She did as he asked, watching him disappear into the smoke. When he didn’t come back immediately, her heart blocked her windpipe. Finally he emerged, alone.
“She’s dead,” he said in a gritty voice.
“I was afraid she was. I heard a shot. Then he went after me.”
“Only you defended yourself. But why didn’t you call the cops—or me?”
“Because she came here in a panic, and it only got worse. I tried to call 911, but she was in such a state that she grabbed my phone, threw it on the floor, and crushed it under her shoe.”
“Jesus.” He looked from her to the interior of the house where smoke still billowed. “Wait here a minute.”
Stepping onto the porch, he glanced around, then motioned for her to follow him. They both stood on the back stoop, taking in big gasps of air. When he turned to her, she saw the look of relief on his face.
He reached out, and she came into his arms, clinging to him. He stroked his hands up and down her back and into her hair, touching her with a possessiveness that shocked her.
“Olivia, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his mouth against her cheek.
“For what?”
“I never should have left.”
“But you came back in time to save me.”
“You were doing a pretty good job of that yourself.”
“At least I held him off.” She dragged in a breath and let it out. “Why did you leave?”
“Because I was an idiot.”
Before he could say more, they were interrupted by the sound of tires crunching on the driveway.
“Stay here.”
In a flash he was at the end of the house, gun in hand, and his posture told her that he was ready for another attack. Then she saw him relax.
“It’s Shane and Jack.”
“Over here,” he called out to them.
The two other Rockfort agents came around the corner, and they all stood where they had a view of the fields and driveway.
“What happened?” Shane asked as he looked at the smoke billowing from the broken window.
“After he lured me away, he came after Olivia and another woman from her high school class—Claire Lowden.”
Shane turned to Olivia, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice. “My phone was stolen. I didn’t know it had anything to do with this case. Apparently he was texting Max.”
Olivia’s gaze swung to Max. “About what?”
She watched his face contort. “He said he had confidential information about you.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.” She could see Max’s face redden. “And believing it was Shane texting me could have gotten you killed. It did get your friend killed,” he added.
“She wasn’t my friend. She was just one of the girls I knew in high school.”
“And now she’s dead,” Max reiterated.
“Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t know it wasn’t Shane,” Olivia murmured. “Whoever called you had the whole thing planned out pretty carefully.”
“Don’t make excuses for me,” he snapped.
She saw he was still cursing himself, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about his leaving her alone. But she understood why he had believed the messages had come from his partner.
Max was speaking again. “I’d like to say we should just clear out of here, but another member of your class is dead, and we have to call the police.”
“Did you see who did it?” Shane asked.
“I saw someone I think was a man. But I couldn’t see his face because he had on a gas mask.”
Max made a snorting sound. “It hid his face and kept the smoke from getting to him.”
In the distance, they heard the wail of a siren.
“That sounds like the cops,” Shane said. “Or the fire department.”
“How did they know to come here?” she asked.
“Maybe your neighbor, Mr. Yeager, heard the shooting,” Max said.
She nodded, thinking that was probably right. That and the smoke.
Two police cars with flashing lights came roaring up the driveway.
“Put your guns down,” Max muttered.
“Why?” Olivia asked. “We didn’t do anything besides try to defend ourselves.”
Max gave her an urgent look. “They don’t know that. Haven’t you read stories about innocents getting shot by cops?”
“Yes,” she answered. To his relief, she put her gun on the ground. Max and the other two Rockfort men did the same—just in time.
“Raise your hands,” Max ordered Olivia. “They don’t know what happened here. Surrendering is the only way to make sure we don’t get shot.” He hoped. He’d known some trigger-happy cops in his day, and he was praying these weren’t some of them.