Page 55 of Rusty's Command

Wang lowered the weapon and aimed at Pickle with heartless precision.

“No!” The word ripped from her chest, raw and primal.

“Pickle, come here, boy.” The Colombian woman’s voice was both sweet and broken with terror.

“Are you crazy?” Grace hissed, shrinking away. “You’ll get us all killed!”

“Don’t shoot,” Sienna blurted. “I’ll turn your power back on.”

Wang jerked his gaze back to her. “You did this?” His eyebrow lifted, and when he cocked his head, the beam of a flashlight caught in his black eyes.

Pickle’s nails clicked against the polished wood as he scurried to the trembling women huddled together on the floor.

“Yes.” A reckless smile spread across her face as she forced bravado through her veins.

“Bullshit!” He swept his gun back toward the hostage in his grip and his sleeve rode up, revealing the edge of a tattoo snaking up his forearm. His empty eyes flickered with something worse than coldness—pure hatred.

“I did,” Sienna yelled, trying to keep the attention on her. “It was easy. Your encryption codes were pathetic.” She forced a laugh, and the guard’s fingers dug deeper into her bicep, bruising her flesh.

The women trembled and pressed closer together, and a few of them slinked back as Pickle reached them. The Colombian woman scooped him up and cradled him against her chest like holding him was something she did every day. Her bravery had tears stinging Sienna’s eyes.

“You’ll die with that mutt.” The words darted from Wang’s mouth.

“No!” The word tore from Sienna’s chest, raw and primal.

The woman clutched Pickle tighter, and as she closed her eyes maybe in silent prayer, Pickle licked her chin and wagged his tail.

Movement flickered in Sienna’s peripheral vision.Rusty.He flowed between two pillars like a ghost with a deadly purpose. Her pulse jumped as one of Wang’s men slumped against a column and slid to the floor like spilled water. A surge of joy flooded her veins.

Yes! Get ‘em, Rusty!

“If you let these women go, I’ll restore your systems,” she said, praying that she could keep Wang distracted and buy Rusty time.

Her heart thundered, and her mind was torn between keeping Wang talking and discretely tracking Rusty in the shadows. “Your security is full of holes, and I found a ton of vulnerabilities. But I can fix them for you if you let them go. Honestly, considering what you do, it’s embarrassing?—”

“Shut up!” Wang’s eyes darted toward the balcony and sweat glistened on his upper lip like oil.His composure is cracking.“Kenji! Report!”

The silence that answered him made the air crackle.

She twisted against the guard’s grip, but his fingers clamped down harder, his meaty hand engulfing her arm like an industrial clamp. Pins and needles exploded through her fingersas her circulation slowed to a trickle. She swallowed a whimper and clenched her teeth against the pain.

The Colombian woman smoothed her hand over Pickle, but her eyes were on her like she was trying to tell Sienna something.

“Kenji!” Wang’s voice cracked, and he raised his gun toward the dark balcony above.

“I can tell you exactly how many of your video cameras were vulnerable.” Sienna pushed her luck. “And some of your security protocols?—”

“Shut up!” Wang’s gun snapped back to her, and his eyes blazed with the kind of rage that preceded a massacre.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. Every instinct screamed at her to squeeze her eyes shut and block out the evil bastard glaring at her. But she couldn’t. She had to be ready for Rusty—he was coming for her. And she needed to be ready.

Tears streamed down the face of the woman in Wang’s grip.

In Sienna’s peripheral vision, one more of Wang’s men crumpled like a puppet, silently flopping to the ground. His flashlight painted one final sweep through the darkness. But how would Rusty sneak up on the mountain of muscle crushing her arms? Or the second man who was hovering near the women? Or Wang whose gaze crawled across her face like a hungry insect?

“Kenji!” Wang roared so loud his neck veins bulged.

The Colombian woman’s hands tightened into white-knuckled fists around Pickle, and her jaw set with sudden steel as she caught Sienna’s eye and gave a tiny nod.

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