Page 28 of The Primary Pest
Ajax Fairchild. I am the one you can’t see in the darkness. I will force my hand inside you and tear out your organs one by one.
Dmytro’s skin crawled. They had to find this fucker and stop him because the threat had escalated.
Anton would want him to keep Ajax safe.
That made it personal for Dmytro.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ajax
Ajax Fairchild.I am the one you can’t see in the darkness. I am going to tear you open and pull your heart out.
Ajax dreamed about flying,then falling, and then bouncing off sheer cliff walls, one after another. Because he lived on a continual carnival ride of dreams just like it, he was barely fazed when a hand came down over his mouth.
He snapped his eyes open to find Bartosz glowering down at him. “Dress quickly. Move silently. We have to leave.”
The man pulled his hand up carefully, and when Ajax said, “Where’s Dmytro?” that hand slammed down again. Bartosz’s hot breath fanned his face.
“Quickly. Silently. Got that?”
Ajax nodded that he understood, but his heart beat unbearably fast. Eyes wide, he tried to indicate he’d be quiet this time. What if something happened to Dmytro? It would be because of him. When Bartosz let him go, he slid from the bed and put on his watch. He found a clean pair of jeans and a redHenley his mom had bought him because she said it matched his eyes most days. He put on socks, then shoes.
Already Bartosz stood at the door, waiting. He barely shifted the blackout drapes and looked outside.
Judging from the temperature earlier, Ajax thought it best to pick up his jacket. He wished he knew what was going on. He opened his mouth to ask, but like a dog trainer, Bartosz made a frighteninghsstsound. Ajax dropped his head in fury and shame, but he obeyed. If there really was a threat, he could throw a hissy fit later when he was safe.
Bartosz cracked the door, jerked his head, and waved his hand vaguely behind him, which Ajax took to meanstay behind meordon’t get in my way.
Ajax did exactly as he was told, and they crept silently down the gallery together. He stayed between Bartosz and the walls until they got to the stairs. Bartosz went first from there as well, using his enormous body as a shield as much as possible.
Ajax knew enough about the physics of firearms to believe they could both be killed by a single high-velocity round, no matter who stood in front of whom.
Still, he felt comforted by the care Bartosz used to cover him.
Where was Dmytro?
Was he okay?
Why was Bartosz moving him. What had happened to make them discard the bathtub hiding plan?
They crept down the stairs by the office. The stillness was so absolute, Ajax could hear the distant susurrus of waves. Were they that close to the ocean? Or was the salt air taking his senses for a ride? The ice machine dropped a noisy glacier when he passed, making him jump out of his skin. Bartosz unnecessarily lifted his hand to his lips to hush him again.
Ajax shot him a hard stare. He might have jumped a mile, but he’d known better than to make a single squeak. They madefurious eye contact, after which Bartosz jerked his head. They continued toward the office.
Inside, he saw Dmytro leaning over an unconscious girl with blood pooling around her head.
“Oh my God. Is she okay?”
Dmytro and Bartosz ignored him in favor of speaking whatever language they chose for the occasion. Ajax pushed past them and knelt by her head to check her pulse. “She’s alive. If you help me support her neck, we can put her in a rescue position in case she starts to vomit. Bartosz, call 911 while Dmytro and I—”
“Why?” Dmytro asked, low-voiced and angry. “So you can get her blood all over you? Put your fingerprints on her? Leave her.”
“No.” Ajax stared at him in horror. Had he been attracted to Dmytro before, in the spa? Something was way off if he’d been attracted to a man who would let a girl lie there bleeding to save his job.
Clearly, he needed to fine-tune his mating skills.
“Turn her, because we need to help her, youasshole.”
