HelenKay Dimon - Traceless

“Folks.” Holt cleared his throat. “We’re going to have sunrise soon and we have some people to warn.”

“Right” Connor rubbed his hands together. “We need to get word out to your coworkers.”

She knew that cost him something and rested her forehead against his chin to let him know how much it meant. “Thank you.”

A strange red light flashed through the room. She spied a dot and watched it streak along the wall. Connor followed her gaze before his grip tightened.

“Get down!” he yelled as he knocked the chair over and dragged her to the floor with it.

She blinked and he had her on her stomach, wedged under his body with her head against the upturned chair’s wooden seat. The first boom had her lifting up in shock. Before she could say anything or even think, Connor put a hand on her head and pushed her down again.

She could see from their black shoes that Holt and Shane moved around. She heard shuffling off to the side and assumed Cam kept shifting and firing.

“Do not move.” Connor spoke right into her ear. He could have been yelling, but with all the noise crashing and thumping it barely registered as a whisper.

Then the weight against her back lifted. Turning, she watched him sprint toward the broken window he came through earlier. As he got there a bullet clipped the frame and wood splintered right by his face. He ducked but not before a piece clipped his cheek.

She bit back a scream as wood kicked up around her. She sat up and her shoes slipped against the floor as she skidded on her butt, looking for any square foot of the floor not covered by debris.

“Incoming.” Red lights raced over Cam and he ducked. “Jana, tuck in a ball.”

She shook her head as she watched Cam’s mouth move and heard his voice, but the words wouldn’t register. She was about to warn him about the lights when Connor’s body slammed into her. He skidded across the floor almost hitting the far wall. Glass crunched all around her as they slid.

One second he stood a few feet away. The next, he covered her, pressing her down as his body jerked and he grunted in her ear.

As fast as it started, the gunfire broke off again. She peeked over Connor’s shoulder and saw the front door had fallen over and both Holt and Shane were gone. Pieces of wood and shards from the wall and chair littered the floor.

Cam crouched next to her head. “Are you okay?”

She looked up, thinking to reassure him. But his entire focus stayed on Connor.

“What’s going on?” She tried to shift but the weight on her grew heavier and she only made it to her side. The pieces fell together as panic roared through her. “Connor?”

Cam put a hand on her shoulder. “Hold still a second.”

She grabbed at Cam’s hand, clawing in panic from the narrow-eyed concern on his face. “Is he hurt?”

Footsteps thumped on the hard floor as Holt stepped back inside. “We have four down... What’s going on?”

“Help me.” Worry edged Cam’s voice as he caught her hand in his.

Holt dropped to his knees on her other side. “What are you doing?”

“It’s Connor.” Cam cleared his throat. “We need this vest off so I can take a look.”

They wore matching flatlined expressions that had her heartbeat nosediving. She flipped over and moved, trying to get a better look at what was happening behind her.

She shoved at Connor’s shoulder. “Answer me.”

He swore as he rolled onto his side on the floor next to her. “I’m fine.”

He shifted up to his elbow, but Holt pushed him down on his stomach and held him there with a strong hand. The sound of Velcro ripped through the otherwise quiet room as Cam stepped over her and dug his hands underneath Connor’s body.

“You were shot in the back?” The words stuck in her throat as she struggled to breathe.

Cam carefully peeled the vest off and exhaled as he fell back on his butt. “We’re good.”

“Are you sure?” She struggled to sit up and look over the two broad backs in her way. She scanned Connor’s sweat-soaked T-shirt and the good news sunk in. “There’s no blood.”

Cam nodded. “The bullet went into the vest.”

“It held. Always nice when the equipment works.” Holt cuffed Connor on the shoulder then stood up.

Her legs refused to move. Relief hit her hard enough to send her slumping against the floor. “I can’t believe you were shot.”

One of Cam’s eyebrows lifted. “It was either him or you.”

The scene replayed in her mind. Her on the floor. Cam calling out a warning. The bright flash of red light she only now remembered. It cut through the air and then Connor smacked into her. That meant one thing.... He’d risked his life to save her.

If anything had been off, even by a fraction, he’d be dead. The air whooshed right back out of her lungs. “You could have miscalculated and been hit.”

Connor sat up, wincing as he moved. “I didn’t.” The room started spinning and a wave of dizziness set in.

“Are you hurt?”

“I bet he’s sore as hell.” Holt snorted. “When the bullet slams into you it hurts like a—”

A sharp look from Connor stopped whatever else Holt might have said. Stretching and rubbing his back, Connor stood up. “What do we have outside?”

That one made Holt smile. “A bunch of dead shooters.”

Connor reached down and helped her to her feet. She hung on just in case her knees gave out on her, which, with the crushing despair at the thought of Connor being shot still zipping through her head, was a distinct possibility. “You got them all?”

Holt shrugged. “The ones that didn’t run away.”

Of course they got the bad guys. That’s how the Corcoran Team operated. They protected and they won. She’d come to depend on that so much that she couldn’t conceive of any of them getting injured. It’s probably what kept her from living every hour in fear.

Davis and Holt followed Connor’s example and led without even trying. Pax, Davis’s brother, and Joel provided some of the team’s lighter moments back in Maryland but were deadly lethal when necessary.

She knew all of them except Ben. From her conversations with Connor about the battles Ben had taken on during his former job with NCIS, she had no doubt he fit in fine with the rest of them.

“I took photos of...” Shane stopped just inside the doorway. His gaze bounced around the cabin-turned-shooting-gallery. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing.” Connor tugged her closer and put a hand just below her belt.

No way was she forgetting what just happened. “Let me see your back.”

His hold didn’t lessen. “It’s fine.”

“Okay, well, I have more photos.” Shane glanced at Holt and a look passed between them before Shane handed the camera to Connor.

Jana couldn’t read the guys’ expressions but knew they engaged in some sort of silent conversation. She guessed she was the subject. Her or Connor, or both.

Connor started to hand the cell over then stopped. “I hate to ask—”

“I’ll look.” She took it before he could analyze and start frowning. “Huh. Well, I have bad news.”

“More?” Cam asked, the amusement evident in his voice.

Connor’s stern expression didn’t slip. “What?”

“I only recognize this one.” She pointed at the second photo. She scrolled the images back and forth. “These three were not part of the crowd when I got kidnapped.”

“So there are even more of them. Great.” Shane swore under his breath. “And for the record, I hate that you’re now an assignment.”

“She’s not.” Connor leaned into her and his breath caressed her cheek. “Which one was the leader?”

She loved the closeness but knew her answer would put him straight back into work-concentration mode. “None. The leader, the one who called you, isn’t here. He got away.”