Chapter Five
Callie had no trouble whatsoever recognizing the sound that roared through her head. It was gunfire, and it instantly gave her a slam of adrenaline.
Nico and she were under attack.
And someone was trying to kill them.
As both of those things flashed in her mind, Callie drew her gun, and beside her, Nico did the same. In the same motion, he also hooked his left arm around her waist and pulled her to the ground.
Barely in time.
Because the next shot flew through the air right where they had just been standing.
They landed hard on the flagstone pavers. A bone-rattling jarring effect that jolted through her entire body. She was certain that she had skinned her knee, was certain too that she would have bruises, but Callie couldn’t think of those minor injuries now.
Not when it was obvious that someone was trying to murder them.
Another shot came, and it hit one of the pavers. It immediately sent a spray of rock fragments right at them. She felt one of them slice across her forehead. Another hit her on the arm.
Cursing, Nico tightened his grip on her and got them scrambling behind one of the two-foot wide concrete and stone pillars that supported the steps. It wasn’t ideal cover since it wasn’t especially broad and they had no room whatsoever to maneuver. To return fire, they’d have to give up the meager protection the pillar was offering, but it was still far better than being out in the open.
Callie glanced around, looking for both better protection and a way to put an end to this assault. The Hummer was too far away for them to try to get to it. They’d be gunned down before they made it a few steps. Ditto if they attempted to get back in the house since it would mean going up the porch—again, where they would be out in the open. So, for the time being, it was best to stay put.
And figure out how to stop this SOB.
“The shooter’s across the road,” Nico blurted.
It was hard to hear, well, any damn thing other than the now nonstop gunfire slamming into the concrete, but his words had gotten through the noisy mix of the blasts and her own heartbeat crashing in her ears.
Callie leaned out from cover for just a second. And almost got hit. The bullet skipped off the concrete post, sending more of those rock shards flying. But the glance she’d gotten was enough to confirm what Nico had said.
The tall wrought iron gate to the estate was open, no doubt left that way after Dante’s exit, and directly across from it on the other side of the road sat an old dark blue Ford truck. The driver’s side window was down, and while she couldn’t actually see the driver, she had no trouble spotting the barrel of an assault rifle that was sticking out.
Callie hadn’t managed to get a glimpse of the license plate, but judging from the color and make of the truck, this vehicle likely belonged to Tucker Langston, the man who’d been spotted near Morrelli’s body.
So, was this the Guardian Angel trying to kill them?
Maybe. But there were a lot of pieces to this investigative puzzle. Dante, for instance. He had abruptly left the estate and could have orchestrated something like this. Heck, so could Estie if she’d been keeping tabs on Nico. She could have had someone lying in wait to kill Morrelli and now them.
“I’m returning fire,” Nico let her know, shouting over the blasts that were still coming at them. “I’ll shoot over the top of the truck so I don’t risk hitting anyone passing by.”
Good plan. Because while this wasn’t a heavily traveled road, it did get some traffic. “I’ll do the same,” she yelled back.
They both leaned out. And both fired, double taps of the trigger, and then they immediately snapped back behind cover. It didn’t faze the shooter one little bit. He just kept pumping out the bullets from that assault rifle.
“You mother fucker,” someone yelled, and it took a moment to realize it was Stefano.
Callie glanced behind her and up at the front door. It was slightly ajar, just enough for her to see Nico’s father. And the AK47 he was holding.
Nico must have seen him, too, because he shouted, “Dad, don’t shoot anyone passing by. Aim high.”
Stefano raised the barrel of the assault rifle and sent off a spray of gunfire that matched their attacker. The rounds tore through some limbs of the trees just on the other side of the truck. But the shooter must have realized that they were hampered by trying to prevent someone from being hurt or killed with friendly fire.
And the SOB was making full use of it.
A hail of bullets peppered the front door, causing Stefano to curse and drop back inside. With the shooter’s attention still on Nico’s father, Callie leaned out again, taking the time to aim at the shooter.
She sent a bullet straight into the roof of the truck.
Yeah, it was a risk all right since the bullet could have also the hit the roof of any other approaching vehicle. But it hadn’t. And the close call must have royally pissed off their attacker because the pace of the shots quickened even more.
“I got a look at the gunman,” she relayed to Nico once she was back behind the concrete post. “A big guy, and he’s bald.”
She had no idea if this was Tucker Langston, but once they were out of this nightmare, Callie would be able to check. And if it was Tucker, then this attack was all the grounds they needed to arrest him.
“Dad, check the security cam at the gate and see if anyone else is on the road in either direction,” Nico shouted.
The seconds crawled by while Stefano was no doubt accessing that info from the camera. There was a lull in the shots. Not much of one though for Callie to get up her hopes that this attack was coming to an end.
It wasn’t.
Because the shots started up again.
“He reloaded,” Callie muttered. Or else he had more than one assault rifle with him. The man had certainly come prepared.
“No one’s coming,” Stefano finally shouted out to them.
“Fire at him from the front window,” Nico told his dad. “And then immediately get down.”
This was a distraction. A way of getting the shooter to aim at Stefano so that Nico and she could then fire at the gunman.
She prayed it worked.
It didn’t take Stefano long to get to the window, and Callie heard the sound of shattering glass. A split second later, several rounds of gunfire spewed from the house. Stefano was creating the much needed distraction.
As they had hoped, the gunman shifted his rounds in that direction, the bullets tearing through what was left of the front windows. Maybe Stefano had done as Nico had ordered and had gotten down.
Because if not, he’d be shot or killed.
Callie had to push that aside. Had to clear her head and focus. Nico and she moved together at the same time. Her, leaning out from the left of the pillar, and with Nico leaning out from the right.
They fired.
Not a single shot each but a barrage of bullets that were all going straight into the truck.
She saw the shooter’s rifle lurch, a quick upward move that made her think he’d been hit. She hoped so anyway.
But Callie didn’t want him dead.
No.
She wanted him alive so he could tell them why he had done this. And especially tell them if he was merely a hired thug. If so, she needed the name of his boss so that Nico and she could prevent something else like this from happening.
The shooter finally stopped firing. Nico and she did, too. Waiting. Watching. Callie looked for any signs that the gunman had slumped over. Any signs that he’d been injured.
But she didn’t see either of those things.
However, she did hear something. Something that had Nico and her cursing and barreling out from cover.
It was the sound of the truck engine revving. And seconds later, the gunman sped away.