“None.” He eyed Kiley. “These suspects must be high up the food chain to get my team out in the middle of the night for babysitting duty.”
She nodded but didn’t explain and lifted her binoculars to zoom in on the room again.
“So you’re out of D.C.?” Hawke asked.
“We are.”
“RED team, right?”
“You’ve heard of us.”
“Not many agents who haven’t.”
Kiley had enough of the small talk, so she looked at Hawke. “We’ll get our gear for the breach, and I’d appreciate your team providing backup.”
As she turned to leave, the door to room 104 opened, and a dark-skinned man with black hair poked his head out. He caught sight of them and bolted back inside. The window shattered, glass flying everywhere, and a rifle barrel slid out.
“Gun!” Kiley started for cover behind a car.
Evan launched himself at her, grabbed her up in his arms, and dove behind the vehicle. He took the brunt of the fall on his shoulder. They still landed with a thud. It happened so fast she couldn’t think of what to say while she tried to scramble out of his arms. He covered her body and held fast.
“Let me up,” she demanded as gunfire sounded from the motel room.
He met her gaze, and she’d never seen such determination in his eyes before.
“Get off me,” she demanded.
He waffled for a moment.
She seized the opportunity to push against his chest. “Let. Me. Up.”
His expression softened and he eased back.
She scooted to her feet and checked to see if her team was safe. Sean and Mack had crouched behind a dumpster, their sidearms raised. Mack glanced at her, his expression wild and unfocused. He was such a strong guy, and he looked like he might be freaking out. She’d never seen him like that and worried he was remembering something from his past days in the military.
She tried to communicate with her eyes that everything was going to be all right. He suddenly shifted, clearing his gaze, but she would definitely ask him about it. Once she got over her mortification for being tackled like a helpless woman. Would be even more mortified when she looked into Hawke’s face if he’d seen what happened.
She drew her weapon and slipped around the dumpster to come up beside the commander. “We need the shooter alive.”
“Might not be possible,” he said, keeping his focus on the building. “I’m dispatching a phone to him now, but if he doesn’t stop firing to pick it up and negotiate, we might have no choice but to take him down before innocent civilians get hurt.”
He lifted a bullhorn to his mouth. “Put down your weapon. I’m sending our robot with a phone so we can talk.”
One of his men holding a laptop deployed a small robot that hummed across the lot. The gunman fired on the bot, tumbling it over. The tech righted it, but the gunfire continued, sharp reports with bullets pinging off the dumpster and ground nearby.
In a momentary lull, Hawke shouted, “Come on! Pick up the phone and we can talk about this.”
The shooter kept firing.
“Sorry, Agent Dawson,” Hawke said. “People are starting to come out of their rooms, and we need to end this before any of them or our people get hurt.”
She didn’t want the standoff to end this way. Not only because she needed Nabi and Shah’s information but also because she didn’t want any casualties. Hawke was right. The situation was extremely volatile, and he had protocols to follow. They had no other option. Protecting innocent lives was the most important thing at all times in law enforcement.
And it didn’t matter what she thought. He didn’t need or require her approval, but he did get out his phone and run the situation down for one of the special agents in charge of the big L.A. office. He was calm and steady while they continued to take fire, and Kiley’s respect for the man grew.
“Affirmative. We’re cleared to take the shot.” He gave a firm nod and pocketed his phone. He looked at Kiley. “We’re a go.”
She nodded, but her heart sank into her stomach. She didn’t like this. Didn’t like it at all. Still, she knew what was coming.
