Then I saw Keira push the door open and step through. There was a blur of movement. A shadow appearing at her side. A moment later, the door slammed closed behind her, and I sat up sharply in the driver’s seat.
Nope. I didn’t like that at all.
The door had slammed shut too fast. Like they’d been expecting her or were seriously pissed off at her presence.
I unlocked my truck’s glovebox and grabbed my SIG Sauer, checking the magazine. Fully loaded. My Gerber Mark II tactical knife was here as well, its familiar weight reassuring in my palm. I’d been stowing both weapons in my truck since the night outside the strip club, just as Keira had noted before.
She was armed herself, and that was good. But I knew I would feel better if I at least went to the door and stood outside. Then I could hear what was going on and if she needed backup.
The knife had a sheath with straps, and I quickly placed it around my thigh. After screwing the suppressor into the barrel of the handgun, I clipped my gun holster onto my waistband.
I got out of the truck quietly, easing the door closed without latching it all the way. The cabin sat in a small clearing with trees surrounding it except for the narrow gap of the driveway. The forest pressed close on all sides, dark and silent. A breeze whispered through the pines, carrying the scent of decay and damp earth.
The air felt too still, too heavy. Above, clouds obscured the moon, leaving only the pale light from the windows to illuminate the gravel drive.
I stepped toward the cabin, my footfalls soft on the loose stones. Music filtered through the walls. The muscles in my shoulders tensed.
Something felt wrong.
Then I heard the faint scuff of a shoe against gravel. Coming frombehindme.
Without turning around, I ducked and shoved backward into the person who’d been sneaking up on me. A gun wentoff, the shot cracking through the night air, close enough that my ears rang.
I grabbed the man’s wrist and slammed it against my thigh. Once. Twice. His gun clattered to the ground. He tried to knee me in the gut, but I twisted, taking the blow on my hip. In a split second, I’d pulled my knife from its sheath and drove the blade into his solar plexus.
He made a wet, choking sound, his body going rigid. I yanked the knife free and let him drop.
Movement to my left. Another man was running at me, mouth open to shout. He lifted a shotgun.
This was an ambush. I had to get to Keira.
I leaped forward, closing the distance before he could make a sound or pull his trigger. My knife found his jugular, the blade slicing through flesh and artery in one smooth motion. Blood sprayed across my hand. He collapsed onto the gravel with a heavy thud.
I dragged both bodies into the trees as quickly and quietly as possible, my heart hammering against my ribs. The adrenaline singing through my veins made everything sharp and clear.
Checking the hands of both men, I found heavy rings with blue stones. Crosshairs Security.
I gathered their guns and tossed them deep into the forest. The gravel was dark from blood, but it probably wasn’t noticeable given the darkness outside.
I ran between the trees along the side of the house, staying low. What was happening inside? They had to have heard the gunshot. Yet no one had ventured outside to investigate.
The answer occurred to me. The men I’d just killed knew I was coming. They were supposed to take me out. The people in the house probably thought I was dead.
And now, they had Keira.
My gun was still in place at my thigh. It had the suppressor, but it wasn’t silent. If I’d used it, the distinctive noise could’ve alerted the people inside.
Could Harris Medina be behind this? He’d warned us not to go after Ryan Garrett, and we hadn’t exactly promised to comply with his order. But Garrett seemed more likely. He and Nox Woodson had threatened Keira’s family.
He probably had Stephie. The perfect bait to draw Keira out.
But right now, the question ofwhohardly mattered. These people were trying to take Keira from me.
So I would annihilate every last one of them.
CHAPTER FORTY
Keira
