“Do you understand?”he repeated in a rough whisper while Andrea hissed, “Charlotte, do it. Hurry.”
With a quick nod, Charlotte jumped to her feet and walked briskly toward the door. She pressed her phone to her ear as she stepped out of sight.
David checked to confirm Prentiss was still focused on Harold. Prentiss was saying something, but David couldn’t hear what. Harold looked both alarmed and confused by whatever it was.
David put out his hand to stop a passing waiter.
“Sir?” the kid asked politely.
David made very intense eye contact with the poor guy, who had no idea what he’d walked into. “We have a serious security concern unfolding.No,do not turn around.”
The waiter gaped at him. “Okay?”
Prentiss was still not paying them any attention. Andrea’s father shifted to his left, forcing Prentiss to turn his back to them.
Good man.
David focused on the waiter again. “I want you to lead Andrea here to the kitchen,” he said, gesturing at his charge. “Walk quickly, do not run, to the closest exit once you’re out of sight.” The guy nodded, his eyes bugging out. David turned to Andrea. “Pretend you’re going to the bar until the last possible moment, then dodge through that kitchen door. Once you’re clear, go straight to the Boston PD.”
Andrea’s expression was mutinous. “I’m not leaving here without my dad.”
David sighed. He couldn’t even blame her. Fuck, he almostlikedher. “Okay, then find a closet or an office, lock or jam the door handle, and stay away from the door. Text me your location. Do you understand?”
She grabbed his arm. “You’ll help my dad?”
“Yeah,” David said with a grim smile, “that’s the plan.”
Andrea nodded once and started walking, without question and without hysterics, though her hand shook as she nudged the waiter ahead of her. The whole family was far braver than he’d given them credit for.
It was always nice to have his faith in people affirmed before he pulled his gun on someone.
He turned to the rest of the table. “Get up and walk out one at a time. Do not run and do not leave as a group. Once you’re somewhere safe, text Andrea where that is. If you know someone else in this room, text them and tell them to find you in the lobby, without givinganydetails, if you must. Otherwise, get the hell away.”
Without waiting to see if they understood, he turned to face the other side of the ballroom. All his detailed instructions would be moot once he or Prentiss pulled a gun.
Then the running and screaming would start, and that part alwayssucked.
For now, David kept his gun holstered for precisely that reason. Prentiss wasn’t paying attention to anyone but Harold. People had moved away from them, giving them space for what was probably perceived as an extraordinarily awkward conversation. The clusters of people forced David to slow his approach.
Finally, he was close enough to hear.
“You took her away from me. Poisoned her mind against me! We were meant to be together forever!”
David bit back a sigh and vowed to search Amazon again for the book titledCreepy Shit Stalkers Say.It had to exist. Otherwise, how could they all work off the same damn script?
He cut left to circle the last table, knowing it might put him in the perp’s peripheral vision, but taking the calculated risk. The kid most likely didn’t have a clue what he was doing, operating on impulse and adrenaline. Not like the time SWAT had been called to the home of a fellow officer.
David shoved aside everything that went along with being the one who’d pulled the trigger on that job. He needed to stay present. It was bad enough his dreams succumbed to that call as often as they did.
Harold, who’d done a decent job ignoring David until now, let his gaze drift over Prentiss’s shoulder. Prentiss spun, his eyes widening when he saw David. He could only hope Prentiss had no idea who David was or what he was doing there.
He decided to test that theory. “Everything okay here? You sound pretty upset,” he said with an apologetic smile. He kept his eyes on Prentiss, not willing to indicate he had any idea who Harold was. Not yet.
Prentiss looked increasingly distressed, his gaze flicking back and forth between David and Harold as David worked his way around the last of the tables and drew closer. He was about to insert himself between them when Prentiss snapped.
David would later admit he hadn’t thought Prentiss could pull his gun that fast.
It took less than five seconds for someone to realize what was happening, and for the screaming and running to start, right on cue. David kept one eye on the rush of people fleeing the room, but he was more concerned with how his heart pounded disconcertingly hard against his ribs. How his palms sweated. He’d been trained for this, he reminded himself sternly. Seen worse. And it didn’t have to go wrong.
