Page 33 of Undercover Hacker

When we reached the first platform with the three men laying on the floor, Zane felt for the first guy’s pulse then looked in the man’s back pockets.

“Why are we not getting out of here? Can you stop feeling the guy up?”

“I’m looking for his ID to figure out who sent these men.” That made sense. I was glad the super spy was thinking. The copper smell of blood was messing with my nose and my ears still rung from the gunfire.

Five minutes later, we made it to the hotel parking garage.

The black Range Rover we picked up Kat in a couple hours ago was only a few parking spots away. The problem was that there was a thug dressed in military gear standing in our way. His shoulder-length hair wasgreasy. He was twitching so bad that the gun in his hand was shaking. Track marks ran up and down the crackhead’s arm.

I gripped my gun and pointed it at the man standing between us and our freedom. Close by, a car backfired, causing the crackhead to pull the trigger. The bullet was heading straight for me. Before I had time to move, Zane threw his body in front of me.

I heard the bullet hit flesh, and a groan escaped Zane’s throat.

At the thought of losing the man I might be falling for, I raised the gun and unloaded the clip into the crackhead. I felt no remorse, only the hollow feeling of losing someone else I cared about.

14

Zane

Seeing the man standing in front us with a gun pointed at Sophie was one of my worst nightmares. This was the reason I hadn’t wanted her along. I was so focused on getting Sophie to safety, that one thug had surprisedme.

When the unkempt man squeezed his trigger, the only thing I wanted to do was save Sophie. I didn’t care what it cost. I leapt in front of her, hoping to take the bullet and save her life. Luckily, the bullet only grazed my arm. A grunt escaped me. No matter how many times I got shot, it never got easier. I was convinced that the older I got, the more the fucking bullets hurt.

At the sound of my grunt, Sophie emptied her clip into the man who shot me. Sophie killed him, and he was one less man to worry about. There had been one other man in the stairwell, and at the sound of the shooting, he came out from the other side of the garage. I didn’t give him time to raise his gun. I shifted on the ground and raised my Sig. With one clean shot, a stream of blood ran down his forehead. Headshot. The six men were no longer a threat. I needed to get Sophie to safety before more men came.

“You're alive.”

The sound of surprise made me chuckle. How could she think one low-life thug-for-hire would take me out?

“Of course. You ready to head out? Or, do you need to empty another clip in that guy?”

Sophie's face went from confusion to shock.

“I killed someone for real. What am I going to do?”

We didn’t have time for her to freak out. “Yes, you killed someone for real. Not sure there is any other way to kill someone. You emptied the clip into him. We need to head out, meet the team at the airport, and get you to safety.

I couldn’t help but groan when I went to push myself up. The bullet had grazed my arm, but it would be okay.

“I heard the bullet hit you. Where were you shot? We need to get you to the hospital. And there is another way to kill people. I have killed people electronically many times. It produces way less blood.”

Sophie was not only deadly with a gun. That woman was deadly with a computer. There was no way I would go to the hospital, though. Sophie has a one-way plane trip waiting for her.

I unlocked the SUV. “Get in.”

I heard the shuffling behind me and knew she was following my orders. Sophie was fuming with anger beside me. I didn’t have time to figure out what had her so mad. We needed to get her and Kat to safety.

Once we were on the interstate heading toward the airstrip, I reached into my bag and grabbed a burner phone. Brock answered on the first ring. I clicked the speakerphone button.

“You guys make it out? You left a nice pile of bodies in the stairwell. I’ve erased the footage of you from the stairwell. The clean-up crew is on its way to take care of the bodies. Did you get any information on the men, or did you just shoot them all and walk away?”

Sophie shifted in her seat. “Brock, we need to get Zane to the hospital, and he’s not listening to me. He's shot.” I could hear the concern in Sophie’s voice.

If Sophie had been shot, I would have headedto the hospital. I understood where she was coming from. But, she was more important than the graze I got from the bullet. Once I knew she was in the air and on her way to safety, I’d have Antonio patch me up. We had to work on our game plan after the women were safe.

“How bad?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “It was a graze. I’ll be fine.”

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