Standing just outside the door, Trevor paused a moment. He sent up a silent prayer that, no matter what happened to him, Lexi would be safe. Then, he reached for the doorknob.
With his trusted MP-5 aimed and ready to shoot, Trevor looked back at his team. They were standing a few feet from him, ready to have his back, if needed. Giving them one final nod, Trevor turned the knob and walked straight into Hell.
Lexi was still strapped to that godforsaken table. Her hair was wet, and a dark, wet stain took up most of the right side of her gray t-shirt.Blood.
Unable to think about that now without risking them both, Trevor quickly assessed the scene with an operator’s eye. A cart with a computer set-up was to his left, and there was a small window on the wall opposite the door. Trevor stood at Lexi’s feet while Young stood behind her head. Trevor would never forget the image of that bastard holding his knife at Lexi’s throat the way he was now.
“Take one more step, and she’s dead.”
Ignoring the other man, Trevor allowed himself one second to glance at Lexi’s face. She stared back at him, her eyes filled with pain and something else. Love. She was looking at him with more hope and love than he deserved.
Incredibly, she gave him a shaky smile and whispered, “H-hi.”
Trevor’s throat physically hurt from the pressure as he worked to swallow against the emotions there. Not reacting was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.
Sliding his eyes back up to Young’s, Trevor said, “You have two seconds to step away from her, or I will end you.”
“Go ahead!” Young shouted. “That’s what you’re good at, right? Ending people’s lives?”
“I didn’t kill Lisa.” Trevor forced his voice to remain calm.
“Maybe you didn’t take that knife to her, but you may as well have! You sent her in there. You made that decision!”
“No,shemade that decision!” Trevor raised his voice. “I told Lisa Hadim couldn’t be trusted. I tried to talk her out of it, butshekept insisting we go in.”
“But you didn’t go in! You weren’t the one who was taken and...and tortured.”
“No,” Trevor said matter-of-factly. “I wasn’t. And I’ll never forgive myself for not putting up more of a fight. But hurting her”—he tilted his head toward Lexi—“isn’t going to bring Lisa back.”
“No, but it hurtsyou.” Young started to press the knife against Lexi’s skin.
“Stop!” Trevor begged. “Please. I’m the one you want, right? Let her go, and you can have me.”
“T-Trevor...no,” Lexi said softly, her voice sounding too damn weak.
Ignoring her, he pulled his aim away from Young. Holding his weapon out to the side and putting his left hand up in surrender, Trevor said, “See? I’m putting down my gun.” Going completely against protocol, he slowly bent down and sat his rifle on the ground. Standing back up, he said, “Now, I’m unarmed. You have all the control here.”
“I know I do. I don’t need your arrogant ass to tell me that.”
“Fair enough.” Trevor took a slow, easy step forward as he spoke. “So, what do you say, we let her go?” Another step. “You know who I am, and what I do.” Another step. “I’ll get you a hell of a lot more leverage to work with than a civilian.” One more step.Just a couple more and I’ll be close enough to take the asshole down.
“Stop!” Young pressed the tip of the blade against Lexi’s throat again. She winced, and a small drop of blood formed, then slid slowly across her delicate skin. “Don’t come any closer, or I swear to God I’ll kill her.”
“Okay, okay.” Trevor raised both hands palm up. “I’m stopping. Just ease up on the knife, there, all right?”
“Fuck you. You think I’m gonna do anything you say? Because of you, I lost my fiancée!”
Knowing it was a risk, Trevor decided to try to piss the guy off enough, he’d come after him instead of hurting Lexi.
He shot up another quick prayer and said, “Which one? Because you seem to have bad luck with those.”
Young yelled again. “You don’t know shit about me!”
“Oh, really? Your most recent fiancée found out about your little obsession problem with me and Hadim, as well as the fact that you illegally accessed classified CIA files. You’re looking at some serious prison time for that, Tony.”
“Fuck you!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted.
The guy was definitely getting pissed. More importantly, in his rage, he’d taken the blade a few centimeters away from Lexi’s throat. Just a little more, and Trevor would have the opportunity he needed.
