16
Mac followed her uncle down a dark hallway, his goon bringing up the rear behind her. They stopped in front of another closed door. The light she’d seen shining beneath it grew into an elongated triangle on the black floor as Tony pushed it open.
“Ladies first.”
Reeling from the fact that the man was still alive, Mac cautiously moved past him. He still smelled of the same cologne he used to wear when she was younger, the old-world musk making her even more nauseated than she already was.
Once she cleared the doorway, she got her first view of her entire reason for being here.
With his face bruised and bloodied, her partner stared back at her from the chair he was bound to. Tired, swollen eyes widened when they saw her, his brow creasing as he shook his head.
“No.” The word sounded rough. He stared back at her with sorrow.
“Coop!”
She started to run to him, her legs moving before she even finished saying his name. But her uncle grabbed her wrist, yanking her back toward him. “Not so fast.”
On instinct, Mac’s training kicked in. Without thinking, she used the momentum from her uncle’s grasp to spin around. Though she was right-handed, she had a pretty nice left hook. Something her uncle had just discovered.
His head snapped to the side, his lip splitting from the force of her knuckles. Somehow he still managed to keep her in his tight grip.
Without missing a beat, he came back with his left hand. Swinging fast, he punched Mac in the side of the head so hard, she dropped to her knees.
“No!”
She heard Coop’s shout of denial and fought to clear the dizzying stars from her eyes so she could let him know she was okay.
Her uncle may be old as shit, but damn. The man packed a serious punch.
With her arm wrenched at a painful angle, Tony forced her back onto her feet. “I must say”—he used his free hand to wipe some blood from his chin—“I’m impressed.”
“You got what you came for.” Mac tried to pull herself free. “Take the money and leave.”
Her uncle smiled. “I will, don’t worry. But you and I have some catching up to do, first.”
With a tip of his chin, Tony motioned for Paul who stepped up behind her. Wrapping his bulky arms around her chest from behind, he held her back against his front, rendering her immobile.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Coop growled.
Tony’s powerful fist landed in the center of her stomach.
“Mac!” Coop screamed for her, his dry voice cracking from the strain.
She sucked in a breath, hunching over as far as Paul’s restraining arms would allow. Coughing and hacking, she tried to stave off the nausea churning rapidly in her gut.
“That’s it,” Jake spoke through the coms. “We’re coming in.”
“No.” Mac groaned, hoping like hell he listened. “Don’t.”
Thinking her words were meant for him, her uncle laughed. “Don’t what? Turn on you like you did me?”
His fist slammed into her face again, splitting the skin covering the apple of her cheekbone. Mac grunted loudly. She could feel the warm blood trickling across her skin from the wound.
“Goddamn it, no!”The metal chair Coop was in pounded and scraped against the concrete floor as he struggled to break free. “You want to hit someone, hit me!”
“It’s okay, Sean.” Mac worked to control her breathing. She looked across the space to him, letting him and the others know. “I’m okay.”
“Ah, isn’t that sweet?” Her uncle’s lips curled into an evil grin. “Too bad it’s a lie.”
