Page 119 of Dash

“Anyone?”

King and Guzman shook their heads.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.I had more than one perp in my hands.

“Saddle up, Marines,” I said. “The shit’s getting hot.”

“Copy that.” Guzman moved to the door and closed it behind me.

Moving quietly, I crossed the hallway with Bozeman on my heels.

Stay back and watch my six, I signaled.

Getting a hold of my pulse, I turned the knob, peeked in, and swept the space with my Glock. Thena sat very straight on her chair at the head of the table. Okay. All right. I drew a breath. She was alive and unhurt. That was something.

What was not right was that her wrists were cuffed to the chair’s arms and Arthur stood next to her, clasping one hand over her mouth. In the other hand, he held a Colt propped against her head.

Fear and rage coursed through me. I went cold and then red hot.

Fuck him and his rotten guts.

Thena tried to mumbled something through Arthur’s fingers.

“Silence!” Arthur dug his gun against her cheek andpressed his hand even harder over her mouth. Her pulse punched hard at the base of her neck. Terror gleamed in her gaze and a warning glinted in her stare.

My pulse matched the speed of hers, but I forced my heart to slow down.Keep it cool, Marine. Or she dies.

“Shaw?” I caught sight of him in my peripheral vision. “Sitrep.”

“The asshole said he’d kill her if I moved.”

I glanced at him. Standing behind me by the door, Shaw held on to his carbine with his back against the wall.

“Tell your goons to back off,” Arthur ordered. “Or I’ll kill her.”

I didn’t like following his orders, but the gun he held to Thena’s head compelled me to obey. Keeping my aim on Arthur, I spoke to Bozeman, who stood just beyond the threshold.

“Back off,” I ordered. “Stay out of this room. As long as Thena’s life is on the line, donotcome into this room and donotintervene.”

Bozeman protested with a frown. “But—”

“You’ve got your orders,” I said. “Shaw, close the door.”

“Lock it, too,” Arthur added. “Better for everyone involved.”

I lost sight of Bozeman’s scowling face when Shaw shut the dining room door. While he threw the lock, I shifted on my feet, getting a better angle on Arthur’s head. I also noted the curtains were closed. Well, shit. Cooper had thermal imaging, but without a direct line of fire, he wasn’t gonna have the confirmation he needed to shoot.

No sniper support and no comms either. If the comms were down, the cameras were out of commission as well. My team had no way of knowing what was happening inside the dining room and I had no way of communicating with them.

Fucking awesome.

On the other hand, the automated defense system would keep more attackers at bay. As it was, there were too many variables in this room, multiplying the threat to Thena’s life. No more variables allowed until she was safe.

“Arthur, lower your gun and step away from Thena.” I kept my weapon on the turd. “You’ve got no way out. We found your cash stash. Your gig’s up.”

The smug smirk parked on his face didn’t waver and neither did his gun. “Is it really?”

A cold circle pressed against my brain stem, freezing me in place. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Shaw and his Beretta.

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