Page 9 of Shadow Games

Rowan turned back to the window, digging deeper with the knife. She seemed to be cutting through several layers of history, though. It was hard to tell how old this building was. The fixtures were 70s era. Other things had been updated, but the paint had obviously been layered on.

With a hard push, she jammed the blade into the window. It gave a little bit and she wondered if she could feel the blade cutting steel now. She ran the blade all the way around the window. Then with the mighty tug, she pulled the window open. It almost unbalanced her enough to knock her off the lockers. Catching her balance, she stuck her head through the window and peered outside.

The gymnasium locker room positioned on an alley side. When she looked out, there was nothing really to see other than trash cans and dumpsters. It was clear though. It would be a bit of a drop to the pavement, but it was better than staying inside and being shot.

Turning back to the locker room, she hissed at the women. “Come on.”

Several of the women scrambled toward her. One stepped into the second woman’s clasped hands and jumped on top of the lockers. Pivoting smoothly, she put her feet out the window, and lowered herself down. Rowan heard her feet thump to the ground, then the woman took off running. She would probably be running in a minute too.

Rowan pulled another woman up and then directed her feet out. “I can't do it,” the woman cried. “It's too far.”

“It's either jump or get a bullet in the head,” Rowan told her brutally.

The woman jumped. Rowan didn't hear anything else, so she assumed she was okay.

Three more women jumped out the window. Then it was her turn. Just as she put her feet out, the door crashed open. She needed no more motivation. With a wiggle, she let her body fall through the window. Hard hands caught her. And she thought for a minute it was the women. But no. When she looked up, it was into the pale, hard blue eyes of Wyatt Thorn.

* * *

Wyatt couldn't believehis luck. Echo had whined a few minutes ago, and he’d followed her down an alley. Halfway down the alley, she stopped and looked up at a window. There were women screaming inside the building, and there was a scrabbling at the glass inside. If there were people coming through that window, they were going to need a place to jump to. Running to the corner of the alley. He grabbed one of the rolling dumpsters and started pushing it back. They could at least land on the lid, then jump down to the ground. By the time he got back to the window, one woman had already jumped out. She was bolting down the alley as fast as she could, limping. The next woman landed on the dumpster. Then he helped her down to the ground. “What's going on?”

She shook her head. “There are men in there after us.”

Yeah, he figured. He helped three more women down to the ground. The last woman came out butt first, and he knew it was Rowan by the curve of her ass and the flash of red hair. He caught her as she hit the dumpster. She turned and braced her hands on his shoulders, and her face was stunned as he lowered her down.

“Wyatt?”

He couldn’t help but give her a quick grin. “Yeah, it’s me.” He ran a hand over his thick beard. He probably should have shaved. He still had the mountain man look going. “Are there more coming? What’s going on?”

“I think the cartel found me,” she breathed. “They’ve been after me for a couple of days.”

Wyatt nodded. He’d assumed as much. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But there are other women in there!”

Wyatt was torn. Her safety or go back in for the other women? Damn it. He was here for her, but he couldn’t leave them to die. He made a hand movement. “This is Echo. She’s going to guard you.”

He tugged Rowan into an alcove with a recessed door and pressed her back to the wall. Reaching into his rear waistband he pulled out the extra Sig and passed it to her. “If anyone other than me comes in, you shoot. Do you understand?”

She nodded and took the gun, her green eyes wide in her face. “My gun is locked in the intake office. Please be careful,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

“I will.” He looked down at the dog. “Guard.”

Echo went onto alert, her back to Rowan. Turning, he jogged down the alley, circling the old school. They’d gotten in somewhere… He spotted the car, first. It was a big, nondescript Crown Vic, a powerful gas guzzler. They must have felt confident going in, because there was no driver waiting to do a quick getaway. Pulling the little tracker case from the pocket of his jacket, he placed one under the driver’s side bumper.

Then, pulling his weapon from his shoulder holster, he entered through the door they’d broken through.

It had been a while since he’d been ‘on’, but the movements came back to him quite naturally. Weapon up, he crept down a hallway, his sense of direction telling him he needed to go right to get back to the gym. The screaming had stopped, but somehow that was more concerning.

Wyatt peered around the corner. There was a body sprawled on the floor about twenty feet away. Near her was an expanded ASP baton. Seriously. They'd set a guard to protect women with abaton. As he moved past her, he looked for breathing. She didn't move. He slipped through the doors. Several women had obviously gone to the locker room, but there were still a few out here. They were hiding behind cots, with no cover. He shook his head. The cots provided concealment, but they wouldn’t protect the women from bullets.

He caught one pregnant woman’s eye and made a hand motion. “Come on,” he hissed.

The woman ran awkwardly across the gym toward him, and through the door. Then a second woman ran toward him. He directed them out the way he came. Four women total ran out that way. Weapon at the ready, he moved toward the locker room.

Before he could make it across the gym, one of the men stepped out. He was laughing at something his companion behind him had said. Wyatt was out in the middle of the floor, so he had no choice but to raise his weapon and fire. The man's voice cut off mid laugh.

Seconds later, two more men came out of the locker room, weapons raised. Wyatt popped them as well. The fourth man would be the smart one, he knew. Seconds later, a fourth man emerged, his arm wrapped around a flailing woman’s neck. He had a gun to her head, and the woman was pleading with him to let her go, sobbing.

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