“You know how to use a gun?”
She blinked at the quick change of topic. “Yes.”
“Really?”
“Trevor insisted all Orion employees take weapons training.” Trevor viewed it as a personal safety issue. When she’d stalled in starting her lessons he took her to the range himself and wouldn’t let her leave until she tried it.
Zach stared at her, as if weighing the chance of her shooting him in the back. “I see movement up the driveway. Looks like a man advancing toward the house.”
“Johnnie’s boss.”
“More like his firepower. I’m betting he’s coming to take Johnnie out, get rid of any evidence and take you to the real person behind all of this. Only question is how many are coming.”
A wave of dizziness crashed over her. She’d gone from one bad situation to another. From an untenable work situation to a dangerous one. All she’d wanted was a simple desk job and no drama.
“Give me a gun.” When he shot her a scowl, she held out her hand and tried again. “You can trust me.”
He could. She couldn’t explain and certainly didn’t want to analyze it, but she suddenly knew he was the right guy to get her through the next few minutes. Only a dumb woman ran from a protector, so she was done doing that. She didn’t know what to call someone who was silly enough to shoot her rescuer.
“They’re probably looking to end this before dawn,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“It’s what I’d do. You want the protection of darkness, and that means moving in,” he said. “Our job is to stall until Adam gets here.”
“What can I do?” She stood as she asked the question.
“You should keep your weight off that leg for a while.”
“I’d rather have an injured leg than be dead.” She moved her hand, holding it toward him in a not-so-subtle hint.
“Smart choice.” He bent down and pulled a smaller gun out of a holster on his ankle. “For you.”
Mistrust and concern warred in his eyes. Finally, he motioned her closer and handed over the weapon. He kept a rock-solid grip on the handle even after she grabbed it.
“Zach?”
“Right.” He dropped his hand.
“Where’s Adam?”
“A few minutes out.”
“Meaning?”
“We’re on our own.” Zach pulled her toward the couch as anxiety zinged around the room.
“I was afraid of that.”
With her pinned to his side, he tipped the furniture over until it formed an upside down V. Using his hip, he shoved it closer to the door, then ducked behind it. In two seconds, and with only one available hand, he built a barricade and tucked her on the safer side of it.
“Keep your head down,” he said.
“Definitely.”
“Unless I say otherwise, as I move, you move.” His voice had dropped to a rough whisper. He checked his watch again, then said, “One is on the porch.” He delivered the bad news, then put a finger over his lips.
Sharp cracks, like the sound of bursting balloons, ripped through the quiet morning. A second later, the wood on the front door shredded. As her mind jumbled, Zach dove on top of her.
Pressed flat against the hard floor, her teeth rattling, he covered her. His hands protected her head and his gun dug into her hip. With each muffled blast his body bucked and her hurt knee slammed down, sending new ripples of pain through her.
She heard a high-pitched scream as the drywall chipped from the wall behind them in time to the rata-tat-tat of the bullets. Kitchen cabinets pockmarked with bullet holes flew open. The bathroom door took the biggest hit. The door splintered, wiping out the loud thumping sound inside.
Through the hair covering her eyes, she saw flashes of light outside the cabin and watched the holes in the door grow and connect until nothing stood between them and the morning humidity rolling in from the outside.
“Stay here.” One second, Zach’s weight pressed against her hard enough to indent the floor. The next he was gone.
In a fluid move, part sleek and part feral, he stepped around the side of the couch. Curled and moving, he dove through the air, aiming chest-high with guns in both hands, as he unloaded.
The burst of gunfire burned through her ears and echoed through every inch of her body. She covered her head but the sound continued to vibrate all around her. It wiped out the screaming. It wasn’t until the noise stopped that she realized it came from her.
Curled in a ball, she tried to hide as much of her body as possible. She rocked and hummed until the deadly silence hit her. Careful not to draw attention, she slowly unrolled, peeking her head over the torn cushions. The place looked like someone shook it until everything fell apart. The punishing firefight left little standing and a smell of metal in the air.
She stumbled to her good knee just as a figure stepped through the ragged hole in what used to be the door. He was clad all in black, with a helmet and huge gun, and she didn’t see an inch of skin.
“Sela Andrews?” The voice was monotone. Unrecognizable.
Her legs wouldn’t work. Neither would her voice.
The man motioned with his gun for her to get up. “Where is he?”
She knew the “he” meant Zach. She did a quick glance around the room at the overturned furniture and smashed walls. In the small space near the kitchen area, she saw legs. Zach’s legs. Unmoving and sprawled at an odd angle, he lay facedown with one hand thrown out to the side with a gun right next to his thumb.
Dead. He—they, maybe—killed Zach.
Every nerve inside her screamed. Already unsteady on her feet, her knees turned to liquid. She grabbed onto the edge of the couch to keep from falling down.
The gunman walked over to Zach and kicked the gun away. As it spun to a thump against the wall, she felt the last of her hope die. A pained emptiness filled her. Every muscle went limp.
