by J. D. Tyler
Ironically, the only door they’d encountered in the lower levels without a security pad code was this one and the door was open. Apparently convinced this level was under their control, the two men sat with their backs to the door, their attention focused to security cameras.
Luke held up fingers.
Three. Two. One.
Luke dove in and to his left, firing his gun. At the same time, Jones went right. More gunfire as the two terrorists tried to return fire.
Glass shattered behind them.
Luke hit the floor with his shoulder but kept his focus on his man, his gun aimed at the man’s torso. He squeezed in rapid fire, the man’s body slammed back into the screens behind him, his gun flinging up and more bullets from it hitting the overhead lights.
Sparks and shattered glass flew around them. Luke ducked to cover his head.
Then silence.
CHAPTER EIGHT
From her post just inside the storage room, Abigail peeked through the slight crack between the door and the jam, watching Luke and the others approach the security room. She knew she should keep the door closed to protect the people inside from anyone who might approach, but the man she loved was putting himself in harm’s way. He was like that. He wouldn’t ask someone else to do something dangerous without leading the way.
Another trait of his was his need to protect innocents, hence all the kitchen staff currently behind her, quiet and scared. Protection was ingrained in the Edgars family’s DNA. She’d learned that when they’d helped her rescue her friend, Brianna. They would all put themselves in the line of fire to protect someone, especially someone they loved. Her right side throbbed, reminding her that she’d done the exact thing when she’d put herself between Luke and a bullet last spring.
Movement up ahead caught her attention. Luke and Jones were about to breech the door.
She inhaled and exhaled, slowly tightening the grip on her weapon in case she needed to use it.
“What’s going on?” Bricker’s voice whispered.
“Shh,” half a dozen other voices said at once.
Abigail swallowed her own retort. At least the man was whispering this time, instead of demanding things. Whatever mission Zoe was keeping the guy alive for, she hoped it was worth it.
Suddenly gunfire erupted from the security office. Glass shattered. Gasps sounded behind her. She glanced back to see the others cowering lower, some with hands over their ears, others had a hand over their mouth.
Her heart in her throat, she watched the sparks and more glass then darkness fill the windows of the security office.
Then nothing.
Luke.
She looked at Zoe and Castello. “I’m going out there. Watch my back.”
Zoe nodded and moved to cover the hallway in the opposite direction.
Frank’s hand landed on hers. “He won’t like it.”
“Too damn bad. I have to go.” This time, she didn’t plead for understanding. She’d made up her mind.
He let her go, hobbled into the doorway and trained his gun in the direction she was headed. “Go.”
* * * * *
Crouching near the filing cabinet where he’d landed Luke’s ears rang and sharp little stabs of pain stung his hands. Glass shards from where he’d protected his head.
He listened. No one moved.
Where was Jones?
Was he hit?
Still he listened.
“Luke?” Abby’s voice. Damn woman. Once again she put herself in danger.
“Abby, stay down,” he ordered.
“I am. I’ve got the door covered. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just some minor cuts.” He struggled to sit up, catching a sliver of glass in the heel of his left hand. “Shit.”
“What was that?”
“Just glass. It’s everywhere. You stay where you are.” He moved again in the darkened room. Light from the hallway gave him light enough to make out the body of the man he’d shot. “Jones? You okay?”
“Yeah, same as you. Cuts.” There was a pause. “My guy’s dead.”
Luke felt the neck of his man. Nothing. “Mine, too.”
Distant gunfire sounded above them. Had someone made an entrance? Were others trapped inside fighting back against these guys? Were the terrorists killing everyone they found alive?
“Let’s get moving. We need to get our people out of the hotel.”
He made his way through the debris to see Abby kneeling just inside the doorway, her gun and focus on the hallways. Would he ever get used to having this woman covering his back and at his side? He hoped not. Once more he felt his pants pocket. Ring still in its place.
He signaled for Jones and Ben to come join them. Jones had some blood oozing down his left cheek from his scalp, but otherwise looked unharmed.
“You two check out the loading dock,” he said, pointing in the direction of what looked like a large parking garage. “If there’d been any of these assholes there, they’d have made themselves known with all that gunfire.”
The two men nodded and half walked, half jogged into the area.
“Should we get the others?” Abby asked, after a quick head-to-toe look at him.
Luke couldn’t help the smile. He knew she wouldn’t be happy until she had him naked and could check him out inch-by-inch. And he’d just let her.
Heavy footfalls sounded in the hallway back beyond the storage room.
“Zoe,” he warned just as his cousin fired, cutting down one man dressed in black with a flak jacket just like the others they’d encountered.
“Jeez, they’re like cockroaches,” she said as Luke and Abby joined her. “I’m going to check to be sure no one else is back there.”
She darted down the hall before Luke could stop her.
“Dammit.” He started after her, but stopped when his cousin sauntered back in, a smile on her face. “No one left back there.”
