Page 68 of No Man Left Behind

Marcus moved his gaze to hers, and that intensity of his tried to send her a message. An instruction of what to do. She didn’t have a clue.

Then he raised his hands to the sides and held the gun in the air in surrender.

Chapter22

Man Down

Marcus kept his eyes locked on Elina. They only needed a moment for that knife to be off her throat. Troy would be in position now, and the others would be only minutes away.

He might not have minutes. He might not have seconds.

With the placement of the knife, Marcus knew this man had experience killing, specifically, in slashing throats. Even if he or Troy took a shot now, the man would have time to force the knife into her artery, killing her instantly.

Hoping she could figure out his signal, he flicked his eyes toward his left hand. Not the one holding his weapon.

He wiggled his fingers slightly. Hopefully, not enough for Asshole to notice, but enough for Elina to realize he was sending her a signal.

“You shouldn’t have been there. You and your men should have died that day with her.”

Marcus kept part of his brain on the rambling, making sure he wouldn’t miss a part where he was supposed to acknowledge the threats. But Asshole was mostly past caring. He was hyper-focused on Faadir and how he was going to get back in the man’s good graces.

When Elina’s gaze flickered to his hand and back, he nodded slightly. Her fear was palpable, but she didn’t panic. Didn’t give away that they were communicating.

He held his index finger out, indicating she was to wait.

A flicker showed she understood. Good.

“All you had to do was leave us alone, but you Westerners interfere where you don’t belong. Your arrogance and your heathen religions have no place in my home.”

Marcus held his patience. While he was ranting, he was focused on the injustices he’d suffered, not Elina. That gave his team more time to be in place. He knew they would understand his signals, too.

Holding his gun up meant one of them would take the shot. Or more than one. At least one would watch his signals, but most of their attention would be on Asshole and his knife.

He just needed a few more minutes to ensure enough backup had arrived.

“Maybe I’ll gut you first, and then while you’re dying, you can enjoy watching how a real man takes a woman.”

Hell, no.

His body tightened, but he kept his focus on Elina. Her body had to be trembling with the latest threat but she didn’t react outwardly.

Asshole started spewing the vile things he’d do to Elina, and Marcus had had enough. Even if no one else was here, he and Troy would take Asshole down.

He straightened his fingers and watched Elina’s eyes widen. Her gaze returned to his, and she blinked slowly to acknowledge she knew something was about to happen. He hoped she understood the rest.

He pushed the pinky forward to indicate five.

Ring finger, four.

Three.

Two.

He waited for the rant to intensify, for the knife to move even a bit.

One.

He flattened his hand the same way Owen had done when teaching the dogs to lie down.

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