Page 24 of Raven's Curse
“I’ll always have your six, but…” He inched forward, his own flashlight cutting through the shadows. “I’ll take point. Assuming you’re not planning on putting a slug in my ass.”
“Maybe later. For now, I’ve got your back.”
Chapter Seven
He couldn’t lose her.
That was the only thing going through Chase’s mind as he stared at Greer, her green eyes shining in the yellowed light.
Point or sweep…
He still couldn’t believe she’d asked. Given him the choice. Hell, that she’d allowed him to come at all. Especially after the distance he’d put between them — physically there and yet completely removed. Then he’d suggested she’d knowingly kept them in the dark because she hadn’t wanted to share any theory where Rhett’s death wasn’t the only objective.
He’d been wrong, and that one mistake had cost him the fragile hold he’d had on her heart. She hadn’t said those words, but he’d noticed the way she’d looked at him. As if she wasn’t sure if he cared.
He wasn’t proud of his behavior but…
Losing Rhett…
It had scarred him in a way even Sean’s death hadn’t. Left him questioning his skill. His damn worth. Aware that if he didn’t deserve happiness, he sure as shit didn’t deserve Greer. Not until he found some semblance of redemption.
If he found it.
Chase pushed the thoughts out of his head. He could worry about a future if they still had one after clearing the nursing home. If he didn’t let her down the way he’d let down Rhett.
He started down the hallway, pausing at each half-open door. The faint glow from the various monitors highlighted the mounded bodies hidden beneath sheets and blankets, the machines’ batteries still pumping oxygen and marking out heart rates, each beep reverberating in the stillness. Greer shadowed his every move, constantly checking their six — watching both directions whenever he darted into a room to clear recesses not visible from the doorway.
A voice murmured farther down the hallway, wheelchairs and IV stands slowly materializing out of the dark, the flashlights casting distorted shadows across the floor. Her soft treads sounded in the stillness, lingering in the thick air.
Chase stopped at the last room, that voice sounding from inside. Greer nodded when he showed the countdown, busting through the door once he’d reached one. The man on the bed twitched, muttering a few words without opening his eyes before drifting back off. A spiderweb of lines and tubes wove across the headboard trailing to the monitors beyond. A single tray lay upside down on the floor.
Comatose ward his ass.
A creak.
Close.
What sounded like hinges groaning in protest, a soft whoosh following a few seconds later. They backtracked to the hallway, bouncing the beam along the far wall until they found the elevator and stairwell Faraday had mentioned.
Chase ran the beam across the silver doors, then across the exit to the stairwell before glancing at Greer. “Not that I’d take the elevator if it was even an option, but… you still good with clearing the lower level?”
“There’s no way I’m leaving here until I know we’ve checked for any possible threat, so crack that emergency door open.”
He studied her for a moment, admiring the determined line of her back. How she stood there, weapon ready, muscles primed, prepared for whatever waited behind the thick metal door. The woman was incredible.
He took a breath, counted to three, then shoved the door open. Greer swept onto the platform, clearing the immediate area before scanning the steps below. He darted in beside her, covering the door as it whooshed shut before scouring the stairs.
Movement.
Not much. More a shifting of the shadows at the bottom. Just like in the abandoned hospital. That ominous prickling along the back of his neck in full force. He traced the railing. Waited.
A scuffed black boot crept into the light, same one he’d spied last night right before the bastard had launched that attack.
Chase grabbed Greer and yanked her back, hitting the far wall a second before bullets sprayed up the stairwell, ricocheting off the railing and into the walls. He covered her head against his chest, darting out to fire down the stairwell after the first wave. More footsteps tapped below him, the lower door opened and closed.
Greer shoved him, and they took off, racing down the stairs two at a time. He paused at the bottom, checked behind the stairs, then moved to the door.
He motioned for her to open it, arching his brow when she narrowed her eyes. “You got to go first upstairs.”
