Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Two slugs tore into her left shoulder and side and she nearly dropped her gun before she could switch to her right.
“Jasmine!”
Everything happened at once, and yet, at the same time, it was like in slow motion.
She didn’t waste time yelling back, needing Lance to realize he had to focus on keeping himself alive. Dusan’s men were doing their best to protect their boss. Lance began firing. In her periphery she noticed Robert went down but her focus was on Mark and holding onto every shred of hope in the universe that her friend was still alive.
Her body jerked as the reel lurched forward. Yeah, this may not have been the smartest idea ever. Her back pocket began buzzing once again, pushing a bit of hysterical laughter from her.
I’m running down the side of a building, praying the fire hose knotted at my waist doesn’t give out before the reel it’s attached to careens over the edge, like I have time to pause in that and the firefight to answer my phone.
Another lurch forward and she figured they were firing at the hose now, trying to get it to tear and plummet her. Two stories left. Ejecting the empty magazine, she pulled out another and slammed it home and began firing once more.
Her makeshift repel rope jerked her to a hard stop, left her there for a few seconds, then gave away about ten feet above the ground and she fell. Hard.
Immediately rolling, she came up as fast as she could. Her right knee hurt like hell and was nearly non-weight-bearing. Scanning the area for Dusan, she tried to slow her breathing as she cased the view, needing to be calm, be focused. Needed to be ready for anything. Bodies littered the streets and sirens screamed in the distance.
Moving around the side of a haphazardly parked SUV, she found him. Robert’s body was a crumpled heap not too far away, but the man she sought had no weapon and two holes in his leg. Lance was over him, weapon trained and looking far more like the detective she’d once propositioned than the bad boy undercover agent to whom she’d lost her heart.
“You know,” Lance said, not looking away from Dusan even as he beckoned her closer. “Declan says next time he fucking calls you pick up.”
She went to him because she was powerless to do anything but that. He angled himself so he could see both her and Dusan.
“You okay?”
Her eyes went to Mark and she shook her head. “Starting to think I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Bastard nodded. Then he gripped her chin and kissed her. “You should find a nice man to settle down with and raise some kids.”
“You’ll never get away from me. I will hunt you down and kill you. Kill your family, your kids, hell, I may even kill your parents,” Dusan raged.
Lance moved to his side and whispered something in his ear. Jasmine walked over to Mark’s body and whimpered as she sank to the ground beside him. He was gone.
“I’m so sorry, Mark. You stupid fuck, you had a kid. Why didn’t you just give them what they wanted?” Tears streamed as she collapsed onto his chest.
Law enforcement arrived and she was pulled away from Mark by Lance, who held her close as he escorted her to the ambulance so they could check her knee. Two federal marshals walked up and showed badges.
“Ms. Hoyer, Mr. Baldwin?”
They nodded. Lance shifted to partially protect her. All she could think about was Den, Mark’s now parentless son, and how she had to get to him.
“We’re here to take you in and debrief from the undercover operation.”
“Give us a minute.” Lance’s tone booked no room for argument. Even the EMT gave them space. He captured her face in his hands, thumbs smoothing along her skin.
“Baby,” he said softly. “I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t choose you. Biggest mistake of my life.”
She removed his touch from her face, noting how his expression became pained but she couldn’t think of his feelings, not right now. “I have to get to Den. I’m all he has left now.”
Lance nodded. Once. Firm. “What do you need from me?”
“A diversion, and you to get my bag from the roof.”
“Consider it done. And, baby? When we meet up after this, because we sure as hell will, I’m taking you over my knee for jumping off the fucking roof like that.” He kissed her once. Hard. “Go get our son. I’ll find you.”
He walked off and did what he’d promised. Created a diversion. Went right after Dusan, leaving her to slip away like a shadow. Like her namesake. Smoke.
Epilogue
Eleven months later
Mist rolled off the lake, slow and beautiful. Morning sunrise cast the land in warm, soft, golden light. The cabin sat tucked into the grove of trees, protected yet with a direct line of sight to the dock leading out into the lake. This morning, however, even the dock was shrouded in the otherworldly haze.