Page 86 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

While the crew scrambled for cover, Billy ran over to Tessa and Mari. Their view of the woman had been blocked by the camera and monitors, so they looked confused instead of scared.

“Down!” he yelled.

Tessa grabbed Mari’s hand and pulled her onto the ground. When Billy reached them, he positioned himself between them and the shooter. That’s when he realized that Peter had followed him.

“I told you to get down!” he said.

“Ben would never forgive me if I left Tessa in harm’s way.”

“Do you think Hattie would be happy if I letyouget shot?”

“But I wasn’t, so everything’s fine.”

“Not the point! But never mind. Get down next to them!”

To Billy’s relief, Peter did just that.

Billy adjusted his position so he could look in the direction from which the shot had come. While he couldn’t see the woman from where he was, he could see that the fans had scattered.

There didn’t appear to have been any additional gunshots, though, which meant to him that either the shooter had been caught or had fled.

“Stay here until you get the all clear,” he said, then hurried over to where the woman lay, surrounded by three cops.

Someone had rolled her onto her back, and Billy realized she was Danielle Verde. Her sweater was soaked in blood, and her breaths were ragged and uneven.

One of the officers noticed him and said something to him in Hungarian, which Billy assumed was “Get back.”

“I know her,” Billy said as he knelt next to Danielle.

A younger cop had a hand covering Danielle’s wound, but Billy could see he wasn’t pressing hard enough. He put his hand on top of the cop’s hand and pressed down.

“Like that,” he said.

The cop nodded.

“You…speak English,” Danielle said, her voice so weak that Billy almost didn’t hear it.

“Shh,” he said. “Don’t waste energy.”

“I’m looking…for someone. Billy Ba…” She seemed to fade away for a moment.

“Barnett? That’s me.”

Her eyes flared with surprise. “You’re Billy?”

When he nodded, she closed her eyes in relief.

In the distance, the sound of sirens pierced the night. One of the officers still on his feet ran toward the barrier.

Billy gave Danielle a little shake. “Hey, stay with me. Help’s coming.”

Instead of saying anything, she moved a hand toward one of her pockets, but she was having a hard time slipping it inside.

“Help…me,” she whispered.

Billy glanced at the two remaining officers. The one pressing on Danielle’s wound was focused on his task, while the other was looking toward the barrier.

Careful not to draw their attention, he slipped his hand into her pocket. The only thing inside was what felt like a credit card. He eased it out, keeping it hidden in his palm, then turned his hand just enough to get a peek at it. It was a hotel key card.

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