Page 123 of Snow

His shoulder hit first, followed by the rest of him, and his grip on Nova’s hand disappeared. The alarms seemed to fade into the background as his vision blurred and the entire world tilted sideways.

What the hell? He tried to push himself up, but his arm gave out beneath him, refusing to hold his weight.

“Gabe!” Nova’s scream tore through the air.

But the darkness closed in faster than he could fight it.

The last thing he heard before everything disappeared was Nova screaming his name again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Nova watched the pipe connect with the side of Snow’s head, and for one terrible second her brain refused to understand what she had seen.

His hand had been wrapped around hers only a second earlier, pulling her toward the stairs, and then the force of the blow ripped his fingers from hers and sent him crashing sideways into the railing before he collapsed onto the steel deck.

“Gabe!”

She started toward him without thinking, but Brett stepped out of the smoke and planted himself directly between them, the metal pipe still gripped in both hands. Nova stopped so quickly her shoes slipped against the wet deck, and her eyes went immediately past him to where Snow lay motionless several feet away. Blood was already trailing from his temple, and the sight of it sent something cold and vicious through her chest.

“You son of a bitch.”

Brett’s laugh sounded almost lost beneath the alarms. Soot streaked his face, his clothes were damp and dirty, and there was a frantic edge in his eyes that made Nova realize whatever control he’d once possessed was gone.

“You really have been one hell of a problem, Ms. Hart,” he said, glancing toward Snow before returning his attention to her. “I underestimated both of you, but especially you. I thought you were just some attorney Silverman sent out here to shuffle papers and make everyone miserable.”

Nova forced herself to look at Brett instead of Snow, even though every instinct she had was screaming at her to get to him. “You know, people keep making that mistake.”

Brett’s mouth twisted. “Doesn’t matter now. Neither one of you is getting off this platform.”

The words landed hard, but they didn’t surprise her. The smoke rolling through the walkway was thicker by the second, and another deep metallic groan echoed somewhere beneath them.

Snow had been right. Brett hadn’t just started a fire to destroy evidence; he intended to make sure there was nothing left to find.

“You really think anyone is going to believe we just happened to die out here?” she asked.

“After that storm? On an unfinished platform where something went catastrophically wrong?” Brett gave a small shrug. “People believe whatever the evidence tells them, and there won’t be much evidence left.”

“You thought wrong. We’ve already sent pictures of your little secret room.”

His face twisted in anger.

Nova’s pulse pounded against her chest as she glanced at Snow again. He still hadn’t moved, but his chest was rising. Barely noticeable from where she stood, but it was enough. He was alive. Now she had to keep him that way.

Snow always carried a weapon. The thought surfaced suddenly, followed by the memory of teasing him about whether Navy SEALs ever went anywhere without one. She couldn’t remember his exact answer, only the amused look he’d given her and the general message that no, not if he could help it.

Her gaze slipped toward his waist. Brett saw it.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Nova looked back at him, trying not to let him see how badly she needed to reach Snow. The problem was Brett knew it too. He stood directly in her path, and every time she shifted even slightly toward Snow, he adjusted with her.

Fine. If he wasn’t going to move voluntarily, she’d move him herself.

She had spent years kickboxing, although it had been a while since she had used any of it for something more serious than a workout. She had never imagined she would be standing on a burning oil platform preparing to use those skills against a man holding a metal pipe, but apparently her life had officially run out of normal problems.

Brett took a step toward her. “Back away from him.”

Nova obeyed, giving him two slow steps while she watched the pipe and shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet.