Page 72 of I'll Be There
Conner turned to her then, and she saw it again, this time unhooded, unblemished. A full-out desperation, even horror.The thing he’d been hiding from her, what she’d tasted in his kiss.
“I’m sorry, Liza. But this isn’t finished.” He turned to Micah. “I have to.”
Micah nodded, a muscle tensing in his jaw. He turned to Liza and grabbed her arms.
“He has to—what?”
And it was a good thing Micah had a hold of her because the man she loved got up as if to step through the opening.
To get shot, right before her eyes.
“No!What are youdoing?”
“Conner—stop!” Darek skidded up behind him. “Jed and I have a plan. Just—distract him. We’ll be out of here in a minute, maybe less.”
She nearly collapsed with relief until Conner turned, a muscle pulling in his jaw, as if testing Darek’s words.
“Now. Trust me,right now,” Darek said.
“One minute. I’ll distract him. Then it’s over.”
Over?
Then she died, right there, as she watched Conner dive through the open pane, roll, and come up behind the upturned table. “Stop! Blankenship! I’m coming out!”
CHAPTER TEN
He should have never let Blankenship walk away. Conner crouched behind the table—the flimsy wooden table that could maybe slow a bullet, but would find its way to his heart if the shooter took any time with his shots.
“Stop shooting! Let’s talk!”
Another bullet pinged off the edge of the table, and Conner braced himself, his hands over his head. Heat seared across his shoulder.
Time. They just neededtime.
By his guess, they had roughly a minute before the dining room ignited. Already black smoke roiled out of the front pane window. Sirens fractured the air, the Deep Haven fire department responding from their new digs on the hill. Too far.The pizza joint would collapse in on itself before they made the winding drive downtown.
Another shot, this one piercing the table, chipping into the sidewalk. “You can have me! Just let everyone out!”
Why hadn’t he simply gotten Liza to safety, then pinged Blankenship’s cell phone, tracked him down, and done exactly what Micah suggested...
Waited for him with a sniper rifle?
No, actually, he wanted this guy up close and personal. Very personal.
“Let’s talk, Blankenship!”
Another shot, and this time the table jerked, the edge splintering off, and heat skidded across his arm. He jerked away, clamped a hand over the graze, bit off a word.
“I’ll come out!Stop shooting!Let them go!”
Inside, only the roar of the fire bled out into the street. Whatever Darek and Jed were doing—shoot.C’mon, guys!
The fire blew out the glass in the entryway of the pizzeria. More smoke poured out. Conner gaged the angle of the shots and would lay a good bet that Blankenship had lost his line of vision.
Now.They could run right now. He dove back into the building and nearly cracked skulls with Jed.
“C’mon!” Jed held an ax, his face covered with a wet cloth napkin. “Let’s get out of here!” He dropped to his knees. “Take a breath, we’re going up the stairs.”
