Talia silently agreed but was a little confused when they reached the next flight of stairs and headed down instead of up.
“Shouldn’t we keep going up?” she asked.
“If we do that we’ll be like those people in the movies who always run up to the roof of the building during the zombie apocalypse,” Lennox said as he hustled her off the stairs and through another series of bewildering twists and turns. “There’s nowhere to go once we reach the top deck unless you want to jump.”
Talia’s insides turned to jelly at that thought. She’d only gotten a brief glimpse of the cargo ship as she’d come aboard but even in the darkness, she could tell it must have been a hundred feet tall. Nobody could survive a jump like that, could they?
“Then what are we doing instead?” she asked, hurrying as Lennox continued to urge her forward like he knew exactly where he was going.
“We’re doubling back toward the cargo hold,” he told her. “If we time it right, the place will be empty, and we’ll be able to walk right down the gangway without anyone ever realizing we were there.”
Talia never thought of herself as a pessimistic type but had to admit that sounded too good to be true. Even as gunfire continued to echo through the ship, she followed Lennox’s lead and hoped for the best.
Sooner than she would have thought possible, he led her through a hatch and back into the cargo hold. Shockingly, the huge areawasempty—except for the bodies scattered around the deck. Other than that and the bullet holes in some of the containers—it was like nothing had happened here at all.
Lennox bent down and scooped up a handgun then checked the magazine to make sure it wasn’t empty before handing it to Talia.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked. “I don’t know anything about guns.”
“I know,” he said. “Hopefully, you’ll never have to use this. But Keller and his men are looking for us, which means some of them are probably on the dock. We need to be ready for that. And while I’ll do everything I can to protect you, I’d feel a lot better knowing you could defend yourself, if it comes to that.”
Talia hated the idea but could understand why Lennox felt the need to give her the weapon, even if it absolutely terrified her.
“Okay.” She reached gingerly for the handgun. “How do I use this thing?”
“It’s already loaded, and the safety is off. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot and don’t point the weapon at anyone you don’t want to kill. Aim at the center of their chest and pull the trigger. Then keep pulling the trigger until the person is dead.”
Her stomach churned at Lennox’s blunt instructions, and she told herself it would never come to that. They were going to get out of there and she wouldn’t have to worry about whether it was in her nature to kill another human being.
“Okay, let’s get out of here before Keller figures out we doubled back,” Lennox said, taking Talia’s hand and leading her toward the cargo door ramp.
“Too late,” a deep voice called out from the far side of the flatbed truck.
A moment later, Keller stepped out from behind the back of the vehicle, the assault rifle in his hands aimed at them. “You didn’t think I’d notice your obvious ploy to draw me away from the cargo hold and my computer?”
“I think you’re giving me too much credit,” Lennox said, casually moving to place himself squarely in front of Talia.
While his protectiveness was something Talia appreciated, she stepped slightly to the side, making sure she’d have a clear shot at Keller if she had to take it. She might not like the idea of shooting anyone, but for Keller, she’d make an exception.
“I wasn’t even thinking about the computer,” Lennox added, frowning a little when he realized what she was doing. “I was only trying to rescue Talia, and this was the way it worked out.”
“Ah, yes, the daring SEAL boyfriend,” Keller said in a condescending tone, his gaze going to Talia. “Here to rescue you from the evil bad guy and sweep you off your feet to your Legoland honeymoon.”
Talia felt all the air go out of her lungs. She’d been right about Keller listening at the door when she and Maria had been talking to Anna.
Before Talia could follow that thought any further, she was distracted by the sight of Keller moving out from behind the truck and aiming his weapon at Talia. She started to lift the handgun but then quickly lowered it again as Lennox began moving too, matching Keller step for step, continuing to put himself in between Talia and the weapon pointed in her direction.
But as disconcerting and frustrating as that behavior was, it was the fact that Lennox wasn’t pointing his weapon at Kellerthat worried Talia the most. Instead, Lennox had his machine gun pointed at the computer still on the truck.
“It seems we’re at an impasse,” Lennox said casually, his eyes locked on Keller. “If you try and hurt Talia, I’ll destroy your computer. But if I shoot the computer, you’ll kill Talia.”
“What’s to keep me from just shooting you before you get off a shot at the computer?” Keller countered with a snort of derision as he swung his weapon toward Lennox.
At the blatant threat, Talia lifted the gun again, pointing it at Keller with both hands.
“That might work,” Lennox agreed calmly. “Assuming Talia doesn’t shoot you first.”
“And you think she’ll hit me?” Keller sneered, giving her a scathing look.
