncle Frank stumbled back and Colton reached to catch him.

“Sir? Are you all right?” Elliott turned to a hotel employee who’d followed the group outside. “Can we get him a glass of water?”

An interesting—and condemning—reaction to Jillian’s appearance. Colton felt dread gnaw on his insides.

Jillian stopped midstep and stared back. Her mouth opened. Her eyes snapped to his and her mouth slammed shut.

Those around Frank murmured. No doubt he realized the curious attention he was garnering. Colton watched his uncle take a deep breath and turn back to the tall man Elliott had introduced as though he hadn’t been shaken by the woman who now stood in front of Colton.

Blake’s gaze darted left, then right. Colton felt the muscles at the back of his neck go all twitchy. His jawline burned and he realized he had it clenched tight against the anger churning through him.

Anger at the certainty Jillian had told him the truth.

Anger at the fact she’d dared to show up like this.

Anger mixed with the fear that she’d just exposed herself.

Colton snagged her arm while Blake hovered in a protective stance. “You have absolutely lost your mind.”

“That’s along the lines of what Blake said.” She jerked her arm and turned to face his uncle. “What did
he
say?”

“Nothing yet,” Colton hissed as he edged her toward an area that looked like it might offer some cover from prying eyes and listening ears. Was she followed? He looked at Blake, who stood with his back to them, his muscles bunched as though ready to spring into action. Colton could also see the man’s weapon in his shoulder holders barely hidden by the long-sleeved button-down shirt he’d thrown over the white T-shirt. With his jeans and army boots, he looked decidedly out of place. And didn’t care a bit.

Colton almost liked the guy at the moment.

He let his gaze swing back to his uncle, who had his back to him and Jillian. But the lines of tension in the man’s neck spoke volumes.

Jillian squirmed. “I need to talk to him. In private. And I need for you to arrange that.”

“There are better ways to go about getting what you want in this case.”

She stared at him. Reached a hand up to touch his face. “You’re okay.”

“What?”

“I had to make sure you were okay.”

He took Jillian’s hand and pulled her around close against him, her back to his chest, and maneuvered her so that she was within his uncle’s line of sight, yet protected by the large column he lined up with his spine. She glanced up at him, but didn’t comment. His uncle looked up and did something Colton had never seen him do before. He stumbled over his words.

Colton was convinced.

And terribly afraid for the woman in front of him.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

She licked her lips. “Just call it a gut feeling.”

“It’s not me we need to be worried about.”

Crack.

Jillian cried out and spun away from him. Her bright red blood splattered against his cheek.

Jillian fought the waves of pain and the desire to sink to the concrete beneath her feet. If she did, she’d be trampled by the sudden rush of the panicked crowd. She thought she heard Colton call her name.

A hand grabbed her good arm. “Are you all right?” Colton pulled her against him as another shot rang out.

“Yes,” she gasped as screams seemed to come from every direction.

Blake caught her eye, saw Colton had her, and grabbed a terrified, frozen teenage girl from in front of the hotel doors and shoved her back through them. Jillian lost sight of Blake as Colton pulled her by the hand. People continued to scatter like ants. More terrified cries echoed around her as she ignored the fire in her arm and tried to keep up with Colton as he pushed his way through the crush of people.

An elbow knocked into her ribs and she gasped and turned, her hand slipping from Colton’s grasp. She bounced off the side of the building, then tripped over someone’s foot. Just as she went to her knees, another crack echoed and a bullet slammed into the concrete millimeters above her head. Particles stung her cheeks. The woman on her left screamed and ducked as she scurried to get to the parking lot to hide behind a car.

“Stay down!” Jillian glanced around. People still scrambled for cover. Okay, she got it. She was the target. She had to get away from the crowd before someone took a bullet meant for her. Where was Colton? Or Blake?

“Jillian!”

She heard her name but couldn’t see through the crush of the bodies desperate to get out of the line of fire.

And she had no time to try to find them. She had to move, to get away from the people she’d put in danger.

Keeping low, forcing her terror aside and hoping she was hidden for the moment, she continued to ignore the increased throbbing in her left arm. Jillian stumbled, pushed, and shoved her way through the crowd that was finally thinning as people poured into any open door that would get them away from the front of the hotel and parking lot where the shots had come from.

Jillian made it to the side of the building and around the corner, dragging in deep breaths as she forced her brain to work, to come up with a plan. Stoneridge Drive lay in front of her, intersecting with Greystone Boulevard to her left. Across the street were sheltering trees. Hide behind a car? Or get to the trees?

Even though she’d made it around to the side of the building, she knew she couldn’t stop now. Her mind clicked as she pictured where the bullets had hit against the building. The shooter had been in the parking lot.

A drive-by?

No way to tell until all this was over. People pressed past her. Some made it to their cars and sped away from the scene. Guilt ate at her as she scanned the area for a place to hide—and watch. She’d thought that by acting on impulse, no one would know where she was. No one would be able to follow her. No one would be able to make another attempt on her life this soon.

And now she’d brought danger to everyone within bullet range.

No time to think about it now.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

Where had Colton gone? She hadn’t deliberately separated herself from him or Blake, but maybe it would be better if she wasn’t anywhere near them right now.

She’d been stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. After being careful for so long, she’d really pulled a humdinger of stupid coming out to confront the senator like this.

But she’d had to warn Colton. Tell him he might be a target. And now someone was shooting at them. Had her coming here inspired the shots? Or had the person been here waiting on Colton?

But Colton hadn’t planned on being here and neither had she.

So how had someone known?

