“Don’t to be worrying, dushka.” He took her hand. There was an air of urgency about him. He tugged her along, his eyes watching as Jessie went back to her room. “Caleb, let’s take her to my room, and we can talk.”

Alexei led her to the next door. His protectors had apparently wanted to keep a close eye on him.

Caleb talked in a low voice. “I don’t know why, but I don’t like this. Let’s call the sheriff when we get in the room. I think it would be best if we don’t tell the Marshals what we’re planning. The first chance we get, we pick up Nick and haul ass for Chicago. Once we’re there, my brother can protect you. Until then, I worry they might haul you into protective custody. We wouldn’t even know where they had taken you.”

Alexei pushed the key into the door and turned it. He looked down and gasped. Holly couldn’t see anything to be worried about. There was just a little piece of string lying in the doorway. She could see it plainly because the door faced the movie screen as all of the motel’s doors did. The whole parking lot was lit up as Doris Day searched for love. But Alexei’s face went stark white, and he ducked to his knees. “Caleb, protect her.”

The door exploded as a bullet crashed through. Caleb tackled her just as she felt it whizz by. She hit the concrete with a crash, pain flaring along her skin. Alexei got to his feet and knocked in the door with one kick. He immediately started firing, the sound cracking through the air, exploding all around her.

Holly felt her heart nearly stop. Alexei had walked in there.

“Don’t.” Caleb put an arm around her waist and rolled from the sidewalk to the cement of the parking lot, rolling their bodies between two cars. “He knows what he’s doing. We need to get to my gun, sweetheart. It’s in the trunk of the Benz.”

Alexei came back out of the room, firing as he stumbled backward. Blood coated his shirt. Holly felt the scream build inside her chest.

Alexei dove for the protection of the parked cars, coming to Caleb’s side. “I’m hit by bullet.”

“No shit,” Caleb said, getting on his knees. “That’s what happens when you walk into a room where a dude’s got a gun.”

“I thought you said he knew what he was doing? God, Caleb, you have to fix him.” Holly felt her heart in her throat. Had the danger passed? They had to get Alexei out of here. The blood looked like it was everywhere. Was he dying?

“I am only hit in shoulder.” Alexei popped up over the car for a moment, and two quick shots rang out. He came back down. “I had to see how many. There is one man. I do not recognize. I hit him in leg, but he got me, too. I thought it best to retreat. The sheriff should be here soon. I have no doubt that everyone has called.”

He grimaced as he took two more shots over the hood of the car.

“Caleb, where are you hit?” Alexei asked.

Holly gasped and looked down at Caleb. He had blood on his pants.

Caleb’s voice was steady as he talked. “It’s a through and through. He got my left gastrocnemius muscle. It hurts like hell, but I’ll live. I can’t run though.”

Calf. He was talking about his calf muscle. She was the only one who wasn’t shot. She slipped her hand into Caleb’s pocket and pulled out the keys. “I’ll go get the other gun.”

“No, you will not. You will sit here. Help is coming.” Alexei grabbed her arm. “You will be obeying me now.”

She wanted to, but the air split around her as whoever had been in that room fired again. “I don’t think this guy is going to wait for Nate. We need another gun. Why isn’t the Marshal taking this guy down?”

“Because she sells me out. Logan didn’t like what she said about Michael meeting sheriff. That was why I wanted to get you two into my room before I confront her. She is one who wanted me out here alone.” Alexei’s eyes clouded with pain. “Caleb, you need to get her out of here.”

“I might be able to walk,” Caleb said. “But I told you, I can’t run.”

They were trapped.

Alexei held the assassin off, firing another shot over the car. He yelled at his assailant. “The police are on their way. You should be running. Do you wish to be caught?”

“I’m getting this job done, Markov,” a deep voice yelled. “I can take you out alone or get your little friends, too. But one way or another, I’m finishing this tonight.”

Holly put a hand on Alexei as though she could keep him there. She wasn’t about to let him walk out and sacrifice himself. “You are not going anywhere. Put that out of your mind.”

Alexei fired again. “Caleb, start moving back. We need to get somewhere where we can protect our backs.”

“We need to stop your bleeding,” Caleb argued.

“No time.”

