by Kaylea Cross
Shots rang out. She turned, spotted a man coming at her with a weapon aimed. She fired even as Amber did the same. Their rounds struck the man in the chest, then one in the throat.
He fell, clutching at the wound in his throat. Megan whirled and ran for the corner of the building. Ducking around it, she heard Amber returning fire.
Megan whipped around the corner, found the other shooter. There were too many people in the way, running in panic. She had to step out into the open to fire. She hit the shooter in the back. He fell to his knees, tried to raise his arm but Amber shot him in the head and ran toward her.
“This way,” Megan said, and sprinted down the alley.
Someone darted around the corner at the other end of the alley. Megan cursed silently and dropped to her knee as the person fired, striking the wall where her head had just been. Amber returned fire an instant before she did. The person disappeared from sight.
Amber glanced behind them. “Now what?”
“We’re one minute out,” Ty reported.
Still too far away to get them out of this. Megan looked left, then right. Their options were limited, and equally shitty. Going back the way they’d come was too risky. Running toward the shooter was just as bad.
Megan shook her head, knowing her sister was thinking the same thing she was. “We have to go for it.” The panic and confusion of the crowd would give them at least a chance of concealment. “We have to be fast.”
Amber waited a beat, then nodded. “I take point.”
“Why do you get t—”
“I’m older. I make the rules.” Amber got up and hugged the wall as she made her way back the way they’d come.
Megan guarded their six as they hurried back the way they’d come. No sign of that last shooter, but they were still out there. Amber paused at the entrance to the alley and looked around, then back at Megan. “Ready?”
She blew out a breath. “Ready.”
Amber bolted out of the alley and turned left. Megan followed, weaving in and out of the frightened people cowering in groups on the sidewalk. They raced across the street, darting between traffic to veer right around the next corner.
Back pressed to the brick wall as she panted, Megan glanced over at her sister. “Clear?” Ty and Jesse would be tracking them via their phones. They should be here or at least within sprinting distance in a matter of moments.
Amber nodded. “Think so.”
No sooner had she said it than she pivoted and aimed past Megan’s head. Megan spun just as Amber fired. The female shooter fired too, narrowly missing Amber. Amber and Megan didn’t miss. Their bullets hit home. Two in the belly, one in the upper chest. The woman collapsed, her weapon falling to the alley with a clatter.
Megan shoved her sister forward. “Move.”
They ran toward the downed woman, weapons up. She didn’t twitch, her sightless eyes only partially open as they reached her.
While Amber kept watch, Megan crouched and began checking the body. She found a cell phone, yanked off one of the woman’s gloves and used the thumb to unlock the screen.
The text messages she found made her blood run cold. “Oh, shit—the Architect’s going after Kiyomi.” Who now only had Marcus, Trin and Brody to stand with her.
Amber bent close to read the messages. “It’s divide and conquer. The bitch must have been watching the manor. She split us all up to isolate Kiyomi.”
The sound of an engine behind her made her whip around to find a vehicle roaring around the corner. She raised her weapon to fire through the windshield, but Amber grabbed her arm. “It’s Heath,” her sister said.
Megan expelled a sigh as Jesse’s vehicle came around the corner a second later. The cavalry had arrived.
The back door of the first SUV swung open as the vehicle screeched to a halt in front of her while Amber ran past to Jesse’s. Ty grabbed Megan and pulled her inside, crushing her to him.
Chloe peered at her from the front passenger seat, scanning her anxiously. “All right?”
“Yeah.” Megan pulled away and fished out her cell, frantic as she dialed Marcus. “But the Architect’s going after Kiyomi.”
Chapter Eighteen
He’d faced plenty of goodbyes in his life, but this one was the most painful yet.
Marcus had lost both his parents young. Later, he’d lost men he’d served with, men who’d been like brothers to him. Last night he’d said goodbye to Megan. But knowing that in the next minute or so Kiyomi was about to walk out his back door and out of his life forever was more than he could bear.
Karas sat at his feet as he said his goodbyes to Trinity and Brody. He shut the door behind them, giving him and Kiyomi one final bit of privacy.
They stared at each other in wordless silence. Marcus’s heart pounded so hard against his ribs it felt bruised. It hurt to breathe. So many thoughts crowded his mind, begging to come out.
“So this is it,” she said with a wistful smile.
He wanted to pick her up, carry her back upstairs to his room and lock her in it with him. Refuse to let her go. Force her to stay. Take her somewhere they could never find her.
But none of that was possible, and she’d hate him for it anyway. “Aye.”
She fidgeted with her hands. “I wanted to thank you, for every—”
He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce embrace, his face pressed to the side of her neck. “Don’t.” He couldn’t bear it. He was barely hanging on to his last shred of control as it was. Hearing her thank him for letting her stay here, or for their time together, or whatever she’d been about to say, diminished everything they’d shared.
She clung to him in turn, holding on tight. “I never meant for this to happen,” she whispered in a rough voice.
He nodded, understanding what she meant. She hadn’t expected to develop feelings for anyone, least of all him, and she wouldn’t promise a chance at a future together. Not until this was all over. Maybe never.
