Page 70 of Baby One Last Time
The comms dropped for a second. The next voice I heard was Mai’s. “I’ll cover Bond.” She was officially my favorite sharpshooter and the second-best crewmate ever. “Do what you need to do, Cynthia. We’re on our way.”
My team was coming. I trusted them to save my ass while I saved Derek’s. I laid down my pistol, positioning it so I could grab it quickly if I needed it, and opened my first aid kit. I cut a long swath of bandage and wrapped it around his shin just below his knee. Pulling a short stick from my pack, made just for this purpose, I knotted it into the bandage and twisted, hoping to cut off just enough blood supply to staunch the bleeding, but not so much that I caused permanent damage to his leg.
The soaked bandage over his wound made it impossible for me to tell whether the bleeding had slowed. I wanted to repack it, to add a pad and more gauze, but a tiny sound, something human and close, came from the hallway.
I grabbed my pistol and crouched in front of Derek. The gun slipped in my bloody hands, and I quickly wiped them against my pant leg, recovered my grip, and held my position.
A figure appeared in the doorway. Bond. I nearly dropped my heavy arms in relief. But there was something off... A too-tight set of her jaw. The tiniest sideways flick of her gaze. It was easy to read. She wasn’t alone, and the person with her wasn’t one of us.
Light glinted at her side and my heart did a double-beat. I spotted the edge of a blade. At least it wasn’t a gun. Probably.
“Hey Bond,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“What the...” TJ sputtered through the comms, then caught on. “Bond’s not alone.”
“Just one minute,” I said, pretending to be speaking to Bond, “and you can come into the room and help me.”
“They’re still in the hallway,” TJ announced on the comms. “Lee, you in position?”
“Almost,” my partner told the team.
“Drop it,” a voice demanded. Beecher stepped into my view.
Bond’s eyes were wide with concern, but not terror. A good sign. If she stayed calm, it was more likely he would, too.
“I’m putting it down,” I said. “And sliding it in your direction.” I laid it on the ground and nudged it with my foot, close enough to the doorway so he could see it, but too far for him to lunge for it. If he didn’t have a firearm, I wasn’t keen on providing him with one.
Beecher shoved Bond through the doorway, using her as a shield. He appeared to be alone, which meant his body man could be anywhere. Well, shit.
I held my hands up in the universal sign of surrender. “I just want to get all of us out—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Beecher said.
All right. Negotiation was not on the table.
Then again, none of us were dead yet, so...
I watched his breathing, his tight-set mouth, his darting eyes. He wasn’t a killer. I would stake my life on it. What I didn’t much care for was that I was about to stake three lives on it.
“Let’s just all get out of here alive,” I said.
I glanced at Bond. Her shoulders hitched down a fraction of an inch. Proof that she followed my thinking and trusted my instincts.
“What do you have in mind?” he said, scowling at me.
It was an honest question.
“You need a hostage, that’s fine. You can take me.”
He shook his head. “Too much risk in the handoff. This one works fine for me. But you’re going to raise your hands nice and high while she picks up that gun—by the handle, sweetheart—and hands it to me.”
Arming himself. He wasn’t a killer and didn’t want to shoot his way out of here, but he would if he thought that was his only play. He needed another option and didn’t seem capable of coming up with it on his own. My brain started clicking through possibilities.
Another second and I might have thought of something to offer him. But Beecher’s body man arrived. He stepped into the room beside his boss. It took no time—and no brainpower—to see this guy had no qualms about killing. Likely the only reason we weren’t already dead was because he was trying to decide who to shoot first. I’d make it easy for him. My only hope of surviving was Mai keeping her promise. I trusted her.
I caught Bond’s eye for a split second, and hoped to God she understood. Then I jumped to my feet, blocked Derek, and drew Body Man’s attention. Bond wrenched away from Beecher and dropped to the floor. Right on time, a projectile made impact with Body Man’s skull. The sound of shattering glass caught up with the bullet that had broken it a fraction of a second later. Body Man fell forward at my feet, dead on impact.
I whirled around to focus on Derek. The cacophony had roused him. He stirred and muttered my name. Movement behind me made me turn around again, too late. Beecher ran out of the room, disappearing into the shadowy hallway. Another of Mai’s shots rang out, then a third and a fourth.
