the lower half of the wall was covered with a combination of marble and slate, so she ducked down, using it as a bullet-resistant shield.
She didn’t want to fire randomly to keep this guy from advancing. For one thing, the bullet might go through the wall and hit Clayton. And for another, she didn’t want to waste ammo. The Glock that Clayton had given her held fourteen rounds, but she’d already fired once and didn’t have extra bullets. There was no telling how much longer they’d be in a fight for their lives, and she might need those rounds to get them safely out.
“Stay down, Lenora!” Clayton shouted.
The gunman in the bedroom moved closer and fired into the bathroom. Not one shot but four, one right behind the other. They came at her so fast that the only thing Lenora could do was hover against the slate and pray that none of the bullets would slam into her.
But just like that, the shots stopped.
She saw the shooter dart to the other side of the room, deeper into the shadows, and Lenora couldn’t figure out why he’d done that. She levered herself up a little so she’d have a better shot, but the sound of the footsteps had her holding her position.
A moment later, Clayton came bursting into the room.
“Get down!” she yelled when she saw the shooter take aim at him.
Lenora took aim, as well. At the man who was about to kill Clayton.
And she fired.
* * *
CLAYTON FIGURED that bursting into the bedroom would be a huge risk, that he might be shot before he could even try to save Lenora. But he had to try. He couldn’t let whoever was in the room with Lenora hurt her and the baby.
The only part of Lenora that he could see was her hand as it snaked out, but he had no trouble hearing the shot she fired. It blasted through the room.
And it wasn’t the only one.
Their attacker fired, too. The shot came right at Clayton and bashed into the wall just above his head.
Clayton dove to the floor, took aim and fired again. This time the bullet hit the man squarely in the chest, but he didn’t go down. The man staggered back, and just when Clayton took aim to fire a second shot, blinding light stabbed through the room and right into his eyes. Not a normal light, but some kind of strobe light.
The pain was instant and so strong that if he hadn’t already been on the floor, it would have sent him to his knees. He had no choice but to scramble to the side of the bed, away from the light and out of position to fire another shot at their attacker.
“Clayton!” Lenora called out, and he heard her moving around.
“Shoot at me again, Lynnie, and your lover is a dead man,” the guy said.
Despite the searing pain, Clayton immediately recognized his voice.
Quentin.
Along with the pain, anger roared through Clayton. No way was he going to let Quentin get away with this. Of course, Clayton would have felt the same no matter who this man was.
So now they knew who wanted them dead, but knowing who was behind the attacks didn’t help him now. Clayton tried to get control of the pain, but the light continued to come right at him.
“Stay back, Lenora,” Clayton warned her.
He couldn’t see her exact position, but she was somewhere in the bathroom. Clayton didn’t want her to leave cover or try to save him, because Quentin would be able to shoot them both. The man was no doubt going to try to do that anyway, but Clayton didn’t want to make it easier for him.
Clayton blew out several hard breaths, hoping to ease the torture in his head. “I shot you in the chest,” he said to Quentin.
“Yeah, you did. Not too happy about that, because I’ll have a hell of a bruise and it’s burning like crazy.”
Which meant Quentin was wearing Kevlar. Clayton wished he’d gone for a head shot, and if he got a second chance, that’s exactly what he would do.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but don’t expect any help from your hired gun,” Clayton managed to say. “I took out Johnny Lomax. He’s dead at the top of the stairs.”
“I figured as much, or you wouldn’t have made it this far.” If he was concerned about the loss of his hired gun, it didn’t show in Quentin’s voice.
“Lynnie,” Quentin warned again, and this time