Much as he hated it, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to change that. “I’m glad it did.” As much as this hurt, he wouldn’t have traded a moment he’d shared with her to spare himself the pain of losing her.
Finally, she eased back, took his face in her hands and kissed him. Hard. Then softer. Slower. Full of so much tenderness and longing that his throat tightened.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she gave him a heartbroken smile. “I’d better go.”
He cradled her head in his hands, rubbing her hair in his fingers. The urge to tell her he loved her was so powerful it was burning a hole in his chest. But he couldn’t say it. Wouldn’t do that to her when she had no choice but to leave, and he to let her go.
“You be careful. And when you can…if you can, at least tell me you’re okay.” He desperately wanted her to come back to him. Prayed that she would one day. It was all that was keeping his heart beating.
She nodded once. “I will.”
He lowered his hands, fighting the urge to grab her again. This was wrong. All wrong. He’d only just found her, he’d barely had any time with her, and now she was being torn from his life. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” She sniffed, ran a hand over her wet cheek. “Well. Bye.”
I love you. Don’t go. “Tarra, love.” It took an act of will to make himself turn and open the door for her. An aberration, him aiding in her leaving.
She hurried down the gravel path running along the rear of the house and got into the back of the vehicle with Brody and Trinity without looking back. But as it drove away, she turned to look back at him through the rear window and lifted a hand.
Marcus did the same, his whole chest being crushed in an invisible vise. Somehow he managed to remain standing there until the vehicle disappeared from view.
Quiet settled around him. A quiet he’d once craved with every cell of his being. Now, it was oppressive and suffocating.
He walked back through the door on autopilot, numb all the
way through. Karas followed him into the study where he lowered himself into the chair at his desk to stare into the cold, dark fireplace.
He couldn’t bring himself to light a fire. He’d never look at one again and not think of Kiyomi. The way the light danced over her features, and shone on her inky black hair.
He dropped his head into his hands and sucked in breath after breath, struggling to hold on. He didn’t know how long he sat there fighting to overcome the tidal wave of grief, but eventually it registered that his mobile was buzzing in his pocket.
He pulled it out, hope leaping inside him for a moment, then he saw it was Megan and frowned in concern. “All right?” he answered.
“No. Marcus—”
“What’s wrong?” The fear in her voice had him shooting up from his chair. Megan didn’t get scared.
“The Architect is our aunt. She’s coming for Kiyomi, will be there any minute with her team.”
His stomach dropped. “How many?”
“I think at least seven. Maybe more. Where’s Kiyomi?”
He grabbed his keys, started running for the door. “She just left with Trinity and Brody.”
“We’re calling them now but you need to get them back to the house and arm up until we can get there to reinforce you.”
“I’m going after them,” he said, grabbing a rifle from behind the secret panel before wrenching the study door open and running for the front entrance. “Alert me when you get close.”
“Okay.”
He disconnected and dialed Kiyomi’s number. Throwing open the door, he rushed for his Land Rover, mobile to his ear and fear twisting his insides like a snake as it started ringing.
Answer the phone…
****
Kiyomi bit down on the inside of her cheek and stared unseeingly through a haze of tears as Brody drove along the country road away from Laidlaw Hall.
The urge to look back at it one last time before it disappeared from view was overwhelming but she didn’t dare. She was barely holding on right now, the pain in her chest making it hard to breathe.
She’d hated hurting him. Wished there was some way they could stay together, but under the circumstances it was impossible. And it wasn’t fair to let him wait for her, to give him false hope that she’d come back to him one day. There was a good chance she wouldn’t survive to the end of this mission.
If by some miracle she did, she was coming back to Marcus.
Her cell rang in her pocket. She pulled it out, only because it might be important, and joy leapt inside her when she saw Marcus’s number. “Hey, miss me already?”
“Come back,” he said, the urgency in his voice making her insides twist.
She closed her eyes. “Marcus—”
“The Architect is Megan and Amber’s aunt, and she’s coming with a team to get you.”
Her spine snapped taut. Up front, Trinity was on her cell now too, speaking in an urgent tone. “What?”
“Come back now. We need to kit up and hold them off until Megan and the others arrive.”
“Brody, stop,” she ordered. He hit the brakes, his head swiveling around to look sharply between her and Trinity. “The Architect is coming for us. Go back to the manor now.”
“Hurry,” Trinity added, phone still to her ear.
Brody pulled a tight U-turn and sped back the way they’d come.
“We’re on our way. Two minutes out,” Kiyomi told Marcus. The manor came back into view as they reached the crest of a hill. Marcus’s old Land Rover was roaring down the driveway toward the gate. Coming after them. “Go back,” she urged him.
“Stay on the line with me.”
“I will.” She turned to look through the rear window. “No sign of anyone so far.”
“Just get here.”
Brody was speeding along the road, the engine revving. “We’ll be there in thirty seconds,” she told Marcus.
“Which entrance?” Brody asked.
