Page 52 of No Bones About It

They turned onto the designated road and blew past the guardhouse with at least six vehicles on their tail. Other teams were moving in from different sides, providing support from all directions. Helicopters would be in the air soon.

Another team would take out the guards, so he didn’t worry about watching his six. Marcus parked to block cars from leaving, and the following vehicles did the same.

Garrett hefted his weapon and moved in tandem with his team and in a coordinated move with the other teams around them.

All around them, the FBI agents announced themselves and called for everyone to put up their hands, get on their knees, and drop any weapons.

Dogs barked from several directions, but he couldn’t deal with helping them out yet. Not until he had Kimi with him.

Following the conversation he’d heard earlier, he headed past the arrows and then left. Most of the crowd looked sullen and pissed, but they complied with the instructions and held up their hands.

Some protested, and a few pulled weapons, but Garrett ignored them all, and kept moving.

Kimi’s scream for help reached him, and he picked up his pace to get through the crowd. Once he rounded the corner, his blood froze. Jason lay on the ground, blood spreading in a pool around him from what looked like a nasty gut wound. Beyond him, Chuck stood holding Kimi in front of him like a shield with a bloody knife at her throat. The man’s eyes were wide with fear.

Garrett locked down his emotions. He sent the panic and the terror to a box in the back of his mind and let his training take over.

Around him, the background noise receded, and his focus narrowed to the pair in front of him. He knew his team would spread out, and some would get behind Chuck.

Garrett needed to get the man’s focus on him and keep it there. “Chuck. Put down the knife. Now.”

Chuck’s glazed eyes found him. There’d been no evidence of drugs or alcohol impairment during the tour of the facility, so Garrettfigured it was fear. The bastard was right to be afraid. “You have two choices. Leave here in cuffs or a body bag. What’s it going to be?”

Chuck tightened his grip on Kimi and hauled her back against him. “If I don’t get out of here, this bitch dies with me.”

No chance, asshole, but Garrett didn’t say it out loud. Instead, he moved closer with his gun aimed at Chuck’s forehead. He stepped in front of Jason to protect him from further harm. The guy had earned himself a friend for life by protecting Kimi.

Garrett wanted to drop his eyes to check on her, but with the knife pressed at her throat, he didn’t dare. Chuck was a big guy, but he crouched down so that Kimi shielded as much of his body as possible. It would only take a flicker of movement to cut her artery.

Chuck’s gaze roved the compound and whatever he saw had his eyes widening further. More fear. “Put your hands up, Chuck. You’re not getting away.”

A tap on his ankle almost had Garrett flinching. It had to be Jason. Garrett didn’t shift his weight but tapped his toe to let Jason know he had his attention.

Jason tapped five times.

A pause, then four taps.

A countdown. Garrett readied himself to move.

Three.

Two.

One.

Kimi stomped on Chuck’s instep and dropped to the ground in the same motion.

Garrett leaped forward and shoved Chuck to the back, following him down and grabbing the wrist that held the knife. He slammed the man’s arm to the ground twice before Chuck let it go.

Three gun barrels appeared in his sight, all aimed directly at Chuck’s face.

“We’ve got him, Scooby. Go.” At Oz’s voice, he released the pressure on Chuck. He turned to find Kimi had moved to Jason’s side with Slick and Falcon. A man wearing an FBI vest and carrying a medical kit ran toward them.

Jason had rolled to his side. Kimi had her hands covering the knifewound in his gut. Garrett dropped to his knees beside Kimi and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She looked at him with glossy eyes. “Thank you.”

He kissed her temple and simply breathed in the fact that she was alive and unharmed.

The medic knelt beside Kimi. Jason’s—Brandon’s—eyes flickered open. “I’m okay.”

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