Page 50 of Falling Fast

Pain shot through her hip and elbow but she rolled to her side. Lifted the weapon and fired at the man against the door. This time the bullet slammed into his chest. He jerked and cried out, falling to the side.

A muffled shout brought her head around.

The man with the knife was mere steps away from her, his body coiling to strike. Yanking her arm to the right, she fired.

The bullet struck him in the upper thigh. He screamed and lurched forward, clutching his leg.

Jamie exploded into motion.

He kicked both legs up and out, using his momentum to jump to his feet. Then he whirled, slamming the back of the chair into the man’s shoulder. The knife hit the floor and clattered toward the opposite wall.

Both men hit the concrete floor with a bone-crunching thud. Jamie landed on his back, still trapped in the chair.

As the wounded man fought to get up, Jamie flung his legs out and wrapped them around the man’s throat from behind, then twisted. The guard choked and grabbed at Jamie’s legs, trying to pry them free, his face red, eyes bulging.

Charlie rolled over and scrambled unsteadily to her feet, advancing on them with the pistol aimed at her new target. But there was no way she could fire without risking hitting Jamie. He was too close to the man as they writhed and twisted there on the floor, and her hands were shaking.

Pass out, she willed the wounded guard.Pass out, damn you!

She stood where she was and held the weapon trained on him, her ears perked for the sounds of someone approaching outside in the hallway. The suppressor had muffled the gunshots but there might be hidden cameras in here, so someone might have seen what she’d done. More guards might be on their way here already.

Jamie’s face was as red as his victim’s as he maintained the pressure with his legs. But the man’s struggles were growing weaker, uncoordinated. He flailed a few more times, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he went limp.

Even when he slumped over, apparently unconscious, Jamie didn’t relent, maintaining the pressure with his legs for another few seconds before releasing him. He was panting, the labored sound loud in the still room as he raggedly sucked air in through his nose.

Without pause Charlie darted over and grabbed the fallen blade from the floor, then hurried around behind Jamie and started cutting at the plastic restraints around his wrists. “Don’t move,” she warned, her voice as unsteady as her hands.

The blade was razor sharp, a blessing and a curse considering how badly she was shaking. Maybe the lash of adrenaline had counteracted the drug in her system, but whatever it was, she didn’t feel as woozy anymore. With a few slices she managed to cut Jamie’s left hand loose, then the right.

The instant he was free he shoved to his feet and grabbed her wrist, ripping the tape from his mouth with his free hand, his wrists were raw and bloody from where the cuffs had cut into his skin. “We gotta go,” he gritted out, his voice harsh in the stillness.

She didn’t protest when he took the weapon from her and pulled her toward the door. The man she’d shot was lying sprawled in front of it, blood seeping around him in a shiny crimson pool.

His wintry eyes were still partially open, glassy, staring up at her with what seemed like a mixture of hatred and accusation as he struggled to breathe, the rattling sounds sending chills down her backbone. Charlie swallowed, her stomach pitching, and circled him warily.

“Stay back,” Jamie warned her, pushing her away from him as he approached the man. They took a few seconds to look for other weapons, but found nothing besides a cell phone. Jamie yanked the guy by his leg, dragged him a few feet away from the door, then reached a hand toward her without looking back. “Come on.”

On rubbery legs Charlie closed the distance between them and grasped that outstretched hand. Jamie’s fingers contracted around it, warm, sure.

He paused at the door, head cocked as he listened, gun hand on the knob. Then he glanced at her. “We have to get out of the house, off the grounds and into the forest. We’ll use the exit on the northeast side, closest to the water. It’s the only chance we’ve got to make it out of here and get to the secondary rendezvous point.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice, suddenly becoming aware of how hard her heart was beating again, and that the soles of her feet were coated with slick warmth. Because she was standing in a puddle of her victim’s blood.

She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, ordered herself to hold it together. She’d had no choice but to kill him.

Jamie glanced down at her feet before meeting her gaze once more. “Are you going to be able to run barefoot?”

Another nod, and she clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. She didn’t have a choice, would just have to suck it up and ignore the pain in her feet once they got outside, because it would slow them down too much and draw too much attention if Jamie tried to carry her over his shoulder.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” He twisted the knob, opened the door a fraction and checked up and down the hallway. Then he pulled the door wider and tugged on her hand.

She swept out into the hall with him, risking a glance behind her. The hallway was empty, but she wasn’t sure for how long, and they were leaving bloody footprints with each step.

There had to be security cameras down here. Someone would see them. They might have only seconds to make it out of the house.

Jamie rushed them down the remainder of the hallway, headed for the door that would lead them to the side lawn. There was no cover out there except for a few shrubs, but they couldn’t risk trying to find another route now.

Her choppy breaths scraped at her tight lungs as they rushed for the exit. Jamie turned right and then the door was there, directly in front of them at the far end of some kind of mudroom. Hope and relief shot through her veins, giving her an added boost of energy. She could almost smell that salty sea air, all but taste freedom.

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