They did so immediately, with Chloe pressing her face against her husband’s chest. Beyond them, Sean reached out to press a hand against the wall forbalance.
“Sean is wounded,” Alexeireported.
“How badly?” Katie wantedtoknow.
Alexei ignored the glare Sean gave him. “Concussion.”
“Copy that. Dr. Gold will be on standby once all of youreturn.”
The hissing roar of one of Madison’s energy blasts exploding somewhere out of sight rang inAlexei’sears.
“That was an ugly statue. I’m glad she got rid of it,” Kyle said off-handedly.
Madison’s voice rang through his comms. “Clear!”
“Move,” Alexeiordered.
The Wolcotts moved, sticking close to Sean on the way down the stairs as Alexei covered their six. Chloe stumbled halfway down in her hurry, one of her high-heeled shoes catching on the hem of her sheer dress. Sean threw his arm out to halt her fall even as Adrian grabbed her by the waist to keep her from falling down the stairs headfirst. Adrian didn’t waste any time in picking his wife up in his arms and carrying her the rest oftheway.
Even when they reached the first floor, Alexei never took his eyes off the way they’d come. They’d left a lot of bodies behind on the second floor, but that didn’t mean the coast wasclear.
Madison stood in the middle of body parts and rubble, the scorch marks on the tiled floor indicative of explosions. She had her weapon aimed at the front door, ready to exit the building as soon as they got clearance from theiroverwatch.
“Ten seconds,” Katie told them. “Annabelle is clearing the way. On mymark…go!”
They didn’t waste any time. Madison shoved the door open and kept her weapon at the ready as they ran out under cover of suppressive fire and Trevor’s lifesaving telekinetic shield. Surprisingly, Adrian easily kept up despite carrying his wife. It was Sean that Alexei ended up helping out when the agent stumbled mid-stride, losing his balance. Alexei grabbed him by the arm before he could fall, keeping him upright andrunning.
“Thanks,” Sean gritted out, squinting hard against the brightsunlight.
Alexei grunted an acknowledgment as they sprinted toward their SUV. Sweat beaded across Alexei’s brow, sliding down the back of his neck. The midday heat was scorching and they needed to get clear as soon aspossible.
Bullets had dented the side of the SUV while they were inside but hadn’t penetrated the body. The MDF had thankfully given them a military-grade vehicle for this mission. Anything less than a .50 caliber gun wasn’t going tobreachit.
Annabelle stood on the other side of the SUV in a brace position with her rifle, keeping an eye on their six. Three other men decked out in tactical gear over casual civilian clothing had also taken position around the SUV. Alexei had no idea where they’d come from, but any extra support right now was a bonus inhisbook.
“I’ve rerouted all 911 calls about the gunfire, but the smoke coming up from the back of the house isn’t something I can make disappear. People will see that for miles. Might want to get a move on,”Katiesaid.
In such densely packed megacities, fire was a danger no one would ever ignore. Katie and whoever was helping her back at the MDF might have control of communications in the local area, but they couldn’t stop the rest of New Miami from calling in about thesmoke.
“Mr. Wolcott!” one of his security personnel barked out, waving for Adrian to runtheirway.
Before Adrian could respond, Sean snagged the sleeve of his suit jacket to get his attention. “Trevor is a medic. He can take a look at Chloe. Tell your people to get back to their vehicles andfollowus.”
Adrian probably would’ve disregarded Sean’s suggestion if it was only himself, but one look at his wife curled in his arms had himagreeing. “Okay.”
Trevor already had the doors to the SUV open, scrambling inside. Madison threw herself into the driver’s seat and slammed that door shut. Adrian was handing Chloe to Trevor to get her into the SUV when two of his security personnel came around thevehicle.
“We have a car out front for you,” the burlier man said, looking like he was about to shove Sean out of the way to get to hischarge.
Alexei slammed his arm between them, the impact stinging the skin of his palm as he glared at the stranger. “We have medic. Retreat to your car and follow us out. We take point, you takerearguard.”
He barked out the order without thinking about how he was supposed to act like a civilian who was almost two and a half years out of the Marines at this point. But in the heat of the moment, instincttookover.
“Do as he says, Martinez,” Adrian grunted as he hauled himself intotheSUV.
Martinez scowled, his hard gaze probably enough to make anyone else wilt beneath it. Alexei jabbed a finger in the direction of the street. “Move out!” hesnarled.
That got Adrian’s people moving. The four men sprinted down the drive and scrambled over the high fence with a surprising amount of ease. Alexei hauled Sean around to the other side of the SUV, helping him into the far back seat where Adrian sat. Trevor and Chloe took up the middle seats, with Trevor already tending to Chloe even as Madison threw the SUV into drive and yanked the wheel to the left. The tires squealed as she pulled a U-turn over thefrontlawn.
