Page 69 of Love Undercover
“Travers,” Santiago snapped.
Rat Face was practically salivating, but he shifted his focus to the bigger man.
Santiago’s gaze was heavy and dark as they rested on his minion. “I need you to take our guest to her room while I make a phone call.”
She sucked in a breath and visibly recoiled when Travers’s eager expression transferred back to her.
“Donottouch her,“ Santiago warned, a dark and sinister note infusing his voice. Because he sensed it too—Travers’ desire to put his hands on her again.
She’d known it when he’d touched her before. His hands had been hungry and violent. He’d been rough, even in the few minutes he’d gotten, and she knew he liked to hurt others for his own pleasure.
She shrank back when he drew near to her. He obeyed his master, though his lip curled in frustration at the fact.
28
Tactical Advantage
Chase would have to hoof it with his duffel, clinging to the meager treeline of the copse along the drive to hide himself as best he could. He swung the duffel over his shoulder and crept across the road, down into a ditch, and back up to the cluster of thin trees. It wouldn’t keep him totally invisible, but it helped.
Moving swiftly, he kept lower to the ground and stepped as lightly as he could. His eyes swept back and forth in search of another body in the growing darkness, then he checked hiswatch. Fifteen minutes before the time Santiago had demanded he show.
No sign of another person on the grounds. Seemed stupid on Santiago’s part. But if this was unsanctioned, as he suspected it was, Santiago’s resources were limited. He didn’t have the endless supply of mercenaries that were on Zim’s payroll.
Chase crouched at the edge of the trees when he drew closer to the warehouse and unzipped the duffel. He took out the rope and winced as he wrapped it over his shoulder and across his chest, eyeing the building. There were high windows positioned every few yards down the length of the building. He stood and walked farther down the treeline, hoping he’d find the window that had a fire escape ladder or something in place.
He spotted it on the back side of the building. The ladder stretched only half the length to the ground, so he’d have to parkour his way to the bottom rung. If he was lucky, that window led to a closed room or something. He could handle dropping into an empty office, but he needed a sneaky way in and an access point that would give him a chance to scope out the situation inside the building.
He stuffed his pockets with extra clips of ammo, his eyes tracing every shadow in the dark. The sun was entirely gone, and he caught faint flashes of lightning in the distance. Hopefully the storm would hold off until he’d gotten Sadie out of there.
He tossed his bag back into the trees a little, making a mental note of the location, and rubbed his palms together. One hand went to the ground, and he staggered his feet, imitating a sprinter’s starting stance.
And then he stiffened, an electric pulse throbbing painfully through him when he saw the body, a black shadow against the brick wall. Someonewaspatrolling, but only by the ladder. Like they knew he might try to get in that way.
Santiago was more thorough than he’d thought.
Taking two slow, deep breaths to calm his heartbeat, he set his eyes on that window, wondering if there’d be another guy there. He’d have to chance it because it was still the best way in.
It didn’t look like the ladder guard moved far from his position. He simply walked down the end of the building and back the other way, like a shark circling its prey in water.
If he played this right, he could sneak up on the guy. Chase’s eyes traced the shape in the growing dark as he lowered back into his sprinter’s stance, waiting until the man disappeared from view.
He exhaled a slow breath and launched forward, taking off at speed. He wasn’t slow, but he was no Olympic athlete. He made it to the wall, fighting to tamp down his panting as he crept along its length until he reached the corner where the other man would be in a matter of seconds.
Pressing his back to the wall, he mentally prepped for taking the guy out. And then, for the second time, adrenaline rushed through his system as a voice squawked over a radio.
“Five-minute check,“ the voice said.
“All’s clear,” the guard on the other side of the building returned.
At least Chase knew where he was. These guys sure weren’t versed in subtlety. But what did he expect from an upper-level thug to a mobster? Santiago never needed finesse or stealth. He was the muscle.
Made it easier for Chase.
He slid around the corner of the building just as the guard had turned away, a grin sliding across his face at how easy this would be. Right after check-in, too. It was like someone was orchestrating the whole thing.
Chase pulled his gun from the holster and flipped it around so he held the barrel in his palm. Then he shuffled forward, pullinghis arm back and angling it so he could bring it down against the guard’s unprotected head.
The man made no noise. The only sound was the clunk of the gun against his skull, and then he was a heap of black clothing on the ground.
