Page 103 of Five
I know we’re supposed to wait for Oscar, but the moment we hear the kid crying all bets are off.
I’m not sure where my head is right now. I’m just functioning on autopilot. All I can think is that there’s a dad somewhere who’s had his child ripped away from him, much like I did.
And if there’s something I can do to change that scenario, then you can bet your ass I will.
Every instinct I have is tuned to battle mode, with every extraneous detail filtered out to leave me hyper-focused on every person and every sound, within these four walls.
There are too many fucking civilians. Having Cope and Neve here is a damn liability, but we don’t have time for arguments. All I can hope is that after yesterday’s close call, they have the sense to keep their heads down. Because whatever happens here today, it’s going to make the drama at Conch marina look like a walk in the freaking park.
After the initial gunfire, the place has gone quiet, but no matter what you do, short of knocking them out, you can’t keep a scared little kid completely silent.
I curse under my breath as Neve streaks past me, Oliver close on her heels, heading in the direction I hear the kid whimpering.
Silently signaling to Remi to cover the lower level, and hoping like hell that he keeps Cope covered, I take off after them up the stairs, only I use the opposite set of stairs, to cut off the kidnapper’s egress.
I take in the upper level at a single glance. It’s a mezzanine platform with an open balcony, perfect for keeping a lookout over the front of the building where we just entered. If it wasn’t for our military training, we’d have been sitting ducks.
Neve’s found the kid and has thrown herself across her on the floor, shielding the girl with her own body. I ignore the hard pang my heart gives at the sight. There’s no time for emotion right now. Time enough to dissect what that means later, if I get out of here alive.
Oliver’s weapon is out, but he’s looking oddly flustered. I don’t have time to work out why, because the perp is right there, and his gun is trained on Neve.
He cocks the hammer, ready to fire, and the noise is loud in the quiet that surrounds us. Or maybe that’s just my hyper-focused hearing.
Either way, I instinctively know what’s about to go down.
Oliver fires—and fucking misses. The perp laughs, the sound ringing through the warehouse-like building, and says something low and taunting to Oliver, and his shoulders square in preparation for firing.
I don’t even think.
I shoot, panic flooding me when the only sound is a quiet click.
Misfire.
He whirls around at the small sound and points the gun at me, instead. Reflexes take over, and I launch myself at him, bringing the useless hunk of steel in my hand down on his head and throwing his shot wide as I knock him off his feet.
I follow him down to the floor, losing my weapon in the tussle, so I aim a punch at his face, but the bastard is quick and dodges his head to the left, causing my fist to go straight through the dry, rotting floorboards.
Although he must be dazed from the previous blow from the gun, he still attempts to scramble away while I pull my hand out of the hole, but I’m twice his size, and I have him pinned, so he cocks his pistol again and as soon as I’m free we grapple for it.
The damn thing goes off at the same time my fist finds his face, and the reverberation knocks me back a little, the explosion ringing in my ears, but the sight of blood erupting from his nose gives me a sick satisfaction.
It’s everywhere, his blood. Coating my fingers as I pound the gun into his face over and over again.
There’s nothing but a red haze of anger shimmering in front of my eyes.
He’ll never take another kid again.
He’ll never tear another family apart.
I’ll tear him apart, first.
I’ll fucking do that just for daring to point a gun at my woman.
My woman.
Because that’s exactly what Neve is.
I was halfway there minutes earlier when I couldn’t take it any longer and had to put my mouth on hers. It’s this that brings me all the way home, though. The second I saw her risk her own life to protect a kid who’s not even hers, I knew.
