After she signed for it, I wrapped an arm around her elbow and guided her over to the corner of the store, near a large counter where people could pack boxes. “Open it.”
“Here?”
Hell yes, here. I couldn’t wait another minute to see if it was what we’d been searching for. “Here’s as good a place as any.”
Charlotte tore the top off the envelope and turned it upside down. A small box and a folded piece of paper fell out onto the counter. I couldn’t help but notice the way Charlie’s hand trembled when she reached for the box. It was about the size of a jewelry box, a small rectangle. She lifted the lid and then overturned it in her palm. When she drew the bottom of the box away, I stared down…
At the black flash drive.
I felt a sadistic grin curve my mouth. Got you, motherfuckers.
Pride swelled within me when I thought of Max and his smart actions. The safest place for that drive was exactly where he put it. No one would think to look in the mail for it, as not many people mailed stuff to their own house.
Even if they had stormed this place, they likely wouldn’t have found it because the delivery guy would have it on his truck every day for attempted delivery. Requiring Charlotte’s signature was a stroke of genius because it guaranteed the package had to be placed directly in her hands.
You did good, brother. You did good.
“Oh, Max,” Charlotte said, drawing me out of my thoughts. We were standing close, the side of her shoulder practically brushing against my chest. She tipped her head back and looked up at me, cradling the drive in her hand between us. “This seems like such an insignificant thing to die for.”
Sorrow filled her hazel eyes and her lower lip trembled ever so slightly. I covered her hand with mine. “We’ll make sure his death wasn’t insignificant.” I promised.
She sniffled and nodded. “What now?”
“Now I call the Feds and set up a meeting with them to hand over the drive. Hopefully whatever is on it will be enough to get warrants and make arrests. And then it will all be over.”
I paused, using my fingers to deftly release her hair from the frigid style. It untwisted quickly, falling down her back. I tucked one of the waves behind her ear. “You’ll be safe.”
“And you’ll go to North Carolina,” she added softly. Was that some regret I heard in her tone?
“We should go,” I said, picking up the empty envelope and turning to throw it in the trash just a couple feet away.
When I turned back, Charlotte was standing rigidly, with both the drive and the piece of paper that was with it clutched in her hands. Her gaze was locked on something outside the glass windows.
“Charlie?” I asked, going to her side, noting the way all the blood drained from her face, leaving her looking ashen and white. “Hey.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my chest.
“It’s him,” she whispered.
“Who?” Alert caused my blood to surge, and for the first time I looked up to see what caused her to be rooted into place.
She wasn’t staring at something, but someone.
“Garlic Breath,” she whispered as a little tremble shook her body.
Not really understanding who this man was, but knowing it wasn’t good, I looked back at the man Charlie referred to as Garlic Breath. His eyes were locked on her and his stare was cold and calculated.
He moved, causing his coat to shift, and I caught the unmistakable outline of a gun at his waist. “Is that the man who tried to kidnap you?” I whispered, noting he wasn’t alone. Several of his “friends” were climbing out of a car parked at the curb.
She nodded.
I didn’t really need her confirmation though because the second the words left my lips, the man boldly pulled out his gun and aimed it right at us. I knew the look of a man intent on hitting his mark. I knew the look of a man who wasn’t afraid to shoot.
He had that look.
“Go!” I yelled, turning my body so it created a shield in front of Charlie as I pushed off the tile floor to sprint away from the window.
Behind us, the sharp sound of shattering glass penetrated the air. Thousands of jagged shards rained into the store as the bullet cut through the window like a hot knife through ice cream cake.
I shoved Charlie hard, pushing her onto the floor and covering her body with mine. Another bullet cut through the air as people screamed, horns honked, and chaos reigned. Little cuts stung my skin, but I forced the pain away, focusing instead on surviving.
Flashbacks from the war, flashbacks of the sound of my brothers screaming in death, and the sound of roaring flames took over my brain.
Not again.
A bullet tore into the tile, right beside us, far too close to home, and caused the floor to crack and explode, raining even more blunt objects our way.
I jumped up, practically picking Charlie up by the back of her shirt and shoving her roughly toward the back of the store. “Run!” I roared. “Get the hell out of here!”
She didn’t have to be told twice and ran behind the counter, skidding across the rubble from the broken glass and catching herself before nearly wiping out. I wasn’t far behind her, knowing that the men who were willing to cause such a scene in public weren’t going to stop until we were dead and the drive was theirs.
The sound of a shotgun being cocked had me pausing. I turned as the man who had been working behind the counter drew himself up to his full height and took aim at the men attempting to kill us.
From this close, I could see the sweat beading his forehead and I knew he never thought he would have to use that gun. No one ever thinks they’re going to have to use one.
He hesitated to pull the trigger.
Garlic Breath did not.
His bullet was true to its mark and within seconds embedded itself right in the center of the man’s head. Blood splattered across the counter and sprayed the wall.
Charlotte screamed.
The shotgun fell from the man’s grip as he crumpled to the floor.
I shoved Charlotte again, reminding her to move, and yanked the shotgun out of the dead man’s hands. He wasn’t going to need it anymore.
I fired off a shot as I worked my way into the back, unable to aim as we scrambled back but able to hold off our pursuers to buy us a much needed few seconds.
The sound of falling boxes caused me to turn in time to see Charlotte trip over a stack of mail and fall onto the floor.
“Get up,” I ordered. “Find the backdoor!”
I heard her scramble up as the man who killed the mail guy came bursting around the corner after us.