His pulse thumped loudly as adrenaline soared through him. He had to focus. Their lives depended on it. He still couldn’t believe that Layla had turned into an expert markswoman, but it was just one of the many changes about her. As he looked over at her, she closed her eyes for a second. This had to be even worse than he thought.

When her eyes opened, she looked at him. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Okay, get ready, because I’m going to slam on the brakes.”

“Understood.” She braced her knee against the seat.

He took a deep breath and then punched down hard on the brake pedal. The car trailing them was now right up on them. He heard gunshots, but they weren’t just from Layla. The car behind them had opened fire, and Layla was exposed.

“Get back in the car!”

“One more shot.” She was true to her word. She took the shot and slid back inside.

He punched the gas and watched in the rearview mirror as the pursuing car skidded to a stop.

“You got them. Front right tire.”

“I told you.” She sighed loudly. “Now, let’s get to the Metro before anyone else pays us a visit. We need to get out of this alive.”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Layla was putting on a tough exterior for Hunter, but deep down she was afraid. The coordinated attack on them tonight screamed professionals, and that pointed to the cartel still being intent on taking her out. But she had wanted Hunter to remain in control, since he was driving, and she knew that if she showed her anxiety and fear, it would have negatively impacted him. So she’d put on a brave face and relied on her training to get her through it.

They still weren’t in the clear, but at least they were out of Hunter’s car and on the Metro. “I don’t spot anything,” she said.

“Me neither.”

“We should get off in two stops and change lines, just to be on the safe side.” There was another alternative, but she hated to bring it up.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Hunter had become very quiet, and she thought he was probably freaked out by all of this. Especially her hanging out the window of his SUV to take shots at the enemy. It surprised her, too, but she had been trained, and thank God, because it was coming in handy right now. When she’d been on the Honduras op, Zane had shown her some additional tips and tricks that he learned in the Marines. Growing up, she’d never been around guns of any kind. Her dad had seen and heard about enough violence as a child in Lebanon that he insisted they take a different path.

But here she was, many years later, literally fighting for her life.