Authors: Kathleen Brooks
“Knock it off Cole!” Paige smacked her husband as she and the rest of the table laughed. “I swear, he’s actually very nice when he’s not in cop mode. And, this will make you like him
—h
e ticks off
Kandi
faster than anyone I know. Do you remember her?”
“Oh my gosh! Is there anyone in a ten-year sp
an that wasn’t tormented by her?
She was younger than me, but she still managed to
plague
me daily. Well then Agent Parker, maybe
you’ve
risen
some
in my esteem,”
Morgan joked as Miss Violet set
a
plate of pecan pancakes in front of
each of
them
.
“Why thank you, ma’am.” Cole took a b
ow in his seat with a flourish of his hand. The pa
ncakes in front of him explod
ed. Pieces of delicious pancake
covered
his
face.
“What in tarnation?” Miss Violet leaned over the plate of pancakes to get a better lo
ok, “Someone shot my pancakes!”
Cole,
Miles
, Pierce and Jake
whipped their heads
around
to the
front window. Miles cursed as they
saw
a man dressed in black racing toward them from
across the street with a gun in his hand. He had to
have been hiding behind a parked car when he
took the
shot at Cole. After missing he
went
all in.
As
Miles
reached for Morgan, Cole was already grabbing Paige. Pierce leaned over and grabbed Miss Violet as their father lunged in front of their mother. Pulling and pushing simultaneously
,
everyone went crashing to the floor as the back of Cole’
s
chair splintered with a direct hit.
“What the hell
happened
?” Miles heard Morgan mumble from where her face was smashed against the floor. He was sprawled completely over her,
protecting her from
the onslaught. H
is large body on top of hers
made
it hard for her to breathe.
“We’re being shot at!” Miles told her as he looked around to make sure no one had been hit. The rest of the diners
were
under their tables except for Miss Lily’s old neighbor, Edna, who was digging around in her purse.
“Sorry about that Miss Violet,” Pierce said as he smiled down at Miss Violet sprawled on the floor. Her ever
-
present spatula
was
still in her hand.
“Oh, don’t be sorry, dear. Y’all may want to go out the back door.”
Miles
vaulted
up, pulling Morgan with him. Bullets sha
ttered the window as the man walked calmly
toward them firing. “Run low to the ground, quick
ly
!”
Cole pulled his gun from his holster, “Pierce, take care of your sister!” He aimed his weapon and fired off some shots causing the man to
lunge
back behind a parked car across the street from
the c
afé.
Jake
was
already pushing Marcy out the back door as Miles and Morgan reached the kitchen. Miles, Morgan, Pierce
,
and Paige slammed through th
e back door seconds behind his
parents.
No one spoke
until the door flew open
and Cole burst out.
“Oh thank
G
od!” Paige flung her arms around
her husband. “What was that all about? Why are we being shot at?”
“It doesn’t
make sense. That was William Brady, Top Producers
’
head of security
.
He
should be shooting at me
, not you
,” Morgan said as she tried to steady her breath.
“No, it does make sense. They
must’ve
been watching us
be
cause they shot at me
—t
he one with all the evidence in his pocket
,
” Cole
said as he
patted the flash drive
containing
the proof
needed
to bring Top Produ
cers and David Washington down.
“W
hat do we do now?” Marcy asked.
“
He wants us, not you all. Cole, Morgan
,
and
I
are all that matter to him.
W
e need to split up.” Miles felt the familiar hardness come over him as if it were a second skin. This wasn’t the
Middle East
mountains
, this was his hometown and he definitely had home
-
court advantage.
“How many guns do you have?” Miles asked Cole before explaining his plan.
“Only this one, sorry.” Cole pulled out second magazine and shoved it into place.
“It’s okay, I don’t need one.” And he didn’t. He’d done a lot worse than take out
a single
armed man with nothing but his hands. “We’ll go around the side of the building and then split. Mom
—y
ou,
D
ad, Pierce
,
and Paige
run behind these buildings and hide.
I’ll go with Morgan to the right.” Miles laid out his plan as he did to his troops, only this time his heart was involved.
“
If you provide a distraction
,
I can get across the street. I should be able to get a clear shot off if I can flank him. I’m sure Noodle and Dinky will be here a
ny second now.” Cole nodded
to
ward
the small all
e
y on the far side of the c
afé. “I can c
ome out there and surprise him.
”
“Wait.” Marcy held up her hands. “You’re going to use Miles and Morgan as
bait
?”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Miles turned to his mother and saw that her face had mana
ged to go another shade whiter.
“No.
I won’t allow it,
”
h
er voice quivered as tears sprang to her eyes.
