The fire roared all around them, flames racing along the walls and ceiling as smoke filled the room. Whatever the plan, they had to do it now.
“We go together,” she said.
“No.” He shoved the door open even farther and crawled over her lap and onto the cement balcony. “We’ll see if anyone shoots at the rope.”
“Zach.”
But he was gone. Just as he threw the rope, a siren from a fire engine blared to life in the distance. The inside alarms might not be working, but someone had called. Now they had to stay alive long enough for the professionals to get to them. That meant keeping Zach from doing his superman routine.
“Can you rappel?” he asked, screaming over his shoulder to her.
“No.”
“I was afraid of that.” He wasn’t looking at her now. All of his focus centered on the ground below.
“What do you see?”
“People milling. No guns, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.”
“We should wait.”
“Look.” He nodded toward the front door. The fire had spread, engulfing the chairs in the living room and burning in a path toward them.
Her bones shook hard enough to rattle her teeth. “I can’t stay alone.”
This time he looked at her. Really looked. Something in her pleading eyes got through because he held out a hand for her to join him. “We’ll go over as fast as possible. I’ll cover you.”
Once again he was risking everything to get her out of a deadly situation. She’d argue about his rescuer complex later. Right now, she needed it. “Right.”
“Stay tucked. I’ll fit around you until you feel like you’re going to suffocate. Deal with it and stay still.”
“They won’t shoot with witnesses here.”
“Yeah, they will.” He glanced behind her, his eyes growing wide. When she went to look, he held her chin so her focus stayed on him. “Let’s go.”
Half curled in a ball and aching from head to toe, she slipped her body against his, her back to his chest, his body wrapped around hers. The heat from his skin burned as hot as the fire dancing in front of her.
“I’m ready,” she told him.
“You hold on.”
“Count on that.”
“If I’m not with you, race hand over hand down this rope until you hit the ground. Do not stop moving.”
He wouldn’t leave her. He would not get shot. She kept repeating the words, hoping saying them would make them true.
“Sela?”
Unable to speak from the fear pinging around inside her, she nodded.
“Here we go.” He jumped backward and rolled, taking them both careening off the edge of the balcony.
The hard jerk broke her hands free from the rope. She struggled to regain her grip when she heard the screaming. The rope started to swing in a wide arc. If Zach hadn’t been holding her and pulling her down, she would have fallen.
Her palms burned as they scraped against the rough rope. The world flew by as they swung through the air. His feet touched the wall and he pushed off to send them rocking again. Through it all the sirens wailed and people yelled. She had no idea what was happening. All her focus went into getting down fast.
She caught a glimpse of the grass below. It seemed so far away and got farther with every inch she slid down. Just as she vowed to get down even if it meant dangling by her teeth, the heaviness behind her disappeared. She turned in time to see Zach fall the last ten feet to the ground and roll to his stomach.
As people ran away the bangs and pops registered in her brain. Someone was shooting.
“Zach!”
He flipped over, firing into the trees at the back end of the property close to the water. He scrambled to his knees and fired in the other direction, as well. “I’ve got you covered. Jump!”
But she couldn’t let go. Not yet. Easing her legs apart, she slithered down a short distance closer to the ground.
“Let go,” he ordered.
She forced her fingers to open as her body went into free fall. Just as her feet hit the ground and gravity took hold of her body again, Zach scooped her up. With an arm around her waist, he half carried and half dragged her toward the side of the building. Bullets pinged around them as Zach zigzagged, following his own directions. Twice she felt his body tense against her, but he didn’t stop.
As they hit the corner, the fire trucks raced down the street to the front of the building. Police cars squealed to a stop and people crowded together.
“Adam?” Zach’s voice stayed low as he talked into his watch.
She glanced around but couldn’t find him. “Where is he?”
“Over there.” Zach pointed with his gun as he steered them toward the fence enclosing the apartment grounds.
Adam stepped out of a car. Without waiting for them, he cut through the chain-link fence with a tool that reminded her of a weapon. By the time they hit the area, Adam had a hole ready and pulled her through it.
He wasn’t gentle and never stopped the visual search behind them. “We got police everywhere. Get in the backseat and I’ll get us out of here.”
They climbed inside and slammed the door shut behind them. She glanced out the window and saw officers surrounding the building, stepping right where she had just stood. If any of them looked over they’d see the hole thirty feet away and come running.
She wasn’t in the mood for another chase. “Move.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Instead of peeling out, Adam slowly pulled away from the curb.
Anxiety revved up inside her until she exploded. She slapped her hand against the back of the passenger seat. “Why aren’t you going faster?”
“Doesn’t want to draw attention.” Zach panted out the words as he rested his head against the seat back.
Collapsing next to him, she took in his bloody hands, his drawn cheeks and pale skin. “Thank you.”
He dropped his head to his shoulder and looked at her. “You said that before.”
“You hit?” Adam’s bark and steely scowl from the rearview mirror grabbed her attention.
Zach tried to shrug, then winced. “Probably.”
She ran her own torn and aching hands over him, checking for blood. “Where?”
“Not sure.”
