Daddy Devastating (18 page)

He pressed in Toby’s number, and waited.

Toby didn’t answer. On the seventh ring, Russ gave up and slapped his phone shut. This couldn’t be good. Even if Toby was helping a wounded Silas, the man still should have been able to answer his phone. Unless someone—or something—was preventing Toby from answering.

“What do we do?” Julia asked.

Her breathing was already too fast, so Russ pulled her to him. He couldn’t take long to comfort her, because he had to call headquarters for backup.

The sound stopped him. Someone was pounding on several of the doors. Russ didn’t answer. He put his fingers to Julia’s lips so she’d stay quiet, as well. But he was praying it was Toby out in the hall.

“It’s me,” someone called out. “The lights went out when I was coming up the stairs. I can’t see my hand in front of my face out here.” Not Toby.

Silas.

“Russ, if you’re in one of these suites, you have to let me in,” Silas demanded. “Toby didn’t answer his phone, and I’ve got no way to protect myself. And we have to protect ourselves. There’s some guy in the parking lot, and I’m sure he’s got some thermal imaging equipment. I think he’s looking for us.”

Oh, man.
That wasn’t something he wanted to hear. “Don’t answer him,” Russ whispered to Julia.

Silas knocked again, and it sounded as if he were at the door across the hall from them. “Russ, are you in there? The maid told me you were probably in one of the suites on this floor. I’m in pain, and I need help.
Please.
”

Russ waited, his breath held. Beside him, Julia did the same. He hated not responding, but he couldn’t take the risk. He only hoped Silas would understand, if he turned out to be innocent in all of this.

Silas moved to their door, and he started to hit his fists against it. Russ hoped the locks wouldn’t give way. Just in case, he aimed his gun in that direction. He wasn’t happy about the possibility of having to shoot a fellow agent, but if Silas came through that door, Russ couldn’t let him get to Julia.

“I’m going to the front desk to ask them to call for an ambulance,” Silas said, his voice way too loud. Even if he was completely innocent, he had to be drawing some attention. The wrong attention, no doubt.

The pounding and shouting stopped. Russ waited, listening, and stayed quiet. He wanted to call headquarters, but Silas was possibly still lurking outside the door.

He brushed his fingers along Julia’s arm again and hoped it would keep her calm. This had to be scaring her to death. It was scaring him, too, and he hoped he could get her safely out of there.

The seconds crawled by, each one ticking off in his head. Russ thought of Toby, of reasons why the man wouldn’t be answering his phone, but none of those reasons were good. Maybe, just maybe, Toby was still alive.

Russ took out his phone again to call headquarters. It wasn’t his first choice of ways to handle this incident, because if agents had to come into the hotel for a full scale rescue, it might blow his cover. That couldn’t happen with him so close to getting the Richardsons’ baby back.

Russ had barely opened his phone when he heard the sound.

A crash.

Russ automatically pushed Julia to the floor, and he crawled over her to protect her with his own body. He glanced around, trying to pick through the darkness to see what had happened. The door was still closed, so Silas, or someone, hadn’t broken through it.

He spotted the glass then. Shards of it glistened on the floor. And Russ knew why. There was a hole in the drapes, and light from the outside was pouring through the tiny opening.

What the hell had happened? But he soon knew.

There was another crash, more of a soft pop, followed by the sound of breaking glass. And that’s when Russ realized that someone was shooting at them with a gun rigged with a silencer.

Chapter Fifteen

Julia felt something smack into her leg, and she glanced behind her to see what it was. A shard of glass. Something had broken through the window and sent the glass flying.

Was someone shooting at them again?

If so, there hadn’t been a loud bang like the shots in the park, or the ones fired earlier, outside the hotel.

“Let’s go into the bathroom,” Russ told her. He helped her get into a crouching position so they could get moving. But there was another swooshing sound.

The bullet, or whatever it was, tore through the thick drapes and sent more glass onto the floor.

That got Russ moving even faster. He practically pushed her to the floor and took out his phone. She waited and prayed, while he called for backup, but he only cursed.

“Someone’s jammed the lines,” Russ told her.

