Read Falling Blind: The Sentinel Wars Online
Authors: Shannon K. Butcher
Falling Blind: The Sentinel Wars (45 page)
“Sit tight. I’m going to find you some help.”
Lucas flagged down one of the confused bellboys and hauled his pimply ass over to the woman. “You stay with her,” he ordered the kid, jabbing a finger into his skinny chest. “Do not let her out of your sight until a paramedic has checked her out. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” said the kid.
Police and other emergency vehicles were swarming into the parking lot. Lucas flagged down the first paramedic he saw and dragged him bodily to the old woman. The wide-eyed EMT went to work, glancing nervously over his shoulder every few seconds. At least he seemed capable enough to handle the situation.
It was going to have to be good enough. Lucas still had to find Sloane and keep her off that flight to Colombia. His best chance now was to intercept her at the small airport where her plane would depart.
In eighty-eight minutes.
As he headed for his car, he dialed the Old Man.
“Is she with you?” he answered on the first ring.
“No, sir. There was a situation here. Shots fired. She got away.”
“Shots? Is she okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I swear to God, Ramsey, if so much as one hair on her head is harmed, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”
Lucas slid behind the wheel of his car. “Yes, sir.”
“Find her. Stop her. Do not let her step foot on that jet. I don’t care what it takes.”
He eased out of the parking lot as more emergency vehicles came into view down the street. “I’m on it, sir.”
“I chose you for this because you’re not a man who knows how to fail. Was I wrong?”
“No, sir. This was just a minor setback.”
“Any idea why there were shots fired at some charity ball?”
“None. But I can tell you that the shooter was aiming right for her.”
“Dear God,” breathed the Old Man, sounding like he’d just aged twenty years in a heartbeat. “Are you sure he wasn’t aiming at her principal?”
Lucas merged onto the highway, heading away from Dallas toward the airstrip. “Principal, sir?”
“She’s a bodyguard, of all things.” He spoke like the mere thought chapped his ass raw. “Are you sure the shooter wasn’t aiming for her client?”
A bodyguard? Seriously? Well, that would certainly explain how she knew how to break his hold without so much as batting an eye.
Lucas wondered why this little bit of info hadn’t been passed on to him earlier. Must’ve been need-to-know.
“No, sir. I guess he could have been the target. She was hanging all over him, so it’s hard to be sure exactly where the gunman was aiming. I assumed that since she was my target, she was also the shooter’s.”
“Anything’s possible with that woman, but I hope you’re wrong.”
“Is there anything else about her I should know, sir?”
“Now that you’ve lost her, you mean?”
Lucas gritted his teeth and gunned the engine, maneuvering around the late-night traffic. “Yes, sir.”
“Like what?”
“Like why it’s so important that I stop her from getting on that flight. What’s so important about some chick bodyguard?”
“That chick bodyguard happens to be my daughter.”
Daughter?
No way. The Old Man couldn’t have a child. He wasn’t human. He was frigid logic. He lived and breathed strategy and tactics. He was walking death with any weapon created by man, and had at his disposal some of the most lethal men on the planet. All of whom feared and respected him. He couldn’t have a kid. That was just . . . spooky.
“Uh. Sorry, sir. I didn’t realize you had a daughter.”
“Not many people do. See that you keep it that way.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Old Man hung up, leaving Lucas reeling. The stakes had just been raised, big-time. If he failed to stop Sloane and she ended up heading toward one of the most dangerous countries on the planet, he wouldn’t have to worry about a new line of work. The Old Man would kill him.
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