Chapter 15

chapter

fifteen

“We need to move!” Gage grabbed Nia’s arm and pulled her away.

Nia stifled another scream but didn’t fight him.

Those bullets were meant for them .

He was certain of it.

Based on the trajectory, the gunman was somewhere on the street not far away.

Most likely, this guy would continue to pursue them. His moves were brazen.

They needed to get somewhere safe—and fast.

He kept a hand on Nia’s arm as he pulled her down the sidewalk.

Did this have something to do with Rob’s death?

Or had an enemy from Gage’s past found him?

He had many. More than he could count, for that matter. So many people wanted him dead that it wasn’t even funny, despite the jokes he and his colleagues made about it .

Or . . . this person could be someone Darius had sent after them. Maybe they were getting too close to answers. Maybe they’d spooked him.

But Gage didn’t have time to figure that out now.

Right now, he needed to get Nia to safety.

And . . . he needed answers from Nia before someone killed her.

The thought seemed callous, and he didn’t exactly mean it that way. Part of him wanted to believe she was innocent. But he couldn’t allow himself to do that. He couldn’t allow himself to be vulnerable.

Training 101 for his job: always keep walls up. Self-preservation is everything.

It was the only way he’d survived some of his missions.

Off-book missions the military had sent him on.

Missions where, if Gage was caught, the government would claim to have no knowledge of who he was or what he was doing.

They’d been risky, to say the least.

But he’d been trained for them as a super soldier of sorts.

As another bullet flew through the air, he pulled Nia faster. This guy was following them and making no secret of it.

“This way!” Gage tugged her into a nearby office building.

The receptionist behind the white marble desk looked at them with wide eyes as they ran by. “Excuse me . . . can I help you? ”

But they moved too fast for anyone to stop them.

Gage knew he was only buying time.

The gunman would follow them inside this place in a matter of seconds.

“Where are we going?” Nia’s voice sounded breathless as Gage led her down a hallway.

“We just need to get away.” He turned around another corner down another hallway.

“There should be an exit somewhere close by.”

They could leave this building and head across the street to another. They could keep doing that until they lost this guy.

But as they reached the end of the hallway, a window stared back.

A window that was sealed shut.

“Gage . . .” Nia stared at it.

His thoughts raced.

He only had mere seconds before that gunman would appear. He could hear the footsteps running in the distance, right around the corner.

Gage had a gun, but he didn’t want to pull it out. Didn’t want to show his hand . . . yet.

His cover would be blown if he did.

But he’d draw his Sig if it came down to it.

Nia’s heart raced out of control.

How were she and Gage going to get out of this one?

They were trapped inside this building .

She glanced at Gage, hoping he might have some sort of plan. His sharp gaze showed he was trying to compute his next move.

It was almost like . . . he knew what he was doing.

She swallowed hard at the thought.

Exactly who was this guy? A computer repair tech? He hardly seemed like it.

The shooter appeared at the end of the hallway.

“This way!” Gage grabbed her arm again and pulled her to a nearby doorway.

He twisted the knob, and the door opened.

They slipped inside. Numerous people sitting at cubicles looked up and stared at them in confusion.

“Don’t mind us,” Gage muttered before darting through the office space.

Sweat spread across Nia’s forehead with every step.

Would this guy follow them and finish them off?

How many of these people would become collateral damage?

Hopefully, none of them.

Right now, they were buying time.

More time meant more possibilities to figure something out.

Just ahead, Nia spotted a door leading outside.

She released her breath.

She hadn’t realized this office had a separate entrance to the building. But it made sense.

And it could be a lifesaver.

“Hey!” someone in the office yelled. “What do you think you’ re doing?”

Gage ignored them and guided Nia to the door.

They burst outside and onto another city street.

She sucked in air, trying to catch her breath.

People around them stared.

They were probably a sight to see.

But Nia knew this wasn’t over yet.

That guy . . . he’d find them at any minute.

She glanced up at Gage, still chugging in deep gulps of air. “What are we going to do now? We can’t just stand here.”

Gage’s gaze stopped on something in the distance. “There!”

He pulled her toward a delivery truck that had just started to drive away.

A delivery truck? Certainly, he wasn’t thinking . . .

People only did things like this in the movies.

Yet just as the truck was about to take off, he grabbed the cargo door and jerked it open. The next moment, he jumped onto the back of it, dragging Nia with him.

As the truck headed down the street, the gunman burst from the office and onto the sidewalk.

A man with broad shoulders and blond hair stared at them, a grimace on his face.

More than a grimace.

It was a promise to finish what he’d started.