Page 82 of Hostile Love
Ahead of me there are two automatic doors that don’t open when I rush up to them. Thumping a green button on the wall, they mechanically part and give me access to a never-ending wide corridor.
There's nowhere to take cover.
Wall mounted handrails sit below big glass windows on either side. Sunlight saturates the gray vinyl sheet flooring. In the distance, an unlit, shadowy lobby must be where the elevator bank is located.
I stick to the edge and sprint towards the dim light, finding two elevators and a plastic board indicating the departments on each level sandwiched in between.
An annoying alarm blares from inside the elevator shaft, and I remember the nurse had said they weren’t operational.
A knot tightens behind my ribs. If the bodyguard was a traitor, and the girls were stuck in an elevator with him––they could be dead already.
24
DANIELA
I press my ear to the first set of metal doors and listen. From deep inside, voices mutter, followed by intermittent banging.
Beneath my balaclava, the hairs on my nape rise. I feel eyes burn into me. Someone’s watching.
Turning clockwise in a circle, I take in my surroundings, but don’t see anyone nearby. Further down the corridor there’s an abandoned cleaning cart, a parked wheelchair, and more doors leading to fuck knows where.
This hospital is like a rabbit burrow.
Adjacent to the elevators is an emergency exit sign. A narrow glass in the door beneath appears to be black with no light behind it.
I couldn’t be certain if the people stuck in the elevator are Carina and India. However, if I had to bet on it, I’d say it’s them.
Suddenly there’s a whirring noise from inside the lift shaft and the overhead lights flicker on, then off. At the same time, the elevator doors judder apart, and three sets of wide eyes lock onto my covered face.
Inside, the guy sporting an immaculate crew cut and a dark five o’clock shadow draws a gun and steps in front of the two women.
By the time his tattooed arm is out straight, I’ve already taken aim at his face.
He bares white teeth in a snarl and takes a confident step forward. A short-sleeved floral shirt wraps his muscular torso and cream fitted cargo shorts are well filled.
Diamond studs twinkle in his ears and dark brows tug together.
“Back the fuck up!”
He glares at me, not showing a single shred of fear at the threat of my suppressed firearm.
“Wait…” One of the girls steps out from behind him. Her sunshine blonde hair and wide ocean blue eyes look familiar.
The naturally pretty features of a young girl I’d protected in the past are warm and friendly.
“I recognize the symbol…Buffalo, right?” India sets her hand on the man’s arm. “She’s one of us, Letterman.”
His jaw flexes and his eyes trail up and down my leather clad body.
“She?”
“Yeah…it’s Mat’s girl.”
I almost smile as the words leave her mouth. Letterman mutters something undetectable, and I catch a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye.
My aim swerves right and I lock onto the figure in the distance.
“Get them out of here!” I bite out just as a bullet soars towards us.
