Deadly Testimony (Safeguard #2)(17)

Isabelle wasn’t watching him. From her position, she was calm and seemingly motionless. Waiting with an air of readiness. Her demeanor helped him regain his own balance and he steadied.

“Scott here.” She spoke softly, almost inaudibly. “Decker, spot report.”

*

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Kyle kept his voice low, his questions short. The urgency came across as demands for answers but she heard the tension, the fear there.

Couldn’t blame the man. He was used to getting immediate responses from the people around him. Being in control. Most people didn’t want to die and he was pretty damned sure someone was trying to kill him. Depending on what Decker had to say, Kyle might be right too.

“Shots fired.” Decker’s voice was low, grim. “Austin and Weaver are injured. Ambulance is on the way. Vehicle traffic is at a standstill. Local authorities are making their way here.”

Not good. Obviously. But Decker could’ve provided more detail. She needed to know more to determine the next course of action. “Are we compromised?”

“Negative.” Decker paused. “Not confirmed.”

She was not waiting for a confirmation. By then, it’d be too late. She motioned for Kyle to come to her side. He’d gone silent but carefully climbed out of the tub and joined her, staying inside the bathroom until she led him back across the bedroom.

“Exactly how were Austin and Weaver injured? Was the shooter on the ground?” She continued her questions in the same tone as previously as they moved. As she spoke, she motioned for Kyle to grab his travel bag. Once she had him tucked against the wall to one side of the door into the apartment, she moved to retrieve her own backpack and duffel bag.

“Shots were fired through their windshield multiple times. Both of them were hit. Nonfatal.” Decker’s response could’ve won prizes for calm amid calamity. “Location of the shooter is unknown.”

“Are you pursuing?” She tugged Kyle close by her side and tapped her shoulder. Once he placed a hand on the spot she indicated, she opened the door. Quick glances up and down the hallway confirmed it was clear. She led them down the hallway to the stairwell.

“Negative. I will not leave my post with our mobile unit down. Keeping an eye on the street.” Decker was following procedure to the letter. “Stand by. Will report when the street is clear.”

“Copy.” She tugged her comm from her ear and tucked the earbud with attached wire into the neckline of her shirt.

Problem was, the street was choked up with vehicle traffic and she was willing to bet the sidewalks were full of people rubbernecking to try to get a look at the accident. There was no way Decker had a clear line of sight to the entrance to the apartment building. If someone took shots at Weaver and Austin, they’d identified the mobile team as security. It was a distraction. And Decker, even if he wasn’t watching to see what happened to their police colleagues, wasn’t going to be able to visually clear every person on the street.

The situation was too unstable to remain where they were or follow standard procedure.

“Stay with me, be ready to get down,” she whispered over her shoulder without looking back at Kyle. She was busy making sure the stairwell remained clear.

There were a couple of possibilities. Their attackers might know exactly where Kyle was being hidden. So she was absolutely going to move him. Even if their mystery pursuers didn’t know Kyle’s specific location, they’d obviously made the mobile unit and, from their route, could identify which city block Weaver and Austin were circling. Smart assailants probably had a position high on top of one of the nearby buildings or in one of the apartments overlooking the street. Which meant they were far above the street and in good position to see Kyle if they managed to flush him out into the open.

She didn’t know if his attackers knew about her.

As she and Kyle reached the ground floor, she rummaged in her duffel bag. She came out with a wild red wig and handed it to him along with her baseball cap. He took it without arguing. She was going to have to gamble that they wouldn’t be able to visually identify Kyle if they caught sight of him.

Smart man.

As he pulled them on, she carefully looked out the window of the heavy fire door onto the street. It was only around the corner but it was on a different street from the main entrance. Up and down the street seemed clear and she couldn’t see any sign of a shooter in the windows of the apartments facing the street on this side. No telltale silhouettes or irregular lines along the tops of the buildings within view.

She took a deep breath, glanced at Kyle and bit the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face. The man looked ridiculous. But unless someone looked closely at his face, he wasn’t easily recognizable with the shock of red coming out from under the baseball cap. “Slouch. Drag your feet when we walk. Stay on my left as much as you can.”

It was a gamble to step out on the street. But their chances were worse staying in the building. And her gut instinct was screaming at her about all the things that hadn’t gone right in the space of a few hours. Time to be less predictable.

“Here we go.”





Chapter Seven

“Here, go into the bathroom and take off the wig. Swap the cap for this one. Change your shirt too but keep the undershirt. Toss all of the discards into the backpack. We might use them in different combinations later.”