“It’s okay Mrs. Davies. This is my mess. I’ll do it alone.
You all get to safety. Please,” Morgan begged. She looked at him and
Miles felt a whole other level of hardness he had never known come over him. He knew without a doubt he would die for this woman and there was no way he’d let
harm
come to
her
. The resolve he had in battle was noth
ing to what he was feeling now.
“No. You’ll go and I’ll be your cover. Everyone, move now!” Miles grabbed Morgan’s hand and dragged her toward the side street as he watched Cole sprint toward the small all
e
y.
“Make sure you give me a couple of minutes, no more than three!” Miles just nodded to Co
le as he headed for the street.
“Miles! Please. I can’t let you do this. I would die if anything happened to you. I love you too much. Please, let me do this alone!” Morgan pleaded as they
turned up the street and
ran toward Main Street.
“I still think there’s something you don’t unde
rstand and that may be my fault for not telling you.
See, I thought you had ruined my life when I got that phone call from you. And you have.
You’ve
ruined the isolated life I had set up for myself.
You’ve
ruined the daily routine I established and
you’ve
ruined my ability to think of anything but you. You consume my mind when you’re not with me and drive me wild when you are. I love you with all my heart and soul and
there’s
no way
I’ll
e
ver let anything happen to yo
u.” Miles slowed
to a stop and l
ooked around the corner. William Brady
was looking throu
gh the shattered window of the café trying to find them.
“You love me?” Miles heard Morgan
whisper.
“Sweetheart, I’d move heaven and
earth to be with you. Now, zig
zag
to
the first building and duck in the doorway.”
“Miles! Really? Now you’re saying all this?”
Morgan rolled her eyes as she felt
her heart swell
. Miles
smiled down at her.
He’d do more than just tell her how much she meant to him, he’d show her every day for the rest of their lives that he would give his life for her in a heartbeat.
“Ye
p. Get ready
.
” He pulled her toward him, her back fitting tight against his chest.
“Run, Morgan!” Miles screamed loud enough to draw the attention of
Brady
. Morgan took off at a run. She kept bent over, making herse
lf as small as possible and
as she ran
diagonals
across the street.
Miles
kept one hand on her waist as
he moved with her, blocking any bullets that m
ight
be fired at them. He didn’t have to wait long. The first one pinged off the pavement just a foot from them.
Miles heard the sound of
shell
cartridges
bouncing
off the sidewalk as the man emptied his clip.
Miles could tell from
his erratic firing that Brady
was getting mad. Good. When emotions bubbled up to the surface they knocked your aim off. Morgan was still running with her arms over her head, so he pushed s
lightly on her waist to direct
her to dive into the doorway of Keeneston Antiques and
Knickknacks
.
Morgan responded instantly,
slamming
into the closed glass door of the shop.
“What’s going on?” Morgan gasped between gulps of air.
Miles looked around the corner and s
potted
Brady
,
gun raised
,
walking toward them
. His hair was slicked back and he was in full combat gear
. “Stay back. He’s coming this way.
” Miles looked
toward the alley
for
Cole when
two white heads and one steel gray head drew his attention. Miss Violet stood in the window with a heavy pot in her hand. Miss Daisy and Edna peaked out from eac
h side of Violet’s plump frame.
“Oh no
,” Miles moaned as he watched a pot come flying out the broken window right at
Brady
. He tensed, ready to run right at the man if he turned on the women. The pot hit
Brady
right in the
middle of the back sending Brady
stumbling forward. Before
he could
recover another pot was hurled from the window, hitting
him
on the shoulder. The thre
e heads ducked back inside the c
afé
before Brady could turn around
.
Miles searched for Cole, but before he could see him, another white head teetered across the street with a large broom in hand. At least Miss Lily had crossed the street a good two blocks away so she wasn’t overly obvious, but he knew instantly what she meant to do with that broo
m. “Com
e on Cole,” he whispered as a fr
ying pan arched through the air.
Brady
had had enough and fired
off two warning shots into the c
afé and then turned and fired a couple
toward
Miles
. The bullets h
it the bric
k and lodged in the old mortar.
“He shot at us!” Miles hea
rd Miss Violet scream in anger.
“Miles, is that Miss Violet?” Morgan whispered as she tried to get a closer look. Miles pushed her back to make sure she was completely protected from the gunman.
“B
less his heart, he couldn’t hi
t
the broad side of a barn with aim like that!” Miss Daisy said, rather loudly, back to her sister. These women were going to be the d
eath of Miles. He just knew it.
“
Ain’t
that the truth
?
”
Apparently Miss Lily had
made it successfully into the c
afé
,
Miles thought.