Dangerous in Training (Aegis Group, #2) (27 page)

Hannah searched the face of every man, each person she passed, sure that one of them would be a friend. Someone who worked at Aegis. That was how these things happened, didn’t they? But not a one of them looked at her as anything but an object. No feeling. Nothing.

Where was Mason?

Why wasn’t he there yet?

The handler hauled her into a small room and handcuffed her to a ring drilled into the wall. Several other girls stood waiting, just like her, one hand hiked up to the wall. The man yanked on the cuffs, ensuring they were locked tight, then left them alone in this...holding room.

“What happens now?” she asked. The other women were familiar, but their names escaped her.

“They come through that door and get you.” The redhead nodded at the door opposite of where Hannah had entered. She had both hands clasped around the chain linking her cuffs together, holding on tight, as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. “After that? I don’t know.”

What if Mason wasn’t out there?

It was a thought she didn’t want to entertain, but it was a very real danger.

He could have been hurt. They might not be able to get close. Any number of things could postpone any sort of rescue attempt.

So, she needed to help herself.

Hannah twisted her arm around, even spun in place to get a bit of leverage on the ring. She gripped it tight and turned—but it didn’t budge. Not even a bit.

“I tried that already,” the redhead said. She gestured to her wrist and the thin trail of blood trickling down her arm. “What’s going to happen to us?”

Hannah wanted to say,
Nothing
. She wanted to tell the girl that Mason was out there, that he’d save them all—but could he?

She was starting to think he couldn’t. That she’d be lucky if he was able to rescue her, meaning the others were out of luck. They’d need their own heroes. Hell, even Mason might need more time. Knowing him, he wouldn’t stop looking for her. She just had to hold out until he could find her. Figure out a way to live through the nightmare that was about to become her life.

“Don’t lose hope. Don’t stop fighting.” It was the only wisdom Hannah could think of. “They’ll slip up. Someday. Sometime. And you can get away.”

The far door banged open.

A tall, dark-skinned man in a tan suit stood in the entrance. His gaze trained on her. The corners of his mouth lifted up and he barred his teeth at her in some semblance of a grin.

Hannah swallowed and took an instinctive step back.

It was like looking at Mason when he was angry or grouchy...except she had no assurance this man wouldn’t snap her in two. In fact...she suspected he’d like to do just that.

One of Cruz’s goons stepped around the man, keys in hand, and unlocked the cuff holding her to the wall. She could only watch the exchange in shocked silence. He handed the handcuffs and keys to the new man, speaking without being acknowledged.

Hannah’s heart rate kicked up and she pulled back against the cuff.

The man grinned and yanked her forward, as if her struggling amused him.

He said something she couldn’t understand and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him.

She tried to twist out of his hold, but it was too tight. He turned, taking her with him by force, and began walking through the next room and out into the night. A car waited at the curb.

“No! No, no, no!” She dragged her heels, but he practically carried her to the car.

Hannah couldn’t get in the car. If she did, how would Mason find her?

H
annah.

Mason gripped the binoculars, his throat seizing up. It was his first glimpse of her since the airport. He was powerless to do anything about the big African man carrying her to the curb and a waiting car. She kicked, an elbow went flying. Even now she was fighting back, but she was tired, he could tell that from a hundred yards.

“I see Hannah,” he managed to get out. “Black limo. Get into positions.”

This was exactly what they’d hoped to avoid. The only good thing now was that they were minutes away from getting Hannah back. But at what price? There was still the very real danger the man would kill her, that she could be hurt during the rescue.

“Luke, get out of there.” Zain started the SUV’s engine below.

“I can’t. I’m being watched.” Luke’s voice was pitched so low it was hard to hear over the coms.

“I’m signaling Jer we’re on the move.” Mason could only hope the CIA was in range. Jerry couldn’t tell Mason anything for sure, but he’d wanted the full report on their movements and current location, down to their exact longitude and latitude.

“Limo is pulling out.” Travis’ shadow shifted out of the corner of Mason’s eye.

Mason dropped through the fire escape’s opening, grasping the ladder and riding it down a few feet before leaping off onto the pavement next to the SUV.

“Twenty yards and moving fast,” Travis said.

