Aiden ordered a black & blue burger with water.
“No milkshake?” I asked, settling more comfortably in the booth.
“No.” He set the menus aside.
Aiden had a few flaws, and a lack of a sweet tooth was one I could work with. “Okay. Why are we taking time to have a burger?”
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “It’s dinner time.”
“Uh, huh.” I studied his serene expression. “If you’ve brought me somewhere for a milkshake, you’re up to something. What is it?”
His cheek creased. “Fair enough. I want you to go on a short vacation with Drag. I need Saber here, but Drag will cover your back.”
I figured. “What kind of name is Drag?”
“His name is Mitch Dragoner. Hence, Drag.” Aiden sat back as our drinks were placed in front of us.
I stuck the straw in my very thick milkshake. “No. I want to work with you, but I have court tomorrow and need to go.” Hopefully I could get Kelsey’s case dismissed, and at least that’d be off my plate. “I wouldn’t ask you to leave work.”
“You would to save my life,” he countered, taking a drink of his water.
That was true. “I’ll keep a detail with me, but that’s it for now. I have to do my job.” Then our burgers arrived and we dug in. They were every bit as good as Aiden had promised.
He paid the bill and we walked hand-in-hand back to the office. “I need to grab a few things, and let’s head home.”
Home. The way he said it sounded so right. Oh, I was in no hurry to get too serious, but I still liked hearing statements like that from him. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, still holding my hand as he punched in the correct code and opened the door to the main computer room. “I was thinking we could drop by the hospital—”
He stopped speaking and let go of my hand, reaching for his gun. He lifted it smoothly.
“What?” I edged to his side and gasped.
Two men lay against the table that held the computer keyboards, one slumped against the other. They were the men from the other day—Barensky’s henchmen. Chuck Velomn and Marc Franks. They had small, bloody holes in the center of their foreheads, and their eyes looked sightlessly past us.
My legs shook. “Aiden?”
He swept the room and then his office and the ammunition room. “Anybody upstairs?” he yelled.
Nobody answered. He studied the two dead men. “This doesn’t make sense.”
I looked closer. “Is that a chess piece?” A pawn was half-hanging out of Marc’s shirt pocket.
Aiden stiffened. He grabbed my arm. “Run.”
I turned and retreated, hitting the door and running outside into the soft light, leaping across the grass and barreling across the quiet roadway toward the businesses on the other side.
“Keep going,” Aiden bellowed, right behind me.
The air thickened and paused. Then an explosion rocked the building behind us. Aiden tucked both arms around me and tumbled us behind a large oak tree in the grass. Debris rained down, and several projectiles smashed into the two-story gray house in front of us that served as a day spa. Glass shattered inward and fell onto a row of bushes outside.
His body jolted as something must’ve hit him, and he groaned.
I spit grass out of my mouth.
Aiden stayed over me. “Hold still. Make sure there isn’t another bomb.”
The soft ground hurt my hips. “You’re smushing me.”
He levered up, flipped me over, and covered me. “Better?”
“Yeah.” My hands were trapped between us. “Are you okay?” The shadow on his jaw scratched my nose. Debris rained down, and fire crackled gleefully.
“No. I’m pissed.” He waited a minute and then rolled over, coming up with his phone already at his ear, where he gave the details of the explosion. Must’ve been 9-1-1. Then he pressed a button. “All roll call. Now. Aiden in.”
I jumped up and ran over to smash a flame off his shirt.
A series of different voices came over the line, and after seven made it, his shoulders finally went down. “Okay. All accounted for. We’ve had a breach and an explosion.”
Sirens already came from the distance.
He took out his gun and scouted the area. Several people emerged from different buildings, watching the fire and broiling smoke.
I idled next to him. “Barensky?”
“Yeah.” The local police arrived. “Wait here and watch for debris.” He moved toward the first officer, flashed his badge, and then they talked for a while.
Saber and Drag roared up in an Escalade, both jumping out and flanking Aiden. Then