Moving Target by Cheyenne McCray

traffic. He sailed through another light and threw a look over his shoulder just in time to see a Mack truck making a left in front of the speeding Nissan. The crunch of metal slamming against metal was loud enough to hear over the sirens. The Nissan flipped in the air, landed on its top, and spun across the intersection.
    Daniel took a deep breath and turned off his sirens and lights. His heart still pounded. "That was too damned close." He glanced in his rearview mirror to see if anyone else was following them. Looked clear.
    Wind whipped in through the broken windows. After he checked his rearview and sideview mirrors again, he looked at Ani, who was covered with the shattered safety glass. "Stay down a little longer. Sure you're all right?"
    Her face was pressed up against the console. "As well as one can be after getting shot at," she said with a groan. "How about you?"
    "Fine." If it wasn't for the body armor he'd be a dead man. His back hurt like hell from the power of the shot, but he was certain the bullet hadn't pierced his armor. He'd just have a bruise the size of a melon.
    Daniel continued to drive, putting as much distance between the hotel and the shooters as he could, even though they'd been taken down by a Mack. The men could have jacked another vehicle if either the shooter or the driver survived or were uninjured. But, for now, it didn't look like he and Ani were being followed. Hell, who knew if the men had backup?
    "We've got to ditch the SUV and I need to call this incident in," Daniel muttered at the same time his cell phone rang.
    He jerked it out of its holster, flipped it open, and brought it to his ear. "Parker."
    "You two are hot," came Jameson's voice.
    "Tell me something I don't know." Daniel looked in his rearview mirror again. "We just made it through some serious gunfire."
    "Shit." Jameson growled. "Catch that plane and get the hell out of there."
    "On it," Daniel said. "Vehicle's pretty shot up. I'm heading to the headquarters on Broadway to make an exchange."
    "I'll call ahead," Jameson said, and told Daniel he'd notify the police to arrest the shooters when they reached the scene of the accident.
    Daniel snapped his phone shut and reholstered it.

    He checked his mirrors yet again. Still looked clear. "You can get up." He cut his attention back to the street then to her.
    She sat up and brushed glass from her hair, which was flying around her face in the wind from the shattered windows. She had a cut across one cheek, her face was pale, but other than that she looked fine.
    Daniel sucked in a deep breath of relief.
    When they reached the U.S. Marshals Tucson headquarters, he turned the vehicle into the lot and parked directly in front of the back door so he could hurry Ani into the station, keeping her exposure to a minimum. Two Deputy Marshals were there to cover her as they took her inside.
    Daniel swung the shot-up vehicle into a parking space. After checking the lot around him, he rushed through the door at the back of the building.
    One of the Deputies was directing Ani to a chair. "I need to doctor that cut on your face," he was saying.
    "We've got to get to the airport." Daniel raked his fingers through his hair as he spoke to the operations supervisor. "Our flight leaves in an hour."
    Atkins shook his head. "Phoenix and Tucson airports are shut down—terrorist threats."
    "What the hell?" Daniel stared at the Deputy Marshal.
    "Calls to Sky Harbor and Tucson International were made about fifteen minutes ago. Both came from a pay phone in New York City," Atkins said. "Both airports are going nuts. All air traffic in Arizona is grounded. With the exception of the military."
    "Borenko." Daniel scrubbed his hand over his face. "Borenko is throwing a net out and reeling us in."
    Daniel's cell phone rang. He snatched it from its holster and answered, "Parker."
    "Bastards are trying to cage you and your witness," Jameson said.
    "Figured that." Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now what