Chapter 2 - The Ambush at Northgate
Chaos erupted with terrifying violence. Shoppers screamed, scattering like frightened birds as metal display racks crashed onto the floor. Santa scrambled off his velvet dais with unexpected agility, ducking behind the wooden sleigh, while parents dragged their weeping children toward the emergency exits.
""Get down!"" Gabriel commanded, his hand clamping onto Hannah’s shoulder with bruising strength as he forced her beneath the counter of the elf photo station.
The sharp phut-phut of suppressed gunfire tore through the faux-fur trim of Santa’s chair. Feathers and synthetic stuffing exploded into the air like poisonous snowflakes. Hannah squeezed her eyes shut, her heart hammering against her ribs, but her maternal instinct overrode her terror. Noah was still out in the open, frozen by the steps of the throne. The little boy didn't scream. He didn't drop his toy. He simply pulled his knees to his chest and raised both trembling hands beside his head, wiggling his fingers like antlers.
I need help. The elf will come.
""Noah!"" Hannah gasped. Without thinking of the bullets shredding the plastic garlands above her, she lunged out from behind the counter, scrambling across the slick floor on her hands and knees.
""Hannah, wait!"" Gabriel yelled, but she was already gone.
She reached the base of the platform just as a tall man in a navy ski mask rounded the giant gingerbread house, raising a pistol with a threaded suppressor aimed directly at the boy. The shooter sneered, his finger tightening on the trigger, intending to snatch the child as collateral against the Moretti empire.
Hannah didn't calculate the odds. She grabbed the heavy steel pole of the velvet stanchion and swung it with all the leverage her curvy frame could muster. The brass-topped pole struck the attacker across the side of his knee with a resounding crack. The man howled in agony, his shot going wild and shattering an overhead glass skylight.
Before he could recover, three hundred pounds of enraged muscle descended upon him. Tiny roared like a wounded bear, catching the hitman by the throat and slamming him through a cardboard cutout of the North Pole, splintering the frame and knocking the man completely unconscious with one colossal right hook.
""I got the boy!"" Tiny bellowed, breathing heavily.
""No, I have him,"" Hannah said fiercely. She gathered Noah into her arms, pulling his small, trembling body against her chest. The boy buried his face into the scratchy emerald fabric of her collar, his little fingers clutching her red hair as if she were the only solid anchor in a drowning world.
Gabriel appeared above them, a snub-nosed revolver appearing in his palm with terrifying smoothness. He fired twice past Hannah’s shoulder into the ceiling rafters, pinning down the third assailant who immediately turned and bolted into the service corridors.
""Calvin, call the clean-up team,"" Gabriel ordered coldly, stepping over the groaning attacker Tiny had flattened. He re-holstered his weapon beneath his charcoal suit jacket without a trace of panic, his breathing totally controlled. He extended a broad, calloused hand toward Hannah, his dark eyes burning with an intense, unreadable fire. ""Are you hit?""
Hannah took his hand, letting him pull her and Noah up from the floor. Her knees felt like wet paper, but she held the boy tight. ""I'm fine. He's fine. Who the hell were those people?""
""Business rivals who made the mistake of thinking my home was vulnerable,"" Gabriel said darkly. He took off his heavy cashmere overcoat and wrapped it around Hannah’s shoulders, swallowing her completely in his warmth and scent. ""You just saved my son’s life, Miss Brooks.""
""I did what anyone would do.""
""Nobody does what you just did,"" Gabriel corrected, his voice dropping to a gravelly murmur. ""Tyler Kemp hid inside a plastic chimney.""
Tyler was indeed whimpering from inside the cardboard hearth, his festive red hat pulled entirely over his eyes.
Sirens began to wail in the distance, cutting through the frosty winter afternoon air. The sound spurred Gabriel into immediate action. ""The police will have questions we aren't going to answer today. Calvin, escort the mall manager to our payroll ledger—ensure he understands the cost of filing an inaccurate report. Tiny, back door. Now.""
They moved as an impenetrable unit. Tiny led the way through an employee-only security corridor, his massive bulk clearing a path through confused retail workers. Gabriel stayed half a step behind Hannah, his large hand resting firmly against the small of her back, guiding her with an authority that left no room for hesitation.
When they burst through the heavy steel exit door into the freezing back alley, an armored black SUV was already idling, exhaust pluming into the gray Chicago sky. Tiny opened the heavy reinforced passenger door, and Gabriel gently guided Hannah inside, climbing in right behind her.
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As the heavy door slammed shut with the vault-like thud of reinforced ballistic steel, the chaotic sounds of the mall vanished instantly. Hannah sat surrounded by butter-soft leather, state-of-the-art surveillance screens, and three dangerous men. Noah was still glued to her lap, his small chin resting on her collarbone, his breathing gradually slowing to match hers.
""Take us to the Lake Shore compound,"" Gabriel told the driver. He turned his gaze to Hannah, crossing his long legs. ""Now, Miss Brooks. Let’s talk about why my son chose you, and why you are not returning to that mall ever again.""
