Chapter 21
Raven typed out an email to the local martial arts club, confirming the date for an upcoming workshop. Even though her fingers flew over the keys, her brain could barely focus.
She stopped and read it back.
Folow.
Schedual.
Disucssed.
Argh. She couldn’t spell. Worse, she couldn’t concentrate. Her sentences didn’t even make sense.
I’m writing to follow on up the…
What was that? She’d been speaking the English language for her entire life and suddenly she couldn’t put together one readable, correctly spelled sentence?
She leaned back, glancing around the main area of the old firehouse. Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it was where she was working. She’d been doing her admin here for the last week, and it had been a frustrating mess of jumbled sentences and misspelled words since day one.
She snuck a peek at Ethan, who sat at the tech table. He didn’t seem to have a problem working here. Maybe it was the couch. Perhaps she needed to work at a desk like him.
Oh, who was she kidding? It was her. It was all her and her stressed-out brain.
She studied the back of Ethan’s broad shoulders. Shoulders that were so similar to Connor’s. Were all guys in the military built the same? Or was it just special operations that carved men from stone?
“Everything okay?”
She jumped at Ethan’s question.
He spun around.
Good God, did these men also have eyes in the backs of their heads? “Yes. Everything’s fine. I’m just having trouble concentrating.”
“I’d have trouble concentrating too if I had an ex from hell.” He frowned. “You know we’re going to work this out, right? I’m going to find something to incriminate the asshole and exonerate you.”
She nodded, wanting to believe him. But also needing to be realistic. Xander was smart. He’d spent years setting up his business to take her down with him. He also had a murder weapon with her prints on it. “Thank you.”
“I’m also going to find proof that it wasn’t you who killed Lottie.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“No, but Connor’s like a brother to me. And he cares about you.”
“We’re not… I mean…we’re kind of dating. But we’re also going slow right now.”
Which apparently meant sleeping in the same bed, but no sex. Seeing the shirtless man every morning and night, but no kisses. Having him make coffee for her, and only light, gentle touches.
There’d been pecks on the cheek and forehead. And she was almost certain she’d felt his lips linger more than once. But maybe that was in her head.
“Go gentle on him,” Ethan said, drawing her attention back to him. “His breakup with his ex really messed with him.”
“She’s in jail now, though, right?” The question slipped without conscious thought. A question she probably should be asking Connor, not his friend.
“She is. And she won’t be out for a long time.
Connor carried some guilt about that for a while.
He thought maybe he was partially to blame for her decisions.
Like if he hadn’t been so absent with his military commitments, things might have been different.
But that was bullshit. She made a decision and she paid for it. So did Connor.”
Raven swallowed, hating that Connor had been hurt in his past relationship.
“I even think—” A buzzer cut off Ethan’s next words. He turned toward his computer and pressed a few keys.
When he cursed, Raven set her laptop beside her and leaned forward. “Is everything okay?”
He rose, gun in his grip. “There’s someone outside.”
She checked the nearest window, fear settling in her belly. “Who?”
“Not sure. He’s hooded.” Ethan lifted his walkie. “Anyone close to base?”
One by one the guys reported their locations, and by the frustration on Ethan’s face, they weren’t close.
“Is something wrong?” Connor asked.
“Some guy’s lurking around the firehouse. Possibly the same guy we caught on camera.”
This time Connor cursed. “Heading there now.”
Who would be out there? It couldn’t be Xander, could it? He wasn’t stupid enough to threaten a group of former SEALs on their own territory.
“You should go out there and check,” Raven said, almost under her breath.
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you in here alone.”
“Lock the doors and stay between him and the building. I’ll be fine.”
Ethan’s brows flickered, and he followed her gaze to the trees, then looked back to his surveillance on his computer screen. He wanted to go. She could see it. And if this was Xander, she wanted Ethan to find him.
“Go,” she pushed.
Someone flashed in the security footage. Ethan cursed. “Lock the door after me and do not open it for anyone. Got it? And stay away from windows.”
She nodded and watched him move outside, pistol raised. She flicked the lock, but instead of waiting in the main area, she headed down the hall. There were too many windows out here.
She’d just stepped into the old apparatus bay when her phone rang, Ferris’s name on the screen.
Good, she needed a distraction.
She put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Ferris.”
“Hey, Raven.”
Something in his voice made her pause in her pacing. After Lottie’s death, he’d asked her to put a hold on all community center activities. Did he want her to extend that hold? Or was this something else? Something worse? “Is everything okay?”
“Actually…I need to speak to you about your position at the community center.”
Her stomach dropped, her brain going to worst-case scenario.
No. He couldn’t be firing her. She hadn’t done anything wrong. “What do you need to speak to me about?”
“Lottie had a lot of friends, who are now putting pressure on me. Her killer still hasn’t been found and, well, you’re top of the suspect list.”
She shook her head, even though Ferris couldn’t see her. “They haven’t found anything to link me to her death. The blood on my shirt and shoe wasn’t hers, Ferris. That’s why Ward hasn’t arrested me.”
“I just need you to take a step back from the position. At least until the investigation is over.”
She closed her eyes. She should probably feel sad or frustrated, or maybe even angry at Ferris. She wasn’t any of those things.
She was furious—but it was all aimed at Xander.
The asshole was taking everything from her, and it was intentional.
“I’m sorry, Raven.”
She just nodded, because any words were stuck in her throat.
The call ended, and she closed her eyes.
She hated Xander. She hated him so badly she wanted him to hurt like he was making her hurt. She wanted him to feel all the frustration and anger and pain that he was inflicting on her life.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his name popped up on her phone with a text.
Xander: Remember what happened to the last person you told?
What was he…
A chill swept over her skin. No. He couldn’t know she’d told Connor.
But then, he’d somehow known about the PI.
Her heart started to race, the thuds hitting her ribs so hard it was almost painful.
She raced to the interior door, barely registering that it was now closed, even though she’d left it open.
She turned the handle… It didn’t budge.
She tried again, twisting harder. Come on, come on, come on!
It was stuck. Or locked. Something.
She was about to lift her phone to call Connor when a strange smell hit the air. Or maybe it had already been there and she hadn’t noticed before. It was bitter, almost metallic.
She drew in another breath. Her throat suddenly burned, water filling her eyes at the sting.
What the hell?
She stumbled back, vision blurring and a lightheadedness threatening to drop her to her knees. Breathing suddenly felt difficult. Everything felt difficult.
She tried the door one more time, but it still didn’t open.
Out. She needed to get out!
She stumbled to the apparatus-bay doors. Was there a button? A key? She tried to search the wall, but the world around her twisted and turned. Breathing got harder.
She started to fall but caught herself with a palm against the wall.
Breathe, Raven. Breathe and find a way out.
Ethan wouldn’t have gone far.
She lifted her phone and tried to search for his name, but black dots danced in her vision, making focusing on anything impossible.
One breath. Two. She tilted sideways. Her shoulder hit the wall, and she slid to the floor as darkness took over.
Connor’s boots hit the ground in fast, even succession, the need to get to Raven, to make sure she was okay, taking precedence over everything else.
He’d left Zac to find the lost tourist. Thank God there’d been two of them.
An entire week had passed since Lottie’s death. A week where nothing had happened. Yet this morning, his gut had told him something was coming.
Was this it? Was this guy who was loitering around the old firehouse a threat?
Three more minutes and he’d have eyes on Raven. He could almost hear the river.
He pushed harder, branches snapping against his shoulders, a cool breeze hitting him in the face.
He rounded a tree, only to slow at the sight of movement. At his ten o’clock and thirty yards into the forest. It was barely visible. A flash of black moving from one pine tree to another.
His eyes narrowed.
The movement was too deliberate to be a wild animal.
Something glimmered in the morning light… a gun.
He cursed and dropped before rolling behind the closest tree.
The crack of a bullet split the air and punched into the ground near his boot, spraying dirt across his pant leg.
He took his Glock from his holster but also lifted his handheld. “I have a shooter in the trees, half a mile west of base.”
“Copy. Coming now,” Ryan said. “Five minutes out.”
It was too long. But Ethan was dealing with the hooded stranger at base, Joel was watching over Raven’s parents, and Zac was with the tourist and wouldn’t leave the guy when there was a shooter in the woods.
Connor slipped around the tree and poked his head out the other side.
Another shot tore through the air, hitting the dirt.
He pulled back. The asshole was a good shot. Not great, but he’d almost hit his target.
Connor lifted his walkie again. “Ethan. Have you caught the guy?”
“Negative. But I’m closing in.”
That meant Raven was alone at the firehouse. He swapped the walkie for his phone and hit her number.
No answer.
He tried again. Same thing.
Fuck.
Panic fired in his blood, rushing through his veins. What if this was a distraction? What if she was in danger?
He couldn’t wait. He rolled out from behind the tree.
Bullets peppered the dirt, one hitting a root, wood exploding inches away. The next bullet grazed his arm, but he barely felt it. He lifted his own weapon and fired.
He continued to fire as he jumped to his feet. Then he was running. He kept shooting until he’d put some distance between him and the assailant.
He wanted to take the shooter down, but he wasn’t Connor’s priority—Raven was.
He broke right, sprinting low and fast between trees. A couple more shots rang out, but now the guy was firing at a moving target, and he clearly wasn’t trained well enough for that.
Connor switched his focus from the shooter to the firehouse, the roofline coming into view.
His jaw tightened.
Come on, Raven. Be okay. You have to be okay.
He didn’t look back. He kept his attention straight ahead. When he reached the building, he tried the door.
Locked. Quickly, he used his key to unlock the door and flew inside. One quick scan of the room told him Raven’s laptop was here, but she wasn’t.
He froze at the smell. It was faint. A bit like gas. A chemical scent.
“Raven?”
Silence.
He covered his mouth with his shirt and sprinted through the firehouse, scanning every room off the hall. His eyes began to burn, breathing becoming a battle.
The door to the apparatus bay was closed.
One tug. It didn’t open.
A piece of wood was jammed into the bottom. Fuck. He pulled it out and threw open the door.
At first, he didn’t see her. He had to step inside the room and really focus before noticing the slumped body by the door.
His world narrowed.
Raven.
He sprinted to the main garage door and pulled out the hook to open it. Fresh air rushed over his body. He raced back to Raven and carried her outside just as Ethan returned, a teenaged kid being pulled by his arm behind him.
“What the hell happened?” Ethan cried.
“Some sort of chemical gas. Call an ambulance!” He touched Raven’s pulse, and at the faint beats beneath his finger, his entire world started turning again.
Alive. She was alive. But she needed medical attention, and she needed it immediately.