Her heart dropped.
No. This couldn’t be happening.

“Go into the bathroom,” he said.

There were no windows in that room, so Julia was about to run in that direction, but the next sound was considerably louder than the others.

Not a bullet coming through glass.

This was much louder and more of a crashing sound. Light rushed through the sitting room, spraying out from the window, and she soon knew why.

Someone had actually broken through the window.

But how? They were on the top floor of the three-story hotel. That meant that someone had gotten to the roof and climbed out onto the ledge outside the window. It wouldn’t have been difficult to do.

“Get down!” Russ shouted to her.

Julia dropped to the floor, and it wasn’t a second too soon. One of those silenced shots came flying into the bedroom. Not at Russ, but at her.

The bullet slammed into the thick down comforter and sent feathers swirling around like confetti.

Russ returned fire. Unlike their attacker, his shot wasn’t muffled through a silencer. It was a loud blast that echoed in the room.

She caught a glimpse of the shooter diving to the side of the sofa. Russ took cover, as well, behind the slightly ajar bedroom door. But Julia knew that wouldn’t be much protection. Bullets could easily go through wood.

Julia wanted to yell for Russ to slam the door and get down, but she couldn’t risk giving away their exact locations. Especially hers. The gunman had fired at her. Why?

Earlier, Milo had tried to kidnap her, but now it appeared that Milo, or someone else, didn’t care if she was killed. Did that mean they no longer needed her for leverage, or did this have something to do with Silas?

Another shot came her way and hit the pillows that were stacked against the headboard. Julia flattened her body on the floor and covered her head.

She considered trying to get into the bathroom, but it was too dangerous for her to move now. There was more than enough light coming from the broken windows for their attacker to see them and take aim right at her.

The next shot tore into the nightstand, just inches above her. She heard Russ curse, and he came out of cover with his gun pointed.

“No!” she shouted. He could be killed, and all because he was protecting her.

But that didn’t stop him. Russ fired a shot, then another.

The next sound she heard was something or someone falling to the floor. A loud thud, like deadweight crashing against the carpet.

For a moment Julia lost sight of Russ, and that sent her into a near panic. He wasn’t be hurt. That sound couldn’t have been him falling.

But then she heard footsteps and followed their sound. Russ was still there. Standing. And he didn’t appear to be injured. He had his weapon and was inching into the sitting room.

“Is he dead?” she asked.

Russ didn’t answer. She saw him shake his head, and he disappeared into the other room.

Julia started praying. She hated that she wished someone dead, but better their attacker than Russ or her.

She forced herself to slow her breathing. Not easy to do. But she formed an image of Russ and Emily in her mind. She didn’t let that image waver, and she drew much needed strength from it. She had to get through this for them. Emily needed her, and Russ would go through a bad guilt trip if she went crazy on him.

“He’s dead,” she heard Russ say.

The relief was immediate, and she jumped to her feet so she could see for herself. But Russ was there in the doorway, and he turned her away from the dead man.

“He has a thermal monitor on him,” Russ explained. “This is the guy that Silas saw in the parking lot.”

No doubt. And he’d used that equipment to pinpoint them for an attack.

“My phone isn’t working,” Russ added. “But someone probably heard those shots. I’m thinking we’ll wait here until the cops arrive.”

Julia nodded, and then went willingly when he pulled her into his arms.

“Why did he want me dead?” she managed to ask. “It doesn’t make sense. Milo probably thinks I’m the buyer. He likely believes I’m the one who’ll be giving him access to the money. So why would he risk killing me?”

“I don’t know.” Russ brushed a kiss on her cheek. “But I intend to find out.”

Yes, but that would take time. “What about tomorrow morning’s meeting?”

“I’ll go with backup,” he said.

Backup suddenly didn’t seem nearly enough. Still, what other choice did Russ have? They couldn’t let the Richardson baby be sold to someone else.

She stood there in his arms, while she listened for the sound of sirens. But she didn’t hear any. Maybe because it was too soon. Maybe the cops were on the way but still out of earshot. She didn’t want to think of the alternative—that Russ’s bullets had been dismissed as a car backfiring.

