Page 18 of Flynn

One he couldn’t ignore.

They worked side by side for a full hour before Taylor pushed away from the table. “These faces are starting to blur together,” she said with a sigh. “I need a break.”

“Absolutely, take all the time you need.” He glanced at her computer screen, noticing she’d gotten up to the letterS. She was doing a good job of getting through the mug shots, but the longer it took, the less likely they’d find their perp in the system.

He believed Taylor would know the guy when she saw him. She’d seemed very sure of the guy’s larger than normal nose.

But she wasn’t trained in surveillance either. It had been a brief glimpse as the guy walked past while she was scared to death.

Even a seasoned cop could make a mistake in identifying a suspect under those conditions.

“Flynn?” Her voice was underlined with a sense of urgency. “I think this is the same car that drove past earlier when Cass and Jina came.”

“What car?” He shot to his feet and rushed over to where she stood at the kitchen sink. Was it possible Cass or Jina had been followed here?

“That black SUV,” she said, indicating the vehicle that was already disappearing from view. “I remember thinking there was a third member of the team, but it went past, so I assumed it belonged to one of the neighbors.”

“Grab the computers,” he said in a terse voice. He thumbed the phone screen to call Cass. “Any chance you were followed here?”

“What? No, we backtracked to make sure we weren’t,” Cassidy said. “Why, what’s going on?”

He hesitated, wondering if he was overreacting. “Taylor noticed a black SUV going past when you guys arrived. And another black SUV just drove past again. I don’t like it.”

“Get out of there,” Cass advised. “I’ll come out to meet you. I already dropped Jina off at the precinct.”

“Yeah, that works.” He told himself it was better to err on the side of caution. “I’ll be in touch.”

Shoving the phone in his pocket, he took the two stacked laptops from Taylor’s hands. “Let’s go. We’re taking the rental, which is in the bay farthest from the door.”

She nodded, but then said, “I could be wrong, Flynn. I’m not a car expert. I just remembered thinking that three black SUVs were strange.”

“Cass doesn’t think she was followed, but I’d rather hit the road than be a sitting duck.” He tucked the computers under one arm, then reached for the door handle with the other.

A crack of gunfire on the heels of shattering glass from the broken kitchen window had him throwing himself toward Taylor. “Down!” he shouted hoarsely.

She let out a muffledoomphas the laptop computers knocked into her. He let them fall to the floor in a loud thud to reach for his weapon.

He kicked himself for being too slow. He should have gotten Taylor out of there right away, without calling Cassidy.

Now he was very much afraid it might be too late.

ChapterFive

Huddling on her hands and knees below the kitchen counter, Taylor realized she wasn’t nearly as afraid of being next to Flynn as she had been the night of the murders. For one thing, she wasn’t holding an innocent baby whose life depended on her. Even better, she wasn’t alone in the middle of the night. There was something to be said for having a cop at her side.

Then a second gunshot punctured the window, making her put her hands over her head as if they could actually stop a bullet from killing her. Not even close. It occurred to her that if Flynn was hit, the gunman would be able to finish her off without a problem.

“Come with me,” Flynn said. “We need to get into the garage.”

“Okay.” This wasn’t the time to argue. The laptops were on the floor beside her. She quickly gathered them up and rose into a crouch, doing her best to keep her head down and out of the line of fire. When Flynn gave her a nudge, she made her way toward the doorway leading to the attached garage. She had left her puffy coat on the chair and quickly snagged it. There wasn’t time to grab anything else.

Flynn was right behind her. Tucking the coat under her arm, she opened the door and crossed the threshold, standing upright as she did so. But there wasn’t time to revel in their relative safety. The gunman may have assumed they’d gone this way and start peppering the garage door with bullets.

As if reading her mind, Flynn said, “Hurry. We need to get out of here.”

The garage wasn’t that big, so making their way around the first SUV that belonged to Flynn to reach the second one meant scooting through the narrow gap. Her coat dragged along the side of the car, the laptops growing heavy in her arms. When she finally reached the passenger-side door, she dumped the computers on the floor. Then she drew on her coat before settling into the seat.

Flynn was already behind the wheel. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at her. “He’s likely to shoot the garage door when I start the car. Keep your head down, okay?”

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