Harsh breaths pulled at her as she pushed fear aside to focus on staying alive. She ducked behind the nearest vehicle and grimaced as pain shot up her wounded arm. She rested against the back tire as she used her good arm to dig into her shorts pocket for the cell phone Colton had given her. She punched in his number and held the device to her ear.

Now what?
Think, Jillian. Think.

The side mirror shattered behind her.

“Get down! Everybody stay down!” Colton swallowed hard as he tightened his grip on his weapon. The shooter had changed locations. The shot had sounded from around the side of the building. At least he thought so. Some of the screams were as loud as the shots.

Or were there two shooters? Two locations, two shooters?

Or had he moved?

His phone vibrated again and he snatched it.

Jillian’s number. It had rung once, then shut off. He swept the scene one more time.

He’d seen Blake get the girl to safety, but Colton had lost his
grip on Jillian when someone had slammed into her. Just as he’d reached out to help her, he’d been knocked from behind. By the time he’d gotten his balance, she was gone.

And now, from his crouched perch behind the white column, he still couldn’t see her. She’d been hurt. That first bullet had hit her. He felt sure it was just a graze, but wished he could have kept her near him.

Colton saw Blake slink around the side of the hotel and slam up against the column opposite his own. “Where’s Jillian?”

“I don’t know. I lost my grip on her.” It galled him to admit it.

Blake shot him a dark look, then asked, “You spot the shooter?”

The shooter. “No. But the bullets are coming from the parking lot. At least they were. I think I heard another one come from the side of the building.” He nodded his head toward the left. Thankfully, the parking lot now resembled a ghost town. “That way. It’s been quiet for the last few seconds.”

“One or two shooters?”

“I can’t tell, which is why I’m still right here.” He watched and waited, praying Jillian was hunkered down hiding. “Where is he? Or is it ‘they’?” he muttered, not expecting an answer. Blake held his weapon ready and Colton said, “You’re deputized right now.”

“Thanks.” Blake nodded like he expected that.

“Don’t make me regret it,” Colton said. He would be responsible for the man.

Blake kept his attention on the parking lot as he said, “Security’s good, they know what they’re doing. They’ve got the hotel locked down. I told them to let me out first, then lock every entrance and exit. They were two steps ahead of me.”

That meant the shooter couldn’t get in. But if Jillian was still outside, that meant she couldn’t either. His gut wound itself tighter, if that was even possible. “How far away is backup?”

“Should be here any minute.”

“That’s about a minute too long,” Colton grunted.

Blake motioned he was going around, trying to see if the shooter was still in the same place he was when he first started shooting.

Another gunshot sounded from the side of the building to Colton’s left. They exchanged a look. Colton asked, “You willing to risk it?” Risk there being a second shooter and as soon as they showed themselves, he’d pick one of them off. Blake nodded and together they popped from the protection of the columns and headed toward the sound of the latest gunshot.

When the bullet shattered the mirror, Jillian jerked and lost her grip on the phone. It skittered under the van. She dropped to her knees and gave a frantic look for the device, but she couldn’t spot it. Footsteps sounded. She jumped up, and with terror pounding a hard beat through her veins, she raced across the parking lot, waiting for a bullet to find its mark this time.

Where was the shooter now? Behind her? She looked back. Nothing. Had he circled around to get in front of her? Was she racing straight toward him? Her heart pounded and she could almost taste her fear as it flooded every pore. She raced to the next vehicle, then the next, expecting to feel the bite of a bullet pierce her back as she made her way around the side of the hotel.

Oh God, please.

“Jillian!”

Colton’s yell stopped her, freezing her blood in her veins as she dropped behind the nearest car. She almost answered, then bit her tongue as she slipped behind the nearest tree. She couldn’t answer and give away her spot. The shooter was still there. Even with the sirens growing closer, she knew he was still there.

She pulled her weapon from the back of her shorts.

Movement from the parking lot grabbed her attention. A man in a black suit moved like he knew where he was going. Should she follow him? She took note of the baseball cap pulled low and hesitated.

“Jillian!”

The black suit paused and spun and she caught sight of the weapon in his right hand.

The shooter.

While he was looking away from her, distracted by Colton’s voice, Jillian darted from car to car until she came full circle in front of the hotel. She shivered even as sweat ran down her face. What was Colton doing yelling her name like that?

Trying to divert the killer’s attention back to him, Jillian figured. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she knew it with a certainty that made her want to live to hug the man—and smack him. Once again he was trying to protect her. Colton had no idea where she was, but by pretending he did, he was hoping to scare off the shooter.

The sirens were nearly on top of her, but that didn’t seem to faze the man who was determined to kill her.

Colton’s tennis shoes slapped against the parking lot asphalt. “Where’d they go?”

“I have no idea.” Blake hunkered behind a car and pointed. “Gunshots came from over there.”

“Come on.” Colton shook his head. “Lots of hiding places. Good for Jillian. Bad for us as far as finding this guy.” They headed in the direction the shots had come from, keeping low and trying to use the trees for cover. No sense in standing out in the open and inviting a bullet in the brain if they didn’t have to.

“Guy?” Blake asked as they ran. “So you’re back to thinking it’s just one shooter?”

“For now. Until I’m proven to be wrong.”

The Ranger rubbed a hand over his eyes. “How many shots is that?”

“Six or seven. I lost count. You go that way, I’ll take the—” His phone rang and he snatched it as he stepped behind a tree on Wildlife Boulevard, praying to see Jillian’s new number on the screen.

Hope plummeted when he didn’t recognize the number. But he pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear. “Brady here.”

“Colton, it’s Jillian.”

Her breathless, scared voice sent his pulse skittering. But relief filled him. She was alive. “Where are you?”

“With an officer. I’m safe for now.”