Vasquez jerked his pistol. He stepped out from behind Klaus and fired. At the same time, Conn ducked, moved, and returned fire. Vasquez went down.
Klaus shoved her forward hard enough to send her sprawling, jerked his weapon, and ran for the elevator, but Conn was already firing. Klaus pulled off a wild shot as he darted inside and the steel doors slid closed.
Ears still ringing, Callie struggled to sit up and saw Conner striding toward her. “You okay?” he asked, crouching beside her.
Callie swallowed, managed to nod. Conn gently took her arms and helped her to her feet. “You sure?”
“I-I’m okay.”
Conn looked at the marks on her face, and his features hardened. He walked over to Vasquez, unmoving in a spreading pool of blood, and kicked his pistol away. Conn knelt and pressed two fingers to the side of Vasquez’s neck. Callie felt a sinking feeling as he rose and walked back to her.
“Is he . . . is Cisco dead?”
Conn nodded. “He made a bad choice, and he died for it.” He shoved his pistol back into the holster at his waist.
“What . . . what are you doing here?”
“Skye called,” he said simply. Sliding an arm around her shoulders, he guided her back down the hall, through the broken front door of the apartment. “Skye couldn’t get here in time to help. My office is only two blocks away.” He glanced toward the door. “With any luck, the cops’ll have a nice little welcome party waiting for your boyfriend in the lobby.”
Callie stiffened. “Klaus isn’t my boyfriend. He’s a pig.”
“Sorry,” he said. “It was a joke. Not a very good one.” Conner must have noticed she was trembling because he drew her across the living room over to the sofa, eased her down, and sat down beside her. “You’re safe, Callie. Mahler’s gone, and everything’s okay.”
Her eyes filled. She barely knew her half-brother. He was years older than she. But he had risked his life to save her.
“Thank you for coming.”
Conn reached down and caught her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’re family. I’m glad I could help.”
Family. She was beginning to understand she had a family she had never known.
Her sister appeared in the doorway and rushed toward them across the room. Callie noticed the slight limp, which was rarely visible. It occurred to her that she wanted to know what had happened to Skye when she was in the army, wanted to know more about these people she was coming to care for.
“The police are in the lobby,” Skye said. “Edge is with them. Klaus assaulted the guard—that’s how he got in.”
“Is the guard all right?”
“They’re taking him to the hospital. Looks like he’s got a concussion, but they think he’ll be okay.”
With a deep breath, Callie stood up from the sofa. “What about Klaus? Did they catch him?”
“Not yet,” Skye said. “But they’ve put out a BOLO, and they’ve set up a perimeter around the neighborhood. They’ll get him.”
She thought of Klaus’s determination. He wasn’t a man who accepted failure. “What if they don’t?”
Skye’s gaze flashed to her brother, and a look passed between them. “Edge and I are going to keep working the case. Until we get things figured out or Klaus is arrested, you can stay at Conn’s house.”
Callie started shaking her head. “I can’t do that. It’s too much of an imposition.”
“You need protection,” Conn said. “I own a security firm. I’ll be with you—or one of my people will—twenty-four seven.”
“But—”
“The house is big, and my housekeeper has an apartment over the garage. Isabell does all the cooking.” He smiled. “You’ll be more than comfortable.”
“Conn’s right,” Skye said. “We can’t be sure Henson didn’t send Klaus and his one-eyed sidekick—”
“Cisco Vasquez,” Callie supplied.
