Aubrey had barely realized what was happening when she found herself flying through the air. She landed with a thud, and then a large body fell on top of her.
“Stay down,” Liam Stryker growled into her ear.
Since she couldn’t move and could barely breathe, that wouldn’t be a problem.
Shots fired rapidly for several breath-holding seconds, and then all was quiet.
“Eve, you see him?” Liam asked.
“Yeah. Give me a sec.” And then, “Found him.”
There was the sound of glass breaking and then complete silence.
No one moved for what seemed like forever. Aubrey, needing to breathe, whispered softly, “Mr. Stryker? Do you think you could get off me now?”
“Shh.”
She took that to mean no he could not.
They waited several more seconds and then he lifted himself slightly off her and said, “Jazz, you copy?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you located?”
“About ten feet to your right.”
“Crawl this way. Then take Starr and hide behind those bushes until this is done.”
“On my way.”
“But I want to see the—”
The body on top of her covered her again, and he whispered fiercely in her ear, “Nobody gets killed on my watch. Got that?”
“Yes…okay.”
It probably was only a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity before Jazz said behind them, “I’m here.”
Liam rolled off her and Aubrey was finally able to breathe.
Jazz grabbed her arm and said, “Belly-crawl with me over to the bushes.”
Following Jazz’s lead, Aubrey wiggled on her belly to the tall hedges.
“We’ll stay here until we get the all clear,” Jazz said.
“What happened?”
“We missed a lookout. He was up in the attic, so we didn’t see him.”
“Why did he stop shooting?”
“Eve took him out.”
She hadn’t known where Eve had gone, only that she hadn’t been in the two vehicles with the rest of them. Apparently, she had been a distance away.
She raised her head slightly and looked at the house. Lights were on in several rooms, but she heard no sounds of violence like she’d expected.