Page 38 of The Preachers' Promise
My gaze lands on Roman. I jerk back in shock. His uniform is no longer white. What the hell has he got all over him? I only think about it for a split second before registering Ophelia peeking out from behind him. My heart expands with relief and joy. He found her!
I’ve completely forgotten about the receptionist beside me.
“Wha—” Janice starts, then hesitates. “What is that all over you? Is that blood? Is a patient hurt? Are you hurt?”
Fuck. She’s right. It is. Worse, he’s holding a knife, and he looks like a crazed killer. What the hell has Roman been doing?
Janice is going to freak out any second now and raise the alarm. I can see it in the widening of her eyes and the way her complexion has paled. I can’t allow that to happen.
Moving quickly, I scoop her up by the waist and haul her against me, her back to my front. I use my other hand to clamp over her mouth, and I carry her, kicking and wriggling, back to the storage closet. We’d left the door open, so I throw her insideand slam it shut. If she has a security card, though, she’ll be able to get out easily, raise the alarm, and then we’re utterly screwed. The door opens out into the corridor, so I just need to block it. Glancing around me wildly, I spot a table a few feet away and drag it, covering the front of the door with it.
“Let’s go!” I hiss to Roman and Ophelia. “And put the fucking knife away.”
We only have a matter of seconds. Janice isn’t bound or gagged and can start kicking and screaming, alerting everyone to her presence. I’m hoping fear and disorientation from the darkness will keep her where she is for a moment, but I can’t bet on it. Roman shoves the knife into his pocket, and we haul ass.
We break into a run, and Roman uses the keycard to open the doors dividing the patients’ area from reception. His other hand is tightly around Ophelia’s, and he pulls her along as we run through the reception area and out the doors. We’re outside now, but we still must get through the main gates leading onto the road. Security could slam down on us at any moment. My heart’s pounding. I want to scoop up Ophelia, to kiss her and tell her how happy I am to see her, but we don’t have time for that.
The car is on the other side of the gate, Malachi behind the wheel. He revs the engine, indicating he’s impatient to get away.
Aren’t we all?
We reach the gates, and Roman presses the keycard to the sensor.
A shout comes from behind us. “Hey, you there! Stop!”
A different voice joins in. “They’ve taken a patient.”
The gates start to slowly slide open. I hop from foot to foot, impatient. As soon as the gap is wide enough, Roman pushes Ophelia through it. All it’s going to take is for someone to hit the button inside to close the gates on us again, and we’ll be trapped. They’re still opening for the moment, but just as Roman slips through, they stop. There’s the briefest of seconds where they’reheld in suspension, as the direction changes, and then they start to close again.
Fuck.
I’m the biggest out of the guys, and I jam my body through the gap. It’s a tight squeeze, and it’s getting tighter by the second. I envision myself crushed in the gates and hope Roman and Malachi will leave me here and take Ophelia to safety. The metal presses into my back and chest, compressing my lungs. I grit my teeth and use all my strength to push against them. The gears grind and whir in protest.
Down the path, two security men come running, weapons out. Goddammit. I’m about to get shot as well as crushed.
Like a balloon held underwater then released, I suddenly pop out of the other side of the gates. We run for the car. Roman hauls himself in the passenger seat, and Ophelia scrambles into the back. I join her, throwing myself through the rear door after her.
“Go, go, go!” I yell.
Malachi stares at Roman. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“I’ll explain later,” he replies.
Mal twists toward Ophelia in the back seat. “Hey, Ophelia.”
Her eyes are wide, and she keeps staring at Roman as if he’s become a man-eating tiger.What the fuck?Addressing her grabs her attention, though, and she turns to Malachi.
She manages a small smile. “Hi, Mal.”
A gunshot cracks through the air, and something metallic hits the side of the car.
Instinctively, I throw my body over Ophelia, doing my best to protect her from any stray bullets.
“What the fuck are you waiting for?” Roman shouts at Mal.
Without answering, Malachi slams his foot on the gas, and we tear off down the street. I glance out the rear window to seethe security guards running out into the road after us. They both raise their weapons but don’t bother to shoot again.
We leave them in a cloud of dust.
