Page 111 of When He Protects

But his mask did fall.

Kane’s eyes widened. The bastard met his stare for just a moment, then he was rushing away with Esme. He threw her into the back of a van. The vehicle screeched away.

“Esme!”

The window hadn’t broken. Time to try something else. He twisted and heaved and slammed his feet into the old cage that separated him from the front seat. The thing looked freaking ancient. It had to give.

His feet drove into it again. The metal shuddered.

It had to give.

He hit it again. Again. The metal screeched and buckled.

He drove his feet into it another time. The metal busted loose. Hell, yes. Like a snake, he slithered his way into thefront, shoving the metal with his shoulders now. Keys waited near the dashboard. Including a key for the cuffs. He had the cuffs off in five seconds, and then he was running for motel room number seven.

Lucky seven.

The other people staying at the motel had all ducked for cover and gone into hiding when the gunfire started. He was the only one heading toward the violence. And when he entered that room…

Fuck me.

He staggered to a stop.

Clay was on the floor with a pool of blood beneath him.

Thaddeus Caldwell—an FBI bastard he’d encountered more than a few times over the years—sprawled motionless near the open bathroom doorway. And Tyler…

Tyler was…

Groaning.

And rising. Tyler’s hands went to his chest.

Kane raced to him. He didn’t see any sign of blood on his friend. “Tyler!”

“He…shot me.”

Who had? Lots of options were currently spinning through Kane’s head.

“Rubber bullets. That SOB.” Tyler took a lunging step forward. “Hehasher.”

Kane blocked his path. “I know exactly whichheyou mean. But we have to call for help, man.”

Clay let out a ragged groan.

“Clay will die without help. We needbackup,” Kane snarled. “And we need it now.” They couldn’t handle what was coming on their own. No way.

When that mask had fallen outside, he’d seen the faceof the man who’d hauled Esme out of there. It had been a face that he knew.

A face of a man they’d called a friend.

Kane’s gaze darted to Clay. Sometimes, your friends could really let you down.

His stare flickered back to an enraged Tyler.

And sometimes, your friends could be absolutely lethal sonsofbitches who terrorized the whole world.

Chapter Twenty-Three

---