Page 52 of Under Fire

By the time he finished the impromptu triage, Cade had seated Delilah and Sasha at the corner table with filled glasses in front of them and stood in front of them, blocking the women from view of anyone on the street.

Matt cleaned his hands, then carried his mike bag to the table. He sat beside Delilah. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m not hurt. What you did here was amazing to watch.”

He shrugged. “I’m trained for this.”

“Still, I’m impressed.”

At that moment, Miles Russell walked in. He zeroed in on the four of them and weaved through the tables to them. “You folks hurt?”

Matt shook his head.

“I guess you’re the medic treating the injured and organizing the chaos.”

“Guilty.”

“Your aid was invaluable. Restaurant patrons and EMTs alike are singing your praises. Thanks for the assist.” His eyes narrowed. “Now that the niceties are done, I have you four once again at the heart of an attack. My officers tell me there are two men dead on the street, one shot, center mass for each. You know anything about that?”

Cade slowly placed his Sig on the table. “You’ll need this for comparison.”

“You took down both shooters?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why didn’t you wait for law enforcement to arrive?”

“Those clowns were shooting into a restaurant where my wife was sitting.”

A frown. “I would have liked to question at least one of them.”

Cade shrugged. “Training and too many civilians in the line of fire to draw out the confrontation. I won’t apologize for protecting innocents, especially Sasha.”

“Do I need to ask if you have a permit for the weapon?”

Again, the EOD man reached into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and tossed his carry permit on the table.

Russell gave it a cursory glance. “Considering the trouble dogging you boys, do you have a backup weapon?” A smile was his answer. The cop snorted. “Should have known.” He glanced over his shoulder to the knot of cops at the entrance. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

As soon as he was out of earshot, Delilah said, “This wasn’t a random attack?”

Matt shook his head.

“I feel like this is my fault. The Baxters are a nice family. They were some of the few people in town who didn’t make comments about my weight problem. They shouldn’t have to suffer because of me.”

“First, it’s not your fault you have someone wanting you dead. Second, even though this isn’t your responsibility, you have the resources to do something to alleviate the financial burden of repairs now if that’s what you want to do.”

Delilah stared. “Yes, I do, don’t I?” She leaned closer. “I don’t want people to know about the money. I have enough on my plate as it is without fending off people with their hands out every day.”

“Send Zane a text and tell him what you want to do. He’ll take care of the details anonymously.”

As she tapped out a message to Zane on her phone, Russell returned, dragged a chair to their table, and sat. He took out a notebook and pen. He pointed at Cade. “I’ll start with you.”

Cade glanced at Matt who nodded. Russell needed as much information as they could provide. While Cade began his part of the story with the visit to the coffee shop, Matt stayed alert for more trouble. Aside from the speculative glances their direction, no one paid undue attention to them.

The detective turned his attention to Delilah. “You’re next, Ms. Frost.” And so it went until the cop was satisfied he’d gleaned all possible information from them. He eyed Matt. “Cops don’t believe in coincidence.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “We don’t, either. Based on the angle of the shots, the shooters were aiming for us.”

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