“Cam,” Julian hissed, barely audible in the darkness. “Fix the pillows on the bed, make it look like someone sleeping. Quickly.”
Cameron rushed the three steps to the bed, grabbing some of the pillows they’d tossed onto the floor and making columns on the bed. He pulled the comforter up and was hurriedly shoving it down between the pillows when he heard a voice outside the door. He didn’t even think; one of the first things Julian had taught him was to hide. Cameron turned, took one step to the side, and crouched down behind the solid armchair and ottoman to the left side of the bed, curling his frame up behind it so he was out of sight. He hoped.
“The other room was empty.”
“They’ve got to be here somewhere.”
There was more that Cameron couldn’t make out. A moment later, the door to the bedroom splintered at the knob. There was another bang, and Cameron squeezed into a tighter ball as the door flew open. A shaft of light from the hallway fell upon the bed, and he saw the shadow of a man with a gun in his hand cast against the wall above the headboard not four feet away from him. The man didn’t fire, though.
“Shit,” he heard the attacker say, obviously realizing the ruse.
Another heartbeat later, Cameron heard the struggle start, and he knew that Julian had attacked the man. Cameron pried open his eyes and peered around the back of the chair.
Julian’s back was to the wall beside the door. He had the cord of the lamp wrapped around the stranger’s neck, twisting it from behind as the man struggled against him. Another man came through the doorway, gun drawn, and Julian reached out with one hand and slammed the lightbulb into the second man’s face as he stepped through the doorway. He gave a bloodcurdling scream as he fell back out of the room, and Julian kicked the door shut as he tightened the cord around the first gunman’s neck.
Cameron knew he was probably best off where he was, but he shifted to a crouch rather than staying on his knees so when Julian called he’d be ready to go.
The stranger sank to his knees, gasping for breath in the darkness as Julian held the ends of the cord tight. Cameron was grateful he couldn’t see the dying man’s face. The body fell to the ground with a thud, but Julian continued to kneel over him, pulling the cord tight. Shots punched through the thick door over his head, and Julian flinched and covered his head, rolling away from the door.
“Cam, stay down!” he called in a harsh whisper.
More noises came from outside, shouts and breaking glass, bangs and more shouting, and Cameron covered his head instinctively. Gunfire roared, two, three, maybe four shots. Then all was silent for a long moment.
“Two men down.” The voice was sharp, clipped, and familiar, close to the door. Then, louder, “Cross? Are you in there?” Cameron let out his breath. That was Zane.
Julian didn’t answer. Cameron could hear him breathing hard, somewhere in the darkness near the door. “Cross? Cameron?” Zane tried again, his voice still flat. Cameron bit his lip. Julian would have said something if he wanted to, so Cameron kept his mouth shut. Then he heard the busted door swing open and he glanced around the chair back.
As soon as the agent’s shadow entered the doorway, Julian moved. He wrapped an arm around Zane’s neck, holding the broken bit of lightbulb to his throat as he used Zane’s body to shield him from whoever else was outside.
A second later, the light flipped on and Ty moved into the room with his gun drawn, eyes on Julian and Zane.
“I’m not fighting you, Cross,” Zane said, keeping both hands down and out to his sides.
“Let him go, MacGuffin, we just saved your ass,” Ty told him, the gun not wavering.
“No one could possibly know we were here. No one but your men. Check their badges,” Julian ordered. He didn’t let up on the pressure he was exerting on Zane’s neck.
Ty held up his hand to calm Julian and bent down, rummaging through the dead man’s pockets as he kept his eyes and gun on Julian. Cameron shifted behind the chair, staying down for now.
A moment later Ty pulled a badge and held it up, looking at it in shock as he flipped it open. It read FBI in big blue letters.
“See!” Julian shouted. “They’re your people!”
“They’re not our people,” Zane said. “Let up, Cross. We both know I could have shot you twice before you had me.”
“But you didn’t, your fault,” Julian said. “Grady, the gun.”
“Go f**k yourself,” Ty said as he continued to pat the dead man’s pockets. He pulled out a clear spiral cord from behind the man’s ear and whistled as he held it up. “These aren’t Bureau issue.”
Julian relaxed his grip on Zane as he looked at the earpiece. Cameron stood, wondering if he’d ever seen a man so close to Julian’s size next to him. From the back, or maybe the side, he just might mistake Zane Garrett for Julian, and that was still disconcerting even after all this time with him.
“We knew there was something more to this,” Zane reminded them, his back still against Julian’s chest, though he didn’t seem particularly fazed by the bloody broken glass at his throat. “I think it might be a little more important to be leaving right now.”
“Agreed,” Julian said instantly. He dropped the lightbulb and turned to look back for Cameron.
“How’d they find us? That’s so f**king random,” Ty asked as he stood. He sounded pissed.
As Zane and Ty kept talking, Cameron tuned them out. He’d be along for the ride regardless of his input. His eyes strayed from Julian, over to the mess of the bed, across the littered floor between them, to the crumpled body of a dead man with a lamp cord wrapped around his throat. Cameron let out a shaky breath. He knew that life with Julian was like this sometimes, but that didn’t mean it was easy to handle or understand.
Julian moved toward him and hugged him fiercely, seeming to sense that was what he needed. And it was, to be held close and comforted. Cameron sighed and tipped his head back to find Julian’s eyes. “Are you okay?”
Julian nodded. “You?”
“Yes.” Cameron did not look down at the body nearby but instead toward the two men searching the other bodies, words flying rapid-fire between them. He hadn’t been paying attention to know if Ty and Zane were working or insulting each other. For all he knew, it could be the same thing with them. “It’s not safe here.”
“No,” Julian agreed as he looked back at the two agents. He squeezed Cameron’s arm. “Get dressed, Cameron, okay? We’re leaving as soon as these two idiots figure this out.”