Page 32 of Abducted

This motherfucker was going down.

Fury burned in his stomach. He let go of the handle and the door opened. Cal stepped back and shot his foot out, catching the man in the chest. He flew back into the hall. People screamed and leaped over him. Cal grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back onto the floor. The door slammed behind him. The man wheezed and struggled for breath. Cal disabled his weapon and turned it on him. With his free hand, he pulled his mask off.

Dark, curly hair pasted to his forehead and scalp.

He shoved the gun into his neck. “Who hired you?” His voice was cold, void of emotion. Cal’s pulse beat steadily in his throat.

The man stiffened but remained silent.

“I’ll blow your head off without blinking an eye. Now, tell me,” Cal growled.

He licked his lips. “His name is Will. I don’t know his last name.”

Good enough. Cal slammed the butt of the gun into the man’s temple.

His head snapped to the side and his lights went out.

“Cal!” Lana’s scream spilt the air, cutting through him with the sharpness of a razor blade. He jerked his head up. A man had her back pressed to his chest, an arm locked across her throat. He held the barrel of a gun pressed to the delicate spot at her temple.

His heart slammed into his chest. His breath hung in the air. Lana’s creamy face turned gray. Her hand clawed at the black-clothed arm that held her, her toes barely touched the ground. His blood turned to ice.

He charged.

The man’s cold, dead eyes found Cal’s through the cutout holes of his mask. “One more move and she’s dead.” He began stepping backward, heading for the other exit at the end of the hall. Cal froze. The man’s eyes never left his face. If he so much as raised his gun, the man could get a shot off in a millisecond, putting a bullet in her head before he could even fire.

Lana’s eyes flew to his. Her lips firmed. From here, he could see her temper flare. His stomach flipped over.

No, no, no.

In one swift movement, she threw herself back against the man, then forward. It was just enough to throw his step off with the need to reposition her. She wriggled her arm away and slammed her elbow into his stomach.

“Get down!” Cal bellowed.

She threw herself to the floor. Cal fired. Two bullets ripped through the air. The first bullet took out the man’s knee. The second hit him in the throat.

Cal tore down the hall. Lana lay unmoving against the wall, her head down. “Lana,” he breathed as he dropped to her side. She pushed herself to her knees. He pulled her against him. His chest constricted. He could have lost her. In one moment, she could have been dead. One wrong move, had one thing gone differently, had she not fought back… Every scenario flashed through his mind. He dropped his face to her hair. His arms locked tighter around her.

“Cal.” Her voice was small, strained.

He pulled her away to search her over. “Are you okay, baby?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

He cupped her face. “You scared the hell out of me.” He smothered the bite in his voice. How could he be mad when she was the one who’d given him the opportunity to shoot the sonofabitch? “Good job, honey.” A small smile flitted through her glossy eyes. “Let’s go. Don’t look down at him, okay? He’s dead.”

Eyes huge and somber, she swallowed and let him pull her to her feet. He kept her tight against his side and moved past the dead body and the pools of blood that soaked into the oriental rug.

The other stairwell was clear other than the odd straggler. After three more flights, they made it to the basement. Cal kept Lana hidden in the safety of the stairwell while he opened the door to the Parkade. He scanned the parked cars, looking for signs of a threat. It was still.

His hand reached for hers and he pulled her after him, keeping her close. She hadn’t said another word. His jaw worked. He hated that she’d been exposed to that. Now she’d seen him murder someone without batting an eye. For him, this was normal. For her, all sense of normalcy had been shattered. There was no weight on his conscience over the man’s death. Those days of remorse had long since passed.

He hustled them through the parked cars, and stopped when he reached his truck. With Lana’s hand still snug in his, he opened the passenger door and lifted her in.

“Cal, I can get in myself.” She took the seat belt from his hand and secured it. Her chin lifted. Shadows lined her eyes, but she sharpened her gaze on him. “I’m fine.”

She was tough. Her hands twisted in her lap, belying her words. Admiration swelled in his chest. “That’s my girl.” He pressed a kiss to her pouty lips, shut the door, and went around to the driver’s side.

He had to get them out of there. Although he hadn’t smelt smoke, that didn’t mean there hadn’t been a fire. Will’s men could have pulled the fire alarm, but Cal suspected they would more likely have started one as a distraction. One man was down, but Cal hadn’t had the chance to take care of the other. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he eased them out onto the street. “Are you okay?” He turned to her. The hood still shielded her face, her legs now tucked beneath her.

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