Grant’s throat closed up and he held his breath, praying he wasn’t about to witness her death.
Downing regained control of the situation. He didn’t shoot Brynnon, as Grant had feared, but his relief was fleeting.
Instead, the bastard pistol-whipped her on the side of her head. A violent rage unlike any Grant had ever felt soared through him as he watched her fall to the ground.
“Motherfucker,” he hissed between clenched teeth. Fists shaking at his sides, Grant vowed, “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Get past this so we can figure out where the hell they are now,” Coop encouraged.
The sped-up version showed Downing yanking Brynnon off the ground and hauling her up the ramp. When they got to the top, they turned left, and out of the camera’s viewpoint.
“Where the hell did they go?” Grant shot Derek a look.”
“I’m working on it.” Derek squeezed himself back in front of the screen. A few clicks of his fingers and then, “Here. He took her around the corner.”
Grant kept watching not willing to take his eyes off her. Less than a minute into the new feed, his world began to shatter.
All four men, including Brynnon’s father, watched as she pushed herself free and started to run. Grant’s legs nearly gave out from beneath him when he saw Martin raise the gun, the bullet hitting Brynnon a fraction of a second later.
“No!” Grant reached out toward the screen, as if he could somehow save her.
“Ah, fuck.” Coop ran a hand through his hair.
Cantrell started to cry. “He shot her. That son of a bitch shot my baby girl!”
Tears pricked the corner of his Grant’s eyes, but he held them in. The only way to help Brynnon now was to watch the rest of the footage and find out where she and Martin were now.
Ignoring Cantrell’s cries of anguish—along with his sudden urge to vomit—Grant remained silent as they saw Downing drug the woman he loved out of sight.
Less than a minute later, Martin came back into the camera’s view, walking casually to his car and driving off. Without Brynnon.
Grant could hear Derek speaking to someone, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. It was as if everything around him had suddenly become muted.
For the first time since being with her, he felt himself shutting down. Walls only she’d been able to break past began rising again, and emotions Grant had finally allowed himself to feel started to fade.
Before that happened, Derek’s excited voice broke through.
“She’s still out there!”
Grant slid his cold gaze to his teammate. “What?”
Derek’s hopeful eyes turned to his. “Snap out of it, man! Downing didn’t take Brynnon with him. H-he must’ve left her outside somewhere. She has to be close.”
Grateful his teammate was still thinking straight, Grant shook off his numbing fear and ran from the room. With him in the lead, all four men shot down the hall toward the elevator.
“As soon as we get outside and I have a fuckin’ signal again, I’ll call Ryker and give him everything we have, including a description of Downing’s car and license plate.”
Good.Downing shot an innocent woman on Homeland’s turf. Grant knew Ryker would send every agent available to take his ass down.
Coop slapped the button, but Grant refused to stand and wait. “Fuck this. I’m taking the stairs.”
The rest did the same, falling in line right behind him.
“I just checked the temp.” Derek ran into the stairwell. “The good news is, it’s only thirty-five with winds moving at fifteen miles per hour.”
“How the fuck is that good news?” Grant growled, running down the stairs two at a time.
Derek explained himself as the group of men continued hastily making their way down to the ground floor.
