Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
But Miranda’s suitcase hit the pavement, and she turned and ran.
“You asshole,” Harlow hissed under her breath.
“I’ll get her.” Jensen took off.
And then she heard the sharp report of gunfire. She ducked down, protecting her head with the Jeep. It had come from behind her, and she thought they were firing at Miranda, not her.
Jensen stopped and turned her way. Harlow already had her weapon out. She shook her head. “Go. Protect her.”
Jensen growled but did as she asked. He had a SIG in his hand and had to realize that his cover was probably blown.
All because his ass couldn’t think straight.
“You okay?” Niall crawled from the side of the Jeep, joining her. “Should I call the cops?”
That was the least of her problems. “Oh, I assure you someone’s already called them.”
“Do you think they took their shot and they’re done?” Niall asked.
She shook her head. “No idea. You need to get out of here. I’m going after Miranda. If this guy knows the neighborhood at all, he’ll know there’s a series of alleys he can use to cut her off. I think he panicked when she turned to run. Hamilton always was sloppy when it came to shit like this. He probably wanted to bring her in and the asshole he sent to kidnap her panicked when she started to run.”
Whoever Hamilton had sent likely thought Miranda saw him and ran. But Harlow knew this was about Jensen, the asshole idiot who was fucking up all her plans.
“I know this area. We’re not far from my gym,” Niall said. “I’ll pull around to the west side and pick you and Miranda up there. We can try to get to the MT building. I assume we want to avoid the cops if we can.”
He was so sexy right now. Calm and cool under pressure. His green eyes were steady on her, and if it wasn’t a terrible idea, she would kiss him. Instead, she nodded. “I’ll meet you at the end of the alley behind this street. I’m going to go behind the apartment building and through the parking lot. Hopefully Miranda rounds back to there. The street dead-ends two blocks from here. Call Ruby and tell her to monitor what’s happening.”
“Be careful,” he said, and then he eased back around the Jeep.
When she heard the car door close, she took off running for the entry to the apartment building, quickly getting behind the tall bushes. They made excellent cover. As she thought, the night was quiet around her. Either whoever took that shot was gone or they were after Miranda.
Did whoever shot at Miranda know who she was? Was it random? Harlow doubted it, and that meant they were in trouble, especially if they had gotten a good look at Jensen.
As she moved around the building, she had to recognize that she didn’t want the asshole dead and would do what she needed to in order to save his dumb ass. Not because she loved him.
Because once she had. Because she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t save him.
She needed more therapy. Was there a therapy that made a person less sensitive? Oh, yeah. That was called dating assholes.
There it was. It was Niall’s fault. Niall was such a good man that he was turning her into some whiny, can’t-let-a-dude-die chick. She would have to turn in her tough-chick card. She was morally gray, damn it.
Except she wasn’t, and she needed to follow her damn instincts.
Which led her to the pool area of the small apartment building. The pool was surrounded by a metal fence meant only to keep dogs and animals out, so she had an excellent view of the parking lot beyond. It looked like there were a couple of walking trails through the complex, likely leading to the park down the street.
It was quiet, but she could hear someone coming from her right. She stopped before turning the corner, listening. There was no sound of sirens. No people coming out of their houses. Perhaps they thought it was a car backfiring since there had only been the one shot. Dumbass hadn’t even used a suppressor. She would have a talk with Hamilton about his hiring practices one day. If the asshole survived Jensen.
“You know her?” Miranda asked.
“Yes, I do. We worked together when I was trying to take down the organization in LA,” a quiet voice replied. Jensen’s voice.
“If you’re going to kill me, I would rather you did it quickly,” Miranda replied.
She heard a sigh as Jensen led Miranda around the corner. He had a hand on her elbow. “I’m not going to kill you. I’m literally trying to make sure you don’t die or get involved in this crap further. I came out here to make sure they didn’t pull this. Come on. She won’t have taken off.”