Holly crawled to the back of the car, the concrete under her knees biting into her flesh. Ahead of her she could see the drive-in playing the movie of the week. Doris Day fluttered on screen, but all Holly could see was another woman creeping behind the row of parked cars. Jessie Wilson had that gun out now, and she was making her way toward them.

“She’s coming,” Holly whispered, terror making her heart pound.

They would be surrounded with nowhere to go.

“I am be coming out!” Alexei shouted. He dropped the gun and stood with his hands up.

“No!” Holly shouted. She tried to reach for him, but Caleb pulled her down.

“Don’t. Don’t make this harder on him,” Caleb whispered fiercely in her ear.

There was a solitary shot that split the air. Holly screamed against Caleb’s chest, his arms tightening around her. He held her so close she could barely breathe.

Alexei slumped down, his hand reaching for her. His eyes were bright, and a smile covered his face. “Can you reach gun, dushka? Can you give it to me?”

Caleb looked him over. “Where are you hit?”

“I wasn’t,” Alexei said with a tired smile. “The assassin is dead. We have a savior.”

“Just because I saved your ass doesn’t mean I like you, Markov,” Logan shouted from somewhere behind them. “It just means I’m still a cop no matter what anyone says. And I know you’re in on this, Marshal. Nate is home with Callie. I talked to him five minutes before I got here. Is your partner dirty, too?”

“Michael doesn’t know anything,” Jessie called out. She sounded close. “I drugged his beer tonight so he wouldn’t give me trouble. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t mean to be the one to pull the trigger, but you know what they say. When you want it done, do it yourself.”

“You’re going to jail, Marshal. You can’t kill all of us,” Logan said. He sounded like he was on the move.

Holly picked up the gun. She tried to hand it to Alexei, but he shook his head.

“My arm is numb.” He tried to move it but his arm lay against his chest.

“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Caleb pulled his shirt off, balling it in his hands before he put it on Alexei’s shoulder, covering the wound. “I don’t like the color of his skin. I think he’s going into shock.”

The gun was heavy in her hand. Alexei couldn’t shoot. Caleb was busy. She was the only one left.

“You want to tell me why?” Logan called out.

Jessie’s voice sounded closer. “You know what a government job pays, idiot. I got nothing. I bust my ass for years, put myself out there, and I get nothing. Why should I turn down a hundred grand to look the other way? All I was supposed to do was make it easy for the pro, but no, nothing is easy in this piece-of-shit town. But I have to finish the job or DiStefano will finish me.”

Caleb looked back at Holly. He pressed down on Alexei’s shoulder, putting his weight behind it. “We need to get him out of here. Maybe I can get him into the room now that the hired guy is dead.”

Where was Logan? Holly couldn’t see him. From where she was sitting, she couldn’t see anything. Her heart was pounding. That adrenaline thing was threatening to take over. Caleb and Alexei were counting on her.

“And it doesn’t bother you that you’re killing a man?” Logan asked.

Holly turned and realized she could see Logan creeping along. The lights from the movie screen shone down on the parking lot, illuminating it. She could see him in the shiny hubcaps of the SUV they were hiding behind. He was watching for the Marshal, his gun in hand.

Jessie didn’t seem to mind the game of cat and mouse Logan was playing. “He was a criminal. I don’t give a fuck that he turned around. He should be in jail, too. I’m more than happy to off the asshole. My partner is a good lay, but not a very smart man. He never did see things my way or this would have been easier. Ah, there you are.”

A gunshot rang out.

Holly stifled a scream as she saw Logan’s body fly back and blood bloom across his arm.

It was all going to hell. Logan was down. Holly couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. Caleb couldn’t run, and he wouldn’t even if he could. Caleb’s hands were on Alexei, trying to save his friend. In the distance she could hear a lone siren. There was only one siren wailing in the night, but she doubted Nate Wright was by himself. Soon every able-bodied man in Bliss would descend, but it would be too late.

“No one to protect you now, Markov. I guess you should have taken up with someone scarier than a doctor and a waitress.” Jessie’s boots thudded against the concrete. She came into view in the mirrored surface of the hubcap. She drew down every time she reached a new car. Two cars separated them. Two more cars and she would be on them.

“Holly, I want you to run,” Caleb whispered. “Give me that damn gun and get out of here.”

And leave them behind?

“No.” It was Caleb’s word. She was pretty sure he understood it.