“Why don’t you shoot through the door?” he asked.
“They have semiautomatics.” Martinez continued to point her revolver at the door. “Do you really want me to invite them to open up on us?”
The older Shang yelled at his men to push harder.
“But if they need my dad, they won’t risk killing him, will they?” Shelby tightened her grip on Wade’s hand.
“Who knows what those nuts will do?” He glanced around the room, wishing they had something else to use to protect themselves.
Shang’s commands must have worked because the door eased open again.
Shelby heaved a deep breath as though preparing herself to go into battle. He’d seen her do it many times in the past, fighting for him. But those had been verbal battles. She slid her hand from his and stepped over to the small crate that must have served as a nightstand back in the day.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She turned to face him, her eyes huge, her hands clasped around something. “You’ll see in a minute. Stay with my dad.” Quickly, she went to stand beside Martinez.
“What’s that?” Martinez eyed Shelby’s clasped hands.
“Let them come in,” Shelby said.
All of Wade’s “danger” senses fired up. “Shel, what—”
The door banged open with a hard shove. A rifle appeared in the opening.
“Don’t shoot, Ava.” Shelby kept her eyes pinned to the door.
“You want to just let them take us?”
“I want Philip in here.” Shelby continued to stare at the door, her voice tight. “Do whatever’s necessary to make that happen. Tell him we want to parlay.”
From his vantage point in the corner, Wade could tell from Martinez’s back that she wasn’t happy. Going down without a fight obviously didn’t sit well with her. What did Shelby have planned? Wade ducked down behind the crates and made his way to the small box that she had gotten into. He looked inside and choked.