Mason flattened himself against the building wall.

He hated this plan.

“Ten yards.”

Zain revved the SUV’s engine.

The limo lights illuminated the darkened street, casting long shadows in its path.

The SUV shot forward, ramming the front of the limo and pinning it between the truck and one of the cars parked alongside the curb. Metal screeched and at least one tire hissed.

“Go,” Mason bellowed.

He sprinted, hopping over the hood of one car, until he was at the rear door of the limo, gun drawn. Travis on the other side.

“Hands up! Hands up!” Mason jerked the door open and shoved the rifle inside, pointing it inside.

Hannah’s tear-stained face stared up at him. The silver blade of a knife pressed against her throat, a man’s hand dug into her hair.

The knife at her throat got Mason’s blood boiling.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said low, only for her ears.

“You don’t want to do that,” Travis said to the man.

Mason grabbed Hannah’s arm and pulled. Whoever the buyer was, he held on for a moment. Out of the corner of Mason’s eye, he could see Zain at the driver’s side, tossing a gun onto the pavement.

Finally, the buyer released Hannah, but he kept his gaze on Mason.

Hannah pushed up on shaky legs and wrapped her arms around him, a sob shaking her body. As much as he wanted to hold her, console her, this was still a precarious situation. He pushed her behind him, using his body as a shield and backed up a step.

“You made the right choice.” Mason itched to pull the trigger, but there was already enough blood on his hands. This guy, whoever he was, it wasn’t Mason’s place to dole out justice, no matter what he felt.

“Move,” Zain yelled.

A shot pinged off a nearby car.

Mason turned, pushing Hannah in front of him, one hand on her back at all times. They sprinted around the limo and down the street. Travis lagged behind, laying down just enough cover for Mason and Zain to get Hannah going.

They got her.

She was safe.

“Luke?” Mason yelled.

Nothing.

Mason couldn’t make out a reply. There was too much noise.

“Travis, get over here, now!” Zain’s voice was a little distorted in the headset.

Zain already had another SUV idling, waiting for their escape. Mason dove into the back seat, nearly crushing Hannah in the process. Travis barreled in, nearly squashing them all, but they were alive. All of them.

Mason wrapped his arms around Hannah, squeezing her as tight as he dared.

They’d succeeded.

He closed his eyes, breathing a silent prayer.

It was over, for now. There were still others to rescue—but he had her.

“They got Luke,” Travis said, shattering the moment of calm.

Rogelio hauled back and punched the mystery man in the gut.

“Who are you?” he asked again.

“Your uncle.” The man spat a mix of blood and saliva on the floor.

The gunfire outside had died down, but the damage was done. The people in the next room moved around, the concerned noises they made sounding a lot like lost revenue. And somehow, Cruz was going to pin this on him.

People were already calling for cars, getting ready to leave, and the auction wasn’t over yet.

Someone’s head was going to roll over this, and Rogelio didn’t want it to be his. He needed answers, now. A person to blame.

“Who do you work for?” He grabbed a handful of the man’s jacket.

“Your mamma.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Cruz strode into the room.

A cold sweat broke out under Rogelio’s arms. He didn’t have anything to show for the few minutes he’d had with the mystery man.

Fuck.

“Boss—”

“Shut up,” Cruz snapped. He came to a stop a few feet from the prisoner, a sneer on his face. Never a good sign.

“You must be that asshole Cruz everyone’s been talking about.” The black man grinned. One of his eyes was a little swollen, giving him a lopsided expression.

“Who the fuck are you?” Cruz grabbed the man by his jacket, shoving him back, out of the hold of the men at either side.

The black man stumbled, and Cruz kept coming, yelling in the man’s face, landing a punch to the guy’s stomach and jaw. If Rogelio didn’t intervene soon, they wouldn’t have a suspect to question. Cruz’s fits of anger left bodies in his wake.

“Boss, boss?” Rogelio followed, working out how to extract the man from Cruz’s grasp. They needed answers. Not another body.

Cruz wheeled, teeth bared like an animal.