“Main one,” Kiyomi answered. They were coming to the bottom of the hill now.
Up ahead, a vehicle came into view at the top of the next hill. Coming toward them fast. Large. Maybe an SUV. The back of her neck prickled. “That them?”
“Not sure,” Trinity answered in a tense voice.
Marcus had his vehicle parked just inside the open gate. He stood behind the open driver’s side door, a rifle to his shoulder as he faced the oncoming vehicle, waiting for it to come within range.
“Behind us too,” Brody said, racing for the driveway.
Kiyomi glanced behind them, and sure enough, another SUV was hurtling after them. “They’re going to try to box us in.” They had to get through the gate and close it, buy themselves what little time they could to get back up to the manor. It was made of solid wrought iron and should withstand a good ramming.
Brody swore and swerved as a bullet hit the front of the hood. Kiyomi faced front. Ahead, the passenger side windows of the SUV in front of them were down, two rifles pointed at them.
Two rounds slammed into its windshield a moment later. Marcus.
The SUV lurched to the side for a moment but kept coming, its bullet resistant windows still intact.
Kiyomi gasped and ducked as the rear window shattered behind her. They were almost at the driveway. She could hear the sound of Marcus returning fire. She popped back up in time to see the SUV behind them veer toward the ditch, one of its front tires damaged.
“Hang tight,” Brody muttered, and hit the brake for a skidding turn into the driveway. Gravel flew everywhere as the vehicle fishtailed before Brody regained control.
Kiyomi caught only a glimpse of Marcus returning fire as they neared him, then jumping into his vehicle as they raced by. “Let me out,” she ordered.
“No.” Brody floored it, roaring toward the manor.
She spun to face the shattered rear window, heart in her throat. She couldn’t see through the shattered glass. Couldn’t see what was happening to Marcus. “But Marcus—the gate—”
“It’s already closing and he’s hauling ass up the driveway,” Trinity said, watching anxiously in her side mirror.
Kiyomi closed her eyes a moment, trying to take everything in. “Why the hell does she want me?”
“I don’t know,” Trinity answered, “but she’s not getting you.”
“Pull around back,” she told Brody, rolling down her window to look back now that they were out of range of the shooters. Marcus was reversing after them, and the SUVs were just pulling up to the gate. The first one rammed it, but the wrought iron held. The SUV reversed and tried again.
“They’re going to be through it any minute,” Trinity muttered. “We need to get to the loadout room.”
“He’s got one in the house?” Brody asked in surprise.
A secret arsenal tucked away beneath the study. “Yeah,” Kiyomi answered. “But I doubt he imagined using it because of an attack like this.”
Brody wheeled around the side of the house and came to a lurching stop near the west garden wall. Kiyomi leapt out and ran the opposite way as Trinity and Brody raced for the back door of the manor.
Marcus roared up a moment later and jumped out. His face was taut, his gaze burning with intensity as he rushed toward her in a limping run and grabbed her to him. “You all right?”
“Fine,” she promised, and hurried with him toward the house.
“I counted at least seven in those two vehicles, and there are probably more coming around to the eastern entrance.” His tone was as grim as his expression. “We won’t be able to hold them off long, so we’re going to have to figure out a way to buy ourselves the time we need to get out of here.”
Chapter Nineteen
Janelle stepped out of the SUV and reached up to activate her earpiece. All around her, rolling hills in various shades of green spread out in every direction. A beautiful spot for a mission. Her forces were already deployed and closing in on the targets.
Now, it was finally her turn to take action.
>
“I’m on scene.” She strode through the gate on the east side of the property, flanked by two female bodyguards. The op in Coventry had failed. Megan and Amber were both still alive. But that didn’t matter for the moment, because this op was her priority, and it was going perfectly so far.
Thirty yards into the field she stopped and took her toy out of her ruck, placing it at her feet on the damp grass. “Activating drone now.”
Stepping back, she started up the battery and piloted it into the air using the small remote control. Within seconds they had a bird’s eye view of everything they needed.
The two other elements of her force had deployed exactly as ordered. One was positioned to the north of the house, the other to the west. All her operatives were encircling the front and back of the main house, awaiting her word for the attack.
She flew the drone over the manor house, circled it, and zoomed the camera in. There was no sign of Kiyomi and the others. Not even her custom infrared device was picking them up inside.
They had to be hiding beneath the house in an old cellar. “Check under the first floor and flush them out of the house.”
With the north and east entrances blocked, the only options for escape were south or west. And the only good cover near that fence line was the woods to the southwest. “Once they come out they’re going to head southwest. Follow them.”
“Copy.”
She watched the screen as she spoke. “Remember what I said. Kiyomi is to be captured alive. And if possible, unharmed.”
“And the others?”
“Kill them all.” They were dead weight and liabilities for her.
“Roger.”
“Extraction is in eighteen minutes. Synchronize timers…now.” She hit a button on her wristwatch, activating the stopwatch function, then turned south and started for the thick band of woods near the southwest fence line.
In just a matter of minutes, Kiyomi would be hers, and then she could finally begin the most important work of her life.