Rather than hiding in a box, I'm pretty sure Jenn would prefer baking cookies in her own kitchen and worrying about spilling sugar on the countertop. Hmm, maybe I'll bake a little later today. In the meantime, I'll enjoy sharing my novel with you. Go ahead and settle in with a plate of cookies and my book...
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 59
With surging anger, Jenn shoved the cardboard shelf above
her off, scattering packages of cups. She discovered an open wooden crate
resting inches away. As if dead, a beautiful woman lay on a pile of bubble wrap
with a water bottle dripping condensation in one hand and an empty pistol
hanging limply in the other. Kathleen Worthins—or Natalie Holtz—or whatever her
name really was, struggled to blink glaze from her eyes.
Jenn sprang forward and snatched the gun from the woman’s
grip. “Who is that creep?” She nodded toward the exit.
“Who are you?” Natalie slurred.
Crouching low to face Kathleen—Natalie—she said, “Jenn
Washington. Monica introduced us.”
The woman’s glassy eyes swept over her, but recognition didn’t
flicker through her eyes.
“Don't believe a word that monster said,” Jenn continued. “My
husband isn't a defector and he didn’t kill Pete. The gun Adams gave you is
empty.” Jenn yanked the gun from Natallie’s weak grip and pulled out the clip
and shoved it back at the woman. “Empty. Proof how evil he is.”
Natalie's eyes slightly cleared as her fingers ran along the
clip.
Jenn pushed the water bottle to her mouth. “Drink. It might
help.” She squeezed, forcing water between her lips. Natalie gagged. Jenn
pulled the bottle back before she drowned. “I've been running for days now and
want to stop.” She shoved her loaded handgun into Natalie's limp hand. “Take
this and use it so no one kills you, although I don't know whose side you're on
or if you should have it.”
Natalie weakly fingered the weapon. “Where is Washington
and….” Coughs halted her words.
Jenn glanced over her shoulder at the break room door, then
back at the woman packed on a bed of plastic bubbles. “Unloading some kind of
shipment and securing some area against someone. The problem is, he doesn't
know that someone is that demon
Adams, so in about ten seconds I might be a widow unless you help me.”
Natalie struggled to a sitting position, popping bubbles.
She looked around with slightly more clarity. She examined the gun, insuring
the clip was in place. “Do you have another gun?”
“No. You’ve got my one and only. I’d use it on Adams myself,
but I’m notorious for missing, and....”
Natalie weakly waved her hand in a silencing gesture. “I
take it you were hiding?”
Jenn nodded.
“If Adams didn't find you, it was a good place. Get back to
it.”
Voices filtered through the break room door. Adams—she recognized
his—was frantically saying something about Holtz.
Natalie hissed, “No time! Sit, Washington, and put your
hands up, very high.”
The door swung open as Jenn sat in the nearest chair with a
thud. Natalie pointed her gun at her and wickedly smiled. In a completely lucid
tone she said, “Don't move Mrs. Washington or I will kill you.”
Jenn's jaw dropped. She’d been taken hostage by her own gun
because of her own stupidity.
Nick, Matt, Curtis and two unknown men entered the room and
froze. Nick thawed first. He sprang to Jenn, shielding her while facing the
open crate. “Holts, how did you get here? What is going on?”
Natalie chuckled. “I have your wife, Washington, and now I
have you. Sit down and join her.” She jerked her gun toward Matt. “Jensen, take
a seat.”
Nick remained in place, as rigid as a board. Matt moved
toward a chair but didn’t sit. Adams casually crossed the room. “Good work,
Holtz. You accomplished without bloodshed what we imagined would end in a
fireball. I'll personally see that you receive honors.”
The vile man with a deceptively cheerful baby face, stylish
glasses and easy-going countenance who looked like an accountant instead of an
agent turned to Nick and Matt. “May I take your firearms, gentlemen?”
“No, you may not,” Natalie hissed. Her eyes glazed over and
her hand shook, but her tone demanded attention.
Adams smiled condescendingly and faced her. “Holtz, we know
who….”
A shot thundered through the break room. Jenn gasped and
pressed her eyes shut and pushed her face to the table—a gunfight had erupted.
A heavy thump vibrated the tile floor—someone had lost. Chairs moved and voices
shouted so chaotically she couldn’t tell who had survived and who hadn’t, and
she had no desire to peek.
A wail rose above the commotion.
End Chapter 59
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