Page 112 of Shadow Operative

She glanced outside as blue lights flashed in the distance. “But shouldn’t we stay until the police?—”

“It’s not safe,” Gage told her. “Those guys could come back. They might shoot us next time.”

Her eyes widened with fear, but she nodded.

Gage tugged her toward the back of the building.

They’d deal with this mess later. No doubt there were security cameras. Someone might be able to identify them. The police would want to chat, to see if they had any involvement.

But right now, staying alive was more important.

Gage rushed out a back door and into a dark alley.

Holding Nia’s hand, he ran down the alley toward the street.

They reached the sidewalk, but it was more crowded than he’d expected. People had stopped to stare after what had just happened.

Making a split-second decision, Gage ran in the opposite direction with Nia.

His gut told him there was more to come. That these gunmen would be looking for them.

As they reached another street, a car squealed nearby.

“Gage?” Nia sounded breathless.

“We’ve got to run faster.”

There was no time to get back to their car. Besides, by now first responders had probably surrounded it.

“Where are we going to go?” Nia asked between gasps of breath.

That was an excellent question.

But the best thing they could do right now was to keep moving.

Movement is life,Gage mused.

So whatever they did, they couldn’t stop.

Fear pulsed through Nia.

She couldn’t get Brittany out of her mind. The blood on her chest. The lifeless look in her eyes.

How could someone have done this?

How could they have killed Rob?

Why were people so evil?

She wasn’t naive. But she never wanted to become accustomed to the horrors taking place around her either, to think those things were normal.

Gage pulled her beside another building, and they ran as fast as they could.

Nia glanced behind her as she heard a car approaching.

The car pulled up beside them.

Another barrage of bullets flew toward them. The shots nicked the asphalt at their feet.

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