Veronica started coughing, her eyes panicked. Jared grabbed the back of her neck and dragged her toward the kitchen.
She was right. It was always her neck.
Chapter 13
Ronni’s eyes stung, and her lungs felt like she’d swallowed smoldering cigarette ashes. “What is that?” she gasped, stumbling for the kitchen.
“Tear gas,” Jared said, one arm around her torso as he helped her along, his gun out and ready. “It doesn’t bother us as much as you, and I can still see. We need to get you to the basement.”
“What if they have explosives?” Chalton hissed from right behind her.
More bullets sprayed through the windows, and Jared pulled her toward the ground.
She ducked, closing her eyes, coughing out in agony. Static buzzed between her ears. She couldn’t breathe. Panic swept ice along her skin, and she trembled. Her gun was upstairs.
Lance yelled in pain, crashing into the table. Blood spurted from his left arm. “Damn bastard,” he hissed, his dark skin going pale.
Jared set Ronni against the fridge. “Stay here.” He crept low to reach Lance, grabbing the detective’s shirt, protecting his head from flying debris. “Need to apply pressure.” Glancing around, he took a dishtowel off the counter to tie around the wound.
Lance groaned and lifted his gun to the kitchen door. “They’ll be coming in.”
More gunfire echoed, and glass flew all around them.
Two more canisters barreled in to bounce along the hard tile.
“Flash grenades.” Jared pivoted and covered Ronni with his body.
Something exploded. Her skull rocked against his chest, and her vision blurred. Her central nervous system hitched. She blinked, trying to concentrate, a buzzing filling her head. “Wh-what?” she breathed.
He leaned back, his face blurry. “Flash grenade,” he yelled.
She couldn’t concentrate. Her chest hurt. “Jared.” Tears filled her eyes.
“It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear, hunching over her and scooting her toward a door near the utility room. “Panic room downstairs. Lock yourself in.” He motioned for Chalton over his shoulder.
He pulled open the door, and wooden steps came into view. Before Ronni could descend, a crash came from the front of the house.
Then the back door careened open, bouncing off the hall and hanging drunkenly.
Jared shoved his gun into her hand. “Shoot if necessary. Go. Now.”
Ronni reached for Olivia, who had blood sliding from her nose. “Olly?”
Olivia grasped the railing, her face pale, her eyes unfocused.
“It’s okay.” Ronni gently sent her walking down, her movements hitched. She looked up just as Mabel slid her way on her knees.
Mabel coughed uncontrollably, moving into the stairwell. “My gun is under the table. I dropped it after the flash grenade.” Her left eye was rapidly swelling, and blood poured from a cut above it.
Ronni ripped off a piece of her shirt. “Press that.”
Mabel nodded and moved to help Olivia down the stairs.
“Panic room at the bottom,” Ronni said, the gun heavy in her hand. Her vision cleared, and her body centered. She wasn’t a cop, but she’d trained with many of them. Ducking down, she twisted her body to see beyond the door.
Lance reared up by the sink and fired rapidly through the glass.
Jared plowed into a man wearing all black, both of them careening into the utility room and out of sight.
