by Janie Crouch
Until she heard gunfire.
She couldn’t make out where it was coming from, so she ducked to the side, getting low on the ground, hoping they weren’t shooting at her. She strained to see something through the ski mask, trying to make herself as small as possible as another gun went off.
There was a war going on and she was caught right in the middle of it, not sure which direction, if any, would lead her to safety.
Before she could decide, she was tackled from the side. Her shoulders screamed in agony as she rolled, trying to get as far away as she could. Was it Rocco? Had he decided to finish her off like he’d been instructed?
The hood was ripped off her, but she didn’t stop her fight, kicking and bucking her weight against the man who held her down.
“Charlie, stop! It’s Henry.”
“Henry?” Not Rocco. “Oh, thank God.”
He pulled a knife out of his boot and cut through the zip tie, dragging her behind a car. Charlie peeked around it to see what was going on.
The police car had stopped. Two officers were behind it, using it as a shield, their weapons drawn and pointed toward The Silver Palace.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Henry. “I thought you guys were supposed to go to The Lion’s Den.”
“I came by to see Jordan, and then I saw someone in a mask being dragged to a car. I didn’t know it was you.”
“That guy I was telling you about, Rocco, he and someone I don’t know were going to put me in their trunk and kill me later. They pulled me out of the club when I opened the door to make a call.” She jerked her glance away from the police, looking behind her. Were Rocco and the other guy still out here behind them? “We have to be careful, they could be anywhere.”
“One of them I took care of. That guy was about to shoot you. Rocco, I think.” He pointed to a body lying on the ground by the car they’d been trying to put her in. “The other . . .you’re right. He took off when shots were fired, but he might still be around.”
They both ducked down as two more shots came from The Silver Palace, even though they were aimed at the police car, not them. The two officers yelled for the men to lower their weapons. A second police car came speeding into the parking lot.
She grabbed Henry’s arm. “That Stellman guy you and Aiden have been looking for is inside the club right now.”
“Can you identify him?”
“No. I’ve still never seen him. But Henry, there’s some sort of code . . .Symbols. Aiden showed me some earlier tonight. He didn’t know exactly what they were. He was going to ask the major.”
“Symbols?” Henry’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, Aiden mentioned those.”
Another shot rang out in the darkness, followed by a third police car squealing into the parking lot. Sheriff Nelson got out, staying behind it.
“Sheriff,” Charlie called. “Henry and I are back here. Some of the guys Aiden is trying to bust are the ones shooting at you.”
“Guy named Stellman?” the sheriff asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think so.”
The sheriff didn’t turn around to look at her but held up a hand to show he’d heard her. “We’ve got help coming, but it’s not going to be in time if this escalates.”
Fortunately, no innocent people were coming out the front door and getting caught in any crossfire, but that wouldn’t last long.
There was nothing to stop Stellman or whoever was inside from taking hostages—one of the dancers, or even Jordan. The sheriff was sending an officer to cover the front door, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Another vehicle came barreling into the parking lot. This one she recognized. Finn’s Jeep. He pulled up next to Sheriff Nelson, but Charlie couldn’t help it, even though it wasn’t safe, she ran around the car and straight into him.
He tensed as he caught her weight, then pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “Thank God. I’ve been trying to call you to let you know you were in danger. What the hell is going on here?” He saw the ripped skin of her arm. “Are you okay?”
There was so much she needed to tell him. “I was in trouble. But Henry saved my life.”
The other man had much more safely and discreetly crawled to Finn’s Jeep. Finn looked over at him and stuck out his hand to shake. “I’ll need to know the whole story later but thank you. I don’t know why you were here, but I’m glad you were.”
Henry shook his hand and smiled. “Was just here to see my girl. Nothing more profound than that.”
Charlie grabbed Finn’s arm. “The people shooting from inside, I’m almost positive it’s Stellman. The code Aiden showed us? It wasn’t just something I remembered from tutoring. I saw that exact code when those VIPs with Rocco were in the back room. And then tonight I saw something similar in our liquor storage room. A piece of paper with some similar symbols on it was stuffed inside a small crate of champagne. I saw the symbols, Finn. I think Stellman has been using The Silver Palace to pass along a sort of code to someone else.”
Finn looked at Henry. “Do you know anything about it? Is it Cline? This seems backward to me.”
Henry looked frantic. “I need to see the paper. It’s critical that I see it.”
Finn shook his head. “What’s critical is that we get the situation contained. We are going to need to get inside before things get out of control.”
She didn’t like that. Finn would be leading the charge.
But ten seconds later it was too late. Things were already out of control. People began running out of the doors screaming. It didn’t take them long to figure out why.
The Silver Palace was on fire.
All three men around her started cursing violently. The criminals inside had created the perfect diversion. Since no one knew what they looked like, they’d be able to exit with the terrified crowd.
“You’re going to have to get your bad guys another day,” Sheriff Nelson said. “Right now, we’ve got to get that building cleared.”
Henry looked completely panicked. “The paper with the code. What about it?”
