Page 5 of Shadow Undercover

“Just Trace?” She smiled. “Let me guess. If you told me your last name, you’d have to kill me?”

He chuckled. “Something like that.”

“Well, Trace No Last Name, thank you for rescuing me from that dirty, stinking alley.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

Through his ear piece, Nico said, “We’re at the door, coming in soft.”

“Copy.” He turned, Sig in hand. He waited until his teammates slipped into the warehouse before sliding his weapon back into his thigh holster. “Over here,” he murmured.

Sam, Shadow’s medic, moved toward Trace with her husband, Joe, by her side. “You injured?” Sam asked Trace.

“Nope.” He motioned toward Bridget. “This is Bridget. Since she was feeling sick, I placed a patch behind her ear.” Trace knelt beside Bridget. “These are my friends.”

“The ones who took care of the other three men chasing us.”

“That’s right. This is Sam and her husband, Joe. Sam’s a medic. The man at the door is Ben. The other man is Nico.”

“All with no last names.”

Trace shrugged. “Less information is safer for you and us, too.”

Sam crouched by Bridget’s other side. “Where are you injured, Bridget?”

She gave a short laugh. “An easier question to answer is what doesn’t hurt.”

The medic grabbed a penlight. “Let’s start with your head. Trace said you were nauseated. Did you hit your head?”

“The creeps who grabbed me banged my head against the wall several times.”

Rage burned through Trace as Bridget continued her litany of injuries. What kind of man did that to a woman? Not much of one.

While she talked to Sam, the medic ran competent hands over Bridget, checking for fractures. When Sam pressed on Bridget’s ribs, the woman moaned. Once she’d finished her examination, the medic turned to Trace. “She needs treatment and I need better lighting to check her more thoroughly.”

“Trace.” Nico used a hand signal to indicate the need to talk to him privately.

He laid his hand on Bridget’s shoulder. “I’ll return in a minute.” Trace followed his team leader until they were far enough away from Bridget for their conversation not to be overheard.

“We need to leave in the next few minutes. The sun will rise soon and we can’t be caught here.”

“I know.” Trace was well aware of the risks of remaining in Puebla.

“What do you want to do about her?”

“I can’t leave her here, Nico. She’s in no shape to get herself to safety much less fend off another attack.”

“We’ve got two options. Find a safe place to stay until she’s more mobile and able to take care of herself or take her with us.”

He saw problems with either option. The safer of the two choices was to leave Puebla and take Bridget with them. “I’ll talk to her.”

Trace returned to crouch by Bridget again. “We need to leave in the next few minutes, Bridget. Remaining in this area much longer isn’t safe. Do you have family or friends here who will look after you?”

She shook her head, pressed a hand to her forehead, and grimaced.

“All right. Here are your options, then. We can find someplace safe and stay with you for a day or two until you’re more mobile.”

“Or?”

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