Page 94 of Hard Wired

Dominic turned around. He’d dropped his phone to his side, looking deathly pale.

“Did you reach him?” Sylvie asked.

Dominic shook his head, his mouth a thin line.

Tanner walked over and put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. But Dominic shook him off. “I am not getting back in that car. I’m not leaving without my brother.” He took off down the hall, but he wasn’t going back toward the entrance they’d come in.

She chased after him. “Where are you going? Tanner is right. We need to get out of here.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Nic, wait.” She tried to grab his hand. He yanked himself out of her grip, whirling around.

“What are you going to do, have Tanner grab me and carry me back to the SUV? He’s welcome to try. I am not leaving here until I know what happened to Raymond. He’s the one person I was always supposed to protect, and I… He…” Dominic’s hands were shaking.

“We’ll figure out where Raymond is, and we’ll help him. But you can’t do that if the Syndicate grabs you, too.”

“I don’t care what they do to me!” Dominic’s eyes locked with hers. “There’s no point in hurting my brother, except to get to me. It’s me they really want.”

The realization washed over her. Terror followed.

He was going to trade himself for Raymond.

“Don’t do this, Nic. Please.”

“I’m sorry, Sylvie. You’ll have to shoot me if you want to stop me.”

Dominic had reached the rear exit door at the very end of the hall. “Don’t follow me,” he said over his shoulder. “Unless you want to give me a weapon, Tanner? Like a dumbass I left all of my guns at home, like you told me to.”

“Am I arming the fugitive? No thanks. I’m not doing the paperwork on that one.”

“I didn’t think so. Don’t come after me, Sylvie. Please.”

Dominic pushed the door and went outside. Where, for all they knew, the Syndicate could already be waiting.

“Shit,” she yelled.

Tanner’s large palm rested on her arm. “Let him go. If he doesn’t want to come in, he’s right. I’m not going to make him. It’s not going to be pretty when the district attorney finds out we helped him skip his bail. We’re going to have a shit ton to answer for. But if he’s running, it’s his choice. We’ll just have to let the police handle it.”

“No. I’m not letting him.” Sylvie ran after him.

“Damn it all.” Tanner kept up behind her, talking into his phone to Rex. “Yeah, the other side. Bring the car around. No, I don’t fucking know what’s going on. Call the police to report a possible kidnapping. Be careful and be ready. Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of, too.”

Please let them be okay, Sylvie thought. Both Raymond and Dominic.

Tanner dashed ahead of her, barring her path with his arm. “You know, believe it or not, being a bodyguard is usually pretty damn boring. So at least this assignment has been interesting.”

He reached into his holster and pulled out his sidearm, handing it to her. She checked the magazine. Fully loaded with .38 rounds.

“I’ll go first,” Tanner said. “Stay behind me, and if I tell you to run Sylvie, you’d better fucking run.”

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