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.It was too dark.Allhe could see was the tangle of hair onthe ground.A broken body.Blood.No!A knife shoved into his back. Don t worry, a voice whisperedin his ear,  I ll make sure the pretty ladyjoins you in hell.Not Juliana.Through the moonlight, he couldjust see the woman s face.Not Juliana.Susan.He spun around and grabbed theman behind him by the throat. You renot.touching her.This time, the man drove a knifeinto Logan s chest.Logan attacked.He shattered theman s wrist, pounded with his fists,went for the man s throat.His prey wasnear death when.Another man appeared and drove aneedle into Logan s neck.Logan roaredand tossed him back.The secondattacker fell, his body crumpling into aheap.But it was too late.Logan s body began to shake.Hisvision blurred.He tried to swing out atthe man charging him, but Logan s bodyslumped to the ground.He wanted toshout a warning, to Jasper, to Gunner, toJuliana, but he couldn t speak.Shadows closed in on him, faces hecouldn t see.Then a blade pressed overhis throat.* * * YOU RE GOING TO BE all right, Julianasaid as she pressed towels againstGunner s wounds. I m getting you help,okay? She d tried to call an ambulance,but the telephone upstairs had been dead.With the firefight going on outthere.where was the backup?More cops had to be coming.Copsand EMTs.They d fix Gunner.They hadto.He caught her hand.His fingerswere bloody, and they slipped over herskin. Hide.She shook her head. I m notleaving you. No more.gunfire.He was right.But there d been alull in the gunfire before.She wasn tabout to think it was safe just to havebullets start blasting again. Stay.down.Now he sounded just like Logan.She tried to smile for him.Hard, whenshe was sure the man was bleeding outright in front of her eyes. I m going to my room and gettingmy cell phone. She d call for help.Shewasn t letting him die while she didnothing.So those attacking might havecut the lines that connected the housephones, but they wouldn t be able to stopher from using her cell. Everything sgoing to be okay. Juliana hoped shesounded more reassuring than she felt.Gunner s dark, tired gaze called thewords a lie, but he didn t speak.Maybehe couldn t speak any longer.Juliana lurched to her feet.She tooka staggering step forward and saw afaint glint from the corner of her eye.She spun back around, her gazeflying to the painting.Susan had slashedit over and over, and there, hanging outfrom the bottom of the canvas, Julianacould just see the faint edge of.A flash drive.He said he gave you the evidence.She grabbed the drive with herbloodstained fingers.People were dyingoutside because of this tiny thing.Sheshoved the drive into her pocket andrushed for the door.Get.Help.She was almost to her room whenshe heard the creak of the stairs.Julianatensed.It could be Logan, but if it werehim, then wouldn t he have called out toher?Her fingers reached for thedoorknob.Then she heard another creak.Another.The soft pad of footstepsheading toward her father s room.Gunner.Juliana spun around.She had takenGunner s gun, and the weapon feltslippery in her palms. Stay away fromhim! She rushed forward.And nearly ran into the man whohaunted her nightmares.Juliana skidded to a halt.She dexpected to face his flunkies.The hiredkillers.Not.John.He smiled at her.The same tired,slightly crooked smile he d given herwhen they were trapped in that hell. Hello, Juliana.Ice chilled her.Logan would neverhave let the arms dealer get inside thehouse.The only way this man could havegotten past him.No, Logan s not dead.John s stare no, Guerrero s stare dropped to the gun. Give that to me.No way. I ll give you a bullet tothe heart!His smile stretched. I don t thinkso. You need to think again. Shewasn t backing down.This man haddestroyed her world.She wasn t aboutto just stand there and be a lamb for hisslaughter.She had the gun.She had theperfect chance to shoot.Then Guerrero lifted his hand, andwithin his grip, a bloody knife bladeglinted. This is your lover s blood.No. Is he dead? Her heart alreadyfelt as if it was freezing. My men will make sure that he isif you don t come with me now.Guerrero dropped the knife on the floorand opened his hand to her. I ll let himkeep breathing, but you give me the gunand we leave. He s already dead. The manthought she was a fool. And so areyou. Logan.The scream was in herhead, desperate to break out, but she sawherself calmly aiming the gun right at hischest.One shot would be all that it took.Of course, she couldn t aim with hertrembling fingers, so maybe she d justempty the gun into his chest.That would work.His smile vanished. You re killinghim.Every moment you waste, everysecond.My men are so eager to pull thetrigger.Only, there wasn t any thunder fromgunfire outside.Just silence. Jasper.he s there. Jasper wouldstill be fighting.And there were otherguards.Other cops. The one at the gatehouse? Thesniper? It took some doing, but we tookhim out, too. His hands were up in frontof him. There s no one out there tohelp.Backup might be coming, butthey ll get here too late. No Spanishaccent coated his words. By the timethey arrive, Logan will be dead. He s already dead. AndGuerrero was just jerking her around. Come with me, he said, his voicelow, emotionless. I ll prove that he salive.She wanted to believe him. Or stay here, Guerrero said ashis dark eyes glittered,  and you will beresponsible for killing him. Move, Juliana ordered. Headdown those stairs and keep your handsup!He laughed, but he moved, takingslow, measured steps as he headeddown the stairs.She expected him to tryfor the gun, to attack her, but he didn t.He didn t even glance back at heras he walked.The front door hung open.He wasjust about to head out that door now. Wait! She hated to get close tohim, but there wasn t a choice.Julianarushed forward and shoved the gun intohis side.She didn t know what might bewaiting out there, and she wanted ashield.He grunted when the barrel of thegun dug into his body. Sodifferent.than the girl in Mexico. Maybe you didn t know that girlso well.His eyes flashed at her. Anyone comes at me, I ll killyou. Just so they were clear.His head inclined toward her. Ithink you mean it. I do. Pity. Then he started walking,nice and slow. Don t you wonder whymore cops aren t here? Why it was justyour lover and the skeleton staff ofguards?Yes, she did.Where the hell wasthe backup?When she went outside, all she sawwas carnage.Bodies on the ground.Menmoaning, twisting.Shattered glass.SusanJuliana jerked her gaze away. Money can buy anything inAmerica.A slow response time fromcops.The right intel from a disgruntleddetective who feels like everyone isgoing over his head on yet another case.Two men had risen from theground.They were bloody, bruised, butcoming right toward them. Tell them not to come any closer,Juliana whispered. Don t come any closer, he calledout easily enough. Such a shame thatthings had to be this way between us.You know, I became quite fond of you inMexico.The man was the best liar she dever met. Where s Logan?She didn t see him.Hope had herheart racing too fast in her chest.Guerrero was a liar, but maybe, maybeLogan wasn t dead.Don t be dead.Guerrero pointed to a black vanthat was idling on the right. In there.She kept her gun to his side.Theywalked slowly toward that van.Itseemed to take them forever to reach thatspot.Where is Jasper? He should be outthere but she sure couldn t see any signof him. Open the door, Juliana orderedwhen they drew close to the van.Guerrero moved forward [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]