He squeezed off several rounds, hitting the front of the SUV.
At the last second the SUV veered to the left, roaring past the driver’s side of the sedan. The barrel of an assault rifle stuck out the open back passenger window.
A barrage of gunfire split the air. Bullets riddled the fender and door of the rental sedan. The deafening noise echoed inside Serena’s head.
Josh dove inside the car.
Serena rolled to her knees, aimed and fired, hitting the back window. The SUV screamed out of the parking lot and disappeared down the street.
Heavy silence descended.
Fear for Josh overwhelmed Serena. Please, dear Lord, don’t let him be dead.
She jumped to her feet and rushed to the car. “Josh! Are you hurt?”
Josh jolted to a seated position to pound his palm against the steering wheel, his frustration obvious. He yanked out his cell and called 911.
She sagged forward with relief that he was okay and braced a hand on the car roof. Losing her brother had sent her into an emotional tailspin that she’d barely begun to come out of. Losing a partner wasn’t something she wanted to go through, no matter what her personal feelings for said partner were.
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the edges of her professionalism and pulled it tightly around her before stepping back to allow Josh to climb out of the car.
“Did you happen to see the shooters?” he asked.
“No, the windows were tinted. Do you think they were the same perps from the house?”
“Pretty likely that it was. We saw their faces.” His usually warm brown eyes hardened. “I’m sure they figured if they got rid of us then there’d be no one to ID them.”
“Except the guy I shot could identify them,” Serena said. “We need to let the local marshals know they might have a potential target on their hands.”
“Good idea.” He loosened his tie then swiped a hand down his face.
A smear of blood on the back of his hand caught her attention. “You’re hurt.”
He glanced down at the cut where flying glass had scraped across his skin. “Hazard of the job.”
Right. She knew all too well the dangers that came with being a U.S. marshal. Her brother died in the line of duty. Would she and Josh suffer the same fate?
* * *
The next morning Josh rolled into work five minutes before eight. A sleek skyscraper in downtown St. Louis housed the U.S. Marshals Service district office. Josh took the elevator to the fourth floor and made his way to his desk. Serena was already seated at her station a few feet away. She glanced up, gave him a tight smile and returned her focus to the file in front of her.
In contrast to her neat and tidy desk, Josh’s desk had a mound of files stacked precariously close to the edge. A desktop weekly planner, sporting coffee stains, still showed the previous month. He took a seat and ripped the top sheet off the calendar so that June would show. He powered up his laptop.
“Hey, McCall.” Marshal Burke Trier stopped beside Josh’s desk. Tall and lean with dark eyes, dark hair and a dimpled chin, Burke was the resident ladies’ man. “Glad to see you made it back in one piece. We heard about the ambush last night.”
“News travels fast,” Josh remarked. “What’s happening with the Munders case?”
Burke shrugged. “We’re stalled out. Without the evidence McIntyre promised we’re going nowhere real fast.”
“Not his fault the thumb drive containing the evidence went missing while in our custody,” Josh shot back.
“Yeah, well, if there was anything on it to begin with,” Burke stated. “Maybe McIntyre lifted it while we had our backs turned.”
Josh’s fingers curled. “Dylan McIntyre was trying to do the right thing. He wouldn’t—”
“Any leads on the missing Baby Kay or her mother?” Serena interjected. “That’s what we need to keep focused on.”
Josh’s gut twisted. Leave it to Serena to use the one thing that would defuse the situation. A few months back a woman named Emma Bullock had been found beaten and unconscious in Minneapolis. When she awoke, she couldn’t remember who she was or who’d hurt her. However, she remembered being in possession of a baby at the time of the attack. But the baby was nowhere to be found.
Apparently a young woman named Lonnie had asked Emma to safeguard her child while she ran an errand but had never returned. The marshals were called in because of the illegal adoption ring they were on the cusp of busting. Josh was sure the kidnapping of Baby Kay had something to do with Munders and the Perfect Family Adoption Agency. The police and the Marshals Service were still searching for the baby and the young mother.
Burke shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. The Minneapolis P.D. is staying on top of the search and will keep us informed if anything develops.”
Josh let out a frustrated grunt for a reply. He prayed the young mother and baby were still alive.
“Burke, what do you hear from Hunter?” Serena asked. She rested her elbows on the desktop and steepled her hands as she waited for an answer.
Hunter Davis had been their team leader until he’d taken an extended leave of absence. He’d fallen in love with a witness he’d been protecting. But he was still consulting on the baby-smuggling case via telephone from time to time.
“He and Annie got married. Didn’t invite any of us.” The disgruntled note in Burke’s voice was understandable. He and Hunter had been roommates before Hunter met Annie. She’d entered the witness protection program to testify against the men who’d killed her husband and tried to kidnap her daughter.
“Good for them,” Serena said.
Josh stared at her. Had he just seen a flash of longing? She met his gaze and immediately her dark brown eyes cooled before she turned her attention to the file in front of her. Nah. He’d been dreaming. The only thing in her eyes was pure steel.
“Good morning, children.” A booming voice echoed through the offices as recently retired U.S. marshal Bud Hollingsworth approached, bearing a box of treats from a local bakery. Tall with a potbelly, the sixty-something veteran was having a hard time adjusting to retirement, if his frequent appearances at the office were any indication. “I understand you two had some trouble over in Houston.”
“Does everyone know?” Josh asked. “How did you hear?”
Bud shrugged and lifted the lid on the box to offer Josh a pastry. “The chief. He asked me to come in and consult on this development. I’m going to liaison with the Houston P.D. to try to catch these guys. We can’t have our witness compromised.”
Josh’s defenses rose. “He wasn’t. There were no labels on anything. No way anyone could find out where the McIntyre family has been relocated to.”
“Josh.
