Her phone vibrated in her hand. Throwing one last cautionary glance my way, she opened the message.
“We need to get to the south exit. Calvary is waiting.”
“That’s two floors down.”
“Right,” she said, peering through the slits overlooking a utility room. “The stairwell should be down the hall from this room.”
Silence reigned between us as she waited for my decision. I was never one to deal in chance and let my guard down, but my gut instinct was to trust her. I swallowed hard and exhaled, lowering my weapon.
“Fuck. Okay, let’s do this.” Sliding off my jacket, I wiped the sweat trickling down my forehead. “We don’t know what we’re going to run into. In case we get ambushed, if there’s a chance for you to make a run for it—”
She put a hand on my arm, features softening. “We’re both getting out of here, Eva.”
I nodded once, suddenly realizing she’d been right. I wouldn’t arrest her.
We slinked into the empty utility room, darkness our temporary cover. The small, rectangular glass on the door didn’t give much of an angle to view potential threats in the hallway, so we had to go in blind. Impossible as it was to avoid the high-pitched creak, I managed to crack the door without alerting the three armed men at the end of the unit.
“Leni,” I whispered, “I don’t know how well of a shot you are, but we’re outgunned. Make every hit count.” Bile rose in my throat at the words I was about to speak. Taking a life, even when necessary, was never something a good officer wanted to do. There were protocols in place. But these men, they weren’t here to negotiate. They were here for blood. My blood. “Kill shots.”
The whisper of a grin played on the corners of Leni’s lips, as if she’d been waiting for the green light to do exactly that. The stark realization was like a gut punch. This wasn’t her first time in a life-or-death situation. She was too cool, too confident, with a sureness that only came with experience. The fluidity of her movements and her calm demeanor hinted at one thing: Leni was a professional.
The question was—of what?
“Ready when you are,” she said, cautiously peering around the doorframe. “I’ll get the one on the right. You take out the two on the left.”
“Watch for civilians,” I warned, kneeling below Leni’s line of fire.
A bead of sweat broke away from the tip of my nose as the back of a tall man’s head centered within my sights. Two shots pierced the air, hitting their mark with precision. The third just a heartbeat later. We took off running, stopping shoulders to the wall at the end of the corridor. Dropping to my knees again, I peeked around the corner, only to be met with a hail of bullets. The wall opposite us exploded as the high-powered lead violently tore through its surface.
Leni put a hand on my shoulder, and a litany of unspoken words drifted between us. We were resigned to whatever fate awaited, but if dying was the plan, we’d go out fighting and take as many of these assholes with us as possible. The moment their gunfire ceased, we were ready.
Four more bodies dropped, and we raced toward the stairwell. Without an instant to recoup, more of Belov’s men charged up the stairs.
Two by two, they fell.
Leni peered over the railing. “These fuckers don’t stop coming!”
“How many?” I asked, dropping my empty mag and reloading.
“Looks like six.”
A commotion of voices and shuffling echoed from the levels above us. “We’re going to get pinched if we don’t keep moving.”
She picked up an AK from one of the dead perps and handed it to me. “Then let’s take the fight to them.”
“Let’s, because I’m ready to go the fuck home.”
Leni’s excitement was unabashed this time, splitting her pretty face with a bloodthirsty grin.
“I knew I liked you.”
Belov’s men lay splayed across the cold concrete stairs. One more door, and we’d be in the clear. Leni cracked it open, not expecting a fist to the side of her face, and she fell unconscious.
“Put it down, sweetheart,” said a deep, accented voice from behind, his gun pressed to the back of my head. “Pakhan never said you looked like this. What a nice surprise.”
He disarmed and pinned me to the wall, his large body pushing against my ass. Hot, vile breath fanned over my face as he chuckled close to my ear. The man was easily over six and a half feet tall. His massive height was only second to his girth. My stomach lurched when I felt his dick harden on my back.
“Fuck you!”
