Page 23 of Silent Comrade
A thick metallicclick.
Was that a gun safety? Instinctively, sheducked her head. Insulated outerwear wouldn’t stop bullets. Hermuscles quivered like Jell-O in an earthquake. Sweat dampened herhair and the strands clung to her neck.
Al was out there with those two guys. Theyhad at least one gun. Maybe more. The gravelly voiced man answeredher question. “Hold him.”
Ice raced through her limbs. Rapid punchesand slaps punctuated Al-sounding grunts. Over and over. It didn’tstop until his bone-deep groan drifted back to her. Britt’s stomachchurned.
“Where is she, asshole?” one guy asked.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alexhaled a long wheeze.
“The sister. We’ll find her. You do knowwhat Lequire will do when he gets his hands on her?” That gravellylaugh held no happiness. “Shit, it’s easier to describe what hewon’tdo to her.”
Sister? Wait. What? She froze. Were theytalking about Kiera or Reagan? Were her sisters in danger fromthese guys? She bit her lower lip to keep from whimpering. Herpulse raced. Mind spun. They wanted to hurt her sisters? Hell,no.
“Where would Lequire take her?” Al asked ina weak, thin tone, like the words and air came out through aclenched jaw. “Surely employees of the month like you would knowthat information.”
What the crap? Al was chatting with themen.
Who was this Lequire person and how did Alknow him?
Oh God. Oh God. Her brain struggled to putthe pieces together. Nothing made sense.
“We’re taking her to the safest place youcan imagine. Top-notch security. And plenty of privacy.” Thatgrinding laugh turned her stomach.
“What’s Lequire scared of, anyway?”
“Who knows?” A sniff, then the mancontinued. “All I know is he pays me well to produce results.”
“What results?”
“Shut up. You’re pissing me off.”
The second guy’s higher-pitched voice cutthrough the darkness. “What if we just take this guy in? Boss canuse him, too.”
“No. We need the woman. I bet she’ll comeout if we hurt him.” That last line was delivered with more volume.Making sure Britt knew what would happen.
An imaginary vise cranked down on her chest,pushing out air. Tears mixed with the sweat on her face. Al was agood guy, trying to help protect her from … who were these guys?Didn’t matter. He didn’t deserve to be hurt while she sat here.
“Let’s see if we can flush her out,” Grindersaid.
Three quick punches and grunts, then amassivethudlike a body had hit the ground. The whiny manscreamed, “What the hell?”
Another flurry of sound and movement, andthe entire circular rack above her shuddered as someone fell intoit, crushing coats against Britt. She clung to the center pole,shaking so hard the glass rattled against the metal X support.
She had two choices: Stay here, panic, waituntil the men finished with Al, then hide until they eventuallyfound her. Or take action to help a good guy not die. She restedher forehead on one of the metal bars and took a few deep breaths.If she got out of here alive, Britt for sure was going to need afresh round of therapy sessions.
Crouching, she lowered her trembling fingersuntil she encountered the metal fitting device. Could she doit—step in and help Al?
Another two quick thuds. Followed by severalmore. Britt knew math. Two against one wasn’t fair.
A deep groan came from a few racks away.Sounded like Al.
Screw this paralyzing anxiety. Someone wasbeing hurt and Britt was in a position to do something aboutit.
Scooting out between coats on the sideopposite the sounds of fighting, Britt blinked in the low emergencylighting. Large shapes lurched between racks of clothing. Glassshattered. Yowls and crunches prompted her to slide around behindone of the men and duck behind the pale legs of aready-for-the-beach mannequin.
In the dim light, Al’s tall frame blurred ashe pushed one man back with punches, then turned and faced a baldman. A glint of metal preceded a booming gunshot. Her ears rang. Aldropped to a knee with a grunt, holding his side. Britt locked eyeswith him. A tiny motion, but he shook his head.