Shaking his head, he exhaled. “Good. Let’s just hope no one comes down the stairs here to check on these guys.”
“From all that gunfire upstairs, I think they’re busy,” Castello said, hobbling out, one arm around his human crutch, Cassie, again. The others filed out behind him, fear in their eyes, but relief, too. They huddled in the hallway in small groups. Bricker and Zoe were near the back, talking quietly.
Jones and Ben joined them, grim looks on their faces.
Not good.
“What did you find?” he asked, already pretty sure what they’d say.
“Couple of dead security guys. More C-4.”
“Dammit,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his hair.
“But we may have a solution,” Jones said, looking at Ben.
“There’s three hotel vans parked there. We could rig one to drive into the door, causing the C-4 to explode outward. Give us enough room to escape.”
Luke studied the other man. “You ever do this before?”
Grim resolve settled on Ben’s face. “Something like it over in Afghanistan.”
“Did it work?”
“The explosion went the direction the HumVee was headed. We were able to breech an insurgent stronghold to get civilians and some captured men out.” The slight pause over the word some made Luke think they’d been too late to get all the captured men out.
“Okay. We’ll get everyone up along this wall, well back from the blast zone,” he said, pointing to the side of the storage room. He walked down the three stairs that led to the now empty security room and the hallway to the loading dock bay. The group followed him. “This is the path out. You’ll be close enough to run once the hole is blown, but far enough to hopefully be out danger from debris. Nobody moves until I give it the all-clear, got it?”
“I’m not staying out here to get blown up!” Bricker suddenly said, near panic in his voice once more.
Luke wanted to deck the man. “If we do this correctly, no one’s getting blown up. Right, Ben?”
“That’s the plan, sir.”
Zoe pulled him back from the others. “Okay, Adrian. We’ll stay back here.” She gave Luke an exasperated look that suggested she’d gone from protecting a high-powered client to babysitting a two-year-old one, then shrugged. “I’ll cover the stairs and we’ll come out once the detonation zone is open.”
He did need someone to cover their rear. “Fine. You stay focused though, okay?”
“Got it,” she said, maneuvering her man back around the corner.
“Anyone else got a complaint?” Luke asked.
The other civilians exchanged worried looks but no one wanted to join Zoe and Bricker.
“Okay, get in your positions while we get the van in place.” He started toward the truck bay, when Abby grabbed his arm.
“You’re not going to be the one driving that van through the door are you?”
The worry in her voice both warmed and humbled him. He pulled her away from the others. “Baby, you know how Matt taught all of us defensive driving and then his how-to-get-out-of-dangerous-situations class?”
“Yes, but this isn’t the same—”
He stopped her with a soft kiss. “Yes, it is. One of his scenarios was how to get out of a burning garage. I know how to do this as safe as possible. No one else can. Trust me.”
It was more of a question than a statement, and she nodded, despite the moisture in her eyes she blinked away. “Okay, just don’t wait until the last second to bail, okay? Despite what you think, you’re not indestructible.”
“I promise.” He gave her a grin and a little wiggle of his brow. “Besides, I have other plans for the rest of the night.”
“If you’re lucky,” she said over her shoulder, walking back to the group of frightened staff.
He watched her walk away. He hoped he’d get lucky.
Lucky to get her by his side the rest of his life.
* * * * *
“Let’s go now,” Bricker said, looking over his right shoulder at the corner where the others were positioned on just the other side.
Zoe shook her head, one hand stroking the man’s upper arm to sooth his nerves. “Someone might come back here and I don’t want them to know what I found back in that room. At least not until we’re long gone.”
“There really was a hole in the wall?” he asked, his excitement making his voice louder.
“Shh,” she said, moving him farther from the junction of the hallways to their right. “You have to keep this quiet. And yes, there was a hole in the wall. That’s probably how this group of terrorists got into the building. It leads out into a tunnel Abby was telling us about upstairs.”
“That’s some weird chick,” Adrian said and Zoe fought hard not to hit him. “I mean, who would’ve thought a super-sexy model like her would have a memory like that, huh?”
Zoe just stared at him a minute.
“What? Don’t tell me you weren’t surprised when she started reciting where everything was in this building. Not like she’d ever have to use it when walking the runways. They’re just straight lines,” he laughed at this own joke.
God, she wish she could just shoot him and put herself out of this misery. Her superiors wouldn’t be too happy. Besides, Markus’ life wasn’t worth giving into her own selfish urge. For now, she’d keep Bricker alive.
So instead of shooting him, she gave him a half-hearted laugh and moved him even closer to the back room with the exit. “Once the explosion hits, there will be chaos with all the others trying to get out of the building. That’s when we’ll duck out of here. Okay?”
He bobbed his head like a bobble-head doll. “Got it. We’ll be like ninja ghosts.”
Zoe prayed her cousin didn’t get hurt. Please forgive me, Luke.