She slipped her fingers through his hair and pulled back when he grimaced. “Why are you so calm?”
“Last I knew, panic didn’t heal anything.”
“We need to get you checked out.” Adam glanced at her, then back to Zach. “Where are we going?”
“Only one choice.” Zach’s breathing grew harsher as his words slurred.
“I don’t like it,” Adam said as he turned the car around in the middle of the street.
Zach nodded as he closed his eyes. “We’ll argue after we see if I’m bleeding to death.”
TREVOR STOOD IN THE MIDDLE of his quiet high-floor office and stared at the grainy image in front of him. The quality was subpar since it was a still from a video, but the side view of the man in it told a huge story. He was outside of Sela’s apartment and the timestamp showed it was from early this morning when Sela disappeared.
Tapping on the keys, Trevor stared at the email from the unknown sender that had delivered the image. There was nothing identifiable in the email address, but Trevor already had his experts trying to trace it. He wanted to know who else had been stationed outside of Sela’s house when she was taken. The image was the important piece of information and he saved that for his eyes only.
Two words: Zach Bachman.
After an exhaustive search of Sela’s apartment and financial records, Trevor had turned to a quick check of her friends. Since Sela was not a big social person, that avenue had not taken long. People on her apartment floor hadn’t seen her. Neither had the security guards, who’d been too busy sleeping when Sela disappeared to be of any assistance. Few people seemed to even know her, which struck Trevor as odd since Sela was the friendly type.
Normally he wouldn’t worry about a twentysomething employee going missing for a few hours. He didn’t care what they did on their off time so long as they stayed out of trouble and got their work done while at their desks.
But this was Sela. She didn’t run out on her responsibilities. She also didn’t whine or worry. So when she’d called him with a problem, he knew it was genuine. That shaky voice had stayed with him every minute of the past twenty-four hours.
Now he had a lead. Zach had her. Someone else was tracking her. Trevor just wished the evidence led to a less formidable adversary. Taking on the Recovery Project was something he vowed not to do again. He was a smart man and smart men learned their lessons the first time. But he was out of options. When Zach got involved, Trevor no longer cared what he’d promised Luke.
Trevor was in the business of gathering intel and making a plan. He didn’t rush in, certainly not without information. Gathering pieces and putting them together was his strong suit. Whether he had the time for that now was the question.
He refused to blame Sela. He trusted her, which either meant he’d been wrong about her from the beginning or Luke’s people had moved in and taken her. Neither option relieved the tightening in Trevor’s chest.
At least he had a place to look for answers. He knew where she was and who had her. Why was the question.
He planned to ask Zach Bachman that in person.
Chapter Ten
Zach sat on the warehouse’s conference table and wondered what he had to do to get a minute alone with Sela. He wanted to tell her how impressed he was that she’d kept it together as everything around them had fallen apart. Again.
Most people saw fire and froze. She kept moving, didn’t even balk when he threw her over the side of a building.
For what had to be the fiftieth time, he marveled at how his impression of her as blond eye candy had been so wrong. Looking through photographs and studying her history, he’d been convinced before he met her that he saw a pattern. A beautiful young woman who went from one high-powered business leader to another. She’d skipped out on her former job when she got a better offer from Trevor. She’d swooped in when his marriage fell apart and made herself invaluable.
A pretty plaything. The rumors were certainly there. Trevor’s ex-wife more than hinted in custody documents that Sela was Trevor’s lover. Workers at Orion loved to whisper about Sela. The image Zach put together in his mind fit with everything he’d heard. Past tense. Seeing her in action since the kidnapping had ripped that impression to shreds.
Zach knew Adam and Luke believed the old Sela story was the right one. Adam didn’t even pretend to like her. As he bandaged Zach’s arm, he didn’t bother looking at Sela across the conference table, where she was being tended to by Maddie.
“You’re lucky. It was only a graze,” Adam told him. “Hit flesh and passed through.”
The bullet wound stung, making his whole arm numb, but Zach didn’t offer that bit of information. Last thing he needed was for Caleb, their medical guy, to come running and leave the other women vulnerable back at Luke’s house. Or, worse, to bring them. They had enough to deal with without the women descending.
“Not the first time,” Zach said over a wince as Adam tied the bandage.
Adam dropped a wad of bloody gauze in a bag before stripping off the gloves. “The bruise on your back will hurt more tomorrow. Ribs aren’t broken, but you’ll be sore.”
Zach knew all about getting hit by a bullet. He’d been shot there more times than he wanted to think about. “Just happy I had the Kevlar on or I’d be in a morgue.”
Sela’s head shot up at Zach’s comment. “That was from the climb down the wall?”
“Or the run across the lawn. I don’t remember.”
“Why did you bring her here?” Adam stood in front of Zach but didn’t bother to whisper the question.
Sela blew out a long breath. “I’m sitting right here.”
Maddie shot Adam a you’re-one-step-away-from-doom look but kept wrapping a gauze strip around Sela’s ragged palms. Zach saw it all.
He knew where Adam’s mistrust and anger came from. There were a lot of questions about Trevor, but now wasn’t the time. Sela had been injured, too. Seeing that soft skin all red and puckered on her palms hit Zach like a kick to the stomach.
