Page 79 of Be Very Quiet

“I’m not supposed to release it to anyone but her. Those were the specific instructions. If she’s unavailable, I’ll have to return later.”

“She won’t be available then, either. Who sent you?”

“I can’t—”

Glass shattered a fraction of a second before shots rang out. Luca and the deliveryman flew sideways with the impact. Audria wasted no time grabbing Luca’s shirt and dragging him behind Warren’s desk for cover. Though breathing was difficult, he rolled to his knees with his gun drawn and peered over the edge beside Audria. Warren was currently beneath the counter, curled in the fetal position and whimpering. Like hell, he was trained.

The shooting had stopped, but Luca didn’t move until a siren wailed. Either a cop was close and heard the shots, or someone had called them. It most likely had scared the shooter away.

“Are you okay?” Audria asked him.

“Yeah.” He lifted his shirt to reveal the two slugs in his vest. “Thanks for pulling me out of the line of fire.”

“Any time.”

Luca stood gingerly and moved around the counter. The deliveryman was lying on the ground with two holes in his chest. He hadn’t been wearing Kevlar.

Two cops announced themselves before racing into the lobby with weapons drawn. Luca and Audria held their hands in the air. “We’re both carrying,” Luca informed them before they found the guns on their own.

“Get down on the ground!”

“We’re the victims,” Audria insisted. “He was shot.”

“Down, now. I won’t tell you again.”

Luca eased to the floor. When a cop came to cuff his arms behind his back, he groaned in pain.

“Damn it. He was hit with two slugs. The front windows are shattered. Even a rookie cop could tell the shots came from outside.”

“How do I know you aren’t the shooter and then came inside to witness your carnage?” the cop challenged.

“Call Detective Diego Torres and SSA Reese Reneau of the FBI right now,” Audria growled.

Warren pushed up from behind the desk. The cops turned their guns on him, and he hit the floor again. Probably wet his pants too.

“Stand with your hands up,” the cop ordered.

Warren did so, but his arms were trembling. “They were here with me when the shots were fired from outside.”

One cop ignored him and cuffed him too.

Five minutes later, Reese Reneau strode inside and held up his badge. “FBI. Uncuff these two immediately.”

“They’re suspects,” the cop argued.

“Remove the cuffs,” he repeated.

With a huff, the cop unlocked the shackles from Audria first and then Luca. He groaned and rolled onto his back.

“Luca, what’s wrong?”

“He was shot,” Audria said.

Reese kneeled and lifted his shirt. He unzipped the vest and peeled it away from Luca’s body. Luca stifled another groan.

“This man was hit, and you cuffed him instead of calling for help?” His tone was incredulous.

“There was a dead guy on the ground,” the cop defended himself. “They had weapons.”

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