Page 25 of K-9 Guardians

She helped Julien into the back seat and fastened his seat belt. She had to keep her word. Rounding to the cargo area, she laid Hans—still breathing—across the carpeted space as Gruber jumped inside to settle down next to his sister. Any second Muñoz would order his men to expand the search area. They’d be found. They had to leave. Now.

But Scarlett couldn’t help but slow when she caught sight of Julien with his hand pressed against the window. Waiting for King to be right behind them as he’d promised. Why was it people always said that?I’ll be right behind you.Knowing the circumstances would force them to lie?

She followed Julien’s line of sight to the side door of the warehouse that nearly blended in with the metal sheeting. All but for a single overhead light outlining the exit. Two seconds. Three.

King wasn’t coming through that door.

He wasn’t going to be able to keep his promise.

Unless she helped him.

Scarlett collected the remaining ammunition and her backup pistol from the cargo area, her mind made up. Gruber would kill anyone who tried to get into this vehicle. She reached for the Doberman, sliding her thumb across his head.“Pass auf.”Stand alert.

Setting her palm against Hans’s rib cage, Scarlett took in the K9’s heat to settle the nerves trying to win out over her determination. “Take care of them. Okay?” She grabbed for the steel Hux tool all Socorro operatives carried to get through push bar doors in case of emergency. Two wedged prongs would create a gap between the locking mechanism and the frame while the solid length of the tool gave her leverage to pry it open from the outside. Not entirely legal. But useful.

“Julien, I want you to stay in the SUV. No matter what happens, don’t open this car door for anyone but me. Okay? I’m going to get your dad. I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t wait for an answer. King didn’t have that kind of time. She slammed the cargo area closed and locked the running vehicle. Couldn’t have the state taking Julien from her because she’d left him in a hot locked car. The air conditioning would keep him cool enough. Scarlett tucked the tool beneath her arm as she loaded a fresh magazine into her weapon and faced off with the warehouse, every nerve in her body on fire.

She moved fast, closing the distance between her and the exit. Couldn’t go back the same way they’d gone in before. Muñoz and the rest of the cartel were already on alert. She leveraged her shoulder against the metal sheeting of the warehouse, the absorbed heat of the day working bone-deep.

She glanced back at the SUV, imagining Julien watching her through the heavily tinted bulletproof glass. She could do this. She had to do this. For that boy. And for King.

Holstering her weapon, Scarlett angled away from the building and inserted the Hux tool between the door latch and the frame. A gap in the frame increased with every pull. Until the door snapped free altogether. She slid the tool along her forearm. Bracing herself for what came next. Aches pulsed in her face from the last time she’d squared off with the soldiers on the other side of this door, but it wasn’t going to stop her now.

Scarlett breached into quiet. As though the entire warehouse were waiting for her to come in far enough so they could jump out and yell,Surprise!But there wasn’t going to be cake at the end of this party.

She kept her back pressed against the nearest shelf, moving slower than she wanted to. Taking in every change around her. Where was King?

Movement caught in her peripheral vision from a gap between shelves in the aisle off to her right. Coming straight at her if she didn’t move fast. Forcing her legs to pick up the pace, she jogged to meet the soldier leading with an assault rifle aimed level for anyone who got in his way.

Scarlett’s knees protested as she crouched. One bullet would end this for all of them. She had to stay alive. Work smarter, not harder.

Wire shelves bit into the sensitive skin at the back of her neck as she waited. The soldier’s boot crossed into the aisle.

Scarlett let the air out of her chest. And swung up with everything she had. The Hux knocked the rifle straight up, and a spray of bullets exploded into the ceiling. Like fireworks. Though this wasn’t as pretty.

The soldier shoved her off.

She hit the floor and rolled, pulling her sidearm in the process. “Where is Agent Elsher?”

A low laugh and incredibly crooked teeth made dread pool at the base of her spine. Seemed this soldier liked to partake of the cartel’s supply. He pulled an oversize blade from his back, swaying it back and forth in front of her. “You know the twenty-one-foot rule?”

Twenty-one feet. It wasn’t as much as civilians might assume, but the rule was simple enough. Would she be able to get a shot off before he stabbed that blade through her? “I work for a security company. I’m pretty sure they taught that on the first day.”

A gunshot exploded from behind the soldier, and his expression deadened right before her eyes. He collapsed to his knees. The blade pinged off the cement just before he fell face first. Revealing King standing behind him, weapon raised.

Sweat and blood and exhaustion clung to every inch of him as King’s gun hand fell to his side. “You’re not...supposed to be here.”

Scarlett collected the discarded assault rifle from the floor, running to meet him. Another round of shouts told her there were more cartel members on the way. It was a big warehouse. No way to tell how many members were inside, but she didn’t want to wait around to find out.

Slinging the weapon around her chest, she tucked herself underneath his left arm to keep King from eating the floor against his will. “I came to make sure you keep your promise to that kid.”

“Where’s Julien?” Two words made his priorities clear, and she had to admire that. He hadn’t just taken on caring for a ten-year-old because a social worker and society expected him to step up as a father. He’d done it out of love. Raw, undying love for someone he barely knew.

“Safe. Come on. We need to get you out of here before you bleed out all over.” She took the majority of his weight, in addition to her Kevlar and the rest of her gear. Her legs screamed for relief, but she’d trained and operated under worse circumstances. This was just a warm-up.

“Do me a favor.” King shuffled forward at her lead.

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