He went down seizing, and she threw her bag at the other while yelling for Solene.
“Addy? I called the police…” Brent entered into the hallway and pulled her behind him just as the other man reached them. Then Brent shocked her by decking the guy.
Deacon popped out of the room. “Solene?”
“Another one?” Brent looked as if he planned to move toward Deacon.
“Wait, Brent. He’s a friend.” She was breathing hard, looking over Brent’s shoulder. “I don’t know. Downthe hall?”
Deacon shoved the man Brent had hit back down. Then he snapped the man’s arm and kneed him in the chest, causing him to shriek in pain and remain down. Deacon kicked the knife away and disappeared down the hall. She heard muffled shots she knew came from a silenced gun.
She and Brent stared at each other.
“Who was that?” he asked. “What thehellis going on?”
“It’s a long story.”
Understandably, he seemed a little wild around the eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded, and they hurried out of the daycare, into his nearby business a few doors down. They sat, stunned.
“Ah, police should be here soon,” he said.
“Good. Thanks.” She refused to cry. Noel would want her to be strong. She knew she should call him, but she’dleft her phone behind.
“So much for lunch.” Brent rubbed his stomach. “Is it weird I’m still hungry?”
They both laughed, she a little hysterically. His cell phone buzzed.
“Oh, when you’re done with that, can I make a call?” she asked.
“Sure.” He nodded and answered it. “This is Brent Morgan.” He watched her while he talked, and she thought he’d taken the incident muchbetter than she had. “Yes. It’s all working out. We’re good. Thanks. You’ve been a big help. Make sure we don’t leave any threads behind. Sloppy work won’t get the job done.”
Brent smiled and disconnected, then handed the phone to her. “Here you go.”
She dialed Noel’s number.
“Who is this?”
“Noel, it’s me. It’s Addy.”
She felt his sigh through the phone. “ThankGod. Where are you?”
“I’m in Brent’s office down from Solene’s daycare. Deacon’s in there. There were people with guns and knives. I saw the man from Seattle. He…” She glanced at Brent, saw his encouraging nod. “He had some of Solene’s workers tied up. I couldn’t find Solene, but Deacon went after her. Noel, there were men there in maintenance uniforms. The guy from Seattle was dressedlike Solene’s handyman.”
“We know. Look, sit tight. Can I talk to Brent?”
“Sure. He called the police, they should be here soon.”
Brent took the phone. “Hello?”
“Brent, this is Noel. Addy’s friend. Look, can you guys just sit tight? I’ll be there in five minutes. We have a situation, and I’ll explain it when I get there.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Ice. Addy and I aregood friends. Don’t you worry about anything. I’ll make sure she’s safe and sound. You get your little friends together. Make sure Shadow and Destroyer take care of the cleanup. Wouldn’t want to involve the locals, now would we?”
Addy frowned. “What—?”
Brent held up a finger to stop her from talking. “Now we’ve got things to do. See you soon, loverboy.” Brent hung up and pocketedhis phone. Then he grabbed his keys. “Well? Come on, Addy.”
