This time he glanced over at her. Seeing the pale face and the way her hand shook as she brushed the hair out of her eyes sent a shot of guilt through him. Still, he wasn’t used to a lot of conversation in the middle of a shoot-out. “Now might not be the best time.”
She checked the weapon before looking up again. “Why did you think they were police?”
Looked as though she talked when she got nervous. He tried to contain the adrenaline coursing through him enough to keep up the harsh whispering. “The uniform, plus the other two were at the police station. The chief knew I was coming. The usual.”
She frowned. “That’s the usual for you?”
“Uh, yeah.” It all made sense to him, but in hindsight he’d played it too safe in the minutes leading up to his meeting. He could have checked identities through facial recognition, but that wasn’t standard operating procedure for a job like this. It was supposed to be an easy witness pickup, not a death match.
Her attention did not waver. It stayed locked on him. “Who are you and what do you do?”
They absolutely didn’t have time for that discussion. “Later.”
And really, there was no easy way to tell her he worked for an undercover operation hired out to corporations and governments to handle kidnapping and threat situations. It was the kind of line that sounded like nonsense during a pickup in a bar. In real life it meant he lived in a web of secrets, lies and death. Not exactly the kind of information that was going to put her at ease right now.
“I don’t think so.” Her tone suggested she might turn that gun on him at any moment. “How about now or I’ll go out there with them?”
“You think you’ll be safe with a guy pretending to be police?” She’d already proven she was smart and quick on her feet. He didn’t doubt she’d reason this through and agree...at least, he hoped so.
“Probably not,” she mumbled.
“Then maybe we can take care of the attackers before exchanging personal info?” Seemed logical to him. He was about to point that out when the banging started again.
His hand went to her head. He pushed her toward the floor with his body covering hers. Glass shattered and rained over them. Edges clipped the back of his hands, but his long-sleeved shirt protected the rest. Drywall kicked up and a lamp exploded to his left.
The rapid volley gave way to another sharp silence. His head shot up and he took another look. The men outside still hadn’t moved. Other than holding weapons at the ready and the glass shower, nothing had changed. When he looked down, Julia was already moving.
She visibly swallowed as she sat up. “Okay, we’ll talk later.”
He liked her style. “Exactly.”
“Now what?”
“That was a warning shot.” If they wanted to do real damage, to shoot their way inside, they would have. For some reason they stalled out there, and Cam couldn’t figure out why.
He’d deal with that later. Now he needed an exit strategy, and the options appeared pretty limited. Running out the back door might work if she hadn’t been wearing a bright red shirt. That would stick out with her streaking through the woods. Which led to the other issue—she lived in the middle of nowhere.
This part of Calapan consisted of lush greenery, dirt roads and little else. Her cabin sat with the water on one side and towering trees on the other three. That made running for help problematic. So shooting their way out won as the best scenario. And that was not good news.
“What exactly did you do to them?” The hand with the gun fell on her lap as some of the color seeped back into her cheeks.
Anger and blame—good. He could handle those. “My job.”
“Could you be more specific?” The demand for information was right there in her tone and the flat line of her mouth.
He ignored both. “No.” When she started to talk again he put a finger to his mouth. “Do not move.”
“Where would I go?”
He decided to wait until later to explain hand gestures and go over the definition of the word quiet. Making sure he was dealing with three men and not more trumped everything. He could take them down one by one, but only if another line didn’t loom behind this one.
Crouched and keeping out of sight, he shifted with quick movements around the cottage. Checked the side yards and the one in back where he’d found her a few minutes ago. It took about a minute thanks to the size of her place.
By the time he made it back to the window with Julia, he knew they were in serious trouble. “They’re getting smarter.”
She shifted her weight and sat up with her knees tucked under her. “Meaning?”
“They’re spreading out.” They’d finally mobilized. There was no reason to do that unless an attack came next. Cam still didn’t know what was happening on this island, but it wasn’t good. “They’ll likely come in firing.”
With her palms on the hardwood floor, she leaned forward. “You brought these guys to my door. Take them away.”
If only it were that simple. But he did have a plan, and it involved taking her out of the cross fire. “Is there an attic?”
She made a face. “What?”
“Julia, I need you to focus.” She could be angry and frustrated later. Now he needed her with him, because when the quiet broke this time he sensed it wouldn’t stop until bodies littered the floor. “An attic?”
She shook her head. “There’s only a crawl space.”
He’d make that work. “We need to get you in it.”
“Where will you be?”
He liked that she didn’t balk or question what he wanted her to do. “You go up and I’ll cover the downstairs.”
“One against three?” She sounded appalled at the idea.
“I’ve beaten worse odds.”
“Cal—”
“Cam.” His temper flared unexpectedly. For some reason her not remembering his name dug at him, but he pushed the feelings aside. “Do you really know how to shoot?”
He’d handed her a gun, which was a risk. Now he needed to make sure she wouldn’t shoot him in the head by accident.
“Of course,” she said.
“Anyone but me comes near you, you shoot.” He heard a noise. Faint but there. The attackers were closing in. No question about it. “That attic space?”
“Right.” She crawled on her hands and knees until she cleared the sight line from the window, and he followed.
Smart woman with skills. She became more intriguing by the second.