CHAPTER NINE
“Got it ready, sir,” Ben said, handing him the key to the van. “For such a new and expensive hotel, they sure didn’t put in the strongest door.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked as they went to the van. Ben had maneuvered it to head straight into the steel bay door. Jones and Marcel had parked the other two hotel vans sideways to give some cover to the area where the group of civilians would be waiting. Hopefully it would block any debris from flying their way.
“They used simple face welding only at the hinge joints.” Ben pointed to the spots where the door would roll up. “The force of the vehicle and the explosion should blow it out, no problem. If they’d used full-profile welds we’d have a bigger problem on our hands.” He gave a little shrug. “Dad was a welder.”
“Let’s be grateful they took the shortcut this time.” Luke motioned to Jones and Marcel, who now held the fire extinguisher they’d found near the door. “You know how to use that thing?” he asked the cook and nodded towards the extinguisher.
“One of the first things I learned when I started working in kitchens.” The older man said. “We might need to make a path once this all explodes.”
“Good thinking,” Luke said, then turned to the FBI agent. “Get your credentials out and ready. You and I need to be the first ones out. Once this is open, if there’s any agency people out there or the local SWAT teams, they’ll need to know we’re on the good guys’ side.”
“Got it. Good luck,” Jones said, and the trio darted back to the double-van blockade with the others.
His heart pounding, he climbed behind the wheel. Despite his brother’s over-zealous, worst-case-scenario drills and the calm he tried to reassure Abby with, he’d only driven a car through a burning door once. And that time he’d stayed in the car. This time, he needed to jump before impact.
He took several slow breaths, calming his mind and body. He could do this. He had to do this.
Don’t get killed. He could hear his brother Matt’s instructions in his head. One hand on the driver’s door, he’d have to clear the van and roll as far as possible away or he was going to get killed long before the explosion. He also had to keep the van moving at the high-rate of speed into the bay door or the explosion would just collapse the thing inward. He hoped like hell no one was on the other side of the door.
With a deep breath, he turned the key and revved the engine. He shifted into gear at the same time he pulled his foot from the brake.
Luke kept the pedal pressed all the way to the floorboard as the van hurtled toward the loading dock exit, counting in his head.
Three.
Two.
One.
Jump.
* * * * *
Everyone around Abigail was crouched low, with their hands over their ears. She couldn’t hide. Instead she stood with her back plastered against the cinderblock wall and her eyes fixed on the van. More accurately, on Luke’s face in the driver’s-side window.
“Abigail, get down,” Frank said, hobbling up beside her. “He wouldn’t want you to watch this.”
She looked at him with her heart in her eyes. “I have to do this.”
He stared back, his own fear for his friend in his face. Then he grasped her hand. “I’ll be right here with you.”
She blinked back the tears, gripped her other hand tighter on her gun, then looked back just in time to see the van take off.
Get out. Get out. Get out.
The words were a prayer she didn’t even realize she was whispering out loud.
Then the car door flew open and he hurled himself to the side, rolling in her direction, away from the van just as it rammed into the door.
“Luke!” She started to move, only to have Castello pull her back and cover her head.
The crash of the van and explosion shattered the night. The building shook. Smoke filled the air. Debris flew around the loading-dock bay.
Abigail lifted her head off Frank’s shoulder and pulled free of his arms. Rushing around the two parked vans, which seemed to tak
e most of the damage from the blast, she came to a complete stop as the smoke parted.
There stood Luke, covered in dust and dirt.
She flew into his arms and he held her close.
“You’re okay,” she whispered.
“I’m okay, baby,” he whispered back. Then he released her. “Let’s get everyone out of here.”
Abigail pushed him toward the hole he’d just made in the building. “You go first, I’ll bring the others.”
His gaze still locked on hers, Luke stroked his hand down her cheek, then strode to where Marcel was spraying the fire extinguisher over the driver’s side of the car and what was left of the side of the loading dock door, making a safe passage for the others. Jones, his weapon in the air, along with his open credentials case, was ready to lead the group out.
Abigail joined Ben in helping several of the kitchen staff, who appeared to have gotten no more than minor cuts from flying debris, through the rubble. Finally Castello, with Cassie’s help, hobbled over, bringing up the rear.
Abigail looked around them, then back at the marshal. “Where’s Zoe and Bricker?”
“Haven’t come out of their hiding place yet.”
“Surely they know we’ve crashed through,” she said, starting back towards the storage room.
Frank clamped his free hand on her arm, stopping her. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?” she asked, looking into his eyes. The intensity in them stopped her.
“That explosion is going to send any one of those terrorists upstairs down here in minutes.”
“I can’t leave Luke’s cousin—”
“Yes, you can. Luke wants you out of here. And so do I.”
“I’ll go check it out,” Ben volunteered.
“Okay. But make it quick,” Castello said, his grip still tight on Abigail’s arm. He pulled her with him as he and Cassie moved toward the door.
She gave the back of the hallway one last glance over her shoulder to see Ben disappear around the corner.
* * * * *