“How long do we wait?” she whispered.

“As long as it takes.”

But the words had no sooner left Russ’s mouth when Julia finally heard something. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

It was coming from the hallway.

There was another of those deadly swishing sounds. And this time, she knew exactly what it was.

Someone had fired a shot just outside their suite.

N
OT AGAIN
.

That was Russ’s first thought, quickly followed by a trained response that he had to do something, anything, to protect Julia. For whatever reason, someone was out to kill her tonight.

The dead guy on the floor had certainly tried. And failed, thank God. Russ had wanted to find out who he was, and better yet, who had sent him. But those questions would obviously have to wait.

Round two had begun.

There was another shot in the hall. It also came from a gun rigged with a silencer.

Apparently, someone didn’t want to be detected. Too bad Russ couldn’t just start firing shots at the ceiling, so that it would alert someone to call the police, but he couldn’t waste the ammunition. He didn’t have any extra magazines with him, or a backup weapon. Since he was using a smaller, more compact handgun, suited for undercover work, he’d only started with fifteen rounds—two of which he’d spent on the dead guy.

Thirteen better turn out to be a lucky number, because that wouldn’t be enough firepower if he got into a long gunfight.

Russ caught onto Julia’s arm and positioned her behind the bar. It wasn’t an ideal location, since it wasn’t that far from the now gaping window where the gunman had entered. But the bathroom was out, since it was on the same side of the wall as the hall. In fact, that could have been where the last shot went. Anyone with any experience in attacks would have known that Russ would have sent Julia into the bathroom.

And he’d nearly succeeded in getting her there. But blind luck again had kept her remaining safe. Later, he’d kick himself for not getting her out of town. She should be at the safe house with Emily. But instead she’d stayed behind, and was now in danger because of it.

Russ stayed in front of her and tried to keep watch on all sides. If someone tried to break down the door, he’d have time to fire, but he couldn’t cover both the door and the window. If the assault came from both sides, they were in trouble.

There was another shot. And it confirmed what Russ had already suspected. Someone had fired into the bathroom. This wasn’t just an ordinary attack. It was a mission of murder.

Now the question was why?

He checked his phone again: still blocked. He picked up the house phone, but it was dead as well. Though maybe, just maybe, help was on the way.

Just in case this turned ugly, Russ took the folded piece of paper from his front pocket and stuffed it in between the foil-bagged nuts on the bar. Leaving it there was a gamble, but it would be an even bigger gamble to keep it on him.

There was a thump at the door. Not exactly the sound of a kick, but close. Russ aimed his gun in that direction and braced himself for another attack.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The second attempt was a hard kick to the door. The locks held. Until the person fired a shot into the lock. Not one, but three. Each rough gust was followed by the sound of metal slashing through metal.

Russ’s heart was in his throat, and he had no doubt that Julia was about to lose it. She didn’t have his training. But she damn sure had the experience with violent situations. This was no doubt causing an avalanche of flashbacks.

“Stay down,” Russ warned her, in a whisper.

Another bullet went into the lock, and it was followed by a hard kick. Russ got ready. His finger tightened on the trigger, and he tried to get the best aim he could. He had no idea who or what was coming through the door, but he might have only one shot to save Julia.

The door burst open, and Russ was within a split-second of firing when he saw the man’s face. Silas.

But he wasn’t armed, and he didn’t look as if he had the strength to kick down a door. There was blood on his forehead and on the sleeve of his shirt. He was holding on to his left arm.

“I’m sorry,” Silas said. He hadn’t said it clearly, either. He slurred the two words.

Russ wanted to ask “sorry for what?” But he soon realized Silas wasn’t alone.

Someone was standing directly behind him.

Russ couldn’t see the person’s other face, but he had no trouble seeing that a gun was aimed at Silas’s head.

That put a knot in Russ’s stomach. He hadn’t trusted Silas when he’d called out earlier, and maybe because of that lack of trust, Silas was now in danger. Still, Russ hadn’t had a choice. The agent’s behavior had been too erratic for Russ to believe him and let him anywhere near Julia.