Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“Got the blueprints,” Matthias announced in our earpieces.
When we paused, I wiped my sweaty palms on my trousers and pulled on my gloves. The long-sleeved shirt and vest were saturated, and I fought the urge to pull them away from my skin.
“South entrance goes directly into the bays, three side by side. Sixty by thirty. Two offices and a bathroom along the north wall. East and north entrances go directly into the bays, west entrance into the office.”
“They’ve got four exit doors?” Chance asked dubiously, his voice barely audible.
“Guess they need to be able to run,” Josiah replied. “Idiots.”
“Set,” I breathed as we reached the east door. I reached out and found the knob turned easily. I held it as we waited.
“Set,” Beau whispered.
“Set,” Finau said. I nearly jolted with surprise. It was the first time he’d spoken since before we’d left the house, and I hadn’t even remembered that he had a comm.
“Execute,” Matthias ordered.
When we entered the building, there were four men sitting off to the side, closer to the northern door and between us and the offices.
Chance opened fire from across the room before I could, and two dropped instantly. A third tried to run, and I hit him in the thigh. He tripped over a chair and fell with a crash. The van was parked in the center of the room, and I headed straight for it, even though I had a feeling no one was there. Throwing open the door, I found smeared blood, but no Charlie.
Someone had taken down the fourth man while I searched, and we cleared the rest of the room quickly. The man I’d hit in the thigh was moaning on the concrete floor, and I stopped long enough to tie a tourniquet around his thigh.
“You take this off, you’ll be dead before you can call for help,” I told him flatly. His face had already been mangled. His nose was broken, and one of his eyes was almost swollen shut.
He gasped and glared at me.
“Ulf,” Beau called.
I rose back to my feet and met my brothers at the far edge of the room.
The bathroom was clear, and so was the office on the left. Taking a deep breath, I slammed my boot against the locked doorknob and watched in satisfaction as it flew open.
Danny stayed outside the door to make sure there weren’t any surprises, while Beau, Chance, and I moved inside with precision built from years of working as a team.
Charlie was tied up on the floor. The ropes on his ankles were tied with a short lead to the ones on his wrists, and his back was curved so sharply that I winced as I hurried over to cut him free.
“How many?” I asked as I pulled the gag in his mouth down his chin.
“I saw three, but I heard four,” he replied, letting out a low groan when I cut through the ropes, and the pressure on his joints disappeared.
I helped him to his feet and turned to find my brothers untying a woman on an office chair in the corner of the room. She was dirty and had a split lip when they pulled the gag off, but she didn’t seem to be any worse off than that.
“We’re getting you out of here,” Chance said, crouching in front of her. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
The woman shook her head.
Her gaze went from Chance to me, then to Charlie, then to Beau.
“Sorry,” Beau said as he carefully cut the ropes that held her arms to the chair. He glanced over his shoulder. “Where the fuck is Finau?”
Chance’s head snapped up from looking at the ropes on her ankles.
“We haven’t seen him,” Charlie said, looking toward the doorway.
“Finau, check in,” I ordered into the comm.
“Looks like Finau’s comm is offline,” Matthias reported grimly.
“What the fuck?” Chance asked as he rose to his feet.
“Sorry again,” Beau said gently as he reached for the woman’s legs.
“Why do you keep apologizing?” she asked hoarsely, rubbing her wrists.
I took a few steps closer to get a better look, just as Beau wrapped a hand around her ankle.
The woman didn’t even flinch.
Staring, I looked her over. This woman wasn’t Latina. Even sitting, I could tell that she wasn’t five feet tall, and her body would’ve been considered more muscular than curvy by anyone’s definition.
“Your mate sent us to get you,” I told her, hoping for a reaction. Hoping I was remembering wrong.
Her hazel eyes shifted between Chance and me, then down at Beau. “What are you talking about?”
“Finau,” Chance said, his body perfectly still. “Billy Finau.”
She stared at us, relief turning into confusion. “I don’t know who that is.”
“She isn’t sweating,” Charlie noticed.
“Fuck,” Chance barked, making the woman flinch back in her seat just as Beau pulled the ropes from her ankles.
I’d barely blinked when suddenly the woman was out of the chair, and Beau was staggering backward. She jumped and slid over the desk, landing behind it, her hand wrapped around the beer bottle that had been lying on the top. Without flinching, she hit it against the edge of the desk, making it into a weapon.