Page 71 of Love Undercover
He came back to a crouch and forced the air to come in and out as slowly as possible, though he wanted to hiss and curse through his pain. He had to pay attention in case he’d alerted anyone that he was inside.
In two strides, he was at the door, pausing to listen for movement on the other side before trying the knob and opening the door slowly.
The lighting was dim, so it was hard to see who was inside and where they were. Which had been intentional. But he could make out the metal railing that lined the balcony that extended from left to right and around like an L. There were other doors into what he assumed were more offices.
He caught movement to his left and heard the soft cough. His first target.
“Two minutes.”
His whole body clenched when the garbled voice crackled over a radio. Far enough away that he didn’t suspect the guy on the upper part of the building with him had caught on to his presence.
At least he knew how much longer he had before they expected him.
He crept along the wall, praying the shadows would keep him hidden long enough to sneak up on the first guy. If only he could figure out where the rest of them were.
He slipped a knife from his boot as the silhouette of the first henchman came into view. His back was to Chase, still oblivious. But he was anticipating something. Chase could feel it radiating off the man’s body.
Keeping low, he crept closer. To be on the safe side, he assumed the dude had a vest on, so he would go for the throat. It would be a quick death. But messy and brutal. Not something Chasewantedon his conscience.
But for Sadie.
The split-second before he reached the man, the cold detachment he needed to accomplish the task clicked into place.
He stood to his full height, a good four inches taller than Santiago’s guy, and threw his hand around his neck, jerking his chin up. Pressing the knife against his throat, he dragged the blade across the scratchy flesh there as the man thrashed against him.
Chase had killed before, but never up close like this, and there was a part of him that squirmed as the man made a choking sound and teetered, lurching forward. Chase gave him a little shove, and he staggered toward the rail, bumped it, and tipped over, silently sailing to the concrete below.
He hadn’t anticipated that and clenched his teeth when it pulled the attention of another one of Santiago’s hired hands. And even though he was sure the guy couldn’t see him, he yelled and fired off a few shots wildly in Chase’s direction.
Chase flattened himself to the cold ground and belly-crawled his way toward the edge of the balcony. The other guy ducked back into shadow, but Chase could make out movement. The guywas panicking now, trying to stay a moving target, but it just made Chase’s life easier.
Santiago would be pissed to know his henchmen weren’t handling the situation well.
31
Unraveling Plans
Sadie flinched with every shot that rang out as if the bullets were striking her own body. Even her hands pressed against her stomach as if she would feel her life leaking out.
Santiago grew more and more still with each sound, his eyes on the barricaded door as if someone would burst through at any moment.
“Travers,” he said through clenched teeth.
Rat Face emerged from the shadow in the corner, and she automatically recoiled as he drew closer.
“Find out what’s happening.”
Travers simply nodded, and Santiago moved to unlock the heavy, metal door. He practically shoved the smaller man out and slammed the door behind him, securing it again and spinning to look at her.
There was a fire in the depths of his dark eyes and a little bit of fear.
He’d already made the call to their big boss, but this wasn’t going according to plan anymore. Not if she’d heard right.
He snatched her by the arm, and even though she resisted, dragged her to her feet. She pushed against him, fighting to make him release her until the cold muzzle of the gun pressed into her temple, and she froze. If she weren’t so focused on keeping still, she might have vomited from the way her stomach contorted.
“If those shots didn’t take out your little boyfriend, we’re going to have a problem.” The words came through his teeth again, and she realized how mad he was.
More shots rang out, and she flinched again. Santiago’s fingers became claws against her arm, digging in painfully. She knew there would be bruises.
