Page 95 of Elusive Surrender

We make our way down the stairs, and by the time we leave the sky rise the valet has already brought the black SUV to the front entrance. I listen to the person on the end of his cell as I hold open the back passenger door. “Can you get Matt and Marenah on the overhead,” I ask Cole who slides into the driver’s seat. I run around the other side and gets in beside me, Trent slides in on the other side, leaving me smooshed between the two broad-shouldered men while Liam jumps in the front seat next to Cole. I reach into one of the pockets on the back of the front seat and pulls a small headset out, placing it on Allie’s head. “There, now you can hear things in real time. If I say move, that means you too. No questions.”

Cole navigates the stream of congested traffic. His face is steady and controlled as I watch him focus on the road in the rearview mirror, navigating the exits and off ramps in order to take the bridge and then underpasses as we head deeper into the bowels of the lower harbor. He slows the vehicle as he pulls into a long dirt graveled road and cuts the lights, following the road until a large warehouse and storage facility comes into sight through the dim lights of the harbor.

Marenah’s voice comes over the speaker, her Russian accent strong with emotion. “Sorry it took so long to get back to you. We just got another update from Tommy. There are over five hundred women in the warehouse. Last building around the back. Matt and I are stuck in traffic. Go in slowly, guys, they’ll be petrified.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Allie

So many womenscared and at the mercy of whoever comes to save them. Marenah hangs up, and I feel my bottom lip begin to quiver with the reality of it all. Nick squeezes my hand. His eyes are dark and determined. “We’ll get them out of there.”

I nod, but an angry tear escapes and trickles down my cheek. He captures it on his finger, cradling me to him and kissing the top of my head before the car comes to a stop at the back of the warehouse complex. “We won’t fail, love.”

The four men jump out, and Nick holds the door for me. “Come on. I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he commands, grasping my hand. I should feel completely secure with four six-feet-plus bodyguards packing heat surrounding me, but the night is eerily quiet and unnerving as we make our way along the side of a building to keep our shadows from view.

Trent and Liam have almost reached the door when Liam throws up his hand. Nick tightens his hold on my shoulder, and Cole brushes against our backs as we come to an abrupt halt. A shadow begins to emerge from around the corner, and my heart races. Trent gestures toward the ground. Nick pushes a firm hand to my shoulder, keeping me low and snugged into the side of the building as the sound of grinding gears echo through the night, and the shadow begins to take shape. The front end of a dump truck comes into view and then rumbles around the corner, taking the curve and turning away from us, spewing gravel as it gains traction down the makeshift road and makes its way back toward the highway.

I exhale a breath as the group begins inching forward again. The emergency room nurse in me is impatient to get to the women and take care of them, because every minute of delay could be potentially life threatening to any of the ladies. We shuffle forward in our crouched positions, one crouched step in front of the other for the length of the building until we are almost at the service door. A mere few hundred yards from helping all of those women.

A deep voice in the headset interrupts my thoughts. “The fuckers rigged the warehouse with explosives. We picked them up on infrared. Head to the far-right corner as you enter the building.”

“Get her and the rest of the crew out of here,” Nick growls to Liam while he jumps onto his belly and disappears into the tall grass ahead of us, snaking his way toward the door. Liam grabs my arm and moves me steadfastly away from the women and toward the vehicle. I turn once we’re there, squinting to catch any sign of Nick, but the shadows are dark and wherever he’s at, he’s well concealed.

Liam gets into the front seat and pushes a button on the dash to use the speaker overhead. “Nick is on the hunt for the detonator. Any help with infrared?”

“We’re making another pass with the helicopter, but it’s the last one we’re making. We don’t want to alert anyone we’re here.”

I wipe my sweaty hands on my pants. “He’ll be blown to pieces.”

Liam turns around in his seat. “They’re not going to blow the building unless they know we’re here. They’ll only do that if they need to destroy the evidence. And Nick is our best chance of defusing whatever detonator they’ve used. It’s his specialty.”

My eyes widen with that piece of information. “I had no idea.”

Cole looks at me from the rearview mirror. “There’s probably a lot of things you don’t know about Nick. He’s one of the best guys in the world. He used to go out with a different woman every night of the week, at least until he met you. The whole time we were in Italy he stayed back at the villa whenever he could and chatted with Trent and Liam about what you did each day. He even got our asses chewed out when Chase found out he was paying the guys to protect you. But Nick wouldn’t go to Italy until you had a full team of security, and he didn’t trust just anyone with you, so he hired the guys. He’s not about to let you get blown up, Allie.”

My mouth hangs open, trying to find words as I look from Liam to Trent. “Both of you have been in on this the entire time? It wasn’t Sheldon’s idea? He wasn’t footing the bill; Nick was. All this time?”

Liam turns in his seat. “Nick did it because he cares about you, but Cole’s said too much. You should ask Nick for any details,” he replies, glaring at Cole while everything he’s just said swirls in my mind.

“What? What did I say that was wrong?” Cole asks, but he’s interrupted by the speaker.

“This is Murphy. We have infrared visual on the drones. There’s no other devices in the warehouse, but the bomb in the far-right corner is fucking massive.”

Nick’s voice comes over the speaker next. “We have a problem. It’s not one bomb. They’ve wrapped the coils around at least ten of the women. I can get the devices deactivated, but it’s going to take time. A few of the women have been hurt bad, and we need to get the bleeding under control. I can’t do both.”

I grab my bag and am out the door, but Liam’s already in lockstep, grabbing my arm. “Slow down, slow and steady. You follow my lead and do what I tell you,” he directs, repositioning his grasp on my arm and taking the bag from my hand as he leads us to the shelter of one of the storage bins. He crouches, and I do the same, sliding one foot in front of the other, the same way we did before, until we reach the end of that building. He turns to me. “There’s no easy way to get from here to the door without being seen, and we’re not taking any chances with Nick and those girls. We’re going in on our bellies,” he points to the neglected grass blowing in the wind. “Stay on my heels, and keep your head down. If I say go back, you immediately stop, keep your body buried in the grass so they don’t spot you, and then wait five minutes. Trent will have you covered from a distance, but then you turn slowly and crawl back to that building inch by inch and then back to the vehicle the way we came. Got it?”

“Loud and clear. Let’s go.”

We crawl through the tall grass, and he drags the bag slowly with him. I’m careful to keep up, but the sinking moistness of the ground soaks right through my clothes, causing me to shiver as we go. A quick rustle causes me to swallow a scream, fighting down the fear of the moment. I will myself to focus on the women who need our help in order to keep moving.

Liam stops suddenly. I run nose first into the hard heel of his boot. “Down.” I plaster my body firmly against the ground, pressing as hard as I can, remaining as still as possible. It seems like hours, and not mere minutes, and when he starts moving again, I take a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

We near the edge of the warehouse, and he stops. “I’ll go first. You wait here, and don’t move for exactly three minutes. Then inch yourself to that door as slowly as we did getting here. Got it?”

“Loud and clear.”

“The door will look closed from the ground. I’ll let you in when you get there.” He begins belly crawling in front of me with my bag, widening the distance between us through the unkempt grass and weeds.

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