Finn looked at the man like he’d lost his mind, but Charlie touched Henry’s arm. “Don’t worry, I memorized it. Even if we can’t recover the paper, I can write down the code for you.”
Sheriff Nelson and Finn were already running toward the building to help with the chaos.
“What do you mean, you memorized it?”
Why did he care so much? Couldn’t they talk about this later? People might be trapped inside the building.
She glanced over at him quickly. “I work with symbols all the time when I tutor, so memorizing them was easy.” She almost had to yell to be heard over the continuing chaos. “We can talk about this later. We’ve got to help Finn and the sheriff. People might be trapped inside. Jordan might be.”
He finally seemed to snap out of it. “Right. Yeah, let’s go help.”
Henry ran toward the building. Charlie was behind him, heading to the back. If she could get inside, maybe see if the fire could be stopped—
She was near the door when Finn’s arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet, pulling her back. “Whatever you’re thinking? No. You stay with me.”
“But I know where the fire extinguisher is. I might be able to do some good inside.”
“Then we go together. Someone is trying to kill you, princess. That explosion at your condo was not an accident.”
She didn’t even want to think about that right now. One burning building at a time.
They ran around to the back door. She was glad to see no one was trying to get out that way, given all the smoke pouring through the opening. They were still moving closer when the whole building shook, and the roar of an explosion pierced the air.
“What was that?” she asked.
“If I had to guess, it was the flames hitting your bar or liquor storeroom. There’s no going inside now.”
And nobody else would be getting out. Charlie prayed everyone had made it. Finn took her ar
m and led her to the front of the building, where everyone in various states of shock were now watching The Silver Palace burn. The fire department was pulling in and taking over, moving everyone farther back and setting up their hoses.
Finn kept his hand on her arm, but he wasn’t looking at the fire like most everyone else. He was searching the crowd, communicating with Aiden using some sort of hand signals.
Stellman might be still out here. But with the increasing chaos—paramedics were showing up now, adding to the noise and crowd—the chances of finding anyone not wanting to be found were slim.
“I want you out of here,” Finn said. “Get a medic to look at your arm and go home.”
She shook her head and glanced down at her shoulder. It was bleeding, but not badly. “My arm is fine, I promise. I want to stay here and help you. Maybe I could identify someone.”
He stood her in front of him and trailed his hands up her arms until he was cupping her cheeks.
“Aiden is here. Zac and Dorian are on their way. We’re going to sweep this area to see what we can find. Knowing you’re safely at home will allow me to focus. Sheriff Nelson has a man who is going to stay with you.”
She leaned her head against his chest. “I don’t want to leave you. I might be helpful.”
“You will be. You saw that code and you know it. That’s going to help Henry and Aiden. But right now, you need to let me do my job.”
She didn’t want to go, but she understood his point. “Fine.”
He chuckled. “You never were one to give in graciously. Do me a favor. I left Peyton at my house with Ethan. Can you relieve her? She’s the only one I know who works as hard as you. She’ll need to be up early in the morning.”
“Sure.”
“There will be an officer in front of the house. No arguments about him, okay? You are a target. I don’t know how long it will take here, but I’ll be surprised if I make it home before dawn. You stay put until I do.”
She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I’ll see you when you get in. Be careful.”
He kissed her back and walked her to a squad car. His smile was cocky and reassuring.
But despite his smile, she knew the danger was closer than ever.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Charlie had meant to stay awake and wait for Finn. She’d thought she would be too wound up to sleep at all. She’d sent Peyton and Jess home, waved to the officer who had obviously drawn the short straw, and made herself a cup of coffee. Then she’d sat down on the couch, wanting to see Finn when he walked in.
Next thing she knew, she was waking up with a start. She looked around, trying to figure out what was making her heart race. Was it Ethan? Had he woken up? Was Finn home? Or maybe it was just the sun starting to rise that had woken her.
She walked over to the window to peek out and saw the cop outside talking to someone. The man standing outside the squad car wasn’t big enough to be Finn. She yawned and tried to rub some of the sleep out of her eyes, which were already blurry from last night’s smoke. If the guys were on their way home, she needed to make more coffee.
She was turning away from the window when sudden movement at the car caught her attention. She glanced back out, and her mind froze in shock.
The man had just stabbed the officer.
She stumbled back until she ended up against the wall, hand flying to her mouth. Someone had just killed a police officer ten yards from the front door. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that person was here to kill her. Her legs felt weak and her breath sawed in and out of her chest in panicked gasps. She could feel the room starting to spin around her.
She slammed her hand against the wall. Pull it together, Charlie.
She had two choices: she could get her shit together and figure out a plan, or die.
“Charlie? What are you doing here? Are you okay?” Ethan was standing at the edge of the living room staring at her.
Whoever killed that officer outside with such casual efficiency wouldn’t hesitate to hurt anyone else, including a child. She pushed away from the wall. They had to get out of here.
