His words were barely registering, but at his last shout, her brows lowered, and she shook her head slightly, not understanding.
His gaze had not wavered from her, but as he stepped another foot closer, his eyes darkened. “My God, you are that stupid. You have no idea the people that I’ve gotten into bed with. You have no clue what they’re like. These people are not going to like that my tax shelter system could be exposed, in turn exposing them.” He stepped another foot closer, his chest heaving as his glare seared through her. “They’ll come after me, and when they’re finished, there won’t be anything left. I won’t even be a stain in the dirt.”
The desire to ward off his fierce anger was overwhelming, and she shook her head back and forth quickly. “You need to leave. This has nothing to do with me!”
He stopped approaching, and her breath halted in her chest as she waited to see if he would turn and leave. Instead, his free hand slid into his coat pocket, and when it came out again, he was holding a gun. Her gasp erupted as her gaze now locked on the weapon pointed toward her.
“I’m going to disappear, and I’m going to make sure you’ll never tell anyone what you found out.”
“Hey, babe! You ready for dinner?”
She heard Nolan’s shout from the front of the office, and screamed, “No—” but Errol was faster. He shoved the chair in front of her desk out of the way and bolted to the side, the gun now only a foot away from her head just as Nolan made it to the doorway of her office.
22
Nolan was almost to the door when he heard Lynn’s interrupted scream. He rounded the doorframe, his feet halting as he saw her standing just a few feet away in her tiny office. Her eyes were huge as they stared back at him. And Errol Hightower was next to her, a gun in his hand.
His heart pounded so hard, he was sure it slammed against his ribs. Locking his fear down, he emptied his mind of everything but getting her safely out of the situation. The only problem was he wasn’t sure how.
As a SEAL, he’d been trained in tactics, weapons, search and rescue, recovery, direct action warfare, reconnaissance, counterterrorism, and a host of other duties achieved through critical thinking, sheer willpower, and absolute dedication. Hostage negotiation with the man holding a gun to your wife? Fuck no…
Instinct kicked in and he slowly lifted his hands to the side, hoping to calm and placate Errol. “Hey, man, take it easy. No one needs to get hurt here.”
“You! I don’t know what you did, but you helped her!”
It was on the tip of his tongue to deny that he knew what Errol was talking about, but a glance at the sheaf of papers wadded in his hand gave evidence that Sally had handed her husband divorce notice and her demands. “Whatever you’ve done, man, it’s on you. This has got nothing to do with Lynn.”
“You don’t understand! If this gets out, I’m dead.”
“It’s too late for that.” Lynn’s soft voice cut through the thick cloud of emotion filling the room. He wanted to tell her to stay quiet, but she turned her head ever so slightly to the side and looked at Errol. “The information that I obtained has already been sent to the local FBI office. It doesn’t matter how I obtained it, it’s enough for them to start an investigation.”
The emotions ran over Errol’s face, settling on rage. He turned his gaze toward Nolan and said, “I’m leaving, and she’s coming with me.”
“That’s not gonna happen, man. You know I’m not gonna let that happen.”
“Then she’s dead.”
“Think about what you’re saying, Errol. Right now, you’re facing a lot of charges, but murder isn’t one of them. You don’t want to add that to the list.”
“It won’t make any difference to me. The people I owe will be able to get to me in prison. Like I said, I’m fucked either way. Now back up.”
Nolan knew that Errol was no physical match for him. And if it was only the two of them, he would be able to rush and disarm the smaller man. But in the tiny office with Lynn standing between them, he had no room to maneuver safely. His gaze slid to Lynn’s, seeing love and trust shining toward him. He locked his knees for fear of dropping to the floor, buckling under the weight of her faith. Her body was trembling, but the corners of her lips turned upward ever so slightly.
Preferring his odds of getting to Errol and keeping Lynn safe outside the small confines of her office, he nodded. He stepped back with his hands still lifted to the side.
Errol waved the gun, giving Lynn a little push. “You go out first.” Raising his voice, he added, “And if your husband tries to interfere, I’ve got no problem putting a bullet through you.”
Nolan stepped to the side in the small reception area, his hands still lifted as his eagle-eyed gaze never left Errol or his weapon.
“You’re staying here. She’s going out with me and we’re driving away. I’ll have the gun on her the whole time so don’t even think about trying to send the cops after me.”
Lynn placed her hands on the bar of the front door, casting her eyes to the side, pinning him once again with her love and trust. Pushing through the door, she walked outside with Errol directly behind her, the gun pressed to her back.
As soon as the door closed behind Errol, Nolan turned and raced through the small office, past the little workroom, and slammed through the door leading to the alley in the back. Dialing 911 as he ran, he circled around the back corner of the building and continued racing until he came to the front corner where he halted. Peeking around the corner, he watched as Errol clicked the locks to his car and forced Lynn into the passenger side.
Glad that the car was parked facing away from him, he waited until Errol glanced around to see that the coast was clear. Errol lowered his gun by the side of his leg to not draw undue attention to himself and walked briskly around the back of his car for the driver’s door.
Charging forward, Nolan’s boots ate the sidewalk as he pounded toward Errol. Keeping his eye on his prey, he observed the moment Errol heard the approaching footsteps and began to turn with his gun hand lifting.
Years of practice kicked in with instinct and he leaped forward, his powerful legs forcing his body into the air, twisting to stay out of the line of fire. The weapon discharged and the recoil sent Errol backward. Nolan wrapped his arms around him, and they fell toward the ground. He felt a burning sensation and knew the bullet had grazed his side. Not caring that Errol’s body landed under his on the hard pavement, they crashed to the ground, grunts of pain emanating from both of them.
In a flash, he rolled to the side and held Errol on the ground with his hands behind his back, keeping him secure. Looking down at the blood on his shirt, he cursed.
“Nolan!”
Lynn’s scream pierced the air, her terror cutting through him. But just hearing her voice and knowing she was safe, he breathed easier.
Lynn threw open the passenger door and bolted from the vehicle. Rushing around the back of the car, her gaze landed on the gun that had been knocked out of Errol’s hands. Stumbling as she tried to keep running and bend at the same time, she snatched it up with no plan other than knowing she would use it if she had to.