What was going on?
More gunfire rang out. Kendra struggled to free herself of the heavy weight on top of her. She needed to find Smoky! What if her K9 was hit?
“Stay down.” Dom’s voice was near her ear. Realizing he was the one who’d jumped on top of her helped a little, but she was still desperate to save her dog.
“Smoky!” Her hoarse cry was muffled by snow. She lifted her head, trying to breathe as she searched for her K9. Her dog was half covered in snow, making her blend into their surroundings. The K9 was growling low in her throat, staring at something in the distance. Levy? Or the gunman? For all she knew, both men may have joined the fray.
Where was her gun? Kendra almost sobbed when she realized she’d dropped it when Dom barreled into her. She was failing miserably at this and hated to admit Chase had been right to be upset with her for embarking on this plan of protecting Dominic on her own.
That thought made her wonder about Justin. She twisted her head to see better. Her brother was sprawled on his stomach just a few feet away. She watched him for a long second, panicking when she realized he wasn’t moving. Stone was stretched out beside him in the snow, his nose inches from Justin’s face. Her heart squeezed painfully as she feared the worst.
Had Justin been killed?
They needed to do something! Frantic now, Kendra bucked against Dom’s body lying on top of her. “Get off, get off!” She searched the snow for her weapon. “We need to save him!”
“Raine is here,” Dom said, his voice irrationally calm. “Stay down.”
She didn’t want to stay down! Knowing Raine had arrived brought some measure of relief, but that wasn’t good enough if her brother was bleeding to death. Changing tactics, she abruptly wiggled backward. Her movement took Dom by surprise, and Kendra was able to get out from beneath him. Finally free, she pushed herself to her hands and knees, crawling through the snow toward her brother. She reached for his foot, grabbing his ankle and shaking it hard. “Justin! Talk to me! Are you hurt?”
To her surprise, he lifted his head and turned to look at her. Now that she was close, she could see he had one arm wrapped around his K9. “It’s a flesh wound. Get down!”
A flesh wound! She belatedly noticed a sprinkling of red droplets of blood across the snow near his right arm. Maybe it wasn’t serious, but Justin was right-handed. And that meant he couldn’t return fire.
She needed her weapon, and fast! The report of gunfire had stopped, but she was afraid it would start again any second. Especially if Raine was facing off against two men.
Keeping her head down, she turned to crawl back toward Dominic. “We need to find my gun,” she whispered.
Dom pushed up to his knees and dragged his hands through the snow. His arms moved like a giant windmill, and if she wasn’t scared to death, she might have laughed. A moment later, he triumphantly held up her gun. It was wet and covered with snow, but that didn’t matter. She knew it would still fire if she could manage to hit what she was aiming at.
A big if, under the circumstances.
“Thanks.” She held out her hand, but he shook his head.
“I’ve got it.” Dom’s expression was grim. “You need to stay behind me.”
Frustrated, she almost snapped. Then she realized Smoky was standing with her nose to the air, sniffing intently. She crawled behind Dom, then called to her K9. “Smoky, come.”
Thankfully, her dog obeyed her command. Dom was still on his knees, but he was so tall that he may as well have been standing upright. She wrapped one arm around Smoky, pulling the dog close, then grabbed the back of his jacket with the other, needing the physical connection to face whatever threat lurked in the distance.
“Kendra? Justin? Are you okay?” Raine called.
“I’m fine.” Kendra relaxed her grip on Dom’s coat.
“I’m okay too,” Justin said. Looking around Dom’s back, she realized Justin had pushed himself up to his feet. The way he cradled his right arm across his chest indicated he was hurt more than he let on.
“Good. I have the gunman in custody.” Raine’s voice rang with satisfaction. “But there’s no sign of Levy.”
Kendra grimaced, knowing Levy must have taken the opportunity to escape. The coward.
“Who is the shooter?” Dom asked. “Do you recognize him?”
“Never seen him before in my life.” Raine stepped out from behind the trees, pushing a man dressed in black. Kendra didn’t recognize him either, but one thing was clear. He wasn’t a younger white guy, the way Levy had claimed. The US Marshal had lied about that. The man Raine had in custody had darker skin and black hair, almost as if he were from Romania. Or maybe some other Eastern European country.
Was he involved in the South African cartel?
“I recognize him,” Dominic said, breaking the silence. “His name is Jake Hutchins. He’s my second-in-command at Data Intelligence Services.”
Hutchins? The last name clicked in her mind. This guy was married or related to Jennifer Hutchins. Likely married, as Jennifer had fair skin.
