Bryce had to act—there was no time for a plan, no time for anything except to stop them. With both of them wearing thigh holsters, he could only think of one way to do that.
He strode around the corner with no attempt to be quiet and stopped when he saw them. “Oh, thankGodI finally found someone!” He grinned widely in relief. “I was beginning to think I’d taken a wrong turn and the bathroom isn’t down here after all.”
They’d spun around at his approach, one of them reaching immediately for his gun, only for the older one to place a restraining hand on his arm. The suspicion and hostility on both faces morphed almost instantly into identical expressions of contempt and annoyance at the visitor’s pass he wore and the good-natured smile on his face.
“Can you guys help me find a bathroom?” Bryce asked. “I have this irritable bowel syndrome—”
“You’re not supposed to be down here, sir,” the younger one said, coming forward toward him.
“Well, I was kind of getting that feeling from the fact no one else is here,” Bryce confessed. “But if the two of you could just see your way to setting me straight….”
“You need to go back up—”
“Son, I havenoidea where I’ve been these past thirty minutes. You’re going to have to show me.”
And so Bryce was escorted toward the stairs he’d come down just moments earlier. Both of them accompanied him, to his relief. While he had no doubt about Tom’s abilities in a fight, they were armed, and he suspected Tom wouldn’t be carrying. He hadn’t been when out at the ranch, and Bryce would know, having conducted more than one very extensive body search.
Of course, it was always possible Tom had never even been in his office. But Bryce’s wolf knew differently. His mate was down here and in danger.
As they walked him away, Bryce dared one last look down the corridor. The shadows swallowed everything past the bend. And Tom was somewhere in that dark.
TOM
Tom could hear them. More than one, though he couldn’t be sure if there were two or three. They were trying to be silent as they waited at the entrance to the cul-de-sac that housed his office.
He refused to be caught like a rat in a trap. He’d take his chances, however dismal, of taking them by surprise.
Easing around the doorjamb, he drew some calming breaths to settle the pounding of his heart and steadied himself to slip as silently as he could along the narrow corridor. Hecouldn’t shift, because they’d hear his claws on the linoleum. He just hoped his body remembered all that stealth training he’d done to qualify for the security detail.
He jumped as a voice boomed through the silence, echoing off the high ceilings. Distorted as it was, he could have sworn it was Bryce. It felt like a warm beacon in the gloom, giving him hope and something to aim for.
There were more voices, then footsteps heading away from him. He ghosted up the corridor and peered around the corner to see three men walking away, and one of themwasBryce’s tall figure. The other two were in the fatigues Jax favored and their body language was tight and annoyed as Bryce chatted away about something to do with his bowels.
Behind them, Tom slipped around the corner and turned left, heading deeper into the maze of rooms that used to house books. The only way out was up the staircase Bryce and the others were heading for, and while part of him couldn’t believe they’d hurt someone who seemed to be an innocent tourist just to stop Tom escaping, he couldn’t risk it. All it would take would be the claim Bryce had missed his step, fallen down the stairs in the poor lighting, and broken his neck. He wasn’t risking that. No, Bryce had given him a chance and he’d take it.
He didn’t know what buying time would achieve, but if the choice was dead now or dead in an hour, he’d take the hour. And then there was Bryce. If he was here, it meant his pack knew something was wrong, and maybe they had a plan.
Tom hoped so, because he was out of options.
BRYCE
Bryce thanked his guides as they left him at the foot of the staircase. He figured pumping their hands enthusiastically wasoverkill, but he did it anyway. It might buy Tom an extra few seconds.
Tom would have heard his voice and known something was wrong. Bryce had seen how fast he was to assess threats and to react. He’d have found an exit and be on his way to safety.
He clattered up the stairs as Jax’s men disappeared into the shadows once more, and headed for the first person he saw at the top, who happened to be the janitor with a trolley. “Is there any other way down to the bookstacks? A side exit? Back door?”
The woman looked at him strangely. “Something wrong with the stairs you’re standing next to?”
“I’m doing a security sweep for the Argent’s visit.” His bullshit wouldn’t convince most people, but maybe the mention of an Argent would override everything else.
Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “You’ve met it? What’s it like?”
“Please just answer the question, ma’am.”
“There’s no other stairs,” she said, sounding huffy. “Place was built before half the rules they’ve got now. The old book elevator’s dead, and whatever back exit there used to be got sealed up long before I started.”
Which meant Tom was trapped. Fuck.
