Page 18 of K-9 Guardians

A trio of beeps echoed through the warehouse and singed every nerve King owned. “What the hell was that?”

“The security system. It’s back online.” Scarlett cast the flashlight beam down the row of boxes that didn’t seem to have an end. “They know we’re here.”

Chapter Seven

The lights flared to life and blinded her for a split second.

The first bullet barely missed Scarlett’s head.

The box at her left hit the floor from the impact and scattered ten baby dolls at her feet. Big wide eyes stared up at her. Hans and Gruber growled in unison, and every muscle down Scarlett’s back hardened in battle-ready defense. A wash of adrenaline had her reaching for King. “Get down!”

She used her body weight to pull him to the floor, dragging him beneath her. The second bullet cut through the maze of boxes and pinged off the support column less than two feet from her. Right where he would’ve been standing.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” King’s breath mixed with hers. “Underneath me in the morgue, on top of me here. You’re insatiable.”

“Glad to know where your head is at.” She rolled to her right. They couldn’t stay here. Not without catching the next bullet. “The blueprints of this place outlined an emergency exit on the north side of the building. I can get you there, but I need you to do everything I say. Understand?”

Hans and Gruber were at the ready. Just waiting for her to give the command, but Scarlett wasn’t interested in facing off with the cartel in a last stand to the death. Her job was to get them all out alive.

“I’m not leaving.” King punctuated the three words by cokcing a round into the barrel of his sidearm. “I need to know if Julien is here.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Low shouts echoed through the maze of aisles and stacks. Four distinct voices so far. Most likely more. The potential carved through her, hiking her heart rate higher until it was all she could hear. “We’re in enemy territory. Outnumbered and outmanned. And the only way we’re leaving this warehouse alive is if we go right now. Winding up dead doesn’t help anyone, King.”

“I’m not leaving without my son.” An energy Scarlett used to recognize in herself lit up his eyes. Determination. Desperation. The line between the two was thinner than most people thought. He maneuvered into a crouch, weapon in hand, and chanced standing a bit taller to gauge the situation. “Where are the offices?”

“You don’t have to do this.” She hated the words coming out of her mouth. Hated the tension combing through her, the dryness at the back of her throat. She’d trained on blood-soaked battlefields and handled security that saved thousands of lives over the course of her military career. But she didn’t want to do this.

Scarlett leveraged her heels into the cement floor, pressing her back against the nearest stack of boxes. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t get herself to move. What the hell was happening? “We have an evidence bag of pills. We can take what we know to the DEA and Socorro. We don’t have to do this alone.”

“Where are they, Scarlett?” His tone shut down any chance of changing his mind. Locking that hard gaze on her, King shook his head. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. I’ll find the offices myself.”

He kept low as he cut down the nearest aisle.

“Wait.” The sinking feeling in her stomach wouldn’t let up. She reached after King but only met thin air. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were a team. But she couldn’t make herself move. Even as those low shouts got closer.

He vanished into another row, out of sight.

Leaving her to fight alone.

Hans practically vibrated from her next growl. Louder. A warning.

“Move, damn it.” Scarlett knocked her head back into a box in hopes of resetting her brain. She couldn’t stay here. Sliding one hand farther out, she focused everything she had on going after King. He was going to get himself killed. Too blind to protect himself with only the slightest chance of protecting his son.

Movement registered off to her right at the head of the aisle. Gruber barked a split second before Scarlett’s instincts brought the weapon up. She squeezed her finger around the trigger. A spray of bullets shot into the ceiling as the gunman fell backward.

Her position was compromised.

“Okay.” She could do this. She had to do this. And she had to do it now. Scarlett shoved to her feet and took that initial step in King’s wake. This was what she was trained for. What she was good at. She wasn’t going to let him do it alone. Her feet felt heavier than they should have as she whistled for Hans and Gruber to follow. “I’m coming.”

Another burst of gunfire exploded from somewhere else in the warehouse. Her entire nervous system homed on that sound. She picked up the pace. “King.”

Return fire—deeper in tone—cut through the chaos. He was still alive. She could still make this right between them. Scarlett slowed at the end of the aisle.

A fist rocketed into her face.

Lightning struck behind her eyes. She fell back. Pain launched into her elbows as she failed to cushion her impact.

Hans and Gruber didn’t wait for an order, launching forward. The attacker’s scream bounced off the warehouse’s metal walls as each Doberman took a piece of the cartel soldier for themselves. Stumbling to her feet, Scarlett struggled to breathe through the blood cascading down her face. Her nose was broken.“Hier.”Come.

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