She wanted to trust them with everything. Something inside told her they were good men. But she hadn’t trusted her intuition on men since Carl. “I need to make a phone call first. To my sister.” The last part was a lie. She wasn’t about to tell them about Kimmie or her mom. Not yet.
“You can use my phone,” Matt said, pulling out his cell. “Yours might have a tracker on it.”
“Not possible.” No way was she going to leave her mother’s home number in his history. “I just got several burner phones this morning.”
“You are definitely Robin Hood.” Sean smiled. “No wonder we had so much trouble finding you.”
“Go ahead and call your sister,” Matt said.
“If you two will excuse me, I will.”
“Can’t leave you alone, Jena,” he told her. “It’s too dangerous.”
They all stilled as they heard gunshots from outside the building.
“Get down,” Sean ordered, pulling his pistol out.
She got under one of the desks and watched them both head to the doors, Sean to the back and Matt to the front. Dylan was still outside.
More shots.
They exited.
She was alone.
Trembling, she crawled to her purse, pulling out her gun and placing it next to her. Then she got the cell and dialed her mom.
Another shot. Please let me live for Kimmie.
“Hello?” her mother’s voice came through.
“Mom, are you and Kimmie okay?” Her heart pounded hard in her chest.
“Yes, Jena. Everything’s fine here. What’s wrong?”
Thank God. “I just got worried about you, Mom,” she lied, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’ve been away so long. I miss you and Kimmie. Just making sure you’re okay.”
“You want to talk to her? She’s outside on the swing in the backyard, but I can go get her.”
“Not now.” She didn’t want Kimmie or her mom hearing the commotion that was going on outside. “I’m expecting an important call. I’ll check in at the normal time.” I’ve got to end this call.
“Honey, are you sure everything is okay? You don’t sound like yourself. Did you learn something about Carl?”
She wished it were that simple. “No, Mom. I’m just very tired. I need to get some rest. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Jena.”
As she clicked off the phone, there were three more shots. She picked up her gun and pointed it at the front door, keeping an eye on the back one as well.
* * * *
Sean ducked behind a Dumpster, his heart pumping like mad. Dylan and Matt were pinned down behind Jena’s car. There were at least two shooters, obviously highly trained. “Pozadi avtomobilya,” one yelled to the other.
His Russian was rusty, but he knew that meant “behind the car.” These were Mitrofanov’s men. Sean was able to translate more.
“Our orders are to hold them down until backup arrives,” one of the Russians said.
He hadn’t gotten sight of the fuckers yet. Dylan and Matt motioned to him to get Jena and they began firing, giving him cover.