Crack,crack!
The sound of gunfire infused icy terror into her muscles. She reached the vehicle and skidded to the rear passenger side as bullets struck the dirt around them. Roarke yanked open the door and she dove inside. Emmy came in next, and Laine eagerly opened her arms.
The guys moved quickly and methodically. In seconds Viper was in the driver’s seat, Striker in the front passenger seat, and Roarke next to Emmy and her. Viper gunned the engine, and they shot backward and out of the brush, then spun toward the road.
Multiple beams of headlights bounced over the terrain. Bullets popped around them. Laine swallowed the scream burning her throat.
Roarke’s hand caught the back of her neck and pulled her down to the seat. “Stay low.” His body covered hers and Emmy’s,his heat and weight enough to loosen the strangling anxiety around her neck.
“Mommy, I’m scared. Are those guns?”
She smoothed Emmy’s hair back from her forehead. Tears filled her eyes, and her sinuses burned. How the hell could she tell her daughter that her father was trying to kill them?
“It’s all right, kiddo.” Roarke’s calming voice wrapped around them. “They’re trying to scare us, but Viper’s driving, so they’re going to eat our dust.”
Laine almost smiled at his attempt to make light of the situation. Emmy didn’t say anything, but she wrapped her arm tighter around Laine’s neck.
Roarke pointed to the rear window behind his head. “See those stars? We’ve even got a full moon. When was the last time your mommy let you stay up this late?”
Emmy’s mouth worked up at the corners. “Never.”
He gasped with mock outrage, his breath close to Laine’s cheek. She wanted him to sink even closer. “What? Well, when your mom was little, she sure stayed out late enough to see all the stars.”
Emmy’s surprised eyes found Laine’s. “You did?”
Laine smiled. The world around them might be on fire, but somehow Roarke’s humor had put them in a bubble. She ignored the bounce of the car and the roar of the engine as Viper drove like a NASCAR racer. “That was a long, long time ago, and I was older than you.”
“She ate candy, too,” Roarke whispered.
“Mommy doesn’t eat candy,” Emmy said with shock.
“She did then.”
The vehicle swerved sharply. If it weren’t for Roarke’s weight bearing down on her side and his arm planted against Emmy’s back, they’d have rolled to the floor.
“Hostiles are closing in,” Striker said. “Rogue, gonna need some backup.”
Laine’s skin puckered.
Roarke’s determined eyes bore into hers. His mouth firmed. “Stay down, no matter what. I won’t let anything happen.” He ruffled Emmy’s hair. “Cover your ears.”
He pushed away from them. Keeping his head ducked, he rolled down the rear passenger window and aimed his rifle through the opening. Bullets clapped in rapid succession, both his and Striker’s.
Emmy shrieked, her hands cupped over her ears and her head wedged between the seat and Laine’s chest. Laine didn’t dare let go of Emmy to cover her own ears. She hunched her shoulders to shield as much of her daughter as possible.
“One down,” Striker bellowed.
Their vehicle hit something hard, and the car jumped. Laine fought the urge to scream, but the wheels didn’t blow.
Minutes stretched into eternity, and she was vaguely aware of Roarke reloading his weapon. More shots were fired, each one sending regret into her heart.
She’d endangered Emmy. They might not make it out alive. If all this was for nothing?—
She swallowed the lump in her throat. No, she had to believe they wouldn’t end here.
Bullets rained down on the car. Laine screeched. Pellets of glass hit her face and body. Cameron’s men were closer. Roarke cursed and leaned back into the vehicle, and the men shouted at each other in military jargon she couldn’t follow.
The scent of gunpowder was thick and pungent, making her nostrils burn.
