Page 99 of Under Pressure

“The guy in black is gone,” Liam said. “We’ve got to get down there.”

“Liam, Mack,” Sean said. “You go right. Wolfe and I will go left. Knox, stay with Gray.”

Knox pointed down to the floor. Blue was untying her dad when Jonah came up behind her and grabbed her by her hair.

Of course Sean had heard the expression “seeing red” but until this moment, he’d never experienced it. It wasn’t just a vision thing; it was a whole-body thing. His muscles coiled. His teeth ground down. His heart beat at about a million miles an hour of red blood through his veins. Adrenaline pumped in his veins from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and back in a split second. And his mind raced with a billion thoughts of what he would do to Jonah once he had him in his grasp. That was seeing red.

Like a coil ready to spring, he took off like a shot down the catwalk, not caring if anyone heard his thundering footsteps. Another pop sounded as Gray took another shot. Sean barely heard it now.

Jonah and Blue disappeared behind a big bus—the front door to the building had to be on the other side of it, and there was no way Sean would beat them there taking the stairs. Keeping a steady pace, he examined the room. Cable support wires stretched across the building from the ceiling down to load supporting beams.

Sean caught sight of one near the catwalk that went down to an I-beam below. In a flash, he picked up speed, kicked off the rail on the left of the catwalk, and used it to propel himself over the side. He caught the wire with his hands, and slid down to the bus, landing on top of it with a thud.

“Let. Go. Of. Me!” Blue screamed.

“Stop fighting me, or this won’t end well for you,” Jonah snapped.

Sean slid off the side of the bus, over them, and landed in a crouch between them and the door.

Jonah pulled his weapon at the same time Sean pulled his.

“Shoot him, Sean, just shoot him!” Blue snarled, her face was red with fury, and she shook from barely contained rage. Moreblasts sounded from Gray’s gun, making Jonah more and more jittery. He turned his gun on Blue.

Screams, orders, and shots came from all around them.

“Shut. Up!” Jonah yanked her against his side until her back was flush with his front.

Everything in Sean told him to listen to Blue, but his training kicked in bringing with it reason. Sean was a good shot. Amazing even. All of the guys on their team were. But he was also fuming, and mistakes were made when emotions were high. Blue was too close to Jonah for him to feel perfectly safe that she’d be okay. So, he went to his next weapon of choice.

“You don’t want to do this, Jonah,” Sean said. “One slip up, one mistake, and I’ll drop you. You can still come out of this alive, but only if you put your gun down.”

Jonah shook his head. “Do I look like I was born yesterday? I’ve seen this in movies. If I put my gun down, you’ll shoot.”

“You idiot,” Blue seethed. “It’s the guy who doesn’t put his gun down that gets shot.”

“I don’t want to shoot you. I don’t want to kill you in front of Blue,” Sean said. “Please don’t make me do it.”

Jonah slammed the barrel of his gun against Blue’s temple, making her wince away. The idiot’s finger was on the trigger. “No, you put your gun down or I’ll shoot.”

Sean lifted the barrel of his gun, and every nerve in his body lit on fire as he watched Jonah’s finger trembling over the trigger. “Take your finger off the trigger.”

Blue stiffened up at that.

“Drop your gun,” Jonah ordered.

Slowly, Sean started to lower his gun to the floor.

Jonah laughed. “You were never good enough for her. Even now, I’m better, and yet I’ve spent the last two years living in your shadow.”

In his peripheral vision, Sean caught movement on top of the bus. Wolfe.

He kept talking to Jonah. “You’re right. I’m not good enough for her. I should have fought for her.”

Jonah slid his finger off the trigger as he continued to drag Blue along.

Sean looked Blue in the eye. Tears streamed down her cheeks now. “I should have fought for you.”

Jonah pulled the barrel an inch away from her scalp, and Sean took his chance.

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