Page 8 of Shadow Undercover

“Where?”

“Front of the hotel. Head toward the exit at the East parking lot.”

“Copy.”

The two operatives stepped up their pace. “Kitchen dude must have called the cops,” Joe muttered.

“Or he called Torino. This is his town, after all.” Either way, Trace, his teammates, and Bridget were toast if they didn’t leave the area in a hurry.

CHAPTER FOUR

As the sky lightened to a pearl gray, Bridget watched the traffic pick up around the hotel. What was taking Trace and his friend so long? Beside her, the medic, Sam, grew more tense as the minutes passed.

Nico straightened, peering intently out the windshield. “Trouble,” he said.

Bridget stared, fear knotting her stomach. Two vehicles full of men dressed in black and armed to the teeth screeched to a halt in front of her hotel. Eight men poured from those vehicles and swarmed the front doors, brandishing big, black rifles. “We have to warn them.”

She shouldn’t have asked Trace and his friends to stop for her bags. What if they were injured or killed because of her request? She couldn’t live with herself if that happened.

Nico touched his ear. “Company. Get out of there. Front of the hotel. Head toward the exit at the East parking lot.” He glanced at Bridget. “They’re leaving now.” He cranked the engine and drove around to the side of the hotel and parked where he could see the door, engine running.

The seconds passed in agonizing slowness. What was taking them so long? If they were caught by those armed men, Trace and Joe would be outnumbered.

The door popped open and Trace and Joe raced from the hotel. One bag was in Trace’s hand.

Bridget frowned. Where was her second bag?

Nico sped toward his friends, stopping long enough for them to jump into the SUV, and sped away from the building.

Muffled shouts sounded behind them followed seconds later by rapid gunfire.

“Get on the floor.” Trace pressed on Bridget’s back, urging her down. He and Sam helped her maneuver to the floor. By the time she was situated, Bridget was sweating and more nauseated than ever from the pain and short of breath. Having cracked, maybe broken ribs, was lousy for her ability to catch a deep breath.

Couldn’t do much about any of that right now. Trace and his friends had their hands full. The gunfire had stopped momentarily but picked up again in less than a minute. Guess they were being followed.

“Hang on,” Nico said seconds before he made a quick right turn.

The movement caused Bridget to slam into Trace. “Sorry,” she choked out, pain wracking her body anew.

“Lay as flat as you can,” he said. “We’re trying to lose these clowns. Otherwise, innocent civilians will be caught in the crossfire.”

“You mean me.”

He flashed her a quick grin. “Yes, ma’am. Others in the street and houses nearby as well.”

“Sam, trade places with Trace and brace Bridget. Trace, get your rifle. We need to lose these clowns before we can go to the airstrip.”

“Yes, sir.”

Trace and Sam changed places. The medic nudged Bridget lower on the floor and caged her in without putting too much pressure on her ribs. “Okay?”

Not really but she nodded anyway because Trace was waiting for her to respond instead of doing whatever Nico had asked him to do.

Seeming satisfied with her answer, the man who had plucked her from the alley accepted a black rifle from his other teammate, Ben, and lowered the window. What was he doing?

She gasped when Trace slipped through the window opening with his rifle in hand and sat on the frame.

Sam patted Bridget’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. He’s the best.”

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