“Well you both need to get here right—”

Suddenly the still air of night was ripped apart by the sound of a gunshot.

Gabe’s and my eyes met, and my entire body seemed to go completely numb.

“Nate!” I screamed.

I RAN like hell, scrambling over roots and pushing past the prickly bushes along the side of the building. Branches snapped and broke, slashing at my skin. Hard gasps stung my throat. The flashlight beam bounced along the ground in frenetic little jerks.

I felt like I was running in water. My limbs weren’t moving fast enough. The world had slowed down.

Gabe was right behind me, his breathing heavy. We’d just hurtled around the last corner when I slipped on a patch of wet gravel. The world was suddenly upside down. And then I slammed hard into the ground, my palms scraping against it as I tried to break my fall. I rolled instinctively onto my back, the impact punching the air from my lungs.

The flashlight clattered onto the ground. Stars pierced my vision as I lay on my back, stunned. Snowflakes floated, tiny feathers dancing in the wind, as if someone had ripped open a pillow and flung the stuffing around. Dampness soaked into my jeans, muddying my coat.

A voice came to me from very far away.

“Emma!”

It was Moira.

Miraculously, I was still clutching the phone in my hand.

“What was that!”

I pressed End and scrambled to my feet, tension strung tight through my entire body. Pain flared in my knees, and when I looked down, my palms were bloody.

Josh.

Josh had collapsed.

But Nate was inside the warehouse, and I had no idea who had fired that shot. He could be in danger.

It was a horrible choice, one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Leave my husband, who was very possibly in danger from my own brother—or turn away from my son, who definitely was in danger? But Josh was in the hospital. He had doctors and nurses and Moira to care for him. I had to go to Nate.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and pulled the Glock from my ankle holster, surprised on some weird, slightly unhinged level that it was still there. I checked the ammo clip, sliding it into place with a click.

Gabe’s eyes widened when he saw the gun. He stepped away from me. “Emma, what the—?”

“Shhh,” I hissed. “Get the flashlight.”

Looking terrified, he complied, snatching it up.

We moved carefully across the icy ground toward the warehouse’s open door.

And then the crack of another gunshot rang out.

CHAPTER 40

“DROP IT!” NATE SHOUTED. “Drop the weapon!”

The smell of sulfur filled the warehouse. The ensuing silence echoed almost as loud as the gunshot itself.