Chapter Sixteen #2
Walking faster, I clicked the button to unlock my car and swung my briefcase to my right hand. It wasn't the best weapon, but it was all I had.
Possibly sensing that his quarry was going to escape, whoever else was in the garage stopped trying to hide.
Footsteps came toward me, shuffling then pounding at the concrete. I was less than a yard from my car. Diving for the driver’s side door, I wrenched it open and slung myself inside, losing my briefcase on the concrete.
The engine turned over, and I jammed the car into reverse when the rear window exploded in a shower of glass.
Where the fuck was the Sinclair team? At that thought, I heard shouts from behind my car. More gunshots. Hitting the gas, I reversed out of the parking space, then jammed on the brakes when I felt the thud of impact. I hoped it wasn't one of Cooper's guys.
I looked around the parking garage wildly, trying to figure out my next move. I could hear the shouts of 'security', then my name.
"Jacob Winters. I'm with Sinclair security. I've got two guys in here, and Cooper's on his way. Don't move your vehicle. The shooter's down behind your rear wheels."
"Is it all right if I get out of the car?" I asked.
"Not yet," the nameless voice answered, drawing closer to my car. "Let us get the shooter secured and clear the garage. Keep your head down to minimize the target until we give you the all clear."
"Got it," I said. I didn't want to sit in the car while the action was going on around me, but I wasn't stupid.
The Sinclair team were the best. If they told me to stay put, I'd stay put. Sliding down, I reclined the driver seat so my upper body was out of view of the windows.
It burned a little to hide. I didn't hide from my problems. But this wasn't my normal style of problem. This wasn't a business deal gone sideways. This was someone with a gun trying to shoot me.
I had no doubt the shooter was connected to Big John.
He wanted Abigail, and if the Raptors were putting on the pressure, he'd be getting desperate.
Desperate enough to try to take me out of the equation.
I'd held off on locking down the garage, not wanting to inconvenience the residents and employees who had to use it.
That was over. My phone beeped with a text.
I eased it out of my back pocket and checked the display.
On my way. Team clearing the garage. Sending an extra man to your floor. Stay put.
Cooper. I texted back,
Got it. I'm in my car waiting for the all clear. Everything all right upstairs?
What if the shooter in the garage had been a diversion? What if someone was going after Abigail right now while the security team was all over the garage? But that was why Cooper was sending an extra guy upstairs.
He's on it, I reminded myself. Cooper knows what he's doing, and Abigail is fine.
Unable to help myself, I pulled up the security app on my phone and logged into the cameras in my penthouse. I hadn't spied on Abigail since that first day.
I'd wanted to, but invading her privacy repeatedly was dehumanizing. After what she'd been through in her marriage, I couldn't do that to her.
This time, I wasn't trying to catch her in anything. All I wanted to see was her sleeping peacefully in her bed, exactly the way I'd left her.
I hadn't been nervous when I heard the footsteps in the garage. Not even when the window had exploded behind me. I'd felt a rush of adrenaline, my senses had sharpened, and I'd been ready to act, but I hadn't been afraid.
Waiting for the cameras to come online, I felt a cold, deep fear. The garage had never felt so far from the penthouse. I might as well have been a mile away for all I could do to help her. Knowing there was security upstairs didn't help.
The camera on the front door flashed to life, showing part of the hall and both of the men Cooper had put on my door. Their posture was alert, but at ease.
Flicking through the camera views on my phone, I let out a breath when I found Abigail's room and saw her, now stretched out on her stomach, one arm wrapped around her pillow, her hair loose and spread over her shoulders.
The tight band of fear around my chest loosened. I could handle whatever was going on here as long as Abigail was all right.
In the distance, the wail of sirens bled through the quiet morning. Shit. Of course, we'd have to call the police.
Sinclair Security had a good relationship with Atlanta PD. They even did jobs for them at a reduced rate when needed, and they maintained that relationship by playing by the book. Most of the time.
An intruder had shot out my window and I'd hit him with my car. Explanations were in order. I'd have to file a police report.
Shit.
The press would be right behind the police, and my quiet morning was about to turn into a total cluster fuck.
I texted Rachel and told her to cancel my morning meeting. Frustrated at being stuck in the car while the security team cleared the garage, I contented myself with watching Abigail sleep.
As long as she was safe, everything else would work out.