Page 46 of Falling Fast

The hell he did.

Three on one, and he was unarmed. He was well trained in close quarters battle, but taking on three trained guys wasn’t going to end well. As the chief guard stalked toward him, Jamie knew he was about five seconds away from getting the shit kicked out of him. So he did the only thing he could.

He squeezed the button on his watch to activate the emergency beacon to the backup team, then lashed out at the closest man, driving his fist into the man’s gut at the same time he swept the guy’s legs out from under him.

Before the guy had even hit the ground, Jamie was racing for the hallway that led to another staircase at the far end.

He made it thirty feet before a sharp, hot pain bit into his upper back.

Fuuuuck.

A strangled yell locked in his throat as the surge of electrical current tore through him. He hit the floor on his side, muscles locked, his entire body jerking.

Fight, goddamn you. Charlie needs you.

It galvanized him as nothing else could have.

Through the haze of pain and the black spots dancing before his eyes he saw the three guards running at him. He managed to flop to his back, struggled to gain control of his limbs.

Another surge of electricity jolted him. A heavy weight slammed him into the marble floor, knocking the air from his lungs.

A fist smashed into the side of his jaw. He tasted blood.

A raw cry of rage and denial ripped from his throat. Battling with every bit of strength he had left, he twisted and lashed a fist out at the closest target.

He met nothing but air.

Another blow to the face snapped his head back. More blood as pain bloomed in his nose and mouth. A burst of color and light exploded before his eyes, then everything went dark.

****

Charlie fought the waves of dizziness that threatened to send her sprawling onto the polished marble floor and rushed as fast as she could on the stupid heels toward the atrium. She pulled them off and tossed them aside in her haste to get away. Her stomach rolled and clammy sweat beaded her upper lip and forehead.

The front entrance of the house was closest, but heading out that way was too obvious. She needed a crowd to help conceal her movements. The guards she’d passed by a minute ago thought she was still in the second-floor bathroom, but after waiting a few minutes she’d managed to slip out and make it to the rear stairwell to get by them.

Throwing out a hand, she caught the edge of a fluted column to steady herself and kept going, aiming for the exit point she and Jamie had decided on earlier. People stopped talking and eyed her with concern as she moved through the throng of guests.

One put a hand out to stop her, his expression worried. “Are you all right, Miss?”

She ignored him, focused on sucking air in and out of her lungs and getting to the exit she needed, a gate just off the west side of the garden. What the hell had Baker drugged her with? If her symptoms got much worse than this, she didn’t know if she could stay upright, let alone make it out of the property without help.

Panic and determination drove her onward. She hadn’t seen Jamie on her way out here but she’d signaled him earlier. He would meet her outside the gate and get her out of here, just like they’d planned.

He had to.

A few people milled about the courtyard garden as she burst through the grapevine-laced arbor that separated it from the patio. She disregarded them all, her sole focus making it to the gate.

Her heart thudded a sickening rhythm against her chest wall as she half-jogged, half-stumbled her way over. She must look like she’d had too much to drink, but didn’t care, didn’t dare ask for help. This place was probably crawling with criminals who were just as twisted as Baker.

Scanning the garden wall, she spotted the labyrinth of precisely-trimmed yews that marked the western edge of the garden about ten yards ahead. She made straight for it, her frightened gaze searching for the gate in the vine-covered, eight-foot-high brick wall that enclosed the space.

Just as she passed by the labyrinth, a low, familiar voice sounded to her right.

“Looking for James?”

Terror rocketed through her. She froze, jerked her head around to face Baker. There was no one else around to see them.

He stood not twenty feet away, looking every bit the civilized businessman in his white tux, not a hair out of place. But the civilized veneer he liked to show the world ended there.

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