Zach ignored all that and concentrated on the question. “I needed a neutral place.”
From the kitchen area, where he leaned against the counter drinking coffee, Luke finally voiced his concerns. He shook his head. “I still don’t understand how the safe house caught fire.”
“That’s the story I want to hear.” Adam fitted his hands to his hips and widened his stance. The position cried out for war.
When the silence stretched out, Sela looked up, then did a double take. “Why are you looking at me?”
Maddie was less subtle. She pointed her finger in the direction of the man she supposedly loved, though she wasn’t looking all that loving at the moment to Zach’s way of thinking. “Adam, no. Not now.”
His cheeks flushed but he didn’t ease up on the battle position. “We are the only people who know about that apartment.” He threw a hand out in Sela’s general direction. “Us and her.”
Before Zach could step in, Sela rose to her own defense. “My name is Sela.”
“Someone tipped off Trevor or whoever is sending these men. I doubt it was one of us.” Adam’s harsh tone suggested he was not about to back down from this verbal battle.
“You’re blaming me?” Sela asked. “Did you miss the part where someone tried to set me on fire?”
“Did they?”
“Hey.” The word caught everyone’s attention. Zach pounded the floor to make his point. “Adam, ease up.”
Sela’s mouth dropped open. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”
“Men,” Maddie muttered as she shook her head.
So much for thinking he adequately rose to Sela’s defense. “You want something else?” he asked.
“How about sticking up for me?” She was screaming now. Actually raising her voice until it squeaked.
Zach had no idea what had her so ticked off. In his mind, he set the record straight. No more need for conversation. “I just did.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “How exactly did you do that?”
“He made his point. He wants me to lay off you.” The surprise in Adam’s voice had Luke and Zach staring at him.
Maddie tugged on Sela’s arms until they unfolded again. “Give me your hands.”
“How do you know so much about first aid?” Sela asked her.
“You learn fast when you’re in witness protection and have to take care of yourself.” Maddie mumbled over the tape clenched between her teeth.
Adam’s eyes popped. “What are you—”
“Oh, please. She knows who I am.” Maddie waved him off. Then she peeked up at Sela. “You do, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Zach had taken enough fussing, and the yelling thing needed to stop. This was the point in the conversation where he usually slipped out. Folks started arguing and he got lost. He had a hard enough time around people when everything was fine. Constant fighting made him nuts. Only this time, he was at the center of it all. And he had to hang in there to make sure Adam didn’t decide to interrogate Sela.
Nothing like getting stuck between a woman and his friends. This was not a position Zach enjoyed. He preferred listening to talking. The plan had served him well in the Army. Had helped him survive through those awful months when he first came back from Afghanistan.
Six hours of bombing followed by seven days of trying to dig Holden out of a collapsed mountain cave near Khost, sometimes with his bare hands for hours straight, knowing all the time his buddies in Charlie Company were suffocating. Watching men go out on stretchers, seeing Holden emotionally broken, had taught Zach something. Close off, do the job and get out. He wished he could engage in some of that right now.
He rubbed his forehead, hoping to wipe out the flashing pain behind his eyes. “Would it be possible to have five seconds of quiet?”
Sela stopped her scowling contest with Adam to look at Zach. “Are you okay?”
“Do you care?” Adam asked.
Maddie swatted at him. “Stop it.”
Sela let out a sound halfway between a growl and a scream. “Look, Adam. I get it. You don’t trust me.”
“Wonder why,” he muttered.
“I don’t know what you think I did, but I would remind you that Zach took me to that safe house. It wasn’t my place. I didn’t set it up. You don’t see me blaming Zach or you for what happened.”
Adam stopped questioning her long enough to shoot one in Zach’s direction. “Did she call anyone?”
Sela threw up her hands. “Can you just not see me?”
The words ricocheted around in Zach’s mind. He doubled back to Adam’s question, hoping to slam the lid down on the conversation. “No.”
“Any chance she’s wearing a wire or—”
“I said no.”
Adam sputtered. “You checked?”
“Adam, stop.” Maddie threw the full weight of a glare behind her finger pointing this time. “If Sela doesn’t slap you soon, I will.”
Luke came to stand behind Sela’s chair. “I agree. That’s enough.”
Zach welcomed the silence that fell over the room. When Luke threw down the gauntlet it tended to work.
“Adam, man the monitors. Maddie, take Sela upstairs and find her something to wear that doesn’t smell like a tire fire.” Luke looked her over from head to foot. “Let her shower while you’re at it.”
Sela sent a pleading look in Zach’s direction, but he refused to heed it. She was safe in Maddie’s hands and Luke deserved answers. They all did. If Zach had to listen to a lecture or two to get an hour of peace, he’d do it.
Luke motioned for Zach and Adam to take seats at the table. “Explain what happened.”
“The safe house didn’t work,” Zach said.
“I see.”
The tone. The narrowed eyes. Zach knew exactly where Luke’s mind had wandered and rushed to cut off the thought. “Don’t.”
The Big Guns Page 8