Page 14 of Lone Star Target

A person wearing a ski mask.

The person ran straight toward Brandon’s apartment, stopped at the door and took aim at the window to the right it.

And he fired into the glass.

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Chapter Six

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“Hell,” Jace growled, automatically drawing his gun. So did Angel and Kit as she bolted from the SUV.

But none of them could return fire. Not with the possibility of injuring or killing an innocent bystander.

Or even killing Brandon.

Jace had no idea where the young man’s location was in the apartment, but the gunshot had gone through the glass, which meant it wasn’t bullet-resistant. The door and even the exterior walls likely weren’t either.

“Stop,” Jace shouted at the gunman.

He took aim, hoping to get the shooter’s attention and prevent the SOB from firing another shot into Brandon’s apartment.

It worked.

The shooter whirled around, and while the motion seemed to be a genuine response of surprise, there was something off about it. But Jace couldn’t say what exactly. The thought flew right out of his head anyway when the shooter adjusted his stance and brought up his gun.

No longer aimed at Brandon’s window.

But at Angel, Kit, and him.

“Kit, get down,” Jace shouted.

He did the same, and through the window of the SUV, he caught a glimpse of Angel pulling Kit to the ground.

Just as the bullet slammed into the SUV.

Unlike the apartment, Jace’s windows and the body of the SUV were bullet-resistant, and the shot went into the hood, embedding itself but not doing any real damage. Ditto for the second shot.

On the third shot, the gunman adjusted, and the bullet went into the SUV door just above Jace’s head.

Cursing, Jace dropped down even further, and from the other side of the SUV, he heard Angel calling 911 to report an active shooter. Jace figured the response time for that would be damn fast, maybe under three minutes, since the nearest cruiser would proceed to the scene. But in those three minutes, people could die.

And a trap could be sprung.

Because it occurred to him that this attack could have been designed so that someone could move in and try to kidnap Kit or him. That could have been what felt off about the shooter’s movements in front of the apartment.

From his position, which was practically flat out on the ground, Jace couldn’t see squat, and he couldn’t hear any footsteps. But everything in his gut told him to get to Kit fast.

So that’s what he did.

Staying down, he scrambled to the back of the SUV. The shooter must have been able to see him because the shots came that way. Again, just above his head. So, either the shooter’s aim was off or else these weren’t meant to be kill shots. That only reinforced his need to get to Kit.

He crawled beneath the SUV, bellying his way to the passenger’s side where he could see Kit. She was on the ground, with Angel hovering over her. He had his gun ready and was talking to someone on the communicator he wore clipped to the neckline of his tee.

Jace’s gaze met Kit’s, and while he saw an ample amount of fear there, she wasn’t panicking. In fact, he thought she was considering running out to try to save her nephew.

“Stay put,” Jace warned her, and he made sure it sounded like the order that it was.

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