He gripped my arm, pulling me up from the floor. I stumbled a bit before I got my feet beneath me, then the two of us got to work. We stripped the dead men of everything they had on them, everything from knives to guns to ammunition to fucking pepper spray.
“Bingo,” West murmured as he pulled a set of handcuffs off someone.
“We’re clean over here,” I said, trying to force back my tears.
“Same here,” West said as he checked all of the guns he had for bullets.
At least, that was what I thought he was doing.
“What now?” I asked breathlessly as I stood to my feet.
He strode over and padded my pockets. Lining my bra. He shoved guns and weapons into every orifice I could stand, loading me down with cold metal that sat against my skin. He shoved magazines for my guns into my back pockets. He showed me quickly how to eject them and shove in a new one. And after he cocked his own guns, he took my hand.
“We need to get the fuck out of here, that’s what we need to do,” he said curtly.
With more footsteps falling outside, we started down the first thing we saw, which was a hallway. We came to a set of steps and West put his shoulder into the door, crashing it open before we started up the steps. I tried to stay as silent as possible, but I wasn’t in nearly the kind of shape I needed to be for something like this. I huffed and puffed, and at one point in time, I had to stop and catch my breath.
“You stay here,” West said, barely panting, “I’m going to go check out some of these rooms. I mean, there’s fucking carpet up here. We have to be somewhere with some sort of connection.”
I gave him a thumbs up before I straightened my back, locking my fingers behind my head. Men rushed around two floors beneath us and I closed my eyes, allowing myself the smallest moment to process what the fuck was happening. I’d never be the same after this. I’d never sleep easy, rest easy, or go fucking grocery shopping without looking over my damn shoulder. My life, as I knew it, had completely changed.
And I didn’t know what to do with that information.
“You need to come with me. Now,” West glowered.
He took my hand and tugged me down the hallway as if I were some sort of rag doll. But I followed him. It seemed that he’d drag me everywhere so long as it kept me safe, so I assumed this was all part of the plan. We stormed down the hallway while Carlos himself barked orders beneath us. Footsteps came up a set of stairs before the men were only one floor below us, and I had to swallow the bile working its way up the back of my throat.
However, once West pulled me into a room at the end of the hallway, my jaw dropped.
“There’s a computer in here?” I asked.
West walked over and toggled the mouse. “It’s fucking hooked up, too.”
I cracked my knuckles before I reached for the charm of my necklace. “Don’t mind if I do.”
“I figured that if we—what are you doing?”
I uncapped the unassuming charm around my neck and revealed the end of a USB drive. “Give me ten minutes. That’s all I’m going to need, all right?”
He kissed my temple with a smack. “You’re a fucking miracle on legs. I’ll get you your ten minutes. Just get everything you can off this damned thing.”
And as he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him, I set one of my cocked guns right beside my hand before I hacked around the password on the screen.
Just in case I needed to grab it and pop a few shots off into someone barreling through the god damn door.
Twenty-One
West
The second I closed the door behind me, I silenced my footsteps. They knew we had gone up, and I used that to my advantage. I couldn't hear the sound of Chloe’s fingers clacking against the keyboard, so I knew they wouldn't be able to hear it below us. So, I rushed as quickly as I could while keeping silent and turned on a couple of lights I found in some of the abandoned office rooms.
We’re in an abandoned office building. Wonderful.
Men ran around beneath me while Carlos barked orders in Spanish. I found a couple of desks to rummage through and found some pens that I knew could be used in a pinch for a plethora of things. I stuffed my pockets full with anything I could find that I figured might be useful, and as I made my way back to Chloe, the men came up the other set of stairs.
I practically lunged for Chloe’s office door and ripped it open.
“Chloe, we have t—”
