"With my pocket knife," said Rowan. "I stabbed him when he came up here."
"Hang on," said Knox. "When did he come up here? I'm totally lost."
"Right after Allie left to track down Fernando at the bungalow. You and Jason were running to meet up with her. I saw you through the cameras. Then, I noticed Kendall on the cameras."
Knox shut his eyes as he replayed the events in his mind, then popped them open. "Wait. We handcuffed him to the metal handrail in the stairwell."
"Yeah," said Rowan. "He pulled the whole thing off and threw it down the stairs. He looked like the Incredible Hulk for a minute—not in a good way, of course. I just mean—"
Allie straightened, eyes wide. "I saw that. The handrail on the stairs, I mean. But I had no idea that was Kendall's doing."
Knox looked at Jason, then Rowan. "The handrail wasboltedto the wall."
"Yeah." Rowan shrugged. "And I watched him rip it off the wall."
Knox exchanged a look with Jason. They were lucky they didn't have to fight an uninjured Kendall today. He didn't appear skilled, but that amount of brute strength wouldn't be fun to contend with.
Jason lifted his chin toward Rowan. "Finish the story."
"Okay." Rowan pushed a hand through his hair, looking unaccustomed to so much attention. "Um, as soon as he got free from the railing, I watched him through the cameras to see where he would go. I saw him slam one of Drakos's security guards into a wall. He took his gun and a key card."
Knox threw his head back with a groan. "That's how he got in here."
"Yeah, so, when I realized he was probably heading here, I thought about texting you, but you all were about to catch the bomber. I knew I couldn't call you off that. So, when he started walking down our hallway," he nodded toward the door, "I grabbed my pocket knife."
"Your pocket knife?" asked Knox.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "That's on me, Rowan. You should have had a better weapon with you."
"I never intended to need a weapon at all," Rowan said.
"I know, I know," Jason said, "but obviously things can happen. You need to be better armed next time."
Allie leaned forward, concern creasing her brow. "Then, what happened?"
Rowan dipped his head. "He used the key card and burst in. He was surprised that I was right by the door. He pointed the gun at me, asked where you were." He gestured to Allie. "And I just said, 'She's not here,' which he could plainly see. He noticed the computers and came over to check our camera feeds. That's how he knew where you were. I knew he was about to come after you, so when he started to leave—I ran up to him. I don't know what I thought I was gonna do. He seemed surprised that I had tried anything, but I stabbed him in the leg. He yelled. I think he was more surprised than anything initially. He hit me so hard that I hit the wall. I blacked out for a few seconds. I don't know if he thought I was dead or not, but when I woke up, he was gone. But I knew exactly where he was going, so I ran to the bungalows. And, well, you know the rest."
Emotion sat heavily in Knox's chest as the reality of Rowan's actions washed over him. "Rowan, that was—that was brave. Seriously, man, nice job."
Rowan shrugged. "I'm not sure if it was brave or stupid," said Rowan. "I've been thinking over everything. He didn't see me as a threat when he came in here. He might have just left me whenhe saw where you all were on the cameras. Then, I could have texted you that he was on his way. Maybe that's what I should have done. You know, then you might have had more of a heads up. I don't know why I tried to attack him."
"You were protecting your team. I honestly admire the instinctbut," Jason placed both hands on the table and leaned his head toward Rowan with a noticeable uptick in seriousness humming behind his narrowed gaze, "as your team leader, I'm telling you not to try that again until we get you substantial training. I never intended for you to be in a situation like that, but I promise you I won't make that mistake again. If you want to continue coming out into the field, I'm going to tell the WhiteRock board that combat training is absolutely imperative."
Rowan's face lost a little color. "I don't . . . I don't know about that. I mean, I love working for WhiteRock, but I'm not sure about the in-field part." He looked at Knox. "Like I said, I want to be the guy behind the desk. I want to help, but I don't want to do the hand-to-hand combat stuff."
Knox nodded. "That's your choice, Rowan. We can talk about it later. But today, it all worked out for the best. If Kendall hadn't been injured, I might not have been able to get Allie away from him without one or both of us getting hurt or killed."
He chanced a glance at Allie, knowing it would trigger an emotional response he'd have to tamp down in front of Jason and Rowan. But he was still savoring the fact that she was alive and well. Today could have ended so differently.Thank you, Lord.
He met her eyes and realized he'd underestimated how much love she could message him with a single look. He cleared his throat in a very manly way to cover the emotion swelling in his throat and turned back to Rowan before her look completely derailed his thoughts. "There was no way I was going to let him take her on that helicopter. I was low on options and desperate.I was going to rush him and grab her. It was going to be a very risky move. But she took advantage of that stab wound on his leg. That gave us a couple of extra seconds—vital seconds. He loosened his grip just long enough for her to get free. You might have saved our lives today, Rowan. Like I said, it all worked out. So thank you. I mean that. And it might have been a little crazy, but it was also brave."
Rowan stared at him a few beats before he said, "Thanks."
Knox gave him a chin lift. "Thank you."
Jason's phone vibrated on the table. He grabbed it and checked the message. Knox hadn't seen him smile that big in days.
"Is it Nash? Did they make it?" He could guess, but he wanted to hear him say it.
