All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [33]
Someone was still shooting at them.
Kennedy trembled. It wasn’t that she was afraid of dying; she feared that she’d be responsible for Tommy’s death, as well. Had the gunman gotten to him? What about Reverend Warner—was he dead, as well?
It took what seemed like an eternity for Collier and Kennedy to reach the bathrooms, but at least there were no more shots. As they reached the door, she bolted from his grasp and entered the men’s room, leaving him to stand guard against whoever was shooting at them.
Empty.
Frantic, she searched the stalls. “Tommy? Tommy?”
Again, empty.
“Is he in here?”
Kennedy jumped at the sound of Collier’s voice, but she didn’t answer. She checked all of the stalls again, praying that she’d missed the one Tommy was hiding in. But he wasn’t there.
Collier rushed into the room—a look of panic monopolized his face.
The room seemed to tilt and Kennedy could actually hear the sound of blood rushing through her head. Tommy was gone and Kennedy had no clue as to who had him: Rev. Warner or Keenan Lawrence.
Chapter 15
Aaliyah Hunter pushed away from her desk in her home office after reading Keenan Lawrence’s file. The man had danced into and out of jail his entire life. Fame came the moment he’d risen through the ranks of one of Atlanta’s most notorious gangs: The Skulls.
Even after learning all of this, Aaliyah had found nothing that helped her with her investigation of the Underwood murder. Intuition told her that she was on the right track. She moved over to the computer and tried cross-referencing the two names.
Three cases came up that involved both Underwood and Lawrence. The first one she’d read about yesterday. The second one had occurred in ’93, a murder case. Apparently, it was a drug deal that went bad. The arresting officers, Detectives Jaclyn Mason and Kenneth Nelson…
Aaliyah recognized the names and pulled out her notes. Jaclyn Mason had been Underwood’s second wife. She flipped through more papers to find out the dates of their marriage. According to her information, the case was tried during their marriage. She frowned and wondered what it all meant…if it meant anything at all.
Max watched as Kennedy’s face drained of color and she seemed to teeter uncertainly on her legs. He rushed to her and caught her just before her body hit the floor.
“Kennedy.” He gave her a firm shake. He couldn’t believe it, she’d passed out.
“Come on, sweetheart. Wake up.” He propped her up, lowered her head between her knees, and spoke firmly and clearly. “Come on. You need to wake up.”
She moaned and managed to sound irritated at the same time.
He looked around and noted that there were two entrances into the bathroom. They couldn’t stay here much longer. The gunman could come charging in at any second. He shook her gently. “Kennedy, wake up. We’re not out of danger yet.”
“They got my baby,” she said in a choked sob. The pain in her voice jerked his heartstrings. Though it was not an appropriate time for it, he wanted to console her and make the pain go away.
Something moved out of the corner of Max’s eye and he dropped with Kennedy and rolled to his right side. The room exploded with the sound of bullets slamming into the concrete.
Kennedy’s screams pierced Max’s eardrum as her entire body quaked against him. With perfect speed, agility and aim, Max returned fire.
The gunman crashed against the wall. His weapon fell from his hands as a look of surprise was etched into his features.
Max dropped his head back against the floor and stared unblinkingly up at the ceiling. It took several deep breaths to slow his heartbeat and clear the scenes from his thirty-two-year life span that had passed before his eyes.
Only then was he able to remember the woman who still quivered in his arms. Her ragged sobs dissolved, but she clung to him as though her very life depended on it.
Lowering his weapon to his side, he pushed them up into a sitting position. He draped his arms around her. As she rocked back and forth, he whispered