Rogelio back peddled, hands up. Fuck. He’d never forgotten how he’d been promoted. His former boss had taken three bullets to the face for failing to perform his job to Cruz’s expectations. Rogelio didn’t intend on going out the same way.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the black man move. The hair on the back of his neck lifted in an ominous manner. A metallic ping echoed over the other noise.

It all happened in seconds.

Rogelio’s bad feeling intensified. He ducked on instinct, covering his head with his arms.

A blast went off, the concussion of it causing him to stumble. A body sailed over his, feet kicking him in the side. Acrid smoke stung his nose and eyes.

Flash bombs.

This was the worst fucking day.

“What?” both Mason and Hannah said at once.

“Your headset must have malfunctioned,” Zain muttered.

“Luke?” Mason tapped the com unit.

Nothing.

“I can hear him.” Travis’ lips were pressed tight together.

“Oh no...Luke Stiles?” Hannah covered her mouth with her hand.

“We have to go back for him.” There was no question in Mason’s mind. “Get Hannah somewhere safe, then we go back.”

“No, he’ll be dead if you wait. We have to go in now. Cruz will kill him.” Hannah twisted to face him. “Give me a gun.”

“No way.” He’d literally just got her back. The last thing Mason was going to do was escort her back into that hellhole.

“I’m a great shot. You’ve said so yourself. I don’t go in. I stay outside. You get Luke back, we leave.”

What about the others?

He kept that question to himself.

“We can use all the help we can get.” Zain passed a handgun back to Hannah.

“No.” Mason grabbed the gun, but Hannah got to it first. “Are you crazy?”

“Do you want Luke to die?” Zain turned the wheel, winding a path through the city, making some sort of circle around Cruz’s building.

“I can do this,” Hannah said. “Let me do this.”

“You’ve never shot at a person before. The one time you did, you nearly had a panic attack.” Has she forgotten holing up in the bathroom, already?

“That was before they sold me to a psychopath.” She shuddered.

“Killing them won’t make it better.”

“Losing Luke, because of me, won’t make it better, either.”

“Guys,” Zain snapped. “Hannah and I will take up positions on the southeast corner of the facility. We will shoot anyone that comes out—wait. Can you hear that?” He held his prosthetic hand to the side of his head, as if he could push the com further into his ear.

“Luke set off a flash bomb. We have to go back now.” Travis pounded the window with his fist.

“Where the hell did he hide a flash bomb?” Mason gaped at his cousin.

Zain turned the wheel hard, pointing them back toward the building. The street was clogged with parked cars. They had to stop almost a full block away.

Travis was right. They didn’t have time to hesitate and argue about the plan. Zain and Travis went first, leaving Mason to stick close to Hannah. He hated this plan from beginning to end. He’d just gotten Hannah back, and now they were about to be apart again—and even worse, she was going into danger with them. It went against every bit of his training, all of his instincts.

“Stay here.” Mason skidded to a stop at the corner, Cruz’s complex just across the street. This was madness. He gripped Hannah’s arms, taking in the dark circles under her eyes, the bruise on her cheek. When this was over...he didn’t know what he’d do.

Hannah launched herself at him, one hand wrapped around his neck, her mouth on his.

The kiss lasted maybe a second before she shoved him away.

“Go. Get Luke.”

Mason pointed at Zain.

“Keep her safe, understand?”

“Will do.” Zain grabbed Hannah’s arm, hauling her up close to the wall. The handgun looked so out of place in her grasp.

“Let’s do this.” Travis strode ahead of Mason.

People were running this way and that. Bursts of muzzle-fire lit up the windows. At least two were busted out already. Men in suits and women in evening gowns scampered for cars or took cover behind anything bigger than a garbage can.

They made it all the way to the entrance across from the building where they’d broken in that morning before any opposition appeared.

Two men stepped into the doorway, guns up.

Mason and Travis fired in unison, the bodies dropped, and they never slowed down.

Mason entered the building first, Travis at his back. A man sat behind a desk, a glasses-wearing, no-combat sort of person. He squeaked, held up his hands, and jabbered so fast Mason couldn’t understand him.

Travis shot the guy with a non-lethal tranq dart, the only one they had. Smoke leaked out from under the door, stinging Mason’s nose. Something was on fire, and in a place this big, with people they knew were trapped—that wasn’t a good sign.