When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (22 page)

Hunter peered around the edge of the wall and waited. His arm hurt like crazy, but he didn’t think the wound was too bad. Ignoring it seemed like the best idea for now. He knew a SWAT team would be deployed. But until they got here, he needed to do something.

From what he could tell, everyone had taken cover. A few cries and screams still reached his ears. But he didn’t think anyone else had been hit. So far, only three shots had been fired. All at him.

He glanced at his watch. Three minutes had passed since the last shot.

Alexia huddled beside him. A fierce anger shifted through him. Who was doing this and why?

Slowly, he lifted his head. And caught sight of someone running across the top of the doctor’s building just across the street, heading for the parking garage. Hunter grabbed his phone and spoke into it. “The pediatric office on Forrest Drive. Tall, thin, dressed in black. Has a mask on.”

“Got it.”

“Where’s the SWAT team?”

“On the way.”

“That’s not fast enough,” he muttered under his breath as his eyes tracked the possible destination of the shooter. The parking garage. Lots of places to hide—or grab a hostage.

Hunter nudged Alexia’s arm, and she looked at him with such rage in her eyes, it almost froze him for a nanosecond. He understood it wasn’t directed at him, but still . . .

He looked at the hospital door thirty feet away. “You need to stay put until I tell you to move, got it? The door’s too far, you’d be exposed too long.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to catch this guy. Wait here.”

“Hunter—”

“I’m serious, Alexia. Don’t move until you get the all clear.”

Without another word, he popped up to race across the street.

Alexia sat there, fury churning in her gut. Not to mention a healthy dose of fear. She watched Hunter weave across the circular drive, keeping behind parked cars and as much cover as possible as he made his way closer to the building where he’d seen someone on the roof.

Gunfire erupted, bullets popping around him, hitting the ground in front of him. One ruptured the window of the car he now hid behind. She wanted to scream at him to stop. She knew he was determined to get to the shooter. But at what cost?

More terrified screams renewed in pitch and volume at the onslaught of the bullets.

Please don’t let him die.

Was that a prayer? If God was listening, definitely.

Hunter had pinned his badge to his shirt in plain view. Her eyes flicked from one spot to the next. Everyone still kept out of sight. Cops in protective gear swarmed the area, yelling commands and doing their best to stay out of the line of fire.

Hunter disappeared around the edge of the building and Alexia waffled. Did she just sit and wait?

Another shot rang out and she ducked instinctively. More screams echoed all around her. But the shot hadn’t come from the roof this time. The parking garage?

A young woman to her left screamed and broke free, racing toward the parking lot to the left.

The older man with her yelled, “No, Jeannette! Come back.”

But the woman was beyond reasonable thought, her fear propelling her.

Another shot sounded.

Jeannette staggered and fell to the ground.

“No-no-no-no-no,” Alexia whispered. “Don’t do this. Why shoot her? You’re not after her. You want me. Or Hunter.”

And she knew she had no choice. Alexia narrowed her eyes and tried to see how bad the woman was hurt. The woman’s left hand grabbed at her wounded shoulder as she rolled toward a parked car, trying to get cover. But the angle was all wrong. If she rolled under that vehicle, the shooter could still see her from the garage. At least she thought that was the case.

Maybe not. Maybe she would be just fine.

Maybe.

Alexia calculated the distance between her and the woman and the nearest shelter.

More shots fired in rapid succession. Another person screamed and Alexia knew someone else had been hit. But the bullets weren’t coming her way this time, so she dashed across the exposed area and grabbed the woman by her uninjured arm. “Come with me!”

Hysterical sobs ruptured from her, but she didn’t fight Alexia’s propelling grip. She staggered to her feet and allowed Alexia to steer her toward the security guard’s box in the parking lot.

Stumbling, shoving the woman along, Alexia slammed her way into the box to find the security guard on the floor. The man looked up and scuttled back against the wall. Alexia pushed the woman inside, crawled in after her, and snapped the door shut.

A bullet shattered the glass above her head.

Hunter ducked into the parking garage and spoke into his phone. SWAT had finally arrived and knew he was there. His boss knew he was there. Both had ordered him back as they swarmed the doctor’s office next to the garage.

“He’s not there anymore!” Hunter gritted into the phone. “I saw him run across the top of the roof. Get the parking garage covered.”

“We’ve got it,” his boss’s bass voice echoed in his ear. “Now get back and let the SWAT guys do their job.”

“Yes sir. I’ll do my best.” But by this time, Hunter was already in the garage. To leave now would possibly expose himself to the shooter. He was safer in the garage.

A car door slammed and Hunter froze.

An unsuspecting innocent who’d arrived after the shooting? Or the shooter trying to get away? Hunter couldn’t believe the person would be so stupid as to actually park in the parking garage. But you never knew.

Keeping his weapon in front of him, ignoring the fire shooting down his wounded arm, Hunter moved in the direction he thought the sound had come from. His black rubber-soled shoes made no noise on the concrete floor. Then he saw the SWAT team enter the area. The lead man pulled up short when he saw Hunter and slammed his rifle to his shoulder, the barrel pointing at Hunter.

Hunter flashed his badge and the man gave him a short nod, turning his weapon to the right. A finger to his lips, Hunter then gestured toward the sound, indicating the men should head that way.

Another nod and a signal to the team behind him.

And another sound behind them.

One SWAT member bolted to the man exiting the stairwell. “Freeze!”

The man dropped his briefcase and lifted his hands into the air. “I . . . I’m just trying to get to my car. I need to get out of here.” Sweat ringed his armpits, terror made him shake.

The SWAT member took care of him as the rest of the team fanned out in different directions. Hunter scooted to the next pole and fell to the floor, his eyes scanning every corner, crevice, and shadow under the cars. Then above the cars.

Back under the cars.

A pair of legs. Crouched beside the car. Looked like nice linen pants. His guess was another innocent bystander, but he took no chances.

He crept in that direction, taking silent, measured steps. He rounded the back end of the car and pulled his badge with one hand and kept his weapon ready. “Ma’am?”

She whirled and opened her mouth to scream. Then saw his badge and managed to swallow her fear and part of her scream.

“Where’s your car?”

“This one.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sandy Sanford.” She swallowed hard but kept her eyes on him.

“Get in the car and lock it. Lie down on the floorboard and don’t move until someone comes to get you.”

She nodded. Two quick jerks of her head. Then she opened the door and did exactly what he said.

Into the phone, he let his captain know about the woman in the vehicle along with the license plate number, make, and model. A quick check would be made on her.

He stayed near the car. Looked under it. Around it.

Nothing.

The garage was well-lit but contained more hiding places than he was comfortable with. It wouldn’t be hard to ambush him or the SWAT team. However, Hunter felt like the shooter had hightailed it out of there. Escape would be his number one priority right now.

Weeping reached his ears.

He swung his head in the direction of the sobs and picked up the pace. Two rows over he saw another woman huddled against her car.

Several SWAT team members surrounded them while still others branched off to continue the search of the parking garage.

“Ma’am?” Hunter asked. “Are you hurt?”

His gaze flicked to the lead SWAT member. The man studied the surrounding area, alert and ready for a trap.

Hunter saw the woman’s hands shake as she lifted her head. Recognition hit him in spite of her disheveled, tearful appearance. “Lori?”

She nodded, her skewed ponytail bobbing on one shoulder. Sweat dripped from her forehead. “He was here. He—he had a rifle. He shoved me down.” She swiped a hand under her nose, then scrubbed her eyes. “He said he was going to kill me. Then he heard you running and he made me sit here. He told me not to move or he’d kill me. I . . . I didn’t move, I promise.” The last word squeaked out on a sob.

Once again Hunter felt the rage well up in him. He patted the terror-stricken woman’s shoulder as his eyes scanned the parking lot once more. Where had the shooter gone? His gut tightened. They’d covered the area and nothing. How was that possible?

She started to stand and he motioned her back down. She immediately slid back down the side of the car to crouch on the garage floor.

“Stay there,” he said. “If you stand, you might expose your head.”

He watched as she gripped her purse to her stomach. Her eyes darted, probing, looking for her attacker. Her fingers twitched as she pulled in a hitching breath. Her gaze came back to him. “So, is he gone?”

“I think so. I don’t know how, but yeah, looks like he managed to get away.”

Hunter could tell his words had an immediate calming effect. Her shoulders slumped in relief.

“Did you see his face?” he asked her.

“Not really. He had a mask on.”

Of course he did.

Hunter gestured to the car. “Is this yours?”

Lori shook her head and pointed behind her. “It’s over there. He came up on me before I had a chance to get to it.”

The SWAT team returned from their search. Hunter looked at the man in the lead. “Anything?”

“Nothing.” The ferocious frown said he wasn’t happy about it either. “I don’t get it. It’s like he disappeared into thin air.”

“Clear over here,” a voice to his left.

“Clear on the bottom level.”

And so it went until the parking garage was declared safe. Free of the shooter.

Who had disappeared.

Hunter itched to get back to Alexia and make sure she was all right. He said to Lori, “These guys will take care of you. Okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Now that I know he’s gone.”

Hunter signaled to the lead SWAT member that he was leaving. The man tilted his head in acknowledgment and Hunter took off toward the last place he’d seen Alexia.

He had to flash his badge and shove through officers, medical personnel, and another SWAT team before he arrived at his destination.

The fountain. And of course she wasn’t there.

He whipped his head to the right, then the left. “Alexia!”

It was impossible to see through the crowd.

“Hunter!”

Behind him.

He whirled to find Alexia exiting the security booth. An injured woman stumbled with her. Hunter jogged over and did a visual inventory of Alexia while an EMS worker took over and began assessing the injured woman. Hunter zeroed in on Alexia. “Are you in one piece?”

She lifted a brow and even offered a slight smile. “I’m in one piece. You?”

“For now.” When his boss got through with him, he might need a whole roll of duct tape to put the pieces back together. But he couldn’t get out of that garage without endangering himself. His boss would understand.

He hoped.

“Did they get whoever was shooting at us?” Alexia asked.

“No.” He couldn’t help that the word came out clipped, hard, angry, frustrated. Which was fine. It was how he felt about the fact that the shooter got away.

Surprise lit her eyes. “I would have thought he would have been easy to pin down in the garage.”

Hunter shook his head. “I don’t understand it. We had him right there. And he got away clean.” He rubbed his jaw with his good hand. The brief thought that he ought to get the wounded shoulder looked at crossed his mind.