Page 79 of Off the Grid
“I’m almost there. I’m turning onto your street.”
“Leo,” she whispered. “I—I’m scared.”
The vulnerability in her voice broke his heart. “I’ll sav—”
He was cut off by a round of bullets, then the crash of what he knew was the door caving in. A man shouted as though in pain—maybe McKenzie had managed to get him. There was grunting, breathing, the sound of her scream, then another deep groan.
As soon as he reached her building, Leo slammed on the brakes so hard the air burned. He tore out the door and shouted orders to the six NYPD officers gathered outside. “We have an active shooter, possible hostage situation. I want two on the front entrance to the building, two on the fire escape—I don’t know where it is. Find it. And I want two with my partner and me. We’re going in now.”
Everyone fell in line.
It felt wrong to run headfirst into danger without Nate by his side, but Tommy was a good backup. Former military, like Leo, so there was an ease between them he might not have had with someone else. They understood each other the way only two vets could. As they waited for the elevator, Tommy tossed Leo a bulletproof vest he’d brought from the car. No one said anything—they didn’t need to. They were all trained professionals, and to act otherwise would be a disservice to them. When the doors opened, they stepped inside.
Leo pressed the button for her floor and watched the numbers slowly tick up. Funny how the last time he’d stood in this very spot, he’d been tired and annoyed, unable to see past the expensive fittings and the pretentious doorman, ready to get it over with. Now, he felt as if his entire life waited on the other side of those metal doors.
They opened.
Leo’s eyes immediately focused on the door hanging off its hinges at the end of the hall, but he didn’t run—he kept his composure. He wasn’t alone this time. Using hand signals to communicate, he and Tommy went in first, leaving the two officers to follow as cover.
Leo heard her before he saw her.
A feminine grunt slipped around the corner, the sound of her struggling. Leo pressed his back to the wall and craned his neck to get a view down the hall, quickly analyzing the scene. A man stood by her bedroom door, attempting to guard it, but he was looking over his shoulder, mumbling something. Inside the room, McKenzie was splayed chest-down across her bed, struggling. A man leaned over her, pressing his knee to her spine to hold her down while he tied her wrists. His handgun rested on the edge of the bed next to McKenzie. A black sack covered her head. The third man wasn’t within eyesight, but he was presumably still in the master bathroom where McKenzie had been hiding. Leo couldn’t see that far into the room, but it was possible she’d gotten a slice in with that broken piece of mirror.
He slipped back behind the wall before any of the men had a chance to spot him. The element of surprise was all he had.
Two men in sight, he signaled.I’ll take the first. Follow behind with cover. No eyes on possible third target.
Leo spared a moment to take a deep breath, steeling his nerves.
Then he charged.
“Drop your weapons!”
Obviously, they didn’t listen. The lead man lifted his gun—it was the only thing Leo needed to see before he fired. One shot to the head. The man was down by the time Leo reached the door and ran through. The second man was too slow—his fingers fought with the rope he’d been tying around McKenzie’s wrists. Leo dove, catching him around the midsection before his palm found its weapon. They slammed into a tangled heap on the floor, struggling for dominance. Shots were fired, but Leo let his training take over, focusing on his own fight, not letting anything distract him. He slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s head, trying to knock him out rather than shoot him. He wanted one alive—he wanted answers. The man shook off the blow, but he was stunned long enough for Leo to roll over and secure him facedown beneath him. He grabbed the cuffs in his waistband. The man struggled, but Leo had already won. Cinching the cuffs around the jerk’s wrists was just the final, satisfying blow.
“I have one target down and one target secure,” he shouted to the room, not lifting off the second man’s back until he spotted the gun that had fallen off the bed. Leo emptied the clip and threw the now-useless weapon onto the ground.
“Third target down.”
It was done.
The uneasy knot that had been coiling tighter and tighter these past few days unraveled in an instant. She was safe. She’d be safe.
It was finally done.
Leo jumped up so fast it was a wonder he didn’t get a head rush and untied the knots around McKenzie’s wrists. He tugged the bag off her head, and before he knew it, she was in his arms, burying her head in his chest as she trembled and held him with all the strength she had left. One of his hands gripped her waist. The other dug into her hair.
“Shh,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead, because he couldn’t keep from touching her. She didn’t seem to mind. McKenzie melted against him as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. It’s over. It’s over.”
He didn’t know how long they sat in the middle of that bed, separate from the rest of the world, before McKenzie finally found the strength to lift her head from his chest and meet his eyes. She sniffled, trying to stifle her tears. “You want to know something crazy, Leo?”
He drew his brows in.Crazier than this? Two dead bodies, and hitmen, and bullets flying all over the place?“What?”
McKenzie swallowed. Her eyes narrowed, as though she was trying to make sense of her own thoughts. “I knew you’d come.”
“Of course I came.”
“No,” she said with a slight shake of her head, her voice laced with yearning. There was something important she wanted—no,needed—him to understand. They were back in that dark house, surrounded by candlelight, the only two people in the world, baring their souls—except this time, the bright light of day reflected off her irises. “Before you called, before we spoke, before you got here, I just knew. The second I realized who was after me, I knew you’d stop them. I knew it like I know the sky is blue, like I know the grass is green, like it was an undeniable truth. I knew you wouldn’t abandon me. And I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way before, Leo. Not with anyone in my entire life.”
