Is it safe to move forward now?
Gabe picked up another chair and threw it through the glass. Nothing happened, but that didn’t prove the approach was safe.
Go in low,Matt advised.Very low.
He demonstrated by dropping to the concrete and belly-crawling across the threshold, where he disappeared from view. Gabe felt his stomach muscles tighten as he waited for word from inside.
Finally, Matt spoke.I’m in a large sitting room. I’m moving to the side and staying down.
One by one, the team belly-crawled into the house and spread out around the large room.
Is it safe to stand up?Rachel asked.
I think there’s nothing else dangerous in here.Gabe cautiously stood—followed by the others.
I know where he is,Rachel said.Before we go there, I suggest we have a plan.
I was thinking of a way to totally disable him,Gabe answered.
Let’s hear it,Jake demanded.
It could be risky
Let’s hear it,Jake repeated.
They conferred in low voices for several minutes, evaluating and refining Gabe’s idea.
It’s dangerous for whoever takes point,Rachel said.
Yeah, that’s why I’m going to do it,Gabe shot back.
I don’t think you’re the most effective candidate,Olivia objected.
Who is?he demanded.
If he could see Travis, it would be him. But in this case, I think it has to be me.
She was the closest to a hallway that led toward the front of the house. Gabe was still trying to formulate an objection to her plan when he saw her start to take a step.
No,he shouted in a blast that would have shattered eardrums if he’d been speaking aloud.
Leaping up, he threw her to the floor less than a second before a hail of bullets came down the hall.
He lay on top of her, his heart pounding. In the moment he’d realized the trap, terror had almost paralyzed him. But he’d pushed past it. Now he pressed her down, keeping her from getting up as Jake and Matt circled toward the doorway. Matt grabbed a lamp and threw it into the hallway. Nothing happened, but nobody was taking any chances after the near-fatal barrage.
Gabe pulled Olivia to the side, keeping her from standing as the others stayed low, moving into the hall. There were no more bursts of gunfire.
Can I sit up?Olivia asked in a shaky voice.
Yeah.
He did the same, and their eyes met.
Gabe, I...
In that moment, a wealth of emotions zinged back and forth between them, but there was no time to talk about it now. They were in the house of a man who had ordered their deaths as casually as he might have ordered a take-out pizza. And he could well have the means to do it again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
