Page 17 of Chasing the Past

A second later it dawned on him. “I used to call them that. I almost forgot . . . but how did you know?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The hope she saw in Eli’s eyes hurt to see. How could she let him have it when she had no idea who she was.

“It doesn’t mean anything. I could have heard it anywhere.”

He eventually agreed. “You’re right.”

But if she had, that didn’t explain about the memory of them sharing a colossal taco together. Her appetite vanished. She picked at her food.

Eli seemed to feel the same way.

She helped him clear the table before it was time for them to leave.

Eli held the door open for her and she climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV.

He hit the garage door button and started to back out when Eli suddenly braked.

Asal’s gaze shot to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw someone.” The words had barely cleared his lips when someone opened fire on them. “Get down.”

He gently pushed her out of sight and shifted the SUV into Drive. He pulled back inside and hit the garage door button. The door slid closed while bullets pierced through it.

When there was a break in the gunfire, Eli jumped out and hurried around to her side. He quickly escorted her into the house and locked the door before he grabbed his phone.

“Will, I have someone outside shooting at me. I didn’t get a good look at him.” Eli placed the call on speaker phone.

In Asal’s mind there was no doubt the attack came from Omar. He was trying to follow through on his command to eliminate her.

“We’re on our way. Stay inside,” the man on the phone said.

The call ended. Shots strafed the front of the house.

“He’s still out there,” Asal said in amazement. “He’s not worried about being spotted.”

Eli ushered her into the pantry. “It’s safer here. There aren’t any windows. That was the chief of police I spoke to. He’s on his way with his men.”

It was of a small amount of assurance that help was on the way. “This is Omar. It has to be.”

Eli told her that he believed it to be so as well. “Unless these are people who work for the man Omar spoke to about you.”

The one she had no idea who he was. “How did they find us?”

Eli listened for a second. The brief reprieve was followed by another round of shots.

“It was probably easy enough. Whoever Omar is working for must have some connections. They probably ran my plates, or maybe they knew about my past in Afghanistan and came here for a reason.”

The thought was shocking. Perhaps this had nothing to do with her or Sashi and everything to do with Eli.

Chapter Nine

The silence was more frightening than the gunfire. Like in the heat of battle, when it got quiet, Eli became anxious. Where was the shooter?

Soon, the quiet was replaced by multiple sirens coming their way. Footsteps sounded outside the front of the house, fading as they ran away.

“Stay here.” Eli bolted from the pantry. Retrieving his handgun from the kitchen table, he covered the space to the living room door in a handful of quick steps. Eli unlocked the door and ran outside to a cloudy day that was cold with impending bad weather moving in.

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