Page 51 of Trial Run

She mouthed “I’m sorry,” but Reggie mouthed back “Don’t be” and then smiled to punctuate the words. How could Reggie be so calm right now? Was she always this unflappable or was she pretending to make her feel better? Either way, Brooke mourned the chance she’d blown to be with Reggie, to take their relationship to the next level. Reggie was a keeper, but she’d kept her at a distance. Big. Mistake.

“Last chance,” Reggie said, directing her words at Mark. “Let us walk out of here and you might have enough leverage to keep from going to prison for the rest of your life.”

Mark laughed again. “I’m not going to prison. Prison is for people who don’t have important friends.”

“Nope. Prison is for people just like you and Harry Benton. He’s going down and so will you.”

“You’re just saying that because you think he’s responsible for you getting shot.”

“I know he’s responsible for me getting shot and other people dying.”

Mark shook the gun. “Then you know I’m serious when I tell you you’re not leaving here.”

Reggie raised her hands again and pointed at Brooke. “I’ll stay, but let her go. You don’t need us both and she’s got a kid.”

Brooke bit back a cry of protest. She didn’t want Reggie to sacrifice herself, but she was all Ben had. If something happened to her, she didn’t even want to consider what might become of him. Still, she couldn’t let Reggie take that on. Hell, Reggie wouldn’t be in this position if not for her, so it was up to her to make sure she didn’t suffer more because of it, but before she could say anything Mark sealed both their fates.

“You must think I’m an idiot,” he said. “Like either one of you wouldn’t go straight to the cops if I let you walk out of here.”He motioned for Reggie to stand next to Brooke. “Give me a minute and I’ll figure out what to do with you both.”

Brooke watched Reggie walk toward her, desperate to say something, but when she opened her mouth, Reggie frowned and cut her eyes toward Mark. She was right. The words she wanted to say weren’t ones she cared for Mark to witness. She’d save them for later and pray there would be time for more.

When Reggie reached her side, she reached back and gave her hand a quick squeeze and all she could think about was that there was no one she’d rather be in this situation with. She looked across the room at Mark who was busy texting someone on his phone and took a risk. “I hate that you’re here, but I couldn’t be more grateful.”

“Nowhere I’d rather be,” Reggie whispered back.

Considering their situation, it was a total lie, but also the perfect thing to say which only matched pretty much everything else about her. “I’m afraid we’re not getting out of here alive.”

“We are. Lennox and Sarah are in the building. They’ll find us soon.” Reggie dropped her voice a bit lower. “Besides, I promised Ben nothing would happen to you.”

Brooke scrambled for a breath. “He’s okay?”

“Safe and sound.”

The tension she’d been holding all day dropped a notch and it was replaced with a renewed confidence. “We have to get out of here so you can keep that promise. He’s big on people keeping their promises.”

Reggie nodded. “And I’m big on keeping mine. Trust me?”

“Hundred percent.” The commitment should’ve surprised her, but it didn’t. She didn’t know when her fear had shifted into full scale head over heels, but she knew one thing for sure. She would follow Reggie through fire.

“Stop talking.” Mark hissed the words at them, but he was still staring at his phone.

“What’s the matter?” Reggie asked. “Your buddies aren’t rushing to help you out of the mess they got you into? Are you always the guy who gets stuck standing alone when the trouble stops being fun? The cops are on their way and they’re not any locals your buddy Benton might be able to con into letting you off the hook. It’s the feds and you’re going away for a pretty lengthy stretch. No parole from federal prison. Flip on your pals and you might get a break.”

He slammed his phone down on the nearest desk. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”

Brooke flinched at the anger in his tone, but she’d pledged her trust to Reggie, and she was committed to following her lead. As if she could hear her thoughts, Reggie shot her a look of “I got this,” and stepped closer into Mark’s space.

“Leave now and you might have a chance.” She looked at her watch. “They should be about done searching the other floors by now.”

“You’re bluffing. If you had cops in the building, you would’ve waited for them before charging in here or at least texted them before you decided to go rogue.”

“Maybe I did.” Reggie grinned and pointed at the phone lying on the table next to his. “Why don’t you see for yourself.”

Mark tripped over his confident swagger as he rushed to pick up the phone. He held it up to Reggie’s face to unlock the screen and started jabbing his forefinger on it in a desperate search for information even though it might be too late to be of any use. Brooke’s eyes were on him, so she didn’t notice when Reggie went into motion, but she saw the blur of her body lunging toward Mark, knocking the phone out of his hand as they tumbled to the floor. She rose from her chair, forgetting she was still strapped securely to it, and stumbled forward, a heavy, awkward useless effort to come to Reggie’s aid. She’d barely made it two steps before she heard a loud bang and the room went still.

She stared at the floor, at Mark and Reggie lying in a tangled heap with a trail of blood snaking out from the space between them. She heard shouts in the distance along with repeated hard slaps of footfalls running toward her, but it was all a distant echo against the backdrop of a piercing scream.

It wasn’t until the door burst open again that she realized the scream was her own and the second she did, she crumpled to the floor.

---