Then she felt it. The heavy weight of the gun in her right hand.
She never thought she’d be able to kill another person.
She’d been wrong.
As the gunman lifted his weapon, she raised her arm. If she was going to die today, she’d go out fighting. She took aim just as he spun around to face her. Her hand shook and her heart pounded hard enough to move her entire body.
The second before she squeezed the trigger Zach came up off the floor in one fluid swoosh. Without any sound, he jumped to his feet and slammed his shoulder into the gunman, sending his shot high and wide behind her. Off balance, the two fell into the wall. The intruder shifted his gun until the muzzle passed by Zach’s ear but Zach ducked, elbowing the other man over and over until he bent double.
But the guy didn’t give up. He barreled into Zach’s stomach with a roar, sending him flying backward, off his feet at an odd angle into the small counter. Grunts and curses accompanied each punch. The attacker’s gun bobbled between them, then fell to the floor. Each reached for it, the guy having the edge, until Zach tramped his foot down on the barrel. Knocking a forearm under the guy’s chin, Zach sent the other man’s head snapping back.
Sela followed the wrestling figures with her weapon. Violent shaking made aiming downright impossible, but she held on until her arms ached from the pressure.
The man took another swipe for his weapon but Zach was all over him. A second gun appeared out of nowhere. Sela had forgotten Zach had taken one off Johnnie, that Zach even had another weapon until he whipped it up and aimed it right at the other guy’s head. “Do not move.”
The churning in her stomach refused to ease. No matter how many signals her brain sent to her arms, she couldn’t lower her weapon or hold her trembling muscles still. Zach was her first line of defense but she wasn’t giving up her position of strength.
The attacker moved in slow motion. With his hands up, he stood, his attention never wavering from Zach or the weapon in her hands.
“Forehead and hands against the wall,” Zach said. “One sound and you’r
e dead.”
Instead of scaring her, Zach’s icy tone stopped the room from spinning underneath her. She saw the blood on his lower lip and a frightening wildness in his eyes. “Are you okay?”
He didn’t even spare her a glance. His stance didn’t waver. Gun up, legs apart and totally in control.
“Just give me the girl and you can leave,” the attacker said.
“Hands up.”
When the guy didn’t immediately obey, her gaze traveled between the men. From experience she knew this was the moment. The point where she became roadkill. Zach owed her nothing.
“She stays with me,” he said.
The air rushed out of her lungs. The relief was so great she felt her stomach drop to her knees.
After a few deep breaths she regained her voice. “What do we—”
In the space of one word to the next, the man started moving. His fingers slid into his vest as his body spun around. Before she could yell a warning, a bang exploded through the room.
One shot. Right into the man’s forehead. He dropped, mouth open and eyes wide with shock.
She choked out a word, more of a babble than anything comprehensible. That fast, Zach was in front of her, his gaze searching her face and a firm hand on her arm. “Sela?”
She reached up to touch the harsh lines around his mouth. “You killed him.”
“It was either him or us.”
She understood. Zach thought she was complaining, judging. Neither thought ever entered her mind.
He lowered his gun and dipped his head low and close to hers. His breath tickled against her cheek. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Zach.”
“These are split-second decisions. I can’t stop to ask your opinion or give a warning.”
“I know.”
“You think of it as spy stuff, but it’s really about assessing a situation and beating the odds.”
“Zach!”
He frowned. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Chapter Six
“He’s on the move.” Luke cursed as he said it.
“Who?”
Lost in thought and staring at a series of computer monitors, Luke forgot Maddie was in the warehouse. That she lived there while they worked on a way to keep her safe. Right now she sat behind him at the conference table, typing away on a secure laptop.
He smiled at her over his shoulder. “Didn’t mean to bother you.”
“It takes a lot to do that. Years of running makes a woman pretty tough.”
“No kidding.”
She tapped her pen against her open palm a few times before trying again. “What has you so jumpy?”
“Trevor.”
She leaned back in her chair. “Ah, the root of all problems.”
“Sure feels that way.”
“What’s the issue this time?”
“He’s at Sela’s apartment building.”
“Interesting.” Putting the pen down, Maddie stood and leaned over Luke’s shoulder. “Looks a bit nervous, doesn’t he?”
She had a good eye. The usually calm Trevor paced outside the front door of the building where his assistant lived with a phone attached to his ear. After a few seconds, he shoved the phone in his pocket and held on to the door handle for a second before it opened.
“Guess someone let him in,” she said.
“Probably had someone working on getting the access code.” Luke pointed to the camera aimed at Sela’s apartment door. “I’m betting this is where he’s headed.”
In seconds Trevor appeared on that screen. He walked off the elevator, straight for Sela’s place. He didn’t have to call for help this time. He had the key and didn’t hesitate to use it.
“I never had a key to my boss’s house, did you?”
“Actually, I’m the boss.” And he had a key to every team member’s residence and a few more to the safe houses they used now and then. Over the past few months Holden, Caleb and Adam had all lost their homes. Even though they never complained, it was Luke’s biggest regret.
