Page 75 of Guarded from Sabotage

As I put my hand on the doorknob, I hold my breath.

Is it locked? Will I have to waste precious seconds picking it? Are the hinges still oiled or rusty? Can we get inside without making a sound?

Luck is on our side again.

The door opens smoothly, and we slip inside; first me, then Rhiannon, and Erik at our six. As we enter the barren kitchen—all the appliances are missing and a wire hangs from the ceiling where a chandelier used to be—I can hear Tamara speaking from the front of the house.

“It’s funny really, how easy it is to get a cell phone jammer. And they’re surprisingly effective. It was a nice touch, that you tried to call for help and couldn’t, wasn’t it?”

As I inch forward through the kitchen and towards the dining room, silence falls as Tamara stops talking. Then, in a biting tone, she asks, “Wasn’tit? You must have been so confused by then. Scared. Did you know you’d been drugged yet? Did you?”

After another brief silence, Tamara barks, “Didyou?”

There’s a pained yelp, and then a soft, “No. I didn’t know.”

Sarah!

Though every muscle in my body is shouting at me to run, to get to Sarahright now, I force myself to move slowly. To edge my way along the interior wall of the dining room and towards the open doorway to the living room. To carefully peek around the doorjamb instead of racing in there, like my heart is urging me to.

And then.

I see Sarah.

She’s laying on the floor, her hands and ankles bound, shaking and crying softly. Tamara is pacing in front of her, gesturing with a gun, and as I’m watching, she kicks Sarah in the side, snarling, “Do you think you’re smarter than me?Doyou?”

Sarah yelps. Pain laces her voice as she replies quietly, “No. I don’t. But… I just want to know how?—”

Tamara kicks her again.

This time, Sarah screams in pain.

Red fills my vision.

She’s hurting Sarah.

I’m a second from storming in there when a rush of cool logic tamps my rage.

The gun. I can’t risk her shooting Sarah. If I run in there, Tamara will use Sarah as a shield. I’m sure of it.

So I force myself to back away, each step more painful than the last.

Once I get back to the kitchen, Rhiannon and Erik converge on me, both of them looking absolutely furious.

“She has a gun,” I grit out. “And Sarah has her back to the doorway, so Tamara will probably see us come in. Either we have Niall come around back and try to take her out, or…”

I hate the other option, because I know it’ll terrify Sarah. But I think it’s the safest. “I’m going to throw a flashbang in there.” Touching my comm, I murmur, “Tamara is armed. I’m using a flashbang. Xav, Niall, move in and restrain Tamara. I’ll get Sarah. Erik and Rhi, you’re my backup.”

Xavier replies in a nearly inaudible tone, “On it.”

Erik and Rhiannon meet my gaze, sharing their silent agreement.

Reaching into my pocket, I grab the flashbang and pull it out.

I can’t screw this up.

I won’t.

What have all the years of training been if not for this?

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