“PaulVer,” she purred, laying on the seductive ruse. “You speak English?”
He stiffened, his shoulders curling forward and hands flexing at his sides. A small satchel hung against his hip with the strap crossing his upper body.
“I don’t know that name.” His English was succinct, despite the heavy inflection of a Romanian accent.
Lydia’s muscles trembled as she flattened herself against the corner of the building, remaining hidden.
Matias and Lucia leaned against their rented SUV, which was parked at a distance behind Camila, well in view of PaulVer. Kate would be inside the vehicle. Tate and Tiago stood in the shadows at the edges of the side street, mere feet from PaulVer’s position. Their unmoving forms would be difficult to detect by an unsuspecting eye.
Behind her, people strolled along the main road, coming and going between the bars and nightclubs.
After a moment of searching, she spotted Cole crouched beside the building across the street. He held a gun at his side, his gaze flicking between her and PaulVer.
“I have a proposition for you, handsome.” Camila slowly placed one heeled shoe before the other, sashaying her hips as she approached.
“You have the wrong person.” He pivoted, revealing a shockingly youthful face before he ducked his head and strode in Lydia’s direction, not seeing her.
Jesus, the guy couldn’t have been older than eighteen.
As he hurried away from Camila, nervous tension tightened in Lydia’s gut. Fourteen months of searching and hoping, and her answer was walking straight toward her. She knew the team wouldn’t let him get away, but it took everything inside her not to jump out and grab him. She would do it in a heartbeat if she weren’t being hunted by Vincent’s goons.
Tate swept out onto the street, walking casually behind PaulVer. Then Tiago emerged, joining the slow, heart-pounding chase.
PaulVer marked them and tucked his hands in the pockets of his skinny jeans, picking up his pace, gaze on his sneakers, and reeking of fear as he inadvertently strode directly into Lydia’s path.
He must’ve decided to head back to the nightclub. In about three seconds, he would turn the corner and see her. She would have to engage him, try to push him back onto the side street and out of view without making a scene.
Something stirred behind her, lifting the hairs on her nape. She didn’t have time to consider who or what before someone crashed into her back. A split-second later, gunshots rang out.
The impact of two-hundred pounds slamming into her knocked the wind from her lungs and sent her pummeling toward the ground.
More gunfire erupted, booming through the side street.
The next few seconds slowed to a crawl.
As she hit the ground beneath the weight of her attacker, PaulVer froze. His shoulder kicked back as if punched by an invisible fist. He staggered. His eyes bulged, locked on her. He reached for his chest, then his arm, and pulled his hand away, smeared in blood.
He was shot.
Oh, God, he was shot.
No, no, no!
A guttural sound barreled from her throat, and her stomach rolled in violent waves. Trapped in the cage of unbending steel arms, she could only watch in horror as PaulVer crumpled to the ground a few feet away. Lifeless.
She twisted her neck, her lungs screaming for oxygen, and found Cole stretched out atop her like a shield of flesh-and-bone armor. He’d saved her life again, but with that realization spiked a blood-chilling fear for his life. While she lay safely beneath him, his entire body was exposed to the bullets whizzing past her head.
All around her, the team returned gunfire. The deadly exchange of lead lasted a long, agonizing minute. Then the street fell quiet.
“All clear,” Matias shouted.
“Cole?” She whimpered, panicking. “Cole, are you-?”
“Not hit.” He dropped a kiss on her temple and rolled off her back.
Three dead bodies scattered the sidewalk behind her. Vincent’s men.
She stumbled to her feet, frantically scanning the side street before her. The team had taken cover during the gunfight. Were any of them hit?
The wrath of a million bees swarmed her bloodstream as Cole shouted, “Report in!”
One by one, each person on the team responded with “Not hit.”
As she exhaled some of her tension, the blare of sirens broke out in the distance.
“Move out!” Cole crouched beside PaulVer’s body and tossed the kid over his shoulder.
She raced ahead, leading him to the SUV with Tiago and Kate.
“Is he alive?” Kate asked from the backseat.
“He’s breathing.” Cole fell into the seat beside Kate and dumped the kid between them.
Lydia jumped in the front passenger seat next to Tiago, and before she got the door closed, Tiago hit the gas, shooting forward.
The other four teammates sped down the street in the second SUV. Tiago followed closely behind, skidding around turns and running through stop signs.
“Is he alive?” Blood thrashed in her ears as she twisted to face the backseat.