She ran over to Ethan and knelt in front of him. “Hey, buddy. Your dad sent me to hang out with you until he could get home.” She didn’t want to scare the kid, but not telling him at least part of the truth was going to get them both killed. She ran her fingers over his head before settling them on his shoulders. “Ethan, I don’t want to scare you, bud, but there’s a bad guy out front. I need you to be brave. I need both of us to be. You and I have got to run.”
Those green eyes, so much like Finn’s, grew big. “Really?”
She squeezed his shoulders and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Yes, really. We’ve got to get away until your dad can get here and help us.”
The boy nodded. “Dad will come. He promised if I ever needed him he always would.”
She gave a silent prayer of thanks for all the hours Finn had taken to build his son’s trust.
They both jumped at the loud banging on the front door.
“Shoes,” she whispered. “Then we go out the back. Hurry.”
“What about Sky?” Ethan’s little face was pinched, worried about his puppy. “Will the bad man hurt Sky?”
They couldn’t take him and he was too tiny to be of any assistance. “Is he in his crate?”
Ethan nodded.
“Then he’ll be fine. The bad man will just ignore him, if he even notices Sky at all.” She prayed that would be true.
Ethan scurried away to get his shoes and she grabbed hers, careful to stay out of the line of sight of any windows. She and the boy ran toward the back door.
“Ready?” he asked as they both arrived at it. He was calm and collected, just like Finn.
“I love you, kid.” She couldn’t help the words. Wished she had said them to his dad too.
Ethan just rolled his eyes, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world, and quietly opened the door.
A loud bang came again on the front door again. “Charlie? It’s Henry. Finn sent me. Open up.”
Henry? Oh God. And she pushed Ethan out the door. “Go. Go.”
They ran. She heard the front door crash open as they rushed toward the woods surrounding Finn’s house. They had a good head start, but Henry had seen them go out the back door.
“Charlie, come back!” Henry yelled. “I just need the code you memorized.”
She didn’t slow down. If he just needed the code, there would’ve been no need to stab that police officer.
They ran into the woods, Charlie praying they could lose him. But the next time Henry spoke, he was even closer. He didn’t seem nearly as out of breath as a paper pusher ought to be. That did not bode well for her and Ethan.
“Charlie, you don’t have to get hurt,” Henry said. “I just need those codes. You said you have them all memorized, right? You give them to me and you and the boy get to walk away.”
She grabbed Ethan and pulled him behind a tree so they could catch their breath. There was no way they were going to be able to outrun Henry.
The best thing she could do right now was to get Ethan away from him. Because she had no doubt that Henry was lying about letting them go, even if she gave him the codes. She grabbed Ethan’s hand and began running again. He didn’t complain, just ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, nearly as sure-footed as her. He and Finn must spend a lot of time together out here. She ran until they were both gasping for air, then pulled him behind another large tree.
“Ethan, you play out in these woods with your dad all the time, right?” She could barely get the words out while trying to suck in oxygen.
Ethan just nodded.
“Do you know where you are?”
Another nod.
“We need to split up,” she said. “I’m going to lead the bad guy in the other direction.”
Now the boy shook his head vehemently.
“You’ll be okay. You can hide until your dad comes for
you.” She prayed Finn would figure it out and find him.
“We’re not far from Jess’s house,” Ethan said, grabbing her hand. “We can go there. Dad wouldn’t want me to leave you alone.”
She snatched him against her in a hug. He wasn’t scared for himself, but for her.
God, she really did love this kid. Just as much as she loved his dad. And knowing they were close to Peyton’s house made it clear what Charlie needed to do, although she hated using Ethan’s friendship with the girl against him.
“You have to go to Jess’s house, buddy. To protect Jess. Tell Ms. Peyton what happened. She’ll find your dad and he’ll know what to do.”
Ethan looked torn. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be okay. It’s Jess who needs you now.”
Ethan nodded. “Babies need someone to protect them. I always try to protect her.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Is that why you like to hang out with her so much? To protect her if she needs it?”
He gave a tiny, heartbreaking shrug. “Nobody protected me when I was a baby. So, I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
She hugged him again. That was why he was hanging out with someone so much younger than him. Not because of some sort of stunted emotional growth on his part, but because he had so much of his father in him that he couldn’t stand the thought of someone innocent getting hurt.
“You’ve got to go to her, buddy. Protect her.”
He nodded solemnly.
“And when you get to your dad, I need you to give him this message. The symbols for fire his pretty chair horse and blue baby eat just when my old dog sleep. That’s a lot. Can you remember that? Think of the symbols in your head if you have to”
He repeated them to her.
“Perfect.” She smiled at him. It was the best she could do. Hopefully Ethan would be able to get the symbols to Finn. “Okay, as quietly as you can, get to Jess. Her mom will call your dad. I’ll see you on the other side, buddy.”
Not if Henry had anything to say about it, but she didn’t care what happened to herself so long as she kept Finn’s son safe. His tiny arms wrapped around her waist and squeezed. She prayed this wouldn’t be her last hug. She squeezed back, and then he let her go and headed silently into the woods. Her little soldier.
