SHE DISAPPEARED over the edge, dropped out of view….

And then she was just... gone. Icy fingers crushed my hammering heart to a dead stop. No…. No, God, not again. It was sheer panic and loss on a level I hadn’t felt since that day in the river.

Then I saw Calahan rush past me and I got myself moving. We reached the balcony at the same time, looked down….

And saw the twin splash as they hit the pool.

I turned and ran, sick with worry. What if hitting the water from that height had knocked her out and she was sinking to the bottom right now, water filling her lungs?

I pounded down the stairs, jumping the last few of each flight, pinballing off each corner, picking up bruises. But five flights still felt like it took an eternity. I found the hallway that led to the front of the building and sprinted down it. Crashed through a fire exit and—

She was kneeling by the side of the pool, panting. Her hair hung down in wet ropes. Her mascara had run in long streaks and that ugly FBI suit hung shiny and heavy from her body, streaming water. She’d never looked more beautiful. I picked her up and crushed her against me, the chill water soaking my shirt and then the warmth of her body against mine. “I thought I—” The emotion choked off my words. “I thought I—”

“I’m okay,” Hailey panted. “We’re both okay.”

I looked down. Christina was lying on her back, unconscious. Her red dress was soaked through and askew, one breast almost exposed. But she was breathing. Hailey must have dragged her out of the pool. That’s so like her.

Calahan ran up behind us. A few of the block’s residents had heard the splash and come out to investigate, but he waved his FBI badge at them and they gave us some space. “We’ve got to go,” he told us. “It’s eight minutes to one!”

At that second, two black SUVs screeched to a stop in the middle of the street. Shit! Ralavich’s men. Christina had said they were coming. And now they’d seen us.

The doors opened and men started to pour from the SUVs, all of them carrying guns. The residents screamed and ran back inside. We ran for cover, ducking down behind a row of parked cars. The men opened fire as they advanced and Hailey cried out in fear as the car windows shattered, pebbles of safety glass showering our heads. I pulled her tighter against my chest to protect her and looked furiously around. Calahan’s car wasn’t far away. We could maybe make it if we ran, but—

All of us looked at Christina. She lay unconscious, out in the open by the swimming pool. If we ran back and tried to carry her, we’d be easy targets. And we had to go: the assassination was minutes away. Shit! We all looked at each other, torn.

“We need her to testify!” said Calahan. “She’s our proof!” He took two running steps towards her—

I growled and dived on him, knocking him to the ground. A bullet that would have taken his head off whistled over our heads. He scowled at me...then reluctantly nodded his thanks.

“Leave her,” said Hailey.

Calahan stared at her. “What? She needs to go to jail!”

Hailey glared at the unconscious Christina. “Let Ralavich’s men take her. Let him punish her. It’ll be worse than anything a judge can hand out.”

I blinked at her. Part of me agreed, but…. “When did you get so heartless?” I asked.

“When she tried to kill my man,” Hailey said with feeling, and clutched me close.

Ralavich’s men were almost on us. “We don’t have a choice,” said Calahan. “Go!”

And we ran, keeping low until we reached Calahan’s car. As we pulled away, one last shot shattered our rear window. Then we were roaring down the street. The last thing I saw in the rear view mirror was Ralavich’s men pulling Christina to her feet. I almost felt sorry for her.

Then I faced the front and put my arm around Hailey, drawing her protectively against me. She was safe, but she was still going to jail—we were all going to jail—unless we stopped the assassination. Without Christina’s testimony, we had no proof I’d been framed. If an FBI chief died, there’d be no hope of anyone listening to our side of the story. And Hailey would lose a colleague... a friend.

We had to save Carrie. We had to save the woman who’d spent her whole career trying to bring me down.

“How long?” I asked, my voice tight.

“Five minutes,” said Calahan.