He reached behind him and gripped Bonnie’s wrist, keeping her close as he moved down to the back door. He wanted out of here and he wanted out fast. There was a possibility someonewas waiting out there for him. But better out in the open than boxed in here.
There was no safe option right now.
He slipped the lock and pulled the handle. It didn’t move.
The fuck?
He tried again. Again, it wouldn’t move. The asshole had done something to the door.
Shit.
He turned and headed the other way. When he reached the end of the hall, he stopped, Bonnie’s warm body behind him. That and years of military training were the only things keeping him calm. He reached into his pocket and quietly pulled out his keys.
The second he threw them into the gym, the boom of a gunshot exploded through the room.
Bonnie flinched, her gasp cutting into the quiet.
“Come on,” Zane yelled. “Don’t you want to tell us who you are? Brag about trapping us in the hall?”
Zane didn’t give a shit who the asshole was. He was a dead man walking. Zane just needed to waste enough time for backup to arrive.
“Why not? You’ll be dead soon anyway.”
Zane frowned. He knew that voice. Who—
“Damien,” Bonnie whispered, disbelief mixing with fear in her voice.
Dean’s brother. Of course it was. The fucker’s wife had been in his damn storage room where the mouse head had been found. And he was Stetson’s cousin. He’d probably tricked the kid into letting him in, then shot him to keep him quiet.
Zane opened his mouth to say more when Bonnie gasped. “Zane.”
He glanced back and followed her gaze to a few feet away…where Maisie stood. Her right eye was bruised, like someone had hit her, and she held a gun that was trained solely on Bonnie.
“I’ve got her,” Maisie yelled.
“Good. Come out, come out!”
Zane didn’t move a muscle. Everything in him told him to stay exactly where he was.
“Do it,” Maisie said, voice hushed. “Don’t make me hurt her.”
Were there tears in her eyes?
“I will,” Maisie added. “You so much as start to move that gun my way and I’ll have to shoot her.”
Zane’s jaw clenched as he stepped into the gym.
Damien stood a couple yards away, a smile curving his lips. “There you are.”
“Maisie,” Bonnie whispered. “Why are you doing this?”
“Don’t talk to her!” Damien seethed. “This is all me. Drop the gun and kick it over here, Merrick.”
Zane’s fingers tightened around the Glock.
Damien lifted a brow before training his weapon on Bonnie.
“Fine.” Zane lowered the gun to the floor and kicked it forward, leaving himself weaponless.