“Think Trevor and Sela are…” Luke swallowed the word on his tongue. This was Maddie, not one of the guys.
She laughed at him. “A thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it matter?”
“I think it might to Zach.”
She sat down hard in the open seat next to him. “This could get—”
“Interesting?”
“I was going to say problematic.”
Luke had another word for it: disastrous.
SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN terrified or at least disgusted. Instead, Sela stood there, her warm palm against Zach’s chin. She looked at him like he’d handed her the world.
This was not good at all. He had to put a stop to all the touching before he joined in and all common sense left the room. “There could be more men out there.”
“I know.”
He slipped his hand over hers. In his head he said it was to keep her fingers from skipping over his skin that way, but other parts of him knew better. “We can’t—”
She cut him off by placing her lips over his. Soft and light, she touched her mouth to the corner of his in a light kiss, then pulled back again.
Blood roared in his ears, muffling everything else, including the warning signal firing off in his brain. It took all of his control to keep from wrapping his arms around her and treating her to a real kiss, one that would wipe away all the fear and pain of the past few hours.
But he couldn’t. She belonged to someone else. Walking down that road, no matter how much he wanted it, spelled danger.
She treated him to a sweet smile. “I’m grateful for your reflexes.”
He let his hand linger on her arm a few seconds longer before setting her away from him. “It’s my job.”
All traces of a smile fled. “I’m not your assignment.”
“Maybe not, but I took responsibility for you the minute I stepped into that parking garage.” He bent down and picked up the other man’s gun. With a quick pat, he conducted a search for more and felt a surge of disappointment when he didn’t find a cell phone, even though mercenary types rarely carried them.
“Well.” She tugged on the bottom of her tattered shirt. “That’s decent of you.”
He ignored her mumbled words. No matter how much being close to her heated his blood, he would not act on it. Could not.
The only answer was to keep his head on the task in front of him. Stay in the moment. Focus on the job. Anything else could get them both killed.
“Stay behind the couch while I check out the area,” he said.
When he stepped around her, she grabbed his arm. “You can’t go out there alone.”
“Why?”
“You really have to ask?”
“I’m just looking outside. Not going far. Won’t leave.” He didn’t know if she’d be happy or ticked off at that last part, but he added it anyway.
“Have you forgotten about the guys with the guns?”
Zach lifted his hands and let her see the weapons he held. “So far we’ve seen one guy and he’s not a problem anymore.” Zach spared the dead guy a glance. “Besides, if someone else is out there, they aren’t the only ones who are armed.”
“I’m serious.”
So was he, but he didn’t bother to point that out.
“And I’m not leaving your side,” she added.
It was as if she wanted to torture him. This close he could smell her hair and get lost in the dark chocolate of her eyes. “You’ll be fine.”
“I will if I’m next to you.” She lifted her chin. “No arguments.”
The dare wasn’t all that subtle. She intended to stay plastered to him, regardless of how she had his temperature spiking. The mix of unspent adrenaline and a beautiful woman was a dangerous thing.
“Are you in charge now?” he asked.
“When it comes to my life? Yes.” She slipped around until she was half beside him, half behind him.
The death grip on the back of his shirt clued him in to the panic welling inside her. The vulnerability got to him. She might act tough and date a powerful man, but she was human.
He’d rather think of her as a hot secretary who earned her job on her back. Thinking of her as a worthy partner, as a woman instead of another man’s plaything, made her real. And that scared the crap out of him.
The familiar sound filled his head. “You’re humming again.”
The noise cut off. “Sorry.”
“No problem.” Heck, he was starting to like it.
With one last glance at the car camera on his watch, he turned to the problems inside the cabin and headed for the bathroom. Her choke hold on his shirt stopped him after two steps. “Uh…what are you doing?”
“The door is that way.” She pointed outside.
“I’m checking on Johnnie.”
She eased up, but Zach knew he’d have fingernail imprints on his upper back for a week after this. “I was hoping we could forget about him.”
“Did until two seconds ago.” Using his foot, Zach pushed the broken door open. It slid two inches before it hit against something solid. The slick red streak across the exposed tiles told the rest of the story. “Damn.”
“He awake?”
“No.”
“I don’t know how anyone could sleep through all of that.”
Sleeping was the least of good ole Johnnie’s problems. “Uh-huh.”
“Why did the bullets sound different?”
The question caused Zach to tear his gaze away from Johnnie’s dead open eyes. “What?”
“Yours were louder.”
Zach stared at her, wondering how they’d gone from fighting bad guys to idle conversation. It wasn’t until he felt the slight tremor running through her hands and against his skin that he had an explanation for the odd chatter.
Reaction. After all the violence, the dead bodies dropping at her feet and the guns aimed at her head, her insides were likely imploding. Most people would have splintered, been curled up on the floor crying. Not Sela. She was on her feet.
She just kept on surprising him. Kept on showing she was more than blonde and beautiful.
The Big Guns Page 5
