Page 91 of Lethal Game

Stephanie didn't answer as the two men who had taken her father out of the room returned to carefully remove the other canister and put it in a backpack. They left again, and Novikov nodded to the man remaining in the room. "When it's done, I'll send the order."

Send the order? As Novikov and his associate looked at her, she knew what that order would be.They would kill her.

Her breath came fast and furiously as she hyperventilated from anxiety and panic. She might have only a few minutes of her life left.

When Novikov and Stephanie departed, the man gave her an evil smile. "We can have some fun while we're waiting."

She swallowed hard, terrified of what was coming but also determined. She would have to fight. And if she had a chance to kill him before he killed her, she needed to take it.

Jason's heart was pounding against his chest as they raced across town. He had Beck in the passenger seat, with Savannah and Nick in the back. The HDU team was en route. Mick had texted one minute earlier that he was waiting for them on the corner of Rossmore and Carville.

He hoped to God this was not another false lead, another setup, another distraction. But he had to follow it. If the intel was good and Alisa and her father, maybe even Novikov, were inside, they had to go for it. Every minute that they waited or debated was another minute Alisa would have to endure, and he had a continual prayer going through his head, begging for her to be okay.

He parked a block away from the designated address and jumped out,withthe rest of his team following. Mick came forward, dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, a weapon in his hand. It was seven-fifteen, and all the other buildings in the area appeared to be closed. It looked like a good location for Novikov to be holed up, building his bombs. But there were a lot of these areas in the sprawling city of Los Angeles. Hopefully, this was the right one.

"What have we got?" he asked Mick.

"One guard watching the front door, another at the back. Not sure how many are inside," Mick said in a terse tone. "There are two cars in the lot. One is registered to Stephanie Genaro."

Jason sucked in a breath of shock. "And the other vehicle?"

"Carl Hodges. Nothing on him. Could be stolen."

"And you're sure this intel is good?" he asked, still reeling with the thought that Stephanie was inside. Had she gotten another lead? Had she come on her own?

"It's good," Mick replied. "Novikov is either in that building now, or he's been there recently."

"Okay. Let's do this."

With humans guarding the doors, there was little doubt in his mind there was someone or something inside worth securing. The presence of security also implied the building was not rigged to explode.

They'd already geared up and developed a tactical plan in the car. Now they just had to execute. The HDU team would check in with Mick when they arrived and wait to be called in.

The four of them would take out the guards at the front and the back and make their way into the building. While Nick and Beck took the front, he and Savannah once again went around the back.

The guard at the back door was looking at something on his phone.

Savannahfeigned a stumbleinto the light, drawing the guard's attention.

"Who's there?" the man asked, looking in her direction.

"Can you help me? I'm lost," she said.

Jason used her voice for cover, sneaking up behind the man, and using his weapon to knock him out. The guard barely got out half a groan before he slunk to the ground.

The door was unlocked, and as they made their way inside, he heard a shrill and terrified scream. His heart stopped.

Alisa was here, and she was in trouble.

He raced toward the sound of her voice, through a loading area and down a dark hallway, her frantic, panicked cries piercing his heart with each step. She was so close. He could not be late. He could not lose her now.

And then the sound of a gunshot rocketed through him, and there was no more screaming.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jason burst through a door, his anxious gaze searching for Alisa. She was standing in the middle of what looked like a makeshift lab, staring at a man on the floor, a gun shaking in her hand. At the sound of their approach, she suddenly whirled around, pointing the weapon in his direction, her brown eyes wide and panicked.

"It's okay. It's me, Alisa."

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