CHAPTER 13
FUCK. KURT TURNED to face the big man pointing an AK-47 at them. He’d been scanning their surroundings, watching for guards, but he wasn’t omniscient. And now Caitlyn was in greater danger than before.
“Drop your weapon,” the other man said, jerking his chin toward the Sig in Kurt’s hand.
Kurt laid the gun gently on the ground.
“Glenn died,” Cartwright said, hisdark eyes glittery with anger in the lights from the pool deck.
“I know,” Caitlyn said, her voice soft. “I never wished that for him.”
The big man took a step closer. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have shot him. “
She said nothing.
Cartwright frowned and used his free hand to talk into his radio. “Christophe, we have visitors. I’m bringing them your way.”
They needed a way to distract this Hulkso they could run for it. Then again, if Rose were here, they couldn’t leave her behind.
“Couldn’t wait until six o’clock, eh?”
Caitlyn straightened. “Where is she?”
Cartwright’s mouth curled into a nasty grin and he waved them toward the stairs to the pool. “Lead on.”
Kurt could almost feel the hope radiating off Caitlyn, despite the dire situation.
When they reached the stairs, he let herdescend ahead of him, then he gripped the rail and took his time going step over step. He had mastered stairs years ago, but that didn’t mean he could race down them.
The big man followed closely on his heels, prodding him impatiently with the barrel of his rifle. Kurt sped up slightly, then stopped abruptly and bent over.
Cartwright barreled into him and they both fell down the remaining fewsteps onto the pool deck. The Aussie reached for the rifle, but Caitlyn kicked it away. He gripped Kurt’s leg, tugging hard, as if trying to pull off his prosthesis. Instead he threatened to dislocate Kurt’s hip.
Caitlyn kicked the Hulk in the head, and then dove for the rifle. Cartwright grabbed her ankle with his other hand and she went down, kicking at his face until he let go. Kurt leveredhimself up to sitting and slammed their attacker on the nose with the heel of his hand. The man howled but didn’t release him, dragging Kurt across the rough ground as he rolled away.
Kurt angled for a better position to strike, punching the man’s biceps with a sharp stab of his knuckles.
His grip loosened and Kurt pushed onto his knees, grabbing the rifle and swiveling to face the Hulk, whonow held Caitlyn down with both hands, even as she thrashed.
“Let her go,” Kurt said, aiming the weapon at Cartwright’s chest.
The man released her, and Caitlyn scrambled to her feet.
“Where’s Rose?” she asked, her voice steady, sharp as a razor.
“Fuck you.”
“You said it yourself. I killed Glenn. What makes you think we would hesitate to do the same to you?”
Kurt tried to expand his peripheralvision. There had to be a rope or cord lying around that she could use to secure the brute. Had the hotel stocked the lifesaver yet?
Something flashed in the dark to their right. More people. “Shit. Cait, we have to move.”
She shot a look over her shoulder and then nodded.
He handed her the rifle, which she kept trained on Cartwright, and Kurt straightened both legs, walking his hands towardhis feet to push himself up until he could stand. Sidling toward the stairs, Caitlyn paralleled him from the other side of the giant, who still sat on the ground. Once up the steps, they took off running.
He glanced back. Cartwright was on his knees holding his bloody nose, waving his team in Kurt and Caitlyn’s direction.
