Page 12 of Yankee in the Wind

“Going down to grab lunch,” she announced to the lab staff. “Does anybody want anything from the taco truck?”

Several ‘noes’ echoed in the lab.

“Andrew? How about you?” she asked, since he hadn’t replied.

He looked up from his work. “No, thanks, Lilly, I’m fasting today.”

“Good for you,” Lilly said and headed outside.

Instead of taking the elevator down, Lilly opted for the stairs. She needed a little exercise. She was still getting over the news that her cousin had been a CIA agent. And there she’d thought he was in the military, fighting foreign wars for his country. In truth, he’d served his country in a different way. Why had he never told her what he really did? After all, they’d been so close.

“What can I get you?” the guy in the taco truck asked.

Lilly hadn’t even looked at the menu posted on the outside of the truck. She always ordered the same. “Three beef tacos.”

“Name?”

“Lilly.”

She handed him her credit card, and he swiped it, then made her sign the receipt. She stepped aside to let the person behind her order. A few yards away was an empty bench. A short distance behind it stood a large sculpture made of different colored glass. It depicted a heart.

Lilly walked to the bench and sat down. She allowed the rays of sunshine to kiss her face and took a deep breath. Her mind went back to Thomas. She still couldn’t believe that he’d been a CIA agent. And clearly a good one, because not even she had suspected that he kept a secret from her. What exactly had he done in the CIA?

The ringing of her cell phone pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked at the display, but it only said Unknown Caller. Was Henry Sheppard finally calling her back?

“Hello?”

There was static in the line, a garbled voice, but she couldn’t understand what the person said.

“Hello?” she repeated, but the static in the line was getting worse.

She shrugged, and disconnected the call, before putting the cell phone back in her handbag.

Just then, somebody from the food truck called out her name. “Lilly, three beef tacos.”

7

“Fuck!” Jack cursed, while jumping out of the car.

He’d figured out where Lilly’s would-be assassination would take place by calling the number for Jose’s Enormes Tacos and asking them where their truck was parked today. He’d raced there breaking all kinds of traffic laws, unsure what time the event would take place, although judging by the lunch crowd in his premonition it would be around midday.

While in the car, he’d tried Lilly’s cell phone number, the one she’d given him seven years earlier. It was still in service, but it had gone straight to voicemail. He hadn’t bothered leaving a message, because if he didn’t reach Lilly in time, she’d never get it. He continued calling her, until he finally got through.

He heard a voice, but the static in the line prevented him from being able to understand what Lilly said.

“Lilly, run back into the building!” he warned her, hoping that she could hear him over the static. “Somebody is trying to shoot you.”

“Hello?” he heard through the static, confirming that she hadn’t heard him.

“Shit, shit, shit!”

Jack already spotted Lilly sitting on the bench and sprinted toward her. Just a few more yards. He nearly collided with a teenager listening to something on his earphones but avoided him at the last second. Jack raced past him, then saw in horror that Lilly stood up from the bench. Somebody from the taco truck had called her name. He only had seconds now.

Jack was three yards away from her, when he saw the red dot on her forehead. His heart stopped, but his body didn’t. He lunged toward her, tackling her to the ground, when he heard the sound of something hitting glass and breaking it. He glanced up. The bullet had struck a glass sculpture several yards past the bench.

“Active shooter!” Jack yelled out to the people milling about the plaza.

The shattering of the glass sculpture had alerted everybody, and people screamed and ran for cover. Beneath him, Lilly groaned.