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Chapter Fourteen

Luke wanted to get Julie the hell out of here, but he had to deal with the very real possibility his vehicle could have been tampered with They had company, and it wasn’t the kind that came around on holidays, irritated you, and left Luke sauntered away from her door, his posture deceptively relaxed, a whistle on his lips The paid parking lot to Luke’s right, filled with at least thirty vehicles, was like that crowd he’d said was dangerous There were lots of places to hide, but the guy under the Jeep several feet back wasn’t as good as he thought he was

Luke walked around the back of the truck, out of Julie’s sight, his skin twitching, his nerve endings were so on edge He pretended to walk toward the driver’s door, shrugging out of his coat as if he meant to throw it on the seat, when he actually wanted the ease of ave hiun under his pant leg, and let the coat lie on the ground, alreadythe vehicles for cover before the

He found cover by a sweet little ride, a Mustang Shelby, using the wheel to hide his feet and squatting under the vehicle to look for the would-be attacker, now turned into Luke’s prey

He listened and watched There was a scrape and then a shadow Luke lunged forward as the guy darted between vehicles, grabbed the ainst a car and find out who’d sent hiht Was it him or Julie or both?

"Release him," came a low, accented order

Luke rose to his feet and pulled his capture to his chest, and pressing the gun to the ht between his eyes The shooter took off running

Shit shit shit Luke’s heart lodged in his throat at the fear he’d done exactly what had been planned, and left Julie alone in the truck He tossed aside the dead guy, and with his finger on the trigger, guarding his back, he ran for the truck, scared like he’d never been scared in his life

The instant he rounded the cars and saw Julie looking desperately through the , he exhaled the air lodged in his throat with his heart

She opened the door and he blocked her exit "Oh God, what-?"

He held up a silencing finger and her eyes went to his gun and then widened She nodded He took the phone, knowing his brother would be one the line "One down and another ar hot, not toducks I’ his brother would get the right people here, his hand sliding to Julie’s hair "Stay close and do exactly what I say"

"We could run for the building"

He shook his head "That’s where they expect us to run The subway is two blocks We’re safer there Take off your shoes and carry them They’ll slow you down and make noise" She nodded and stuffed the it over her shoulder cross-ways She gave him a nod of readiness, brave when most would not have been