Page 34 of Unlikely Guardian

Until she heard the sound. A sort of click.

The all’s well rationalization that she’d fought so hard to find evaporated at the exact moment that she heard another sound.

No click this time.

It was a deafening blast.

And a bullet slammed past her.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jason didn’t need anyone to tell him what that god-awful sound was. He knew. And he cursed. Because he was well aware that someone was shooting at them.

Hell.

They were still a good five or six yards from his SUV. Too far to make it in a single dive. Especially for Lilly. As a temporary measure, Jason hooked his arm around Lilly’s waist and pulled her off the sidewalk and into a cluster of shrubs. She was already headed in that direction anyway so thankfully she didn’t take too hard of a fall.

Another shot tore through the night and slammed into the ground. Mere inches from Lilly’s head.

So much for his temporary safety measure of being in the shrubs. To keep her alive, they’d have to move.

“Let’s go,” Jason ordered.

With his arm still around her, he drew his Glock and dragged Lilly out of the shrubbery and to the side of the SUV. It was safer than using the plants as a shield, but it didn’t neutralize the danger, because judging from the angle of the two shots, the gunman was somewhere on a rooftop. That meant he or she was in a perfect position to adjust, re-aim and fire again.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The shot skipped off the roof of his SUV, metal tearing through metal.

“Who’s doing this?” Lilly mumbled. Not a question exactly. More like a furious, frustrated plea.

Jason heard the other officers scrambling for cover and position. Either or both would be able to return fire, but that didn’t mean they could take out the shooter before he or she took out one of them. He moved his body over Lilly’s, sheltering her as best he could, and he scanned the rooftops to see if he could catch a glimpse of the sniper.

Nothing.

For a few seconds.

The gunfire returned. Not a single shot, either. A barrage of deadly bullets that pelted the ground and the SUV. Jason felt totally helpless. All he could do was stay put and pray the shots would stop so he’d get his own opportunity to put an end to this. Unfortunately he couldn’t just start firing random shots. They were literally in downtown San Antonio, and he didn’t want to shoot anyone by mistake.

Beneath him, Jason could feel Lilly trembling, and he hated that once again she’d been placed in a situation where her life was at serious risk. Her question had been dead-on—Who’s doing this? Because until he knew that, stopping it would be hit or miss.

Jason was damn tired of missing.

The shots continued for what seemed an eternity, and just like that, in the blink of an eye, they stopped.

He waited. Listened. For any sound to indicate the gunman was reloading. Or escaping. When he heard nothing other than the normal noises of the city, he turned and pinpointed the roof of the adjacent building. The spot where he believed the shots had been fired.

“Do you see him?” Lilly asked.

Because she lifted her head, Jason used his forearm to keep her down and hopefully out of harm’s way. This lull could be a ploy by the gunman to get them to leave cover. He wasn’t about to allow Lilly to take that risk.

“Anything?” Jason shouted to his fellow officers.

“Negative,” they answered within seconds of each other.

And the silence continued. No shots. No out-of-place sounds.

Nothing.

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