Page 28 of Shadow Break

When the van pulled a hard left, his fingers lost their purchase, and he fell off the side, rolling away.

He dove for a dumpster and avoided the expected gunfire that soon followed. Then he pushed off the ground and ran hard toward where the van had disappeared around another corner.

By the time he turned onto the street, the kidnappers had stopped thirty feet away at a dead end. Aaron lunged for more cover as gunfire erupted.

He reached for his gun while he plastered his back against a brick wall. After a break in the shooting, he jumped up and fired several rounds, hitting one man. Aaron shifted his aim and shot two more times before taking cover again.

“There’s no way out of here. I’ve got backup coming,” he yelled out, hoping they wouldn’t call his bluff. Even if Lewis had been able to follow him, he couldn’t expect anything from the rookie. Firing a few rounds in the controlled environment of the firing range was nothing like firing a gun in the field. “You’ll be surrounded in minutes.”

After twisting around again, he fired two more shots and brought another man down. He still had to contend with at least one more man, maybe two. He counted to five, giving time for whoever was left to consider their options, then he called out, “Hand the woman over.”

He heard a scream, then a bang. “You want her? Come and get her,” yelled a man with a thick Russian accent.

Aaron peeked out from his position and saw a heavyset man pushing a gun under Sydney’s chin and using her as a shield.

“I have no problem killing her,” the man called out. “I have strict orders. She comes with us or she dies. Which would you rather?”

“If anyone is going to die here, it will be you.” Aaron focused on the grip he had on the gun, making sure he didn’t squeeze it too tightly. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if he didn’t keep himself under control.

“She’s a pretty little thing,” the man taunted. “But the only way she’ll live is if you head back out the way you came in. So what will it be?”

Aaron’s heart raced. He knew what he needed to do, but it was Sydney. It shouldn’t matter. But it did.

He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. She was just someone he was hired to protect, and even though he’d done a poor job of that initially, he could rectify that now.

He pumped out a few quick breaths and stood with his gun aimed at Sydney’s head. He held the gun with both hands in an aggressive stance.

“I think it would be easier if I just shot you instead.”

“You shoot me, you shoot her first.”

“If that’s what it takes. I’d like the girl to get out of this alive, but my priority is to make sure you don’t make it out of here.”

He saw a flicker of movement on the other side of the van. He shifted his weight and swung the gun sideways to fire on the other threat.

The man who had Sydney drew her aside so he could lift his gun and fire on Aaron, who was fully exposed. But Aaron expected it and after shooting the other man, he jerked back and got Sydney’s captor in the shoulder.

The guy hung on to his gun, but Sydney pulled away from him, and as he lifted it to fire at her, Aaron shot him in the chest, dropping him.

Aaron held his position for a few seconds to confirm the threat had been removed, then he closed in on Sydney’s position. She stared at her dead captor.

Aaron checked the other men he had shot and found one was still alive on the other side of the van. He kept his weapon trained on the injured man. “You okay, Syd?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed, not taking her eyes off the Russian.

“Sydney.” She didn’t move. Aaron stepped sideways but couldn’t reach her while keeping his weapon aimed at the other man. “Syd.” He reached out an arm and snapped his fingers. Her eyes lifted and she looked at him.

“How many were there?” Aaron asked. “Is this all of them? Did any get away?”

“No. This is all of them. Um.” She pressed her hand against her mouth.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Are you going to be sick?”

“No.”

“It’s okay if you are.”

“No. I’m okay.”

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