Page 64 of Against the Clock

“That’s not all,” she said nervously.“Julia was taken to the hospital this morning.Someone attacked her on her way to work in an alley.An onlooker intervened and scared them off before they could do anything else.”

I pushed off the counter and joined them.

“Are these all the same people who—”

“Were in the car when Justin died.”Mike pulled his lips into a thin line.

“So someone’s taking out his entire team?”

She nodded as tears filled her eyes.

“Do you think it’s Elias Salvador?”I asked.“It seems pretty convenient that suddenly everyone that was working the case that sent him and his father to prison is now being targeted and murdered.”

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.“I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen.I didn’t want to bother you by coming here, but since Justin was your brother-in-law, I was worried they might come for you too.”

Before he could say anything, I noticed the red dot that quickly moved from her forehead to her chest, then back up again.

“Get down now!”I shouted, diving toward her and pulling her to the floor as a bullet whipped past us.Mike crouched next to me before taking off toward the guest bedroom where Quinn and Rosie were.

“Take cover, Quinn,” he yelled while pulling his gun from its holster.

I dropped to the floor, cradling Anastasia in my arms as I watched the blood pool around her.

Thirty-One

Quinn

1 Day Ago

“Iknow I’ve missedwork all week,” I replied into the phone.“Unfortunately, there have been a handful of personal events that have transpired and won’t allow me to come in at this time.”

I paused to listen to my boss rant and complain on the other end of the line, knowing that he was pissed off that I was being so vague.Was I going to lose my job over this?Who knew.But I couldn’t exactly come clean and tell him that I was hiding and trying to keep my daughter safe from whoever was trying to kidnap her and taking out everyone that my dead husband had worked with.If ever my faith was shaken in who I could trust at work, now was that moment.

“I will touch base with you on Monday,” I confirmed.“Thank you.”

I hung up the phone and set it on the bed next to me.After Anastasia was shot in Mike’s apartment this morning, we had agreed that none of us were safe in the city anymore.I repacked the same duffle bag that I had just barely unpacked yesterday, added some first aid stuff, and made sure that I had plenty of medicine if Rosie spiked a fever again.Thankfully, she seemed to be on the mend this morning, which was